Shane Haste

Haste in January 2023

###

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

**Shane Veryzer** (born 24 September 1985) is an Australian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name **Shane Haste**, 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.

Haste along with tag team partner, Mikey Nicholls, 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 in WWE, Haste was released from WWE in November 2021, as part of budget cuts relating to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Soon after in Feburary of the next year, Haste reunited with then partner Jonah (known as Bronson Reed in WWE) in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and reformed TMDK with Nicholls joining him in May.

## Professional wrestling career

### Early career (2003–2011)

Veryzer started training in Perth at the Dynamite Factory, the wrestling school of Explosive Pro Wrestling. His debut match took place in February 2003 in a four-way match at The Uprising. Since then he has become one of the top Australian wrestlers, becoming the EPW heavyweight champion and the EPW tag team champion twice. After working all over the Australian continent he moved to California and started working for some of the biggest independent wrestling promotions in the US, such as Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Ohio Valley Wrestling and World League Wrestling.

### 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 Mikey Nicholls. A month after the try-out match both men started to work full-time with the Japanese promotion. On 7 July 2013 Haste and Nicholls won the GHC Tag Team Championship after they defeated Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka. They lost the title 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 Haste and Nicholls would leave the promotion following their contracts expiring at the end of the year. On 11 February 2016, Noah announced that Haste and Nicholls 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, Haste and Nicholls 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 (2022–Present)

On February 17, 2022 at NJPW's *Rivals* tapings, Haste made his return to the promotion attacking FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) following their match with JONAH and Bad Dude Tito, whom he aligned in the process where they would later reunite TMDK. On the April 3 episode of *NJPW Strong*, Haste caused a disqualification loss to FinJuice after attacked Robinson with a steel chair, leading Robinson to challenge TMDK and Tito to a Chicago Street Fight at Windy City Riot, alongside a mystery partner. At the event on April 16, TMDK and Tito were defeated by Finlay, Robinson and Brody King, signalling the end of their feud. On May 14, at Capital Collision, Mikey Nicholls was reunited with Haste, leading him to rejoin TMDK and leave CHAOS in the process. Afterwards, Tito, who had been teaming with Jonah since the start of the year, officially joined the stable.

From 22 November until 14 December, Haste and Nicholls 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, Haste and Nicholls 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, Haste and Nicholls faced CHAOS' Hirooki Goto, Yoshi-Hashi and Tomohiro Ishii in a winning effort. Following the match, Haste and Nicholls 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!*, Haste, Nicholls 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, Haste and Nicholls 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 Haste and Nicholls 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 Haste and Nicholls, which they accepted since they previously lost to them during the 2022 World Tag League. On April 29 at Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni, Haste and Nicholls unsuccessfully challenged Aussie Open for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. In July, Haste 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, four losses and a draw, failing to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. From November 25 until December 6, Haste and Nicholls 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**
	+ *Black Swan Splash* (Corkscrew 450° splash)
	+ *Bomb Valley Death* (Fireman's carry transitioned into a chokeslam)
	+ *Dynamic Bomb* (High-angle sitout powerbomb)
	+ Elevated sitout powerbomb
	+ *Friend Zone* (Chickenwing over the shoulder crossface) – 2014
* **Signature moves**
	+ Cannonball senton
	+ *Falcon Arrow* (Sitout suplex slam)
	+ Firemans carry dropped into a shoot kick
	+ Frog splash
	+ Lariat
	+ *Shane-ing Wizard* (Modified shining wizard)
	+ Sitout powerbomb
	+ Sitout suplex slam
	+ *Slapjack* (Belly to back suplex flipped into a cutter)
	+ Standing moonsault
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Black Swan"
	+ **"The Hysterical"**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" by AC/DC
	+ **"Young Punks"** by Mass Lines

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI ranked him #**147** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
* **Pro Wrestling NOAH**
	+ GHC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Mikey Nicholls
	+ Global Tag League Fighting Spirit Award (2015) – with Mikey Nicholls
* **Tokyo Sports**
	+ Best Tag Team Award (2013) – with Mikey Nicholls

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Clapp, John 2016-03-25. Tag team specialists The Mighty Don’t Kneel sign with WWE . *WWE*. Retrieved on 2016-03-25.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Shane Haste  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2014-03-28.
3. ↑ Shane Thorne . CageMatch.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `WWE`
5. ↑ http://www.noah.co.jp/profile037.php
6. ↑ http://www.rohwrestling.com/media/photos/mikey-nicholls-and-shane-haste
7. ↑ http://socaluncensored.com/2011/03/01/awe-inspiring-an-interview-with-shane-haste/
8. ↑ http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=8151&bild=1&details=7&liga=179&jahr=2010
9. ↑ The First Navig.2014  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 New Year Navig. 2015  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2015-01-10.
11. ↑ Great Voyage 2015 in Nagoya  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2015-02-11.
12. ↑ 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.
13. ↑ 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.
14. ↑ Spring Navig.2016  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah*. Retrieved on 2016-03-10.
15. ↑ Caldwell, James 2016-03-10. Int’l tag team TMDK finishes Noah run, heading to NXT . *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved on 2016-03-11.
16. ↑ Road to Tokyo Dome  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2014-12-20.
17. ↑ Wrestle Kingdom 9 in 東京ドーム  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling*. Retrieved on 2015-01-04.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 【WK9】1.4東京ドーム上陸! 実は新日本キラーな“2013年最優秀タッグ”TMDKはここが凄い!　「週プロ」ノア番・井上記者が徹底解説!  (in Japanese). *New Japan Pro Wrestling* (2014-12-29). Retrieved on 2016-07-28.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 「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.
20. ↑ 9月9日(火)18時30分岡山卸センター展示場大会、直前情報！  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah* (2014-09-08). Retrieved on 2015-02-07.
21. ↑ 「Winter Navig.2014」12月14日(日)高松シンボルタワー展示場大会 試合後コメント  (in Japanese). *Pro Wrestling Noah* (2014-12-15). Retrieved on 2015-02-07.
22. ↑ http://www.profightdb.com/pwi/shane-haste-6203.html
23. ↑ *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.
24. ↑ オカダが2年連続でプロレス大賞MVPを受賞！史上4人目の快挙だが、本人は「当たり前の結果」  (in Japanese). *Battle News* (2013-12-10). Retrieved on 2014-01-21.