Ken Doane Kenneth George Doane ( March 16 , 1986 ) is an American professional wrestler formerly signed to World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Kenny Dykstra . Doane also performed as simply Kenny as a member of the Spirit Squad faction . Doane is currently wrestling on the Independent circuit for the promotions Dragon Gate USA and Top Rope Promotions . Doane was trained by former professional wrestler Killer Kowalski , and made his wrestling debut at the age of fifteen in 2001 . He began working for Ohio 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 the Television Championship once . After losing the title , Doane became part of the Spirit Squad faction . The team debuted on Raw in January 2006 , and won the World 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 including Dragon Gate USA and Evolve . 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 the name " Broadway " Kenn Phoenix . He was later trained by professional wrestler and trainer Killer Kowalski in Malden , Massachusetts . 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 five minutes . Mack defeated the pair in 1 : 31 , forcing them both to submit to his new Blackout finishing hold . 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 . On June 3 , 2005 , Doane had his first match , at the promotion , against Kenzo Suzuki , whom Doane defeated . Three weeks later , on June 25 , 2005 , he won the Television Championship from Deuce Shade . He had successful title defenses , but Doane lost the title to CM Punk on November 9 , 2005 . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2006 – 2008 ) . Raw ( 2006 – 2007 ) . After losing the Television Championship , Doane became a part of the Spirit Squad , a faction using the in - ring personas of male cheerleaders , using the name " Kenny " . On the January 23 , 2006 , episode of " Raw " , the group helped Jonathan Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry " The King " Lawler by performing cheers for Coachman and distracting Lawler . They later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels . The villainous McMahon brought in the Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions , including placing them in multiple handicap matches . They also continued wrestling in the tag team division , and on April 3 , on " Raw " , the Squad won the World Tag Team Championship when Kenny and Mikey , with outside help from the other three Squad members , defeated the team of Big 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 the storyline , shattered his knee with a steel chair . McMahon then called Triple 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 son Shane ) , as well as defeating the Spirit Squad in handicap tag team matches at Vengeance and a clean sweep in an elimination handicap match at " Saturday 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 of Jim Duggan and Eugene , Charlie Haas and Viscera , and Snitsky and Val Venis . They then entered a lengthy feud with The Highlanders , whom they eventually defeated to retain the title at Unforgiven . The Squad as a whole later began a losing streak with separate members losing singles matches to Ric Flair on consecutive episodes of " Raw " . After two consecutive losses to the debuting Cryme Tyme , Kenny attacked Mikey on the October 23 episode of " Raw " , 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 the Cyber 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 27 " Raw " 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 , new theme music , and a new name ; Kenny Dykstra , which was an homage to baseball player Lenny Dykstra . He became interested in joining the group Rated - RKO , which consisted of Edge and Randy 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 show " Heat " , having feuds with both Eugene and Val Venis . He then formed a tag team with Johnny Nitro , but the duo split when Kenny was drafted to the SmackDown ! brand on June 17 , 2007 , as part of the WWE Supplemental Draft while Nitro was drafted to ECW . SmackDown ! and departure ( 2007 – 2008 ) . Dykstra made his debut on the July 6 , 2007 episode of " SmackDown ! " in a losing effort to the re - debuting Chuck Palumbo . On the July 20 , 2007 episode 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 . Dykstra formed an on - screen relationship with Victoria on the July 27 episode of " SmackDown ! " . The two teamed together in mixed tag team matches , usually against Jimmy Wang Yang and Torrie Wilson or Chuck Palumbo and Michelle 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 of " SmackDown " , losing to WWE Champion Triple H . On November 10 , 2008 , WWE announced Doane had been released from his contract . Independent circuit ( 2009 – present ) . In 2009 , Doane began working for Dragon Gate USA under his real name . On December 3 , 2009 , it was announced that Doane would be joining recently opened promotion Evolve as Kenn Doane . He debuted at the promotions first show on January 16 , 2010 , in a loss to Jimmy Jacobs . On March 9 , 2010 , Doane , under his real name , wrestled in a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , losing to Homicide . 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 the " SmackDown " tapings in Bridgeport , Connecticut , losing to Justin Gabriel . In October 2011 , Doane took part in the first season tapings of Wrestling Retribution Project ( WRP ) , performing under the ring name " Simply " Stan Shooter . Return to WWE ( 2016 ) . Dykstra made a one night return to WWE on the October 4 edition of Smackdown Live along with Mike Mondo in their Spirit Squad characters , appearing in a segment where they would taunt Dolph Ziggler about his time in the Spirit Squad . They would then attack Ziggler on orders from The Miz until Ziggler fought back and took them both out . Other media . Doane appeared on " Seducing 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 entitled " Billy ' 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 wrestler Mickie James . In 2012 , Doanne enrolled in Nichols College where he started playing football . He plays as a tight end and linebacker .