Kenny Dykstra
Ring name(s)	El Diablo[1] Ken Doane[1][2][3] Kenn Phoenix[1] Kenny Kenny Dykstra[3] Kenny Doanne
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight	234 lb (106 kg)
Born	March 16, 1986 (1986-03-16) (age 23)[1][4] Southbridge, Massachusetts[1][4]
Resides	Richmond, Virginia
Billed from	Worcester, Massachusetts
Trained by	Killer Kowalski[2] OVW staff[2]
Debut	2001[2]

Kenneth George Doane^[1] (born March 16, 1986)^[1][4] is an American professional wrestler best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment where he wrestled on its Raw and SmackDown brands under the ring name Kenny Dykstra.^[5]

[edit] Professional wrestling career

[edit] Early career

Doane made his professional wrestling debut in 2001 at the age of fifteen.^[2][3] He started his professional wrestling career in the New England area under the name "Broadway" Kenn Phoenix.^[6] He was later trained by professional wrestler and trainer Killer Kowalski.^[3] 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 5 minutes. Mack defeated the pair in 1:31, forcing them both to submit to his new Blackout finishing hold.^[7] 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.^[3][8]

[edit] World Wrestling Entertainment (2006–2008)

[edit] Raw (2006–2007)

After two years in OVW, where he won the Television Championship,^[9] Doane debuted on Raw as a member of the Spirit Squad.^[10] The Squad became closely associated with The McMahons and feuded with DX,^[11] and Ric Flair.^[12] Kenny and Mikey won the World Tag Team Championship on the Raw after WrestleMania 22 from Kane and The Big Show.^[13] Under the Freebird Rule, any combination of the 5 members could defend the titles. They held the titles for 216 days until they lost them to Flair and Roddy Piper at Cyber Sunday.

After the breakup of the Spirit Squad, Kenny became interested in joining Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton), who insisted that he "prove himself" first.^[14] During this time, Doane debuted new attire, new theme music, and a new name; Kenny Dykstra (the moniker a homage to baseball player Lenny Dykstra).^[5] 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.^[3] 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,^[15] but the duo split when Kenny was drafted to SmackDown! on June 17, 2007 as part of the WWE Supplemental Draft while Nitro was drafted to ECW.^[16]

[edit] SmackDown! and departure (2007–2008)

Dykstra made his debut on the July 6, 2007 edition of SmackDown! in a losing effort to the re-debuting Chuck Palumbo.^[17] On the July 20, 2007 edition 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.^[18]

Dykstra formed an on-screen relationship with Victoria on the July 27 edition of SmackDown!.^[19] The two teamed together in mixed tag team matches, usually against Jimmy Wang Yang and Torrie Wilson, and more recently Chuck Palumbo and Michelle McCool.^[20] They also regularly accompanied each other to the ring for matches.^[21][22]

After a leave of absence from television in the first half of 2008, Dykstra made his return on the August 15 edition of SmackDown, losing to WWE Champion Triple H. On November 10, 2008, WWE announced Dykstra had been released from his contract.^[23]

[edit] Dragon Gate USA (2009)

In 2009, Doane began working for Dragon Gate USA under his real name.^[2]

[edit] Personal life

In early July 2006, a man named James Wilson claimed that Doane and his then-fiancee, Mickie James were in a car when he approached them for an autograph.^[24] According to Wilson, James was friendly and signed his poster but Doane grabbed it and sped off, tearing the poster and causing him to fall and injure his shoulder.^[24] As a result, Doane was charged with assault, battery, and vandalism.^[24] WWE officials offered Wilson autographs, but he refused and said that he wanted money from Doane.^[24]

Doane has a signature designed tattoo on his upper biceps.

[edit] In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Doane–Nation^[3] (Diving clothesline)^[2] – OVW
  • RK–Doane (Jumping cutter)^[2] – OVW; parodied from Randy Orton
  • Sky High Leg Drop^[2] (High–angle diving guillotine leg drop)^[2][25]
  • Whiplash^[26] – 2007

• Signature moves
  • Arm drag rolled through and followed into multiple short-arm clotheslines^[2]
  • Belly to back suplex lifted and dropped into a neckbreaker slam^[2] – OVW
  • Elevated neckbreaker^[2]

• Managers
  • Kenny Bolin
  • Dean Ripley
  • Sosay
  • The rest of the Spirit Squad
  • Victoria

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Television Championship (1 time)^[9]

• Premiere Wrestling Federation Northeast
  • PWF–NE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Johnny Curtis

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #123 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in PWI 500 in 2007^[27]

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – as a member of the Spirit Squad^[28]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Professional wrestling portal

• Dragon Gate USA profile
• Ken Doane at TV.com
• December 16, 2008 Audio Interview with Kenn Doane aka Kenny Dykstra
• Kenny Dykstra Interview with In Your Head on Nov 27, 08
• Interview Recap with In Your Head (Nov 27, 08)