Kenny Dykstra

Kenny Dykstra

Doane in 2009
Birth name Kenneth George Doane
Born (1986-03-16) March 16, 1986[1][2]
Southbridge, Massachusetts[1][2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) El Diablo[1]
Ken Doane[1][3]
Kenn Doane[4]
Kenn Phoenix[1]
Kenny[5]
Kenny Dykstra[5]
Stan Shooter[6]
Billed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[5]
Billed weight 230 lb (100 kg)[5]
Billed from Worcester, Massachusetts[7]
Trained by Killer Kowalski[3]
Ohio Valley Wrestling[3]
Debut 2001[3]

Kenneth George Doane[1] (born March 16, 1986)[1][2] is an American professional wrestler best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he wrestled on its Raw and SmackDown brands under the ring names Kenny and Kenny Dykstra.[8]

Doane was trained by former professional wrestler Killer Kowalski, and made his wrestling debut at the age of fifteen in 2001. He began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), per WWE request. In May 2003, Doane made his WWE television debut as "Ken Phoenix". During his time in OVW, he won the Television Championship once. After losing the title, Doane became part of the Spirit Squad faction. The team debuted on Raw in January 2006, and won the World Tag Team Championship three months later.

Following the split of the Spirit Squad, Doane was the only member to remain on WWE television. He debuted to a new ring name "Kenny Dykstra". In June 2007, he was drafted to the SmackDown! brand, but was released from his WWE contract in November 2008. He later began working on the independent circuit, wrestling for promotions including Dragon Gate USA and Evolve.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2001-2006)

Doane made his professional wrestling debut in 2001 at the age of fifteen.[3][5] He started his professional wrestling career in the New England area under the name "Broadway" Kenn Phoenix.[9] He was later trained by professional wrestler and trainer Killer Kowalski in Malden, Massachusetts.[5][7] After being contacted by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he was asked to make appearances for their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Doane made his first national television appearance in WWE at the age of 17 on the May 12, 2003 episode of WWE Raw as Ken Phoenix. Along with his brother, Mike Phoenix, he was a participant in Rodney Mack's ongoing "5-Minute White Boy Challenge" where Mack defeated Caucasian wrestlers in under five minutes. Mack defeated the pair in 1:31, forcing them both to submit to his new Blackout finishing hold.[10] He made another appearance, losing to Lance Storm on an episode of Sunday Night Heat before being officially signed to a developmental deal and to OVW full-time on June 4, 2004.[5] On June 3, 2005, Doane had his first match, at the promotion, against Kenzo Suzuki, whom Doane defeated.[5] Three weeks later, on June 25, 2005, he won the Television Championship from Deuce Shade.[11] He had successful title defenses, but Doane lost the title to CM Punk on November 9, 2005.[5]

World Wrestling Entertainment

Raw (2006–2007)

Main article: Spirit Squad

After losing the Television Championship, Doane became a part of the Spirit Squad, a faction using the in-ring personas of male cheerleaders, using the name "Kenny".[5] On the January 23, 2006, episode of Raw, the group helped Jonathan Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry "The King" Lawler by performing cheers for Coachman and distracting Lawler.[12] They later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. The villainous McMahon brought in the Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiple handicap matches.[13][14]

Members of the Spirit Squad in the ring, including Kenny on the right.

They also continued wrestling in the tag team division, and on April 3, on Raw, the Squad won the World Tag Team Championship when Kenny and Mikey, with outside help from the other three Squad members, defeated the team of Big Show and Kane.[15][16] After winning the championship, all five members of the team were recognized as the champions, allowing any combination of them to defend the championship.[2]

Three weeks later, McMahon scheduled another handicap match, with the Spirit Squad facing Michaels.[17][18] The match never started, however; instead the Spirit Squad brutally beat down Michaels, ripping apart his ring attire and, as part of the storyline, shattered his knee with a steel chair.[17] McMahon then called Triple H to the ring to attack Michaels with a sledgehammer; however, Kenny snatched the sledgehammer away from him, disrespecting Triple H, which led to him attacking the group.[17] Triple H and Michaels revived their former team, D-Generation X (DX), and began a feud with the Spirit Squad.[19][20] DX played various sophomoric pranks on the team and the McMahons (Vince and his son Shane), as well as defeating the Spirit Squad in handicap tag team matches at Vengeance and a clean sweep in an elimination handicap match at Saturday Night's Main Event.[20][21][22][23]

At the same time as their feud with DX and their alignment with McMahon, the team also wrestled other teams in Raw's tag division over the World Tag Team Championship. The group successfully defended the tag team championship against the teams of Jim Duggan and Eugene, Charlie Haas and Viscera, and Snitsky and Val Venis.[21] They then entered a lengthy feud with The Highlanders,[24][25] whom they eventually defeated to retain the title at Unforgiven.[26]

The Squad as a whole later began a losing streak with separate members losing singles matches to Ric Flair on consecutive episodes of Raw.[27][28][29] After two consecutive losses to the debuting Cryme Tyme, Kenny attacked Mikey on the October 23 episode of Raw, and announced that he was going to defeat Flair. Kenny was successful, despite Flair attempting to even the odds by bringing other WWE Legends (Dusty Rhodes, Sgt. Slaughter, and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper) to the ring with him.[30][31] It was then announced that Flair and a legend, selected by interactive voting, would wrestle the team for the World Tag Team Championship at the Cyber Sunday pay-per-view in early November.[31] The fans chose Piper, and he and Flair defeated Kenny and Mikey to win the championship.[32]

The group disbanded on the November 27 Raw after losing a five-on-three match against Flair and DX.[33] Later that night, DX placed all five members into a crate stamped "OVW, Louisville, Kentucky", a reference to the developmental territory from which the Squad had come.[34]

After the breakup of the Spirit Squad, he debuted new attire, new theme music, and a new name; Kenny Dykstra, which was an homage to baseball player Lenny Dykstra.[8][35] He became interested in joining the group Rated-RKO, which consisted of Edge and Randy Orton. In order to join, he was told to prove himself first.[36] He continued the feud with Ric Flair that led to the breakup of the Spirit Squad, managing to pick up three straight victories over Flair before finally losing to him.[5] After the feud with Flair, Dykstra become a mainstay on Raw's sister show Heat, having feuds with both Eugene and Val Venis.

He then formed a tag team with Johnny Nitro,[37] but the duo split when Kenny was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on June 17, 2007, as part of the WWE Supplemental Draft while Nitro was drafted to ECW.[38]

SmackDown! and departure (2007–2008)

Dykstra made his debut on the July 6, 2007 episode of SmackDown! in a losing effort to the re-debuting Chuck Palumbo.[39] On the July 20, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, Dykstra participated in a 20-man battle royal for the World Heavyweight Championship and was eliminated by Chris Masters; later on that evening, he lost to Matt Hardy in singles competition.[40]

Dykstra formed an on-screen relationship with Victoria on the July 27 episode of SmackDown!.[41] The two teamed together in mixed tag team matches, usually against Jimmy Wang Yang and Torrie Wilson or Chuck Palumbo and Michelle McCool.[42] They also regularly accompanied each other to the ring for matches.[43][44]

After a leave of absence from television in the first half of 2008, Dykstra made his return on the August 15 episode of SmackDown, losing to WWE Champion Triple H. On November 10, 2008, WWE announced Doane had been released from his contract.[45]

Independent circuit (2009–present)

Doane in 2010.

In 2009, Doane began working for Dragon Gate USA under his real name.[3] On December 3, 2009, it was announced that Doane would be joining recently opened promotion Evolve as Kenn Doane.[4] He debuted at the promotions first show on January 16, 2010, in a loss to Jimmy Jacobs.[46]

On March 9, 2010, Doane, under his real name, wrestled in a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, losing to Homicide.[5] On November 1, 2010, Doane announced that he had turned down a chance to wrestle another tryout match for TNA.[47] On November 15, 2011, Doane wrestled a dark match for WWE at the SmackDown tapings in Bridgeport, Connecticut, losing to Justin Gabriel.[48]

In October 2011, Doane took part in the first season tapings of Wrestling Retribution Project (WRP), performing under the ring name "Simply" Stan Shooter.[6]

In September 2014, Doane took part in Chikara's 2014 King of Trios tournament, using his Spirit Squad character and teaming with Johnny and Mikey.[49] After a win over Sinn Bodhi and the Odditorium (Qefka the Quiet and Sir Oliver Grimsly) on September 19, the Spirit Squad was eliminated from the tournament in the second round on September 20 by the Golden Trio (Dasher Hatfield, Icarus, and Mark Angelosetti).[50]

Other media

Doane appeared on Seducing Cindy, a Fox Reality series[51] that follows Cindy Margolis, once the most downloaded woman on the Internet, as she searches for a new love. The program premiered on January 30, 2010.[52] Doane made it to the final five, one episode away from the season finale, but was eliminated.

In 2013, while rehabbing a knee injury, Doane penned his first children's book entitled Billy's Bully. The book was released in June 2013.[53]

Personal life

Doane was born to Ken and Vickie Doane[7] in Southbridge, Massachusetts. His parents were supportive of his decision in becoming a professional wrestler.[7] He has an older brother named Mike. Doane attended Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School in Charlton, Massachusetts.[7]

Doane was formerly engaged to fellow professional wrestler Mickie James.

In 2012, Doanne enrolled in Nichols College where he started playing football. He plays as a tight end and linebacker.[54]

In wrestling

Doane performing his "Sky High Leg Drop" (a High-angle diving leg drop)
Doane performing a suplex.

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

a Kenny defended the championship with either Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, or Mikey under the Freebird Rule.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "IGN: Kenny Dykstra". IGN. Archived from the original on February 17, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Slam Sports — Wrestling — Kenny Dykstra". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Ken Doane". Dragon Gate USA. Retrieved July 25, 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Evolve profile". Evolve Wrestling. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Kenny Dykstra Bio". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 "First look at Ken Doane's character in WRP". Pro Wrestling Torch. December 8, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilson, Jim (February 12, 2007). "The road to WWE stardom". Worcester Telegram & Gazette (The New York Times Company). Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 "Kenny Dykstra's WWE Profile". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  9. ↑ "PWF title history and New England Championship Wrestling". New England Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  10. ↑ Tylwalk, Nick (May 12, 2003). "WWE Raw Report — May 12, 03". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  11. 1 2 "OVW Television Championship". Ohio Valley Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Ready to Rumble". World Wrestling Entertainment. January 23, 2006. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  13. ↑ Plummer, Dale (February 21, 2006). "Raw: Gee, Triple H wins, surprise, surprise". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  14. ↑ Plummer, Dale (March 14, 2006). "Raw: Testing the HBK-McMahons feud". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  15. ↑ "The Champ bows down to the "King of Kings"". World Wrestling Entertainment. April 3, 2006. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  16. ↑ "World Tag Team Championships - Spirit Squad". World Wrestling Entertainment. April 3, 2006. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  17. 1 2 3 Dee, Louie (May 22, 2006). "Apology Accepted?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  18. ↑ Plummer, Dale (May 22, 2006). "Raw: HHH helps out HBK". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 11, 2010.
  19. ↑ Dee, Louie (June 19, 2006). "DX breaks it down". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  20. 1 2 Dee, Louie (June 26, 2006). "It happens". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  21. 1 2 Williams III, Ed (July 3, 2006). "Stolen Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  22. ↑ Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk (June 21, 2006). "DX returns with a Vengeance". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  23. ↑ Zeigler, Zack (July 15, 2006). "DX dismantles the Spirit Squad". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  24. ↑ Zeigler, Zack (2006-07-24). "Samoan Sabotage". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  25. ↑ Zeigler, Zack (July 31, 2006). "HBK gets smoked". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  26. ↑ Elliott, Brian (September 18, 2006). "Unforgiven just averages out". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  27. ↑ LeRoux, Yves (September 19, 2006). "Raw: Montreal crowd hot for super show". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  28. ↑ Plummer, Dale (September 27, 2006). "Raw: The King's court invades". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  29. ↑ Plummer, Dale (October 10, 2006). "Raw: Brands mix at Family Reunion". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  30. ↑ Plummer, Dale (October 17, 2006). "Raw: Bring out the "celebrities"". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  31. 1 2 Zeigler, Zack (October 23, 2006). "On the same page?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  32. ↑ Elliott, Brian (November 6, 2006). "K-Fed costs Cena at Cyber Sunday". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  33. ↑ Dee, Louie (November 27, 2006). "R-K-Anarchy". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  34. ↑ Plummer, Dale (November 28, 2006). "Raw: The return of the Hardys". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved January 6, 2010.
  35. ↑ Marvez, Alex (February 27, 2009). "WWE can't curb Doane's spirit". Rocky Mountain News (E. W. Scripps Company). And then there's Doane, who WWE inexplicably renamed after former Philadelphia Phillies/New York Mets star Lenny Dykstra
  36. ↑ Hoffman, Brett (December 4, 2006). "Divide and conquer". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  37. ↑ Rote, Andrew. "Dykstra's foxy new look". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved June 1, 2007.
  38. ↑ "WWE Supplemental Draft". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
  39. ↑ Rote, Andrew. "A big surprise". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
  40. ↑ DiFino, Lennie. "Giant change to Friday nights". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved July 20, 2007.
  41. ↑ Fuhrman, Alissa (July 27, 2007). "Who's ready to clash after The Bash?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
  42. ↑ Difino, Lennie (September 14, 2007). "Forgive and forget?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
  43. ↑ Fuhrman, Alissa (August 3, 2007). "Handing notice". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
  44. ↑ Fuhrman, Alissa (August 10, 2007). "Answer to the challenge?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved December 17, 2007.
  45. ↑ "Kenny Dykstra, Elijah Burke and Lena Yada released". World Wrestling Entertainment. November 10, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  46. ↑ "1/16 Evolve in Rahway, N.J.: Debut show — Tommy Dreamer involved, Davey Richards vs. Kota Ibushi, Jimmy Jacobs vs. Ken Doane (Kenny Dykstra in WWE)". Pro Wrestling Torch. January 17, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
  47. ↑ Alvarez, Bryan (November 2, 2010). "Tues update: Election, lots of Raw notes, UFC drug failure, Punk injury, Carpentier, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 2, 2010. Ken Doane on his Twitter said he was offered a TNA tryout on November 8th and 9th but turned it down because he didn't feel like flying himself in and working for free.
  48. ↑ Tedesco, Mike (November 15, 2011). "Spoilers: WWE NXT for November 16". WrestleView. Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  49. ↑ Caldwell, James (August 21, 2014). "Chikara news: Former WWE faction officially announced for King of Trios tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  50. ↑ Namako, Jason (September 20, 2014). "9/19-9/21 Chikara Results: Easton, PA (King of Trios weekend)". WrestleView. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  51. ↑ Caldwell, James (December 15, 2009). "Other News: Former WWE wrestler Ken Doane appearing in new reality TV show". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  52. ↑ "Fox Reality Channel and Glassman Media Set Out to Find a Perfect Match for Internet Sensation Cindy Margolis". Reuters (Thomson Reuters). April 6, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
  53. ↑ "Ex-WWE Villian Slams Bullies With First Children's Book". TMZ. February 10, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  54. ↑ "2012 Football Roster: #41 Kenneth Doane II". Nichols College. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  55. ↑ "History of the World Tag Team Championship: Spirit Squad". World Wrestling Entertainment. April 3, 2006. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
  56. ↑ "PWF North East Titles Histories". PWF North East. Retrieved January 27, 2010.

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