After recovering from a shoulder injury, Big Damo is ready to show what he can do in the rings of Major League Wrestling. The impressive Irishman appreciated the company’s patience, seeing the value in his abilities. The Contra Unit powerhouse will make his debut during the August 1 episode of Fusion against the former champ Mads Krule Krügger.
He is an absolute monster. But the truth is, there’s always somebody bigger out there, and there’s always somebody better out there,” Damo said. “You’re looking at the exact example of such. I’ll be able to throw my 350-pound weight and put a 6-foot hole.in Mads Krule Krügger, so I’m very much looking forward to my debut on Fusion.”
Diversity is one thing Damo appreciates about the MLW roster. A contributing factor has been partnerships with companies including CMLL and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The imposing athlete eyes a number of top names right out of the gate.
There’s so many people who have already wrestled all across the globe,” Damo said. “You know, there are the likes of Matt Riddle out there. There’s the likes of Joe Coffey, but the only person I’m looking at right now is Killer Kross. I’m going to go through Mads Krule Kruger, and then I’m going to come after the MLW World Heavyweight Champion. Why else would I be here if I wasn’t?”
It has been a busy few months for Damo beyond MLW. His wife Nikki Storm is defining her next chapter post-WWE. The power couple have not only been able to team up together, but also acquired Progress Wrestling.
The best part about pro wrestling is it tests you and it tests you at all times…with Nikki and I, we got very blessed. We got to be indulgent together at the same time, got to train together. We got to work together, got to travel together as part of SAnitY. And then, obviously, we went our different directions for a few years, but now we’re able to do it all over again. We were in OTT in Dublin last Thursday. Incredible experience for us to team up, and especially in one of my home promotions in OTT, and Nikki got to experience that firsthand. It was very emotional, but it was awesome at the same time. And who knows, maybe we can be looking at bringing Nikki to MLW at some point. Maybe that is something we could talk about down the line.”
Nikki Storm in MLW is certainly an interesting thought and would be a nice addition to the growing women’s division. The driven performer grinds in the business while also pursuing a PhD in History,
Nikki is one of the most driven people I’ve ever met,” Damo said. “It’s probably one of the reasons why we find love in each other. We both had goals for what we wanted to do, and, you know, we’ve been able to hit every goal. She decided that she wanted to go back to school. She got her master’s degree, uh, and then started her doctorate, and it’s on a topic that she’s incredibly interested in. She’s been a history student for a long time, but she’s getting to talk about women’s wrestling, and that’s something that’s very passionate to her, especially in history. There’s not an awful lot of publications out there that have [explored] the last 20, 30 years, and so it’s a chance for her to really explore that.
“She’s done interviews with all kinds of amazing women from the last 30 years. Some really huge names in both her Masters and in her PhD, and I’m very excited, what happens when it gets released. When she does finish, maybe she will be able to release it…I’m very impressed by Nikki at all times, she’s an incredible human being, hell of a wrestler, and that’s something that she’s really excited about showcasing again.”
Damo credits the success of his marriage to Nikki with general mutual understanding. They’ve been able to weather making hard decisions early in their careers. That came with the sacrifice of missing some time together and with family, which they are making up for now. .
As long as you’re willing to work on every aspect of it, then you’ll have no problems,” Damo. “I’m not saying that there hasn’t been a bit of tension in 18 years. Yeah, of course it has. She’s from Scotland. There’s always got to be some sort of tension from people from Glasgow.
I’ve been very lucky that we found each other, and we’ve been able to share so much with pro wrestling, whether it was at ICW 12 years ago, whether it was at NXT or whether it could be with MLW in the future. Definitely, when it comes to Progress, you know, that’s been one of those stresses for us, but in a good way, you know, because that’s something that we’re thinking about for the long term, you know, for when wrestling is over.
“We probably should have decided to go ahead with it, like, five years earlier, but…Sometimes when something comes up like that, you have to go with it, and that’s something that we did, so we’re very excited for the future of British and Irish wrestling. It’s something we’re both really passionate about, and that’ll give us an opportunity to help guide the next generation of talent.
Damo can see the potential of MLW and Progress collaborating. As a fighter in the ring and business man outside of it, the experience of working with the promotion gives him a chance to learn what goes in to producing a good product. He also appreciates the fact MLW keeps the cost of tickets down and makes the shows accessible for fans in these economic times.
When looking at the current landscape of the business, Damo looks forward to watching what Sheamus’ next move will be. His longtime colleague’s exit from WWE has certainly been a hot topic of conversation.
Sheamus has been with the league for 19, 20 years,” Damo said. “When you think about it, that is a long, long career, which is incredible. And he’s always felt fresh. He’s such an incredible athlete himself. Kept himself in wonderful shape for so long…I’m very excited to see what he can do. I’m looking forward to seeing him in the UK and Ireland, I’m looking forward to seeing him hopefully in MLW. He’s an incredible heavyweight, I’d love to get in there and wrestle him.
“I’ve been unlucky that I’ve only teamed with them, I actually haven’t wrestled them, so it’d be really cool for us to get in there and slap each other around, you know, as two Irishmen might do…It’s only a good thing for Ireland if we can have another incredible talent available to us. You know, maybe for me, for Progress, it’d be amazing to have him in the UK. And while we’re trying to train up a bunch of incredible talents to get that bit more experience. The amount of TV experience Sheamus has, they can only learn from and it would be an amazing experience. So I’m personally very excited. From October onwards, you know, the world’s going to have to watch out.
MLW Fusion, Saturdays, 6:05/5:05c on YouTube, 9/8c on Veeps, and 10/9c on beIN Sports
