The Inside Scoop: Why Kendrick was fired

Brian Kendrick was one of the WWE's most promising young wrestlers. With the company on a youth movement, he was a wrestler with the talent and drive to maybe one day fill a Jeff Hardy-type role. But his push kept being diminished and he was finally let go last month.

And the reason has nothing to do with his ring work. He was made an example, a very public warning to the WWE's top stars.

Kendrick's crime? Allegedly smoking weed. Dave Meltzer has a similar report in the Wrestling Observer:

Kendrick, 30, had his push go up in smoke, so to speak. He had been warned several times that the company wasn’t going to tolerate his failing drug tests for marijuana (which constitute a $1,000 fine but not a suspension). He was one of at least two wrestlers whose pushes were stopped because of it, and it is likely a major contributing factor to his being dropped. He had failed numerous tests. This was also meant and taken as a warning for higher profile wrestlers who have been failing pot tests, as the company has said many times to the different wrestlers individually that they are no longer going to tolerate it.

Wrestling Observer