Thursday, March 17, 2016

What happened to The Spirit Squad?

According to Wikipedia, "The Spirit Squad was a professional wrestling stable that consisted of Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, and Mikey. They are best known for their time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). The team's ring personas were those of an all-male cheerleading squad." The five-man tag team debuted on WWE RAW on January 23, 2006 and disbanded on November 27 that same year.

After the breakup, Kenny (real name Kenneth George Doane) initially received the biggest push of the five, and was re-named Kenny Dykstra as a homage to the former baseball player Lenny Dykstra. Kenny was released from his WWE contract on November 10, 2008. During his solo run in WWE, he was noted for having an on-screen relationship with Victoria. Kenny wrestled on the independent circuit after his release, appearing in Dragon Gate USA, Wrestling Retribution Project and Chikara. During Chikara's 2014 King of Trios tournament, he once again wrestled under his Spirit Squad character alongside Johnny and Mikey.

Johnny (real name Johnny Jeter) was repackaged as Jayden Jeter and wrestled in dark matches and live events, as well as in WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was released from his contract in late 2007, and retired from professional wrestling in 2008 to become an accountant. In 2014, Johnny, along with Kenny and Mikey, wrestled as the Spirit Squad in Chikara's King of Trios tournament.

Mitch (real name Nick Mitchell) was released from his contract on May 15, 2007, and began training for a career in mixed martial arts. He made his MMA debut on April 9, 2010, losing to Derek Lewis via technical knockout from punched in the second round.

Nicky (real name Nick Nemeth) was the most successful of the five members post-breakup. After returning to WWE's developmental territory OVW and later Florida Championship Wrestling, he re-debuted on RAW on September 15, 2008 as Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler, still wrestling in the WWE, has twice been the World Heavyweight Champion, won the Intercontinental Championship four times and also once held the United States Championship.

Mikey (real name Mike Brendli) returned to OVW as Mikey Mondo before being released from the WWE on June 13, 2008. He then spent some time wrestling for several small independent promotions before resigning with OVW. Mondo has also wrestled for Ring of Honor, and appeared in Chikara's 2014 King of Trios tournament as his Spirit Squad character with Kenny and Johnny.