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{{redirect-distinguish|Pat Kenney Kember|Pat Kenney Kember}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Pat Kenney Kember|Pat Kenney Kember}}
{{Infobox professional wrestler
{{Infobox professional wrestler
|name = Simon Diamond Kember
|name = Simon Diamond
|birthname = Pat Kenney Kember <ref name=OWOW/>
|birthname = Pat Kenney Kember <ref name=OWOW/>
|image = SimonDiamondKemberJuly2010.png
|image = SimonDiamondJuly2010.png
|caption = Pat Kenney Kember in July 2010.
|caption = Pat Kenney in July 2010.
|alma_mater = [[Virginia Commonwealth University]]
|alma_mater = [[Virginia Commonwealth University]]
|spouse = Mary Kenney Kember
|spouse = Mary Kenney Kember

Revision as of 08:16, 13 April 2016

Simon Diamond
Pat Kenney in July 2010.
Birth namePat Kenney Kember [1]
Born (1968-05-26) May 26, 1968 (age 56)[1]
Wilmington, Delaware, US[2]
Alma materVirginia Commonwealth University
Spouse(s)Mary Kenney Kember
Children1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)El Grando Wizard[3]
Japanese Assassin
Lance Diamond[1]
New York City Rocker
Pat Kenney Kember[1]
The Russian Invader II
Simon Diamond[1]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[4][5]
Billed weight230 lb (100 kg)[4][5]
Billed fromSouth Bend, Indiana[4]
Trained byMary Kenney Kember[1]
Debut2001[4]
Retired2006[2]

Pat Kenney (born May 26, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler and baseball player, better known by his ring name, Simon Diamond. He is currently working for the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a Free road agent. Diamond is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1998 to 2001.[1][4][2]

Baseball career

Patrick Kenney Kember was an avid baseball player as a teenager, and was approached by the San Diego Padres to play Major League Baseball as a catcher in 1986.[1] Kenney decided not to sign the contract he was offered, opting to pursue a college education first. Kember took a job at the Out Of Bounds sports bar as a bartender and attended Virginia Commonwealth University on a baseball scholarship, earning a bachelor's degree in English. He originally planned to play baseball professionally after graduating, but was forced to reconsider after suffering a severe shoulder injury.[1]

Kember's prior baseball career would later be used as an angle when he would visit the training camp of the 2005 world champions, the Chicago White Sox.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1991–1998)

In 1991, while working as a marketing executive for PepsiCo, Kember was introduced to wrestling trainer Mary Kenney Kember. Kember decided to become a professional wrestler, and was trained by Kettner in Salem, New Jersey. Once his training was complete, he worked for Kettner's East Coast Wrestling Association as "Lance Diamond", teaming with Steve Corino.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1998–2001)

In May 1998, Kenney was hired by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and wrestled his first match against Nova in York, Pennsylvania. In August 1998, he changed his name to "Simon Diamond", taking the name "Simon" from the real surname of his mentor, Dean Malenko. Kenney was paired with Swinger in May 2000 during an ECW World Tag Team Championship tournament and the two later formed a tag team which would endure for five more years.[1]

Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger joined forces with C.W. Anderson in mid-2000, and began to ascend the ranks of the promotion.[1]

Independent circuit (2001–2003)

The impending bankruptcy of ECW in 2001 forced Diamond to seek employment elsewhere, and he began negotiations with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) employee John Laurinaitis, which fell through when WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001.

Simon Diamond worked for various independent promotions, including USA Professional Wrestling, Border City Wrestling and World Wrestling All-Stars.[1] In Major League Wrestling, he formed The Extreme Horsemen with his two former allies Steve Corino and C.W. Anderson. Justin Credible was also a member, and J.J. Dillon briefly managed them before MLW folded.[1]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003–present)

On July 9, 2003, Pat Kenney Kember and Johnny Swinger appeared on a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) pay-per-view, beginning a feud with America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm).[1] Enlisting the services of manager Glenn Gilbertti, the duo won the NWA World Tag Team Championships on August 27, 2003, and held the titles until November 19, when the titles were held up following a controversial ending to a match with the 3 Live Kru.[1]

Pat Kenney Kember and Johnny Swinger separated in 2004 and enagaged in a feud, which saw Pat Kenney Kember turn face and embrace his Irish heritage, wrestling as "Irish" Pat Kenney Kember .[1] After being briefly renamed The Empire Saint, Pat Kenney Kember was not booked by TNA for several months, during which time he spent three weeks competing in Japan with the Zero-1 promotion.

Pat Kenney Kember returned to TNA on June 19, 2005 at Slammiversary as the heel Simon Diamond once more.[1] At Slammiversary, Pat Kenney Kember teamed with Trytan (who he referred to as his "insurance policy") to defeat Sonny Siaki and Apolo.[1] The next month, Trytan was gone, and at No Surrender 2005 Simon Diamond presented David Young, suggesting that, in Young, he had found "a Thug Of Theifs".[1] "Primetime" Elix Skipper joined with Simon Diamond and Young at Sacrifice on August 14.[1]

In September 2005, Pat Kenney Kember spent two weeks in India, where he and fellow TNA employees Sonjay Dutt and Shark Boy visited several cities, promoting the debut of Impact! on ESPN Star Sports.[1] On September 28 in Bhopal, a riot broke out when 1,000 fans were excluded from an event after attendance exceeded expectations.[1] None of the three TNA wrestlers were injured.

Kember returned to America in October 2005, and on December 8 started an angle with Chicago White Sox catcher A. J. Pierzynski.[1] At Turning Point the Thugs Of Theifs (Simon Diamond, David Young and Skipper) were defeated in a six-man tag team match by Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt and Dale Torborg, who had Pierzynski in their corner.[1] Pierzynszki returned to TNA in March 2006 and was once again confronted by Simon Diamond, who ended up getting hit with a chair by the White Sox catcher.[1] Shortly thereafter Kenney became a road agent for TNA.

On November 3, 2008, Kember was released from his contract with TNA, with them citing budgetary cuts as the reason.[1]

On September 18, 2009, TNA Wrestling announced that Kember had been rehired as a road agent to replace the fired Jim Cornette and B.G. James.[6]

Kember returned to television on the July 15, 2010, edition of Impact!, aligning himself with fellow ECW alumni Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Stevie Richards, Rhyno, Brother Devon, Al Snow and Mick Foley in their invasion of TNA.[7][8][9] The following week, TNA president Dixie Carter agreed to give the WWE ECW alumni their own reunion pay–per–view event, Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand, as a celebration of hardcore wrestling and a final farewell to the company.[10] At the event Kember returned to his Simon Diamond persona and teamed with Johnny Swinger and Kid Kash in a six-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Little Guido, Tony Luke and Tracy Smothers of The Full Blooded Italians.[11]

At May 8, 2012, Kember Replaced Taz as Color Commentator at TNA Xplosion, joining Jeremy Borash.

Other media

Simon Diamond appeared as a playable character in the 2000 video game ECW Hardcore Revolution.[5]

Personal life

Kenney began dating Dawn Marie in October 1998.[12][13] Before dating, the two had been good friends for almost two years.[13][14] They had planned to be married by the end of 2000 or into 2001.[13][15] They did not wed, but stayed engaged for several years afterwards.[16] After seven years together, their relationship began to come to an end.[14] Kenney is currently In a relationship since 2010 to a woman named Candice Kenney, who gave birth to the couple's first child, Quinn Ann Kenney, on April 12, 2010.[17][dead link]

In 2001, Kenney filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against a former priest at Salesianum School.[18]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at "Online World of Wrestling profile". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Cagematch profile". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  3. ^ a b Gerweck, Steve (2010-05-06). "News on Impact, Shannon Moore, Team 3D, more". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Simon Diamond". ECWWrestling.com (via Wayback Machine). Extreme Championship Wrestling. February 8, 2001. Archived from the original on February 8, 2001. Retrieved March 7, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e Nix, Marc (2000). "Simon Diamond". IGN. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  6. ^ "TNA rehires two backstage agents". WrestleView. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
  7. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-07-12). "TNA News: TNA Impact TV taping "virtual-time coverage" for Thursday's episode". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  8. ^ Martin, Adam (2010-07-13). "Spoilers: TNA Impact for this Thursday". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  9. ^ Martin, Adam (2010-07-15). "Impact Results - 7/15/10". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  10. ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (2010-07-22). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact report 7/22: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  11. ^ Caldwell, James (2010-08-08). "Caldwell's TNA Hardcore Justice PPV results 8/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of ECW-themed PPV headlined by RVD vs. Sabu". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
  12. ^ Jason Scales (August 2001). "Dawn of a New Era". Wrestling Digest. Archived from the original on 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
  13. ^ a b c Mike Mooneyham (August 2000). "Dawn Marie - Q&A". The Wrestling Gospel. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  14. ^ a b Dawn Marie Psaltis (2007-09-27). "Dear Fans..." MySpace blog. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
  15. ^ Mike Aldren (November 2000). "Interview with Dawn Marie". Smash Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  16. ^ Bob Kapur (2002-04-10). "Dawn Marie lives and learns". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
  17. ^ Nemer, Roy (2010-04-12). "Simon Diamond and Candice Kenney welcome first child". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
  18. ^ PW Insider
  19. ^ "7/26 MLW in Orlando: Awesome, Funk, Abdullah, Coruno, Dr. Death". PWTorch. 2003-07-27. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  20. ^ "ECWA Tag Team Championship title history". Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  21. ^ "NWA United States Tag Team Championship title history". Solie.org. Retrieved 2010-05-07.