The Crystal Ball 11.10.05: Ken Doane
Posted by Steve Sullivan on 11.10.2005
Scouting Report on OVW TV Champion Ken Doane
First off, a very special thanks to all the emails and posts I got regarding this column. Thanks for the support!
Imagine for a second that you are this big fancy pants scientist who has the ability to create a wrestler using their genes. And let's just say for an experiment you decided to mix in the ring skills of Bret Hart, the appearance of Owen Hart, and the age and arrogance of Randy Orton. What kind of skilled, arrogant whiney wrestler do you think would pop out of the steam? Your answer is the current OVW Television Champion Ken Doane.
Ken Doane is nearly a mirror image of Randy Orton's arrogance and attitude. Right down to the RKO. The only difference is that Doane doesn't waste his time fighting legends. Of course, there aren't exactly too many legends in OVW right now. And if the WWE plans on having a World Champion younger than Randy Orton was when he defeated Chris Benoit at Summerslam, then Ken Doane is their best shot. Ken Doane is only 19 YEARS OLD! And get this, he's been a pro wrestler since he was...13! I was still playing with my Hot Wheels when I was 13! And I'm not talking about that kiddy stuff where you jump off your dresser onto a couple of pillows and pin them. I mean he's really been wrestling under the mentorship of Killer Kowalski.
At the age of 19, it would be impossible to believe that the WWE will not be utilizing Ken Doane. A program with Randy Orton also seems likely, as the OVW has already put them in a match this past summer. (Randy Orton is OVW alum.) The E would likely use him with a similar gimmick of Randy Orton and may even pair him up with Orton as a fellow legend killer. And I love the name of his finisher, the "Doane-action". Although recently he has been sporting the RKO.
Ken Doane's arrival into the OVW started off with a great victory of Johnny Nitro. It was defiantly a huge shock to the Danny Davis arena and just like that, in his first match, Doane was the OVW's newest phenom. The next week Nitro's partner Joey Matthews challenged Doane to a rematch. Doane would once again win, but would actually pin Johnny Nitro for the second week in a row when Nitro tried to switch places with Matthews. Doane pinned Nitro AGAIN the next week after Nitro, obviously frustrated, told Doane that if Doane defeated him again, he would give him one night to do anything he wanted with Melina. Doane took Melina and basically made her clean his house. Now stop and ask yourself for a minute, if you had Melina for one day to yourself, would you actually spend it making her clean up your house? Weirdo.
Doane would challenge Nitro again, this time having to put something of his on the line, which ended up being his Camaro z-28. Doane would finally lose to Nitro after help from Matthews and Melina, and would lose his car and undefeated streak, but would gain it back in another match. These were absolutely classic battles and a great way to get a new talent over. It was almost as similar to Shelton Benjamin defeating Triple H on his first night on Raw. Except Ken Doane is still a big star and Shelton...well...sorry pal, you've gone from beating Triple H twice in a row to losing to Matt Striker in less than 3 minutes.
In May of 2005. OVW TV Champion Brent Albright forced OVW Heavyweight Champion Matt Morgan to tap out, winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship. But just like the Ultimate Warrior/Hulk Hogan Title Vs. Title match at Wrestlemania, you can't hold both titles. So a tournament was devised to crown a new TV Champion. Doane breezed past his opponents, which included Aaron "The Idle" Stevens (former member of the Jersey Shore Crew, which broke up with Nova, now known as Simon Dean was called up). In the finals, it was Ken Doane versus another fan favorite Deuce Shade...who you may recognize as Jimmy Snuka Jr. Doane would lose the match and Deuce Shade would be named OVW TV Champion. It was at this point that Ken Doane became very frustrated, so he called on help.
The next week, Ken Doane challenged Deuce Shade in a rematch for the OVW TV Championship. It was this day that Ken Doane became the next great heel of the WWE. With the help of Kenny Bolin of Bolin Services, Ken Doane became the OVW TV Champion. Kenny Bolin has been a great manager of heel wrestlers for many years. Not to mention he has managed several wrestlers into the WWE. Some of the most recent include Carlito Caribbean Cool (Carlos Colon), Gene Snitsky (Mean Gene Mondo), and Bobby Lashley (Blaster Lashley).
During his first few weeks with Bolin Services, Ken Doane found himself being compared to Randy Orton. Doane found himself face to face with Randy Orton in July, during a time when Randy was recovering from surgery. In later weeks, Doane would continue to mock Orton, using his patented RKO against opponents such as Nick Nemeth (Kerwin's caddy). During the summer of 2005, Doane found himself in several battles against Nemeth. In August, Doane would team up with fellow Bolin Services member Bobby Lashley (known then as Blaster) against Nemeth and Chris Cage. Here, the walls of Bolin Services started to crack as Lashley and Doane caught some tension between each other.
Some great matches would follow between Lashley and Doane after Lashley turned face and Doane became the top heel of OVW. This feud continues today with some great matches. Just this past Saturday, Ken Doane pinned Bobby Lashley to retain the OVW TV Title after hitting a flying RKO! You've seen the power and strength behind Bobby Lashley on Smackdown, but you'll have to wait to see the supreme mic and ring skills of Ken Doane. I would absolutely love to see the Lashley/Doane feud continue on WWE TV for the world to see, as the two work together very well.
I'd love to see Ken Doane be called up period. At age 19, he has the chance of a lifetime to become a very young superstar. If the WWE really is trying to create another Rock, Stone Cold caliber superstar that the fans will tune into every week for the next few years, I'd highly suggest to them to call up Ken Doane and get him in the ring ASAP. With Survivor Series coming up, it'd be a great opportunity to put Ken Doane over the same way they did with The Rock when The Rock became the only survivor of his match that pit him against the likes of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Triple H. I'd even go as far as getting him in the corner of Randy Orton as a great heel to the legend killer gimmick. But please Vince. PLEASE! Don't pair him up with Rob Conway. If that were to happen, Doane and Conway both would be stuck in a tag team division. And for Conway, that's something he just escaped from and needs to stay away from. I'm hoping for his sake the Tyson Tomko thing was only temporary for the Taboo Tuesday match. And I REALLY hope that Tomko doesn't start sporting the shades and those see through shorts. Worse yet. Tomko singing with Conway in their entrance song. *GAG*
Ohio Valley Wrestling has several superstars ripe for the picking. Several great tag teams and cruisers await the WWE in Louisville and it’s up to the WWE to get these superstars trained and use them wisely. Don't waste them like I've seen in the past I.E. Matt Morgan, the greatest promo cutter to EVER grace the fuzzy black stuff of a microphone, or The Heart Throbs, who have been turned into a modern day heel version of The Bushwhackers. Use them like they are now! Johnny Jeter & Matt Capotelli had a wonderful opportunity to become the next high flying great tag team of the WWE before Capotelli broke his leg. Now, the former Thrillseekers are battling each other in a nasty grudge fight in the OVW, but fingers crossed, the WWE won't continue that in the WWE, if they were smart to call them up. You've got your next Hardy Boys/Edge & Christian caliber team, capable of putting on great matches. Thrillseekers vs. The Mexicools would be brutal! But oh wait, this is about Ken Doane. Yeah, Doane is good. Call him up soon Vince.
Ken Doane’s stats:
Height- 6’2
Weight- 228 lbs.
Finisher- The “Doane”ation
Ken Doane is already a very accomplished wrestler in the OVW. He is the current OVW TV Champion and has dominated some of the best the OVW has to offer. Some of Doane’s best victories include.
Ken Doane defeats Johnny Nitro (3x in a Row)
Ken Doane defeats Joey Matthews (Leather Strap Match)
Ken Doane defeats Deuce Shade (Shade is actually Jimmy Snuka Jr.)
Ken Doane defeats Elijah Burke
Ken Doane defeats Nick Nemeth
Ken Doane defeats Bobby Lashley (Retains OVW TV Title)
Some matches I would absolutely love to see Ken Doane in on WWE TV:
Ken Doane vs. Randy Orton
Ken Doane vs. Bobby Lashley
Ken Doane vs. Kurt Angle
Ken Doane vs. Chris Benoit
Ken Doane vs. Rey Mysterio
Ken Doane vs. Hardcore Holly (Would Love to See A Hardcore Match With Doane)
Ken Doane vs. Ric Flair (19 year old versus 50 something year old=Classic Match With Modern Moves)
Ken Doane vs. Triple H (WWE, if you really want to put someone over, you know what to do.)
Some possible tag teams that the WWE could use Doane for to re-tool their tag team division:
Ken Doane & Randy Orton
Ken Doane & Ken Kennedy (Ken-Ed-Doane...yeah I'm crazy)
Ken Doane & Matt Hardy
Ken Doane & Gregory Helms
Ken Doane & Edge
Ken Doane & Ric Flair
Ken Doane & Triple H
I'd list a few gimmicks that Ken Doane could use. But Doane is such a great wrestler with a personality of his own and I don’t want to give WWE any bad ideas. So I see it wise not to give him any kind of gimmick. Just bring him in as the young talented wrestler that he is. Push over the fact that he is still a teenager and the fans will be completely behind him to see him defeat wily veterans such as Triple H. I'd even go as far as letting Doane team up with Ric Flair at Survivor Series, only to turn on Flair at help Trips. Then have Doane vs. Flair for the Intercontinental Title. Let Doane win it around Armageddon and you've got a better set up for HHH vs. Ric Flair Wrestlemania match with no title on the line. (Were we really supposed to believe that Trips was going to put that Intercontinental Title around his waist?) And now that Doane's got the belt, he's got some credibility going into the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania. And if you're desperate for a face, have Doane eliminate both Triple H & Ric Flair from the Rumble. And there you have a spectacular Triple Threat Match at Wrestlemania in Triple H vs. Ric Flair vs. Ken Doane. Put in the Hell In The Cell and that's even better, but Doane is too young for that just yet.
Keep in mind; this is just as much of an opinion column as it is fact. The WWE is approaching desperate times, or so it would seem and TNA is rapidly catching up with them in popularity. Especially after that great primetime special. (My stupid VCR cut off the last hour *sobs*) The WWE needs all the ideas they can get and one could hope that someone may read these columns from the fans that feed the WWE their money and take advice from those who follow the sport just as much as its writers. If you have any suggestions involving a couple of ideas for storylines from wrestlers featured in The Crystal Ball, please by all means, email them to me. Your suggestion may appear here next week!
