text: Early life Kendrick was born in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Fairfax, Virginia, and is the son of Barbara Kendrick and the oldest of three children—a brother named Neal and a sister named Shannon. He later moved to Olympia, Washington where he attended North Thurston High School in Lacey, Washington. During his senior year, he worked as a dishwasher at Dirty Dave's Pizza Parlor while saving money to attend wrestling school.
  While growing up, Kendrick's favorite wrestlers included Ultimate Warrior, Blue Blazer and Koko B. Ware. He was also a fan of Shawn Michaels, who trained him, and Chris Jericho. He was already very good friends with his former tag team partner Paul London, with Lance Cade and Bryan Danielson, both of whom he trained with.
  Professional wrestling career
  Early career (1999–2002)
  In 1999, he moved to Texas to begin training at the NWA Southwest wrestling school and later attended the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy. It was there that Kendrick adopted the ring name Spanky, a nickname he was given due to his method of staying awake during long drives on the indy circuit. He made his professional wrestling debut on October 4, 1999, in a match with American Dragon that ended in a 10-minute time limit draw.
  In October 2001, Kendrick wrestled American Dragon in the first round of The King of the Indies tournament, but lost. The crowd, however, gave both men a standing ovation after the match.