Michael "Mike" Mizanin, " The Miz" part 2

Pursuing the goal of becoming a professional wrestler which he had harbored from an early age, Mizanin joined Ultimate Pro Wrestling, where he trained in the Ultimate University. He made his in-ring debut in 2003.

In October 2004, Mizanin entered the fourth season of Tough Enough, a televised competition which would award the winner a World Wrestling Entertainment contract and the sum of $1,000,000. Despite coming last in an arm wrestling tournament on November 25, 2004, Mizanin outlasted six other wrestlers. On December 12, 2004 at Armageddon 2004, Mizanin faced the other remaining entrant, Daniel Puder, in a three round "Dixie Dogfight" (boxing match). Neither man achieved a knockout, and the contest was awarded to Puder on the basis of crowd reaction. On the December 16, 2004 episode of SmackDown!, Puder was announced as the winner of Tough Enough by head trainer Al Snow.

Despite losing the Tough Enough contest, Mizanin had piqued the interest of WWE, and he was eventually offered a developmental contract. Mizanin was sent to Deep South Wrestling to train under Bill DeMott, relocating to McDonough, Georgia in the process. In July 2005 he wrestled two dark matches for WWE, teaming with former Tough Enough champion Matt Cappotelli to face The Highlanders. On December 1, 2005, Mizanin defeated Mike Knox in the finals of a tournament to crown the first Deep South Heavyweight Champion.

He continued to tag with Matt Cappotelli throughout the second half of 2005 in WWE dark matches and house shows until Cappotelli, nominally of Ohio Valley Wrestling, was diagnosed with a brain tumor after an injury at a taping in December 2005.

On January 3, 2006, it was reported that Mizanin was transferred to Ohio Valley Wrestling. On the January 18, 2006, OVW TV show, Mizanin made his debut as "The Miz", with a "Miz TV" segment, where he was shown talking backstage. He talked with Chris Cage, who was supposed to be his tag team partner in OVW, but Cage said he was quitting the business after someone had cut off Johnny Jeter's hair and wished Mizanin good luck with his wrestling career. As Chris Cage left, Mike then met with his old tag team partner Matt Cappotelli and Christy Hemme as later that night they had a six person tag team match as Christy Hemme, Matt Cappotelli, and Mike Mizanin defeated The Highlanders.

On the January 28, 2006, edition of the OVW TV show, The Miz wrestled his first match against Rene Dupree. Chet the Jet and Seth Skyfire came to ringside during the match and acted as a diversion to allow Rene Dupree to gain the upper hand on The Miz. As The Miz was about to finish Rene Dupree, Chris Cage came out and attacked Seth Skyfire. When The Miz left the ring to try to control Chris Cage, he ended up losing the match by count out.

At the February 8, 2006 TV taping, The Miz and Chris Cage captured the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, defeating Chet the Jett and Seth Skyfire. In what was deemed a "disciplinary move," WWE released Chris Cage over the weekend of March 18, 2006 making it necessary for Miz and Cage to drop the titles. On March 19, 2006, Deuce Shade defeated The Miz in a singles contest to win the titles for his team The Untouchables (Deuce Shade & Domino). On June 8, 2007 he lost to Atlas DaBone at OVW's second Summer Sizzler Series event at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky.




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John Hennigan, John Morrison, Johnny Nitro, part 2

In March 2004 Hennigan debuted on the Raw brand. His character was depicted as the apprentice and assistant of Raw brand General Manager Eric Bischoff and given the ring name Johnny Blaze. The next week his name was changed to Johnny Spade, and the week after that it was changed to Johnny Nitro. It's worth noting that both the Johnny Spade and Johnny Blaze names had been in use before Hennigan used them, by an independent wrestler and by Marvel Comics respectively. The Nitro name, a name which finally stuck, was a reference to Monday Nitro, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling which Bischoff had created, and to drive the point home he began using the Nitro theme music as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until the June 7 episode of Raw, during which he lost a match to Eugene which carried the stipulation that should he lose the match, he also lose his job.

After leaving Raw, Nitro returned to OVW and was put into a feud with his former partner Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud Melina Perez was brought in to the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to double-cross him and side with Nitro. Not long after, they were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable "MNM". MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before being called up to the main SmackDown! roster in April 2005. While on SmackDown!, they were put into feuds with the teams of Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, Mysterio and Batista, the new Legion of Doom, and Paul London and Brian Kendrick. MNM held the SmackDown! brand's WWE Tag Team Championship on three occasions, all in their rookie year on the brand. At May 2006's Judgment Day MNM dropped the tag team title to London and Kendrick, with Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later in the night, after Melina lost a match to Jillian Hall in controversial fashion, she and Nitro complained to SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long until Melina slapped Long, getting both her and Nitro (kayfabe) fired from the brand.

The next week Nitro (with Melina) debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. The following week, Melina faked a sprained ankle, which allowed Nitro to roll-up a distracted Charlie Haas for his first Raw brand win. Nitro immediately joined the hunt for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, finally defeating champion Shelton Benjamin at June's Vengeance in a Triple-Threat match, which also involved Carlito. Nitro held the belt, the first singles title of his career, for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy on the October 2 Raw. During his time on Raw, Nitro was also involved in a sporadic rivalry with John Cena, the man who defeated him in his first Raw match. The feud was unique in that it also involved non-wrestler Kevin Federline, who appeared on the October 16 Raw from Los Angeles.Federline was trained by Nitro for a January 1, 2007 match with Cena, which he ended up winning after outside interference from Umaga.

In the meantime, Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental title from Jeff Hardy on November 6 when former friend, and General Manager for the night, Eric Bischoff restarted a match that Nitro had been disqualified from. The very next week, however, Hardy got the title back. In November 2006 MNM reunited on an episode of Raw to accept an "open challenge" from The Hardys (Matt and Jeff) for ECW December to Dismember. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands, with the feud intensifying after Mercury was injured at Armageddon in December.


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Kenny Dykstra

Kenneth George ("Ken") Doane, Jr., (born March 16, 1986) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on the RAW brand under the ring name Kenny Dykstra.

Ring name(s) Ken Doane,Kenn Phoenix,El Diablo,Kenny,Kenny Dykstra
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Billed weight 234 lb (106.4 kg)
Worcester, Massachusetts
Trained by Killer Kowalski , OVW staff
Pro wrestling debut 2001

Doane began training to become a wrestler at the age of 13 and debuted 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 legendary professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer Killer Kowalski. 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, from Philadelphia, as Kenn Phoenix. Along with his brother, using the name Mike Phoenix, he was a participant in Rodney Mack's ongoing "5-Minute White Boy Challenge" where Mack would defeat Caucasian wrestlers in under 5 minutes. Mack defeated the pair in 1:31, forcing them both to submit to his debuting Blackout finishing hold. He made one further appearance, losing to Goldust on an episode of Sunday Night Heat before being officially signed and assigned to OVW full time.

After two years in OVW, Doane debuted on RAW as a member of the Spirit Squad. The Squad became closely associated with The McMahon’s and would feud with DX and Ric Flair, as well as hold the World Tag Team Championship as a team.

After the breakup of the Spirit Squad, Kenny became interested in joining Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton), who insisted that he "prove himself" first. During this time, Doane would debut new attire, new theme music, and the last name "Dykstra", (possibly a pun on ex-MLB player Lenny Dykstra), and continued the feud with Ric Flair that led to the breakup of the Spirit Squad.

Doane is engaged to RAW Diva and Women's Champion Mickie James.

In early July 2006, a man named James Wilson claimed that Doane and his fiancée were in a car when he approached them for an autograph. According to Wilson, James was friendly and signed his poster but Doane grabbed it and sped off, tearing the poster and causing him to fall and injure his shoulder. As a result Doane was charged with assault, battery, and vandalism. WWE officials offered Wilson autographs, but he refused, and said that he wanted money from Doane

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

James (Jim) Duggan (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler, currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment, for its RAW brand, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. His best known gimmick is that of an American patriot.

Duggan is a former WCW United States Champion and is one of the most instantly noticeable wrestlers among fans. His trademarks include bringing an American flag (dubbed "Old Glory") and a 2x4 plank of wood with him to the ring. His trademark rallying cry of "Ho!" is also well known. Duggan is also known for starting "U.S.A." crowd chants before and during his matches.

Jim Duggan broke into the professional wrestling business thanks in large part to wrestler Fritz Von Erich. The two met while Duggan was on a recruiting trip to SMU. Duggan's first professional match was in 1979 against Gino Hernandez. Duggan began his career as a heel. Training at the Sportatorium in Dallas, Texas as well as with Samoan wrestling promoter Peter Maivia (grandfather of The Rock), Duggan gained the attention of Vince McMahon Sr. and the WWF.

After a brief stint with the WWF, Duggan began to work regularly for Georgia Championship Wrestling. During this time, Duggan was known by two in-ring aliases: in the United States as "Big Jim Duggan" and in Hawaii as "The Convict", a masked wrestler. After wrestling for a Birmingham, Alabama-based promotion, Duggan began wrestling in a promotion based in San Antonio, Texas where he adopted the "Hacksaw" nickname. He then worked for Mid-South Wrestling from 1982 to 1986, and at one time he belonged to a heel stable called the Rat Pack with Ted DiBiase, Matt Bourne, and Mr. Olympia. After DiBiase aligned himself with Skandor Akbar, Duggan refused to go along and turned babyface for the first time in his career. As a babyface he won the Mid-South Tag Team Championship with Magnum T.A. and later won the Mid-South North American Championship. After the Mid-South North American title was retired when the Mid-South became the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1986, Duggan lost to Terry Gordy in a tournament final to determine the first UWF Heavyweight Champion. Duggan then teamed up with Terry Taylor and won the UWF Tag Team Championship. After losing a loser-leaves-town match to the One Man Gang, Duggan left the UWF and signed to the WWF.

Duggan was signed to the World Wrestling Federation, in January 1987, making his first major appearance with the WWF at WrestleMania III, running to ringside prior to a match between The Killer Bees and The Iron Shiek and Nikolai Volkoff, interrupting Volkoff's pre-match singing of the Russian national anthem, which Duggan had previously done on TV matches leading up to the event.

Although he did not win any major titles in the promotion, for 7 years, he was a consistent fan favorite with his patriotic gimmick. His character was mainly comical, as he rarely was in major contention for titles. During his time in the WWF, he feuded with the likes of Harley Race, Haku (whom he beat to earn the title of "King of Wrestling") and André the Giant. Duggan also claims to be the only wrestler to "knock out" André the Giant in a WWF wrestling match. Duggan won the first (non-ppv) Royal Rumble matchup in 1988 which only had 20 men.

He also feuded with Nikolai Volkoff in 1987. Three years later, after Volkoff's face turn, Duggan and Volkoff joined forces in tag team matches.

Duggan was fired from the World Wrestling Federation in 1987 after getting caught in the same car with his (kayfabe) rival, The Iron Sheik. They were charged (legit)with possession of cocaine and marijuana and were both fired from the WWF. Shortly thereafter, however, Duggan was rehired.

Duggan also served as commentator for the opening match at Wrestlemania VII As well as teaming up with Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter, and Big Bossman against The Nasty Boys, The Mountie and Barry Darsow (Repo Man) at Wrestlemania VIII. After this he was involved in a fued with the then near 600lbs, Yokozuna. Yokozuna at the time was bad mouthing America, and of course Duggan challenged him to a match. The odds were against Duggan as no one even knocked Yokozuna off his feet at this time. On February 6, 1993, the two men met on an episode of WWF Superstars. Duggan was manhandled by the much bigger Yokozuna and was defeated after a Banzai Drop. After the match Yokozuna gave him about 4 more Banzai Drops off the ropes, sidelining Duggan for about 4 months. When he returned, Duggan was basically used as a jobber to the stars, until his release in 1994.

Duggan signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1994. In one of his first matches with the company, he won the WCW United States Championship from Steve Austin in less than one minute. For most of his tenure with the company he was seldom used in major storylines but often appeared on the company's minor wrestling show WCW Saturday Night (WCWSN). Duggan later claimed Saturday was "his night" as a way explaining why he appeared almost exclusively on WCWSN.

Duggan disappeared during 1998 after he was diagnosed with kidney cancer and eventually beat the disease. He went into remission, and returned to WCW in late 1999. Under the tenure of storyline writers Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara, Duggan became involved in a storyline where he became a janitor for WCW, though during this period, he found the WCW World Television Championship which had been thrown away by Scott Hall earlier and claimed it for himself. He would make title defenses, and was still champion when the title was retired. During this time, Duggan lost confidence in himself as a wrestler. On an episode of WCW Nitro, Duggan was attacked by a then heel Goldberg. Duggan then challenged Goldberg to a match and nearly defeated him before falling victim to the Spear and Jackhammer.

Near the end of his career in WCW, he became involved in more major storylines, including one that involved him abandoning the patriotic gimmick for a short time to join Lance Storm and his heel faction Team Canada. This was the first time Duggan worked as a heel since breaking away from the Rat Pack in Mid-South Wrestling.

Duggan made frequent appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Alliance promotion formally known as, NWA Ohio. He was later listed as co-owner of the promotion, but disclaimed any affiliation on his official website, saying that, despite making a few appearances with the company, he has never signed a contract with them, and that he "has nothing to do with the WWWA or NWA Ohio."

Duggan appeared at WWE Homecoming on October 3, 2005 along with several other WWF and WWE alumni. He and the other legends would end up attacking Rob Conway after Conway came to the ring and insulted them. He was also one of the "legends" available for fans to select to team with Eugene in a match at Taboo Tuesday 2005 on November 1, 2005 to face the team of Conway and Tyson Tomko (Jimmy Snuka was chosen instead of Duggan).

Hacksaw spent some time away from WWE working for various independent promotions like the Pure Wrestling Association in Southern Ontario.

He returned to WWE to feud with Edge and Lita using his "HOOOOO!" catchphrase to taunt Lita, before becoming mentor and tutor to Eugene and the two feuded with the Spirit Squad. He is now used in the capacity of a jobber on RAW, but has won numerous matches on Heat and has main evented Heat on several occasions. On the November 6 edition of RAW, Duggan and Eugene faced the Spirit Squad in which the losing team would disband and never team up again. After Duggan was caught off guard after the other Spirit Squad members interfered and then pinned for the win, Eugene snapped and attacked "Hacksaw", signalling Eugene's first ever heel turn in WWE. However Eugene's heel turn on Duggan wasn't mentioned and was focused on him being an injured victim of D-Generation X due to a bounty hunt.

At New Year's Revolution Hacksaw teamed with Super Crazy in a Tag Team Turmoil match to determine the #1 contender to the titles, in a losing effort.

On RAW, Duggan was was beaten to a pulp and drug out by Rated-RKO. Edge and Orton feared Hacksaw would help out Shawn Michaels in a handicap match (referencing, without explanation for viewers, the fact that both Duggan and Michaels were in Mid-South Wrestling together 20 years earlier) and wanted to set an example for anyone else backstage that wished to do the same.