Spirit Squad

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Spirit Squad
Tag Team
Members	Kenny Johnny Mitch Nicky Mikey
Name(s)	Spirit Squad
Heights	Kenny: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Johnny: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Mitch: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Nicky: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Mikey: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Combined weight	Varies, depending on the combination
Debut	January 23, 2006
Disbanded	November 27, 2006
Promotions	OVW WWE
Trainer	OVW staff

The Spirit Squad was a five member professional wrestling stable in World Wrestling Entertainment on the Raw brand, as well as in WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling. The team consisted of Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, and Mikey with the gimmick of an all-male cheerleading squad. They are former World Tag Team Champions and, by "executive decision", were all collectively recognized as champions and internally decided which two defended the belts at any given time (see Freebird Rule). Their reign marked the first time five wrestlers had been simultaneously recognized as World Tag Team Champions.

[edit] History

[edit] Formation

The group made their first appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) at house shows and in dark matches.^[1] On January 23, 2006, they had their television debut, when they appeared on Raw and helped Jonathan Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry "The King" Lawler by performing cheers for the Coach and distracting Lawler.^[2] In subsequent weeks, the team was hired by several wrestlers to perform cheers for them.^[3]

They eventually became a part of the on-going feud between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. The heel McMahon ordered the Squad to perform disrespectful cheers about Michaels and attack him on numerous occasions, and face him in multiple handicap matches.^[4][5]

While involved in the Michaels/McMahon feud they also continued wrestling in the tag team division, and on the April 3, 2006 edition of Raw, won the World Tag Team Championship when Kenny and Mikey -- with outside help from the other three Squad members -- defeated Kane and The Big Show.^[6][7] After winning the titles an "executive edict" was declared stating that all five members were recognized as the champions, with any two members allowed to defend the titles at once (see Freebird Rule).

On May 1, the night after Backlash, the five members of the Spirit Squad were jointly named "Co-General Managers" of Raw.^[8] During the night, after drawing "spirit straws", they placed Kenny into a title match with WWE Champion John Cena.^[8] Before the match they ordered play-by-play analyst Joey Styles in their office to instruct him on how to call Kenny's upcoming win (which never did come to pass), instructing him to do it "with spirit" or they would force him to call all of the next Raw while wearing a (female) cheerleading uniform.^[8] This led to Styles confronting color-commentator Jerry Lawler and eventually quitting the show (and WWE) in a worked shoot promo.^[8] Kenny lost the match after special referee Triple H, who was conspiring with the Squad, walked out on the match.^[8]

Three weeks later, on Raw in Las Vegas, Nevada, Vince McMahon signed another Handicap Match pitting the Spirit Squad against Shawn Michaels.^[9] The match never started, however, because the Spirit Squad attacked Michaels, ripping apart his ring attire and kayfabe shattering his knee with a steel chair as he was going for his Sweet Chin Music.^[9] McMahon then called Triple H to the ring to finish Michaels off with a sledgehammer shot, however, Kenny snatched the sledgehammer away, disrespecting Triple H, which led to him attacking the group.^[9]

The Spirirt Squad wrestlting against D-Generation X in a handicap match at a house show.

Triple H and Shawn Michaels revived D-Generation X (DX)^[10] and as a team began a feud with the Spirit Squad.^[11] DX played various sophomoric pranks on the Squad and the McMahons,^[10][11][12] as well as defeating the Spirit Squad in handicap tag matches at Vengeance,^[13] and scoring a clean sweep in an elimination handicap match at Saturday Night's Main Event.^[14]

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 their World Tag Team Title. The Squad successfully defended the title against the teams of Jim Duggan and Eugene,^[12] Charlie Haas and Viscera, Snitsky and Val Venis^[12] before entering a lengthy feud with The Highlanders,^[15][16] whom they eventually defeated to retain the titles at Unforgiven.

At the end of September and into October the Squad as a whole began a losing streak with separate members losing singles matches to Ric Flair on consecutive episodes of Raw.^[17][18][19] After Johnny and Mikey lost to the debuting Cryme Tyme on October 16,^[20] Kenny started yelling at the other members of the Spirit Squad in the ring and walked off shouting "I'm tired of losing".^[20] Tensions further escalated the next week, when the Spirit Squad lost to Cryme Tyme a second consecutive week.^[21] After the defeat Kenny attacked Mikey, then announced he would take on Flair, and win, since no other member of the group could do it.^[21] Later in the night he made good on his promise with help from the rest of the Squad, despite Flair bringing a number of fellow "Legends" (Dusty Rhodes, Sgt. Slaughter, and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper) to the ring with him to even the odds.^[21] It was then decided that Flair and one of those legends, of the fans choosing, would wrestle the Squad at Cyber Sunday for the Tag Team championship.^[21] At Cyber Sunday the fans chose Piper and he and Flair defeated Kenny and Mikey to win the title.^[22] At the time of their loss the team had held the title for 216 days, the longest since Owen Hart and The British Bulldog held it for 241 days in 1996 and 1997.

[edit] Breakup and aftermath

The group had its final match on the November 27 Raw where they were defeated in a 5 on 3 match by DX and Ric Flair.^[23] After a triple submission, the group was then "killed off and buried" in a backstage segment when DX dumped them all into a large shipping crate stamped "OVW, Louisville, Kentucky", a reference to the WWE farm territory from which the members had all come.^[23]

After the break up, Kenny emerged as the only member to remain on WWE television, gaining the last name "Dykstra" and continuing the feud with Ric Flair that led to the Spirit Squad's break up.^[24] In Ohio Valley Wrestling, Nicky and Mikey were repackaged as a tag team, called The Frat Pack. Johnny also returned to OVW after the breakup of the Spirit Squad, save for an appearance during a battle royal on an episode of Raw. Nick "Mitch" Mitchell was released from WWE on May 18, 2007.^[25]

[edit] In wrestling

• Finishing moves

• Simultaneous high-angle diving guillotine leg drop (Kenny) / High-angle senton bomb (Mikey) combination
• High Spirits (Four or five man sky lift slam)

• In the five-man version, Kenny performs his high-angle diving guillotine leg drop so that his leg drops across the opponent's throat at the same time as the rest of the Squad lift him into the air.

• Signature moves

• Four man step-up Poetry in Motion
• The Spirit Squad also used a mini-trampoline to perform various aerial moves after bouncing off of it to get into the air

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

• World Wrestling Entertainment

• World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Professional wrestling portal

• The Spirit Squad on Online World of Wrestling
• Spirit Squad Kenny on Online World of Wrestling
• Spirit Squad Johnny on Online World of Wrestling
• Spirit Squad Nicky on Online World of Wrestling
• Spirit Squad Mikey on Online World of Wrestling
• Spirit Squad Mitch on Online World of Wrestling
• Dolph Ziggler's WWE profile