- Pat Kenney
-
Pat Kenney 
Kenney in September 2008Ring name(s) Lance Diamond[1]
Simon Diamond[1]
Pat Kenney[1]
The Russian Invader II
Japanese Assassin
New York City Rocker
El Grando Wizard[2]Billed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] Billed weight 230 lb (100 kg)[1] Born May 26, 1968 [1]
Wilmington, Delaware[3]Resides Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Billed from Woodbridge Township, New Jersey Trained by Jim Kettner[1] Debut 1990[1] Retired 2006[3] Patrick Joseph Michael Kenney[1] (born May 26, 1968 in Wilmington, Delaware),[1][3] known also by his ring name, Simon Diamond, is a retired American professional wrestler, currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent. Best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1998 and 2001, Kenney is also a former baseball player.
Contents
Baseball career
Patrick Kenney was an avid baseball player as a teenager, and was drafted by the San Diego Padres to play Major League Baseball as a catcher in 1986.[1] Kenney decided not to sign the contract he was offered, opting to pursue a college education first. Kenney took a job at the Out Of Bounds sports bar as a bartender and attended Virginia Commonwealth University on a baseball scholarship, earning a bachelor's degree in English. He originally planned to play baseball professionally after graduating, but was forced to reconsider after suffering a severe shoulder injury.[1]
Kenney's prior baseball career would later be used as an angle when he would visit the training camp of the 2005 world champions, the Chicago White Sox.
Wrestling career
In 1991, while working as a marketing executive for Pepsi, Kenney was introduced to wrestling trainer Jim Kettner. Kenney decided to become a professional wrestler, and was trained by Kettner in Salem, New Jersey. Once his training was complete, he worked for Kettner's East Coast Wrestling Association as "Lance Diamond", teaming with Steve Corino.
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Main article: Simon Diamond and Johnny SwingerIn May 1998 Kenney was hired by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and wrestled his first match against Nova in York, Pennsylvania. In August 1998 he changed his name to "Simon Diamond", taking the name "Simon" from the real surname of his mentor, Dean Malenko. Kenney was paired with Johnny Swinger in May 2000 during an ECW World Tag Team Championship tournament and the two later formed a tag team which would endure for five more years.[1]
Kenney and Swinger joined forces with C.W. Anderson in mid-2000, and began to ascend the ranks of the promotion.[1] The impending bankruptcy of ECW in 2001 forced Kenney to seek employment elsewhere, and he began negotiations with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) employee John Laurinaitis, which fell through when WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001.
Kenney worked for various independent promotions, including USA Professional Wrestling, Border City Wrestling and World Wrestling All-Stars.[1] In Major League Wrestling, he formed The Extreme Horsemen with his two former allies Steve Corino and C.W. Anderson. Justin Credible was also a member, and James J. Dillon briefly managed them before MLW folded.[1]
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Main article: The Diamonds in the RoughOn July 9, 2003, Kenney and Swinger appeared on a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) pay-per-view, beginning a feud with America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm).[1] Enlisting the services of manager Glenn Gilbertti, the duo won the NWA World Tag Team Championships on August 27, 2003, and held the titles until November 19, when the titles were held up following a controversial ending to a match with the 3 Live Kru.[1]
Kenney and Swinger separated in 2004 and enagaged in a feud, which saw Kenney turn face and embrace his Irish heritage, wrestling as "Irish" Pat Kenney.[1] After being briefly renamed The Empire Saint, Kenney was not booked by TNA for several months, during which time he spent three weeks competing in Japan with the Zero-1 promotion.
Kenney returned to TNA on June 19, 2005 at Slammiversary as the heel Simon Diamond once more.[1] At Slammiversary, Kenney teamed with Trytan (who he referred to as his "insurance policy") to defeat Sonny Siaki and Apolo.[1] The next month, Trytan was gone, and at No Surrender 2005 Diamond presented David Young, suggesting that, in Young, he had found "a diamond in the rough".[1] "Primetime" Elix Skipper joined with Diamond and Young at Sacrifice on August 14.[1]
In September 2005, Kenney spent two weeks in India, where he and fellow TNA employees Sonjay Dutt and Shark Boy visited several cities, promoting the debut of Impact! on ESPN Star Sports.[1] On September 28 in Bhopal, a riot broke out when 1,000 fans were excluded from an event after attendance exceeded expectations.[1] None of the three TNA wrestlers were injured.
Kenney returned to America in October 2005, and on December 8 started an angle with Chicago White Sox catcher A. J. Pierzynski.[1] At Turning Point the Diamonds in the Rough (Diamond, Young and Skipper) were defeated in a six man tag team match by Chris Sabin, Sonjay Dutt and Dale Torborg, who had Pierzynski in their corner.[1] Pierzynszki returned to TNA in March 2006 and was once again confronted by Diamond, who ended up getting hit with a chair by the White Sox catcher.[1] Shortly thereafter Kenney became a road agent for TNA.
On November 3, 2008, Kenney was released from his contract with TNA, with them citing budgetary cuts as the reason.[1]
On September 18, 2009, TNA Wrestling announced that Kenney had been rehired as a road agent to replace the fired Jim Cornette and B.G. James.[4]
Kenney returned to television on the July 15, 2010, edition of Impact!, aligning himself with fellow ECW alumni Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Stevie Richards, Rhino, Brother Devon, Al Snow and Mick Foley in their invasion of TNA.[5][6][7] The following week, TNA president Dixie Carter agreed to give the ECW alumni their own reunion pay–per–view event, Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand, as a celebration of hardcore wrestling and a final farewell to the company.[8] At the event Kenney returned to his Simon Diamond persona and teamed with Johnny Swinger and Kid Kash in a six man tag team match, where they were defeated by Little Guido, Tony Luke and Tracy Smothers of the Full Blooded Italians.[9]
Personal life
Kenney began dating Dawn Marie in October 1998.[10][11] Before dating, the two had been good friends for almost two years.[11][12] They had planned to be married by the end of 2000 or into 2001.[11][13] They did not wed, but stayed engaged for several years afterwards.[14] After seven years together, their relationship began to come to an end.[12] Kenney is currently married to a woman named Candice, who gave birth to the couple's first child, Quinn Ann Kenney, on April 12, 2010.[15]
In 2001, Kenney filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against a former priest at his high school[16]
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
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- Gem Cutter (Three-quarter facelock bulldog)[17]
- Simonizer (Fireman's carry reverse DDT)[1]
- Signature moves
-
- Discus punch[1]
- Simon Series (Two snap suplexes followed by either a sitout inverted suplex slam or a bridging northern lights suplex)[1]
- STO
- Superkick
- With Johnny Swinger
-
- Problem Solver (Flapjack DDT)[1]
-
- Jim Cornette
- J.J. Dillon
- Vincent Giambi
- Glenn Gilbertti[1]
- Bill Apter[1]
- Gail Kim
- Dawn Marie
- Terri Runnels
- Angel Williams
- Talia[1]
- Patricia Steinman
- Judd the Studd
- Barry Casino
- Noel Harlow
- Mitch
- Humphrey j DuPont IV
- Wrestlers managed
-
- David Young[1]
- Elix Skipper[1]
- Los Ben Dejos (Ben Dejo and Marty Con)[2]
-
- "Simon Says" by Drain STH
Championships and accomplishments
-
- ECWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[1]
- ECWA Mid-Atlantic Championship (1 time)[1]
- ECWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Cheetah Master (1) and Steve Corino (1)[18]
- ECWA Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)[1]
- Super 8 Tournament (1998)[1]
- Independent Wrestling Federation (New Jersey)
-
- IWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[1]
- Tournament of Champions (2000)
-
- MLW Global Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with C.W. Anderson[1]
- MLW Global Tag Team Championship Tournament (2003)[1]
- Maximum Pro Wrestling
- National
- NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[1]
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Steve Corino[19]
- Regional
- NWA 2000 Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[1]
- Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #78 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2004[20]
-
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Johnny Swinger[1]
- USA Pro Wrestling
-
- USA Pro Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Matt Striker[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb "Online World of Wrestling profile". onlineworldofwrestling.com. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/s/simon-diamond.html. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ a b Gerweck, Steve (2010-05-06). "News on Impact, Shannon Moore, Team 3D, more". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1273201246. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ a b c d e f "Cagematch profile". Cagematch. http://cagematch.de/?id=2&nr=763. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ "TNA rehires two backstage agents". WrestleView. http://www.wrestleview.com/news2009/1253308093.php?style=dark. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
- ^ Caldwell, James (2010-07-12). "TNA News: TNA Impact TV taping "virtual-time coverage" for Thursday's episode". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/TNA_News_1/article_42456.shtml. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
- ^ Martin, Adam (2010-07-13). "Spoilers: TNA Impact for this Thursday". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1279001038. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
- ^ Martin, Adam (2010-07-15). "Impact Results - 7/15/10". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1279252015. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (2010-07-22). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact report 7/22: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnaimpact/article_42665.shtml. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
- ^ Caldwell, James (2010-08-08). "Caldwell's TNA Hardcore Justice PPV results 8/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of ECW-themed PPV headlined by RVD vs. Sabu". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/tnappvs/article_42979.shtml. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
- ^ Jason Scales (August 2001). "Dawn of a New Era". Wrestling Digest. Archived from the original on 2007-12-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20071217004332/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCO/is_2_3/ai_76726503. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- ^ a b c Mike Mooneyham (August 2000). "Dawn Marie - Q&A". The Wrestling Gospel. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20071012091634/http://mikemooneyham.com/pages/viewfull.cfm?ObjectID=ECE58748-D1D5-4414-813AF6D89DFFB969. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
- ^ a b Dawn Marie Psaltis (2007-09-27). "Dear Fans...". MySpace blog. http://myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=86774602&blogID=313838847&Mytoken=DA7EC907-9F7C-4B7D-8ABF2591763CD7F1141020804. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- ^ Mike Aldren (November 2000). "Interview with Dawn Marie". Smash Wrestling. http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/interview-dawnmarie.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ Bob Kapur (2002-04-10). "Dawn Marie lives and learns". SLAM! Wrestling. http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive2001/apr10_dawnmarie-can.html. Retrieved 2008-01-09.
- ^ Nemer, Roy (2010-04-12). "Simon Diamond and Candice welcome first child". WrestleView. http://wrestleview.com/viewnews.php?id=1271092036. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
- ^ PW Insider
- ^ "7/26 MLW in Orlando: Awesome, Funk, Abdullah, Coruno, Dr. Death". PWTorch. 2003-07-27. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/Arena_Reports_10/article_4690.shtml. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ "ECWA Tag Team Championship title history". Solie.org. http://www.solie.org/titlehistories/ttecwa.html. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ "NWA United States Tag Team Championship title history". Solie.org. http://solie.org/titlehistories/usttnwa.html. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
- ^ "PWI 500". Cagematch. http://cagematch.de/?id=97&nr=82#2004. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
External links
Categories:- 1968 births
- Living people
- People from Wilmington, Delaware
- People from Middlesex County, New Jersey
- People from Richmond, Virginia
- Sportspeople from Delaware
- American people of Irish descent
- American professional wrestlers
- ECW Originals members
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