Mikey Nicholls

Nicholls in December 2022

###

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

**Michael Nicholls** (born 20 August 1985) is an Australian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name **Mikey Nicholls**, currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). He is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling NOAH, where, as part of The Mighty Don't Kneel, he is a former two-time GHC Tag Team Champion.

Nicholls along with tag team partner, Shane Haste, is an accomplished tag team wrestler. During their time with Pro Wrestling NOAH, developed a reputation for innovative double-team maneuvers and for good teamwork chimestry, which led them winning the GHC Tag Team Champions in July of 2013 and in the end of the year being awarded by Tokyo Sports, the Tag Team of The Year, being the first *gaijin*, foreign-born, tag team that reached that feat since 1998, when Stan Hansen and Big Van Vader won the award. They would win the titles once more at the beginning of 2015, until losing them a month a later as part of the storyline between NOAH and Suzuki-gun. They left NOAH a year later, at February of 2016, after the duo signed with WWE as part of the NXT development brand.

After a stagnant career along with partner Haste in WWE, Nicholls was released from WWE in December 2018 while Haste remained until three-years later when he was also released. Afterwards, in May of 2019, Nicholls made his debut in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, joining CHAOS in the process. However, the next year as the COVID-19 Pandemic reached, Nicholls returned to Australia until the relaxation of the prevention mesures by Australia, and made his return in May of 2022, when he left CHAOS in order to reunite with former partners Haste and Jonah (known as Bronson Reed in WWE) in the newly reunited TMDK.

## Professional wrestling career

### Early career (2001–2011)

Nicholls started training in Perth at the Dynamite Factory, the wrestling school of Explosive Pro Wrestling. he moved to California and started working for promotions in the United States, such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, NWA Pro, and World League Wrestling.

Nicholls has trained at the New Japan Pro Wrestling's L.A. Dojo, based in Los Angeles. He wrestled for NJPW in Tokyo in 2006. Also in 2006, Nicholls unsuccessfully challenged for the NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship.

In June 2007, after NWA split with TNA, Nicholls was involved in the Reclaiming the Glory tournament to crown a new NWA Heavyweight Champion, but was defeated in the tournament by Fergal Devitt. In September 2007, Nicholls defeated champion Karl Anderson and Ryan Taylor in a 30-minute Iron Man match for the Empire Wrestling Federation American Championship. In 2009, Nicholls wrestled for Ring of Honor.

### Pro Wrestling NOAH (2011–2016)

On 23 February 2011 Haste made his debut in Pro Wrestling NOAH as he had a try-out match against his teammate Shane Haste. A month after the try-out match both men started to work full-time with the Japanese promotion. Nicholls competed in both the 2012 and 2013 Global League tournaments as a singles competitor. On 7 July 2013 Haste and Nicholls, known together as The Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK), won the GHC Tag Team Championship after they defeated Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka. On 16 September, Nicholls unsuccessfully challenged KENTA for NOAH's top title, the GHC Heavyweight Championship. At the end of 2013, the Tokyo Sports magazine named Nicholls and Haste the tag team of the year, making them the first foreign team to win the award since Stan Hansen and Vader in 1998. Nicholls and Haste lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to Maybach Taniguchi and Takeshi Morishima on 25 January 2014. They regained the title from Dangan Yankies (Masato Tanaka and Takashi Sugiura) on 10 January 2015. They lost the title to K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer) on 11 February. On 28 December 2015, Noah announced that Nicholls and Haste would leave the promotion following their contracts expiring at the end of the year. On 11 February 2016, Noah announced that Nicholls and Haste would return to the promotion the following month to take part in a five-show-long farewell tour, entitled "Departure to the World". Their final Noah match took place on 10 March and saw them defeat Naomichi Marufuji and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya.

### New Japan Pro Wrestling (2014–2015)

On 20 December 2014, Nicholls and Haste made their debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling, when they, along with Naomichi Marufuji, were revealed as Toru Yano's tag team partners at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome on 4 January 2015. At the event, the four defeated Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka) in an eight-man tag team match.

### Return to NJPW (2019–Present)

On February 25, 2019, NJPW announced his return to the promotion, making his return match in the New Japan Cup. He was also announced as the newest member of CHAOS. From November 16 until December 8, Nicholls and Jeff Cobb took part in the 2019 World Tag League, failing to win the tournament with a record of nine wins and six losses.

In May 2022, Nicholls reunited with his former partners Jonah and Shane Haste to reform TMDK. From November 22 until December 14, Nicholls and Haste took part in the 2022 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of seven wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Tokyo Dome, after Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Ren Narita to win the NJPW World Television Championship, Nicholls and Haste offered him a spot to join the stable, which he accepted. Afterwards, Sabre was positioned as the new leader of the stable, being described as "The Front Man". The following day, at *New Year Dash!*, Sabre, Nicholls and Haste faced CHAOS' Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii in a winning effort. Following the match, Nicholls and Haste targeted Goto and Yoshi-Hashi, and posed with IWGP Tag Team Championship. Shortly after, with TMDK needing a fourth member, Sabre pulled young lion Kosei Fujita from ringside, took off his Young Lion garb, and gave him a TMDK shirt, becoming the newest member of the stable. The following day, at *New Year Dash!*, Nicholls, Haste and Sabre faced CHAOS' Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi in a winning effort, after Nicholls pinned one half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions Yoshi-Hashi. Shortly after, Nicholls and Haste held the IWGP Tag Team Championships over the champions. This set up a title match at The New Beginning in Sapporo, on February 5, where Nicholls and Haste failed to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Goto and Yoshi-Hashi. On April 8 at Sakura Genesis, after Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) won the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, as they were celebrating their title victory alongside their United Empire stablemates, they were confronted by Zack Sabre Jr., who challenged them to a title match on the behalf of Nicholls and Haste, which they accepted since they previously lost to them during the 2022 World Tag League. On April 29 at Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni, Nicholls and Haste unsuccessfully challenged Aussie Open for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. In July, Nicholls was granted entry into the 2023 G1 Climax, his first G1 Climax tournament. On August 9, he finished the tournament with a record of two wins and five losses, failing to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. From November 25 until December 6, Nicholls and Haste took part in the 2023 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On December 8, Nicholls and Haste were eliminated from the tournament by losing to El Phantasmo and Hikuleo, in the semifinals.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Blue Vengeance* (Moonsault) – 2014
	+ *Master Blaster* (Abdominal stretch lifted into an over the shoulder scoop brainbuster)
	+ *Mikey Bomb* (Spin-out powerbomb)
	+ Shooting star press
* **Signature moves**
	+ *Southern Cross Stretch* (Modified figure-four leglock)
	+ DDT
	+ Death Valley driver
	+ Diving crossbody
	+ Falcon arrow
	+ Corner Clothesline
	+ Lifting spinebuster
	+ Snap suplex
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"The Mad"**
	+ "Mean Machine"
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Joker & the Thief" by Wolfmother
	+ **"Young Punks"** by Mass Lines

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI ranked him #**154** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
* **Pro Wrestling NOAH**
	+ GHC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Shane Haste
	+ Global Tag League Fighting Spirit Award (2015) – with Shane Haste
* **Tokyo Sports**
	+ Best Tag Team Award (2013) – with Shane Haste

## References

1. ↑ Vetter, Chris 2008-07-08. Torch Indy Weekend Report: Hero wins PWG title, Moose breaks leg, Shimmer taping, Briscoe fired . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
2. ↑ Torch Indy Weekend Report: Jacobs injury, A.J. Styles & Samoa Joe to return to IWA Mid-South . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
3. ↑ http://www.rohwrestling.com/media/photos/mikey-nicholls-and-shane-haste
4. ↑ Oliver, Greg. Getting to know the unknown 'Machine Gun' Karl Anderson . *SLAM! Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
5. ↑ Monday news: RVD and Sabu, Raw tonight, PRIDE tourney, new AJ champ, more . *Wrestling Observer*. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
6. ↑ This day in history: Vince McMahon gets blown up and is 'presumed dead' (and it doesn't last), Bill Goldberg turns heel (and it doesn't last) and more . PWInsider. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
7. ↑ Johns, Fred. NWA title tourney set to begin . *SLAM! Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
8. ↑ Martin, Adam. 8/6 *Southeastern Wrestling News*, NECW DVD review, MWF and more . *Wrestleview*. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
9. ↑ Martinez, Ryan. This day in history: Clash of the Champions, ground zero, King of the Ring, British Bulldog returns and more . PWInsider. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
10. ↑ Martin, Adam. 6/26 ROH Results: Detroit, MI . Wrestleview. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
11. ↑ 6/27 ROH Results: Chicago Ridge, IL . Wrestleview. Retrieved on 2014-04-30.
12. ↑ ザ・リーヴ presents 第29回プロレスリング・セム  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
13. ↑ Global League Tournament 2012 . *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2012-11-23.
14. ↑ 「グローバル・リーグ戦 2013」ブロック分け決定！ . *Pro Wrestling Noah* (2013-09-24). Retrieved on 2013-09-24.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Great Voyage 2013 in Tokyo "七夕決戦～みんなの願い～"  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
16. ↑ Kentaが宿敵・丸藤との35分越え死闘を制しGHCヘビーV4  (in Japanese). *Sports Navi*. Yahoo! (2013-07-07). Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
17. ↑ *ja:ニコルス＆ヘイスト組が王座奪還／ノア* (in Japanese). *Nikkan Sports* (2013-07-07). Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
18. ↑ *ja:2013年9月16日(月)* (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2014-04-06.
19. ↑ KentaがGHCヘビー級Ｖ７／ノア  (in Japanese). *Nikkan Sports* (2013-09-17). Retrieved on 2014-04-06.
20. ↑ *ja:【プロレス大賞】ハンセン、ベイダー組に並んだＴＭＤＫ* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2013-12-10). Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
21. ↑ The First Navig.2014  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.
22. ↑ 森嶋がGHCタッグ奪取でヘビー級二冠王に 新軍団名は「超危暴軍」に決定  (in Japanese). *Sports Navi*. Yahoo! (2014-01-26). Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
23. ↑ *ja:ＧＨＣタッグ奪取の森嶋「超危暴軍」を旗揚げ* (in Japanese). *Tokyo Sports* (2014-01-27). Retrieved on 2014-04-04.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 New Year Navig. 2015  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2015-01-10.
25. ↑ Great Voyage 2015 in Nagoya  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2015-02-11.
26. ↑ 契約期間満了に関するご報告  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah* (2015-12-28). Retrieved on 2015-12-29.
27. ↑ TMDK参戦決定！【3・2ディファ有明大会～3・10後楽園ホール大会 】  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah* (2016-02-11). Retrieved on 2016-02-11.
28. ↑ Spring Navig.2016  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2016-03-10.
29. ↑ Caldwell, James 2016-03-10. Int’l tag team TMDK finishes Noah run, heading to NXT . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2016-03-11.
30. ↑ Road to Tokyo Dome  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2014-12-20.
31. ↑ Wrestle Kingdom 9 in 東京ドーム  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2015-01-04.
32. ↑ *ja:「グローバル・リーグ戦 2014」10月21日(火)ボディメーカーコロシアム第2競技場大会 試合後コメント* (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah* (2014-10-22). Retrieved on 2014-10-27.
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Mikey Nicholls  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2014-03-28.
34. ↑ Mikey Nicholls  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Archived from the original on 2013-06-24. Retrieved on 2015-01-26.
35. ↑ 「The Second Navig. 2014」2月9日(日)清水マリンビル大会 試合後コメント  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah* (2014-02-10). Retrieved on 2015-02-07.
36. ↑ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016 . *The Internet Wrestling Database*. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
37. ↑ *ja:ノア「グローバル・タッグリーグ戦2015」優勝決定戦* (in Japanese). *Sports Navi*. Yahoo! (2015-05-04). Retrieved on 2015-05-06.