Spirit Squad: Difference between revisions
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**1-time [[WWE World Tag Team Championship|World Tag Team Champions]] (Kenny and Mikey) |
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Revision as of 18:40, 4 April 2006
The Spirit Squad is a heel stable in World Wrestling Entertainment on its RAW brand that consists of Kenny, Johnny, Nicky, Mikey, and Mitch. Their gimmick is an all-male cheerleading squad.
History
The Spirit Squad members all competed in WWE's farm federation Ohio Valley Wrestling before they were brought together for this gimmick. The group appeared during WWE house shows before making its RAW debut on January 23, 2006. On that night, the Spirit Squad members came out to the ring during a Royal Rumble qualifying match between Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jonathan Coachman. They distracted Lawler by blowing air horns and doing various cheers. Coachman took advantage of this distraction to roll up Lawler for the pin and earn a spot in the Royal Rumble. Following the match, the Spirit Squad members entered the ring and spelled out "Coach" with their arms. When Lawler demanded an explanation, Coachman claimed he had no idea who they were, but was obviously excited about having his own cheer squad.
After this debut, the Spirit Squad was hired by a variety of wrestlers to perform cheers. During one WWE Unlimited segment, the group members introduced themselves for the first time to the crowd. Each member of the Spirit Squad stood in the ring, did a cheer, and said his name. They announced themselves as Kenny, Johnny, Mitch, Nicky, and Mikey.
The Spirit Squad became a part of an on-going feud between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. The heel McMahon hired the Spirit Squad to perform disrespectful cheers and attack Michaels. Mr. McMahon placed Michaels in handicap matches with four members of the Spirit Squad (since five against one "would just be unfair" according to McMahon), with Mitch being the one who accompanied the other four at ringside. They even won a 4 on 1 tornado handicap steel cage match against Michaels, and interfered during the Michaels/McMahon match at WrestleMania 22.
On the April 3rd edition of RAW, Kenny and Mikey defeated The Big Show and Kane to win the World Tag Team Championship with help from the other members of the Spirit Squad.
Signature moves
- Feint knee drop into a diving legdrop (Kenny)
- Four man step-up "Poetry in motion" move
- Four members each grab one of a prone opponent's limbs and lift him/her high into the air, letting the opponent plummet back first onto the mat
Cheers
- "Ready, OK!"
- "Let's hear it for the Spirit Squad!"
- "Who's got spirit!"
- "2,4,6,8, who do you appreciate?"
- "1,2,3 Spirit Squad!"
- "Let's see those spirit fingers!"
Trivia
- A similar gimmick was used by WWE for Tammy Sytch and Chris Candido in 1995, who made their first appearances for the company as the cheerleading duo "Team Spirit".
- Spirit Squad member Nick Nemeth was formerly Kerwin White's caddy on WWE RAW.
- Nick Mitchell, known as Mitch in the Spirit Squad, was a competitor in the $1,000,000 Tough Enough
- All of the Spirit Squad's ring attire is Adidas-branded in the colors green and white.
Championships and accomplishments
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- 1-time World Tag Team Champions (Kenny and Mikey)