Kenny King Kenny Layne ( July 22 , 1981 ) is an American professional wrestler , better known by his ring name , Kenny King , currently wrestling for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) where he became the X Division Champion from February 28 until June 2 , 2013 . He was a contestant in the second season of " WWF Tough Enough " . He is also known for his time in Ring of Honor ( ROH ) , where he was one - time ROH World Tag Team Champion . Layne also works as a Chippendales dancer . Career . " Tough Enough " and independent circuit . Layne tried out for the second season of the World Wrestling Federation ' s reality television program " WWE Tough Enough " after seeing an advertisement in 2002 . While on the series , he was trained by Al Snow , Bob Holly , Chavo Guerrero , Jr . , and Ivory . Layne was one of the four finalists of the season , which was won by Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles . Layne then began wrestling on the independent circuit immediately following " Tough Enough " . He trained under Nick Bockwinkel , Gary " Rush " Mills , and Scott Casey at the Las Vegas Wrestling Academy . In addition to wrestling under his own name , he also occasionally used the ring name s " Tough Enough Kenny " and " Kenny King " . Layne appeared with Ultimate Pro Wrestling in Anaheim , California on April 25 , 2003 . He defeated former " The Real World " cast member ( and future " Tough Enough " contestant ) Mike Mizanin in what was promoted as a " reality television match " . In mid - 2003 and early 2004 King worked for Revolution Pro Wrestling in Industry , California . Between 2003 and 2005 he worked for the Alternative Wrestling Show promotion in California as " The Natural " Kenny King . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2005 – 2006 ) . Layne debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) on the December 3 , 2005 episode of " TNA Impact ! " , losing to Abyss in a short squash match . He continued working for TNA throughout the end of 2005 and start of 2006 , but failed to win a single match . He was used as a jobber — wrestlers who consistently lose to make their opponents look stronger — both in singles and tag team competition , losing to wrestlers including Ron Killings , Lance Hoyt , and Monty Brown . In January 2006 , he teamed with Buck Quartermaine to lose to the James Gang and Team 3D . Layne was released from TNA in August 2006 . Full Impact Pro . King works primarily for Full Impact Pro ( FIP ) , where he was part of the " Young , Rich and Ready For Action " ( The YRR ) stable with Chasyn Rance , Sal Rinauro , Steve Madison , Claudio Castagnoli and Daffney . On November 9 , 2007 , King and Jason Blade won the FIP Tag Team Championship by defeating the Briscoe Brothers ( Jay and Mark ) . Ring of Honor ( 2007 – 2012 ) . King made his Ring of Honor ( ROH ) debut at " Motor City Madness 2007 " on ' September 14 , 2007 , alongside his YRR teammate Chasyn Rance , when they defeated Mitch Franklin and Alex Payne in a tag team match . After the match , however , the YRR cut a promo , challenging the ROH wrestlers , which led to Bryan Danielson defeating both King and Rance in impromptu singles match . Over the next several months , King competed in tag team matches with some combination of Rance , Sal Rinauro , and Jason Blade to varying degrees of success . At " Age of Insanity " in August 2008 , King challenged Danielson again , but was again unsuccessful , and he went on to lose to Kevin Steen at " Night of the Butcher II " and Jerry Lynn at " Glory by Honor VII " . At " The French Connection " show , King tagged with Kenny Omega to face the Briscoe Brothers , but abandoned Omega halfway during the match , when Rhett Titus came to ringside . King and Titus left together , showing a new alliance between them . Over the next few months , King and Titus competed both in singles and tag team competition , and unsuccessfully challenged Kevin Steen and El Generico for the ROH World Tag Team Championship at " Insanity Unleashed " . At " Steel City Clash " , King and Titus revealed their alliance with Austin Aries , when they attacked Aries ' former allies , Erick Stevens and Matt Cross , with Aries becoming a mentor to King and Titus . The team garnered a second shot at the ROH World Tag Championship on ROH ' s television program , " Ring of Honor Wrestling " , and picked up a series of wins during the " Double Feature II " tour of Canada , and at the " Never Say Die " and " Validation " shows . King lost to Danielson once again in singles competition at " Contention " , and he and Titus were defeated by The Young Bucks at " Manhattan Mayhem III " . More wins followed at " Violent Tendencies " and " End of an Age " . At the " Ring of Honor Wrestling " tapings on August 15 , 2009 , King beat Lynn . After the match , King and Titus attacked Lynn , and performed a spike piledriver on Lynn , removing Lynn from active competition . He continued on a winning streak , defeating Eddie Kingston and Brent Albright on " Ring of Honor Wrestling " , before he and Titus defeated The Young Bucks at " Clash Of The Contenders " . King was part of the initial matches to earn a place in the Pick 6 Conentenders Series rankings , but was unsuccessful . At the Final Battle 2009 pay - per - view , King defeated Roderick Strong and earned the number 4 ranking . On January 29 , 2010 , King faced Lynn , in Lynn ' s first match back . Lynn originally won the match , but attacked King after the match was over , causing the referee to reverse the decision , and award King the victory by disqualification . At The Big Bang ! pay - per - view on April 3 , King lost his Pick Six ranking to Davey Richards . On September 13 , 2010 , Ring of Honor announced that Layne had signed a contract extension with the promotion . On November 12 , 2010 , King participated in ROH ' s Survival of the Fittest tournament . He defeated El Generico in the first round to advance to the final , a six - man elimination match , where he was the last man eliminated by Eddie Edwards . On December 18 at Final Battle 2010 the All Night Express defeated Adam Cole and Kyle O ' Reilly , announcing their intention of becoming ROH World Tag Team Champions in 2011 . On February 26 , 2011 , at 9th Anniversary Show , King and Titus failed in their first attempt to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship , when they were defeated by the Kings of Wrestling ( Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli ) . During the program with the Kings of Wrestling , King and Titus showed signs of a face turn and finalized their turn on March 19 at " Manhattan Mayhem IV " , after defeating the Briscoe Brothers . However , in a bloody rematch at the second show of Honor Takes Center Stage , The Briscoe Brothers won . On September 17 at Death Before Dishonor IX , the All Night Express defeated the Briscoe Brothers in a ladder match to become the number one contenders to the ROH World Tag Team Championship . On June 24 at Best in the World 2012 , King and Titus defeated Wrestling ' s Greatest Tag Team ( Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin ) to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship for the first time . Return to TNA ( 2012 – present ) . On June 24 , 2012 , King ' s contract with ROH expired . On a handshake agreement , ROH permitted King to weigh his options with other promotions on the condition that he not wrestle for them . On the July 5 episode of TNA ' s " Impact Wrestling " , King wrestled in a match , defeating Lars Only to qualify for the TNA X Division Championship tournament at Destination X . Subsequently , ROH stated that they considered this an unacceptable " breach of his verbal agreement " and severed ties with him . On July 8 at Destination X , King defeated Douglas Williams to qualify for the finals of the X Division Championship tournament . Later that same event , King was defeated by Zema Ion in the final Ultimate X match , which also included Mason Andrews and Sonjay Dutt . King returned to " Impact Wrestling " on July 26 , when he was handpicked by TNA World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries as the number one contender to Zema Ion ' s X Division Championship . King ended up losing the match following interference from Aries ' rival Bobby Roode . The following week , King teamed with Aries in a tag team match , where they defeated Ion and Roode , with King pinning the X Division Champion for the win . Following the match , King was named the number one contender to the X Division Championship . King received his title opportunity on August 12 at Hardcore Justice , but was defeated by Ion . The following day it was reported that King had signed a contract with TNA . On the December 6 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King defeated Kid Kash and Zema Ion to become number one contender for the X Division Championship . Three days later at Final Resolution , King failed in his title challenge against Rob Van Dam . On the following episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King defeated Van Dam in a non - title match , pinning him with his feet on the ropes . The following week , King teased tension between himself and Van Dam after he abandoned Van Dam in a tag team match against Matt Morgan and Joey Ryan . On the January 10 , 2013 , episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King defeated Zema Ion to earn the right to face Christian York in a number one contenders match for the X Division Championship at Genesis . However , three days later at the pay - per - view , King was defeated by York . On the February 7 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King unsuccessfully challenged Rob Van Dam for the X Division Championship in a three - way match , also involving Zema Ion . Two weeks later , King received another shot at the X Division Championship , but was again defeated by Van Dam . On the February 28 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King finally defeated Van Dam to win his first X Division Championship , in a match where if King had lost he would be out of the X Division . King made his first successful title defense on March 10 at Lockdown , defeating Christian York and Zema Ion in a three - way match . On the March 21 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King defeated Sonjay Dutt and Zema Ion in a three - way match to retain the X Division Championship . On the April 18 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King successfully defended his championship against Petey Williams and Zema Ion , by pinning Ion . On the May 9th episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King came out to the ring to speak in regards of the returning Chris Sabin . After delivering an alleged heartfelt speech about Sabin ' s struggles throughout his career , King turned on him and stated Sabin would never become X - Division Champion . This would be fuel for an ongoing rivalry between Sabin and King which led to a title match the following week . During the May 16 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King successfully defended his championship against Sabin and Petey Williams in a three - way match . On May 30 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King wrestled in a mixed tag match with Knockout heel Gail Kim against Chris Sabin and Taryn Terrell . After the match , Suicide made his presence felt , attacking King after King assaulted Sabin at the end of their tag match . King , Sabin and Suicide faced each other at Slammiversary XI on June 2 , resulting in Sabin winning the title . On the June 6th episode of " Impact Wrestling " , King joined with Bobby Roode and Austin Aries in a losing 6 - man tag match against Sabin , and new tag team champions James Storm and Gunner . King later competed in another Championship match on June 28 during the opening hour of " Impact " against Sabin and Suicide . He was pinned by Suicide who was later revealed by Hulk Hogan and T . J Perkins ( the current incarnation of Suicide ) to be an imposter after Perkins was attacked backstage before the match . On the March 20th edition of Impact Wrestling , a promo for King ' s return was announced , dubbing him a new nickname ' The King of the Night ' . The following week King returned to television requesting a match from MVP . The week after , King wrestled his first televised match in over six months against MVP which ended in a no - contest after the two started brawling , igniting a possible feud between the two . King would continue to antoagonise MVP over the next several weeks until MVP turned heel on the May 5th edition of Impact , the following week after which the two would form an alliance alongside Bobby Lashley . Over the next few editions of Impact , King would become a member of the higher - card status of the roster attacking people such as The Wolves , Bobby Roode and Eric Young . On the June 19 edition of Impact King was given a match against Young for his first shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship . On September 17 , 2014 , Mr . Anderson came to the aid of fellow former Army Sergeant and amputee wrestler Chris Melendez on his debut from a post - match attack by Kenny King after King lost the bout . On September 18 , 2014 , at the tapings for the October 28 edition of Impact Wrestling , Lashley lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Roode . Lashley regained the championship on January 7 , 2015 with the help of MVP and King , but also from three new members Samoa Joe , Low Ki and Roode ' s friend Eric Young . On the following night ' s tapings of the January 16 , 2015 episode of Impact Wrestling , Lashley refused to become apart of this new group and decided to leave , but was attacked by the other members and with MVP saying that the title belongs to the BDC .