nemeth became a part of the spirit squad faction, a group of five wrestlers who used the in-ring personas of male cheerleaders, and adopted the name nicky in ovw during late 2005. the spirit squad members trained with real cheerleaders and gymnasts to ensure their characters were believable. on january 23, 2006, they had their wwe television debut as a group, appearing on "raw" and helping jonathan coachman win a royal rumble qualifying match against jerry "the king" lawler by performing cheers for coachman and distracting lawler. they later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between wwe chairman vince mcmahon and shawn michaels. the heel mcmahon brought in the squad to attack michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiple handicap matches.