wrestling / Columns
The Shimmy 07.20.09: Save the Cheerleader
January 23, 2006
With just six days to go before the Royal Rumble everybody was trying to secure a spot into the 30-man main event, even Raw commentators Jonathan Coachman and Jerry “The King” Lawler. A few minutes into the clash between the two broadcast partners a rather…odd group of individuals made their presence known.
These guys…
This provided enough distraction for “The Coach” to score the win and advance to the Royal Rumble Match. This new green clad group would show up at the Rumble as well, performing a pre-match cheer. Yes, just five years after a male cheerleader took over the White House it appeared that male cheerleaders had come to take over World Wrestling Entertainment. As the weeks went on we would learn more about them, and their catchy theme song would educate us to their names.
KENNY!
JOHNNY!
MITCH!
NICKY!
MIKEY!
And they were…the SPIRIT SQUAD.
As the weeks wore on the group became more infuriating and more dangerous. They even became Mr. McMahon’s own personal henchmen. Maybe it was the fact that with five members they were practically guaranteed the numbers advantage. Maybe it was Mr. McMahon’s latent homoerotic feelings reaching out to the annoying athletic supporters. Maybe it was his Irish heritage’s long standing appreciation for the color green. Whatever the rationale was, in the spring and summer of 2006 wherever Mr. McMahon went the Spirit Squad was not too far behind.
It’s this relationship with the boss that got them some high profile gigs. They appeared in a key match at WrestleMania 22, Mr. McMahon’s No Holds Barred Match against Shawn Michaels. They had even decimated HBK in a five-on-one Steel Cage Match just prior to Mania. The night after WrestleMania they won the World Tag Team Championship from the colossal team of Big Show & Kane, and thanks to Mr. McMahon they were allowed to defend it Freebird (plus two) style. Perhaps even more impressive was the fact that they were instrumental in helping the McMahons vanquish both the Showstoppa and the Lord Almighty at Backlash.
Unfortunately that sacrilegious victory would be the high point of the stable’s run. While the Creator may not have been a good enough partner for Shawn Michaels to beat a bunch of male cheerleaders, Triple H apparently was. With D-Generation X reformed on Raw the Spirit Squad’s days were numbered. While they were able to secure a main event PPV spot against the D-Generates, as well as a featured match on Saturday Night’s Main Event, the outcome was always the same: the Spirit Squad got destroyed. Even when DX would start to lose interest in them it was not a young, upstart team that would finally dethrone them for the World Tag Team Titles, but the veteran team of Ric Flair & Rowdy Roddy Piper. It was one last embarrassment at the hands of DX that would end the Spirit Squad’s run as they were packed away and shipped (literally) back to WWE’s then-developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling live on national television. Now there was no longer strength in numbers. The Squad would have to survive as individuals now.
Mitch was the first to go.
As Nick Mitchell he was a competitor on the SmackDown version of Tough Enough, the season that produced Daniel Puder and The Miz. Following his elimination from the competition Mitch continued to learn the ropes in OVW. The next thing you know he is one fifth of the World Tag Team Champions. To be fair Mitch was always participated the least out of his Squad-mates and was clearly last on the Spirit Squad depth chart. Pretty much the only action he ever received was when all five members wrestled at once (outside of one rather random challenge to Shawn Michaels), so his release wasn’t all that surprising. Still, even with his release from WWE it is possible that Mitch won out better than his fellow Squaders.
The energetic Mikey was the next to be scratched off the list.
While there is no real confirmation of this, Mikey is probably the one that benefitted the most from Elijah Burke turning down a spot in this group. Mike Mondo was little more than a jobber in OVW when he got the call to join, and given his size, or lack thereof, he was unlikely to have found much success in the land of giants on his own. Mikey certainly took the ball and ran with it though. Mikey was one of the more memorable cheerleaders as his Crash Holly-like energy made him stand out. While most of the Spirit Squad didn’t get much of an opportunity to showcase their personalities Mikey managed to squeeze the most out of what little time he had. It is that energy that many thought might have gotten him back onto the main roster, but it was not to be. After heading back to OVW, Mondo was fortunate enough to make the jump to Florida Championship Wrestling when WWE opened it up, but his time there would be short lived. Mikey picked the wrong time to get busted for a D.U.I. and he ended up being S.O.L. (and you know what that means! © Mike Sanders)
Of all five Spirit Squad members, to me Johnny seemed like he had the most potential. While Kenny got all the hype and Mikey got all the attention, it was Johnny who was quietly handling most of the legwork for the group. In OVW Johnny Jeter received most of his notoriety as the tag team partner of Tough Enough winner Matt Cappotelli. Together they formed the Thrillseekers and were on the verge of being called up to the main roster a number of times. When it was apparent that there time as a tag team was not going to come on the big stage they engaged in a heated rivalry, a rivalry that marked booker Paul Heyman’s time in the territory. By many accounts OVW was one of the best wrestling shows in the country at the time of the Cappotelli-Jeter split. When Cappotelli took a leave of absence following the discovery of his brain tumor, however, Jeter was left without a purpose. Enter the Spirit Squad. Johnny would clearly be the No. 2 Spirit Squad member, only behind leader Kenny. In the Spirit Squad’s only PPV main event at Vengeance 2006 it was Johnny that stole the show, showcasing his ninja moves while overcoming a broken nose and a fair bit of blood loss.
Following the Spirit Squad’s OVW shipment Jeter actually seemed like he may have made it back to the main roster. He appeared on a big three hour Raw, filling out the “Biggest Battle Royal in Raw History” and even went out on the road with the ECW crew under the name Jayden Jeter. Somewhere along the way it seems like WWE lost interest and Jeter was quietly released from the company. It appears as if Jeter is currently out of the wrestling business.
And then there was Kenny (not to be confused with Sam Eagle).
From the get go Kenny was billed as the leader, and supposedly most talented, of the group. He even received a WWE Championship Match against John Cena while with the Spirit Squad. Prior to making it to the main roster Ken Doane was receiving rave reviews as this wrestling prodigy so it is no wonder that he was pushed so highly with the group. After the Spirit Squad was disbanded it was Kenny that continued to wrestle on the main roster, getting the last name of Dykstra. Kenny Dykstra started off pretty hot, frequently teaming with Rated RKO, feuding with Ric Flair and even defeating him on PPV, and challenging Bobby Lashley for the ECW Title on a noteworthy episode of Monday Night Raw.
It was all downhill from there. When he failed to get a spot on the WrestleMania 23 card Kenny fell into an aimless string of events. He floated along, briefly forming tag teams with the likes of Chris Masters and Johnny Nitro, switching to SmackDown, and feuding with Chuck Palumbo. Dykstra’s last real claim to fame, aside from dating Mickie James for a time, was a competitive match with ECW Champion CM Punk one Tuesday evening. It is rumored that Dykstra’s bad attitude contributed to his eventual release, and the once promising phenom was now off the big show. After being out of the spotlight for a while Dykstra recently has resurfaced as a member of the Dragon Gate USA roster and is scheduled to face 2 Cold Scorpio this weekend.
With four down it only seemed natural that the fifth would also go.
Nicky was far from a notable member of the group, probably fourth on the depth chart, just barely above Mitch. And unlike his fellow Squad members this was actually his second stint on the main roster. A few months prior to his Spirit Squad debut Nick Nemeth served as the caddy for Kerwin White, Chavo Guerrero’s anti-minority alter ego.
Nicky didn’t get all that much face time in the role, the highlight probably teaming with Kerwin against Val Venis & Matt Striker on Sunday Night Heat before Taboo Tuesday 2005. With the death of Chavo’s uncle Eddie, Kerwin was no more and Nemeth was out of a job. Then came the Spirit Squad and this was his second chance. When that finished up relatively quickly it was uncertain whether or not he could hang on. He returned to the developmental territories like his Spirit Squad teammates and slowly started developing a new persona. Soon “The Natural” Nic Nemeth was on tour with the big boys once again, doing house shows and dark matches with his big muscle, Rob Terry, now the British Invasion’s “insurance policy” in TNA, watching his back. Obviously this appeared to be more of a plan to get Terry over (see: Kendrick, The Brian), but at least it was something. When Terry was released from his WWE contract though, things had to look pretty bleak.
Then it happened. On September 15, 2008 the world was introduced, literally, to Dolph Ziggler.
Off the bat this didn’t seem like that big of a deal, even less so when he received a 30-day suspension under the Wellness Policy shortly afterward. When he returned he was mocked by Shawn Michaels backstage but also gave Batista a run for his money in his first match on Raw. After that, however, there was little follow up. He did find himself a participant in the 2009 Royal Rumble, but he suffered a very quick exit after trying to introduce himself to Kane. Ziggler floundered on Raw until being moved to SmackDown in the Supplemental Draft in April 2009. That moved seemed to be just what he needed. On his first official SmackDown Ziggler found himself in a high profile United States Championship Match against MVP in Madison Square Garden with “The View’s” Sherri Shephard at ringside. While he came up short in that match it was clear that his stock was rising. After spending a few months taking on The Great Khali it now appears as if he’s ready to make the jump to the big time.
Once one of the lowest members on the Spirit Squad pyramid, Dolph Ziggler has risen to the top. He’s rubbing elbows with the likes of Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho, and Rey Mysterio. He’s scoring wins over John Morrison, a guy who himself is scoring wins over the World Heavyweight Champion. In six days Ziggler will challenge Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship, and his odds of winning that title are greatly improved from when he faced MVP three months ago. This past Friday on SmackDown JR called the quartet of Hardy, Mysterio, Jericho, and Ziggler four of the brightest stars on SmackDown. High praise for a show that also includes Undertaker, Edge, CM Punk, and Kane.
Ziggler’s entrance music states that “[he] is perfection.” After making it to where he is today it’s possible that is true. He is a survivor, outlasting three gimmicks and four tag team partners. Long gone are his days of toting golf bags or shaking pom poms. WWE did indeed save the cheerleader and it may prove to be one of the best ideas they have had in some time.
The Shimmy Likes it Raw!
What’s on tap for tonight’s show?
Well that does it for this week’s column. Until next time, don’t die. Clark…out.
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