Infamous WWE Gimmick “Strictly A Vince McMahon Idea”
Vince McMahon was desperate to see cheerleaders in WWE.
In early 2006, WWE was invaded by five green-and-white-clad male cheerleaders known as the Spirit Squad. Mikey, Kenny, Nicky, Johnny, and Mitch performed cheers and generally irritated fans and WWE stars alike before ending up as part of an ongoing feud between Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels.
The Spirit Squad proved to be the fall guys for the DX reunion between Triple H and Michaels when The Heartbreak Kid helped his old running buddy during a five-on-one attack by the Squad. Kenny and Mikey captured the World Tag Team Championship for the group in April 2006 before losing the gold seven months later to Ric Flair and Roddy Piper.
Speaking to Steve Fall for WrestlingNews.co Mike Mondo, who was known as simply Mikey during his time in the Spirit Squad, recalled how the group came to be and it was an idea straight from the top of the company:
“That was strictly a Vince McMahon idea. He’s like, one day he probably just got up and he’s like, ‘I never had cheerleaders on the show. Damn it. Find me some cheerleaders.’ That’s just kind of how it went. The original idea was for Kenny, Kenny Doane, Kenny Dykstra. You know, that was also supposed to be Dolph Ziggler, you know, he was in it.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but it was also scheduled to be for Elijah Burke as well, but Elijah, you know, he bet on himself and I mean, it worked out for him. Good for him. He’s a good dude, great, great wrestler, a friend of mine. They wanted five guys.
“I remember I was home around the holidays and Tommy Dreamer gave me a phone call. He’s like, ‘I have a spot for you in the Spirit Squad. He told me to dye my hair and show up to the Continental Airlines Arena for Monday Night Raw. He took me in front of Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie took a look at me up and down. She goes, ‘Yep, that’ll work’, and that’s how I got my spot in the Spirit Squad.
“Shortly thereafter, Johnny Jeter became a member and got involved in the gimmick and it was just a great run and a great time in my life. You know, I got to wrestle my childhood heroes growing up, you know, those being Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Triple H, Dusty Rhodes, Sgt. Slaughter you know, and it was fun. I got to live a dream you know and be at the biggest stage in professional wrestling.”
Spirit Squad did not last long in WWE
At Survivor Series 2006, the Spirit Squad lost a 4-on-4 elimination tag team match to a team of WWE legends consisting of Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons, Sgt Slaughter, and Ric Flair. The very next night on Raw, the cheerleaders lost a 5-on-3 handicap match to Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Flair before DX stuffed all the members of the group in a crate marked “OVW, Louisville, Kentucky” signalling that the group’s time on the main roster was at an end.