Athletes - Pat Kenney

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	Athletes - Pat Kenney

Patrick (Pat) Kenney (born May 26, 1968 in Wilmington, Delaware), known also by his stage name, Simon Diamond, is an American professional wrestler, currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and on the independent circuit in the New York metropolitan area. Best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1998 and 2001, Kenney is also a former baseball player.

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 1988. 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.

Wrestling career

In 1991, while working as a marketing representative 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

In 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 a ECW World Tag Team Championship tournament held in Georgia, and the two later formed a tag team which would endure for five more years.

Kenney and Swinger joined forces with C.W. Anderson in mid-2000, and began to ascend the ranks of the promotion. 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 World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in March 2001.

Kenney worked for various independent promotions, including USA Professional Wrestling, Border City Wrestling and World Wrestling All-Stars. In Major League Wrestling, he formed the Xtreme 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.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

On 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 ("Wildcat" Chris Harris and "Cowboy" James Storm). Enlisting the services of manager Glenn Gilberti, 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 3Live Kru.

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. 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. At Slammiversary, Kenney teamed with Trytan (who he referred to as his "insurance policy") to defeat Sonny Siaki and Apolo. On July 17 at No Surrender 2005 he recruited David Young, offering to make him "a diamond in the rough". Trytan left Kenney's fledgling stable in July 2005, but he was replaced with Elix Skipper at Sacrifice on August 14.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Pat Kenney ]

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