Ken Doane

Ken Doane

Doane was trained by former professional wrestlerKiller Kowalski, and made his wrestling debut at the age of fifteen in 2001. He began working forOhio 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 theTelevision Championship once. After losing the title, Doane became part of theSpirit Squad faction. The team debuted on Raw in January 2006, and won theWorld 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 includingDragon Gate USA andEvolve.

Professional wrestling career[]

Early career[]

Doane made his professional wrestling debut in 2001 at the age of fifteen. He started his professional wrestling career in the New England area under thename "Broadway" Kenn Phoenix. He was later trained by professional wrestler and trainerKiller Kowalski in Malden, Massachusetts. After being contacted byWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he was asked to make appearances for their developmental territoryOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Doane made his first national television appearance in WWE at the age of 17 on the May 12, 2003 episode ofWWE Raw as Ken Phoenix. Along with his brother, Mike Phoenix, he was a participant inRodney 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 newBlackout finishing hold. He made another appearance, losing toLance Storm on an episode ofSunday Night Heat before being officially signed to a developmental deal and to OVW full-time on June 4, 2004. On June 3, 2005, Doane had his first match, at the promotion, againstKenzo Suzuki, whom Doane defeated. Three weeks later, on June 25, 2005, he won theOVW Television Championship fromDeuce Shade. He had successful title defenses, but Doane lost the title toCM Punk on November 9, 2005.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006–2008)[]

Raw (2006–2007)[]

Main article:Spirit Squad

After losing the Television Championship, Doane became a part of theSpirit Squad, afaction using thein-ring personas of male cheerleaders, using the name "Kenny". On the January 23, 2006, episode ofRaw, the group helpedJonathan Coachman win aRoyal Rumble qualifying match againstJerry "The King" Lawler by performing cheers for Coachman and distracting Lawler. They later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between WWE chairmanVince McMahon andShawn Michaels. Theheel Mr. McMahon brought in the Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiplehandicap matches.

They also continued wrestling in the tag team division, and on April 3, onRaw, the Squad won theWorld Tag Team Championship when Kenny andMikey, with outside help from the other three Squad members, defeated the team ofBig Show and Kane. After winning the championship, all five members of the team were recognized as the champions, allowing any combination of them to defend the championship.

Three weeks later, McMahon scheduled another handicap match, with the Spirit Squad facing Michaels. The match never started, however; instead the Spirit Squad brutally beat down Michaels, ripping apart his ring attire and, as part of thestoryline, shattered his knee with a steel chair. McMahon then calledTriple 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. Triple H and Michaels revived their former team,D-Generation X (DX), and began a feud with the Spirit Squad. DX played various sophomoric pranks on the team and the McMahons (Vince and his sonShane), as well as defeating the Spirit Squad in handicap tag team matches atVengeance and a clean sweep in an elimination handicap match atSaturday Night's Main Event.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 ofJim Duggan andEugene,Charlie Haas andViscera, andSnitsky andVal Venis. They then entered a lengthy feud withThe Highlanders, whom they eventually defeated to retain the title atUnforgiven. The Squad as a whole later began a losing streak with separate members losing singles matches toRic Flair on consecutive episodes ofRaw. After two consecutive losses to the debutingCryme Tyme, Kenny attacked Mikey on the October 23 episode ofRaw, 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. It was then announced that Flair and a legend, selected by interactive voting, would wrestle the team for the World Tag Team Championship at theCyber Sunday pay-per-view in early November. The fans chose Piper, and he and Flair defeated Kenny and Mikey to win the championship.

The group disbanded on the November 27Raw after losing a five-on-three match against Flair and DX. 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.

After the breakup of the Spirit Squad, he debuted new attire, newtheme music, and a new name; Kenny Dykstra, which was an homage to baseball player Lenny Dykstra. He became interested in joining the groupRated-RKO, which consisted ofEdge andRandy Orton. In order to join, he was told to prove himself first. 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. After the feud with Flair, Dykstra become a mainstay on Raw's sister showHeat, having feuds with bothEugene and Val Venis.

He then formed a tag team withJohnny Nitro, but the duo split when Kenny was drafted to the SmackDown! brand on June 17, 2007, as part of theWWE Supplemental Draft while Nitro was drafted toECW.

SmackDown! and departure (2007–2008)[]

Dykstra made his debut on the July 6, 2007 episode ofSmackDown! in a losing effort to the re-debutingChuck Palumbo. On the July 20, 2007 episode ofSmackDown!, Dykstra participated in a 20-manbattle royal for theWorld Heavyweight Championship and was eliminated byChris Masters; later on that evening, he lost toMatt Hardy in singles competition.

Dykstra formed anon-screen relationship withVictoria on the July 27 episode ofSmackDown!. The two teamed together inmixed tag team matches, usually againstJimmy Wang Yang andTorrie Wilson orChuck Palumbo andMichelle McCool. They also regularly accompanied each other to the ring for matches.

After a leave of absence from television in the first half of 2008, Dykstra made his return on the August 15 episode ofSmackDown, losing toWWE ChampionTriple H. On November 10, 2008, WWE announced Doane had been released from his contract.

Independent circuit[]

In 2009, Doane began working forDragon Gate USA under his real name. On December 3, 2009, it was announced that Doane would be joining recently opened promotionEvolve as Kenn Doane. He debuted at the promotions first show on January 16, 2010, in a loss toJimmy Jacobs. On March 9, 2010, Doane, under his real name, wrestled in a tryout dark match forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling, losing toHomicide. On November 1, 2010, Doane announced that he had turned down a chance to wrestle another tryout match for TNA. On November 15, 2011, Doane wrestled a dark match for WWE at theSmackDown tapings inBridgeport, Connecticut, losing toJustin Gabriel.

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

Return to WWE (2016)[]

Dykstra made a one night return toWWE on the October 4 edition of Smackdown Live along withMike Mondo in theirSpirit Squad characters, appearing in a segment where they would tauntDolph Ziggler about his time in the Spirit Squad. They would then attack Ziggler on orders fromThe Miz until Ziggler fought back and took them both out.

Other media[]

Doane appeared onSeducing Cindy, a Fox Reality series 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. 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 entitledBilly's Bully. The book has a June 2013 release date.

Personal life[]

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

Doane was formerly engaged to fellow professional wrestlerMickie James.

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

Wrestling facts[]

• Finishing and signature moves

• Doane-Nation
• Guillotine Legdrop

• Tag teams and stables

• Phoenix Brothers - withMike Phoenix
• Spirit Squad

• Managers

• Kenny Bolin (OVW)
• Sean Gorman
• SoSay (OVW) (2006)
• Victoria (WWE) (2007-2008)

• Wrestlers trained

• Mike Phoenix

• Theme music

• "Breathe" byThe Prodigy (OVW)
• "Not Falling"byMudvayne (OVW)

Championships and accomplishments[]

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Television Champion (1 time)

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • World Tag Team Champion (1 time) - withJohnny &Mikey &Mitch &Nicky (under the "Freebird Rule")

• New York Wrestling Connection
  • NYWC Tag Team Championship (1 time w/Mikey)

External links[]

• Ken Doane profile at CAGEMATCH.net
• Profile