That old salty sea dog Brian Kendrick may have some wind in his sails yet. The resident buccaneer of the Raw-exclusive Cruiserweight division made a towering statement Monday night, knocking off T.J. Perkins in Monday’s opening contest. Mercifully for Perkins, the bout was non-title and the WWE Cruiserweight Championship will stay with him, but the sting of Kendrick’s defeat will likely linger for a good long while as well.

Perkins, to his credit, came out swinging, blasting Kendrick with a dropkick after “The Wizard of Odd” delivered a sardonic opening handshake, but Kendrick literally used every inch of the ring to his advantage, trapping Perkins’ fingers in the hinge of the ring posts. TJP was never the same after that. Even after Perkins kicked out of Sliced Bread No. 2, the resilient Kendrick raked Perkins’ eyes to soften him up for a Captain’s Hook that earned him the tapout win.