Birth name Damian Mackle Billed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Debut October 1, 2005 Weight 146 kg | Residence Orlando, Florida, U.S. Billed weight 322 lb (146 kg) Height 1.93 m Billed from Belfast, Northern Ireland | |
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Born 20 February 1985 (age 32)
Belfast, Northern Ireland,
United Kingdom ( 1985-02-20 ) Ring name(s) Damian O'Connor
Big Damo
Damo
Killian Dain Trained by Robbie Brookside, Finn Bálor Similar Joe Hendry, Tommy End, Joe Coffey, Nikki Cross, El Ligero | ||
Damian Mackle (born 20 February 1985) is a Northern Irish professional wrestler signed to WWE, competing in their developmental territory NXT under the ring name Killian Dain. He previously competed on the independent circuit under the ring name Big Damo, which is derived from his original ring name Damian O'Connor.
Contents
- Early life
- Early career 20052010
- Insane Championship Wrestling 20132016
- Evolve Wrestling 2014
- Revolution Pro Wrestling 20142016
- Global Force Wrestling 2015
- What Culture Pro Wrestling 2016
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
- NXT 2016present
- In wrestling
- Championships and accomplishments
- References
He is perhaps best known for his work with Insane Championship Wrestling, where he won the ICW World Heavyweight Championship. He also wrestled for numerous promotions in the British independent circuit, around Europe, and in the USA including PROGRESS Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Absolute Intense Wrestling, Beyond Wrestling, WhatCulture Pro Wrestling, Premier British Wrestling, Scottish Wrestling Alliance and IPW:UK.
On October 19, 2016, it was announced by WWE that Mackle had signed a developmental contract with the company and had arrived at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
Early life
Mackle played as a goalkeeper for his university football side. He also played rugby union (up to university level), basketball and judo. He is a supporter of Premier League team Manchester United and NBA team Orlando Magic.
He cites fellow countryman Fit Finlay as a huge influence on his wrestling style and inspiration for his success.
Early career (2005–2010)
After training at NWA Scotland and NWA UK Hammerlock, O'Connor debuted for SWA in 2005 at the age of 20. He originally wrestled in Scotland and the North of England as a tag team called "Britain's Most Wanted" with Scott Renwick. Together the two won a variety of tournaments and Tag Team Titles including SWA (4 times), W3L (2 times), SSW and 3CW. While they never officially split up, they would both focus on singles competition around 2009. This proved to be fruitful for both and O'Connor started touring his native Ireland, the United Kingdom, mainland Europe and the United States. O'Connor would win the Heavyweight Titles in SWE, W3L, XWA, Pride as well as the Laird of the Ring Title in SWA. In 2009, O'Connor took over the SWA training school. He eventually named this the "Source Wrestling School". O'Connor has trained numerous wrestlers, including Joe Coffey, Joe Hendry and Nikki Cross.
Insane Championship Wrestling (2013–2016)
O'Connor wrestled sporadically for ICW between 2009 to 2012 under various gimmicks, but his return in November 2013 saw him debut as Big Damo. That same show, ICW commentator Billy Kirkwood named Damo the "Beast of Belfast". Damo became a regular roster member and would go on to feud with Joe Hendry and Jamie Kennedy, as well as Darkside and the NAK, and would find himself mostly in the Zero-G division.
Drew Galloway had taken on and beaten everyone on the ICW roster as the ICW World Champion, but there was a glaring omission. Even though Damo had an undefeated streak, he could not get a championship match with Galloway. Damo felt there was a conspiracy between Galloway and ICW management – most notably GM Red Lightning.
Damo managed to finally get his opportunity at Shug's Hoose Party 2, and had defeated Galloway only for Red Lightning and Jack Jester getting involved and over turning the decision, cheating Damo. The three men formed the faction The Black Label, and Damo would feud with the three, alongside Grado. He defeated Jester at Fear and Loathing 8 at the SECC Glasgow Arena.
As the Black Label feuded with Mark Dallas over the ownership of ICW, Damo made a deal with Dallas to get a World Title shot in his home town of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Damo went on to defeat Chris Renfrew for the title in Belfast, marking the first time the title changed hands outside of Glasgow and making Damo the first ever Irish-born champ.
During his time as champion, he defended the belt ten times in no less than six countries. On 31 July 2016, at Shug's Hoose Party III, Damo would be defeated by Joe Coffey for the ICW World Heavyweight Championship, who would then lose the belt within minutes to 2016 Square Go! Winner Wolfgang.
Evolve Wrestling (2014)
In December 2014, Damo unsuccessfully challenged Drew Galloway for the EVOLVE Championship in Inverness, Scotland.
Revolution Pro Wrestling (2014−2016)
In 2014, Damo debuted in Revolution Pro Wrestling. In 2015, he wrestled NJPW greats Tomohiro Ishii, Hiroshi Tanahashi Shinsuke Nakamura, as well as Tommaso Ciampa. In 2016, he wrestled international wrestlers "Speedball" Mike Bailey, Roderick Strong, Dalton Castle, Big Daddy Walter and Matt Sydal.
Global Force Wrestling (2015)
In October 2015, Damo debuted for Global Force Wrestling (GFW) on their UK Invasion tour, losing to Bram.
What Culture Pro Wrestling (2016)
In 2016, Damo made his debut with WhatCulture Pro Wrestling on the 28 June episode of Loaded, defeating Joe Hendry in a number one contenders match for the WCPW World Championship. On 25 July at Built to Destroy, Damo defeated Rampage to become the inaugural WCPW World Champion. On 3 September at Stacked, Damo would lose the title to Joseph Conners in a four-way match also involving Rampage and Hendry. On the 24 September episode of Loaded, Damo would be defeated by Alberto El Patrón, where following the stipulation made by WCPW General Manager Adam Pacitti, Damo was fired from WCPW.
On the 22 October episode of Loaded, Damo returned to WCPW after announcing that Pacitti allowed him back. On 12 November at True Legacy, Damo would face Kirby in a losing effort. This would be Damo's final appearance for the company, where he would show his respect to Kirby and announcing he will be heading to Orlando.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
In January 2016, Damo appeared for TNA as part of their Maximum Impact tour of the UK, where he unsuccessfully challenged for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship on two occasions.
NXT (2016–present)
In June 2016, the Wrestling Observer reported that O'Connor had signed with WWE to perform on their NXT brand. Various websites then reported that he was due to start in October. WhatCulture confirmed Mackle to be an NXT recruit. On October 19, 2016, it was announced by WWE that Mackle had signed a developmental contract with the company and had arrived at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. On November 4, Mackle appeared on an NXT house show and cut a promo. On November 11, at a house show in St. Augustine, Florida, Mackle made his in-ring debut, under the O'Connor ring name, defeating Rich Swann. He then defeated Kishan Raftar on November 12 in Cocoa Beach. After a few more house shows, O'Connor would simply be known under the ring name Damo.
On the December 7 episode of NXT, Damo attacked No Way Jose and seemed to align himself with the heel stable SAnitY. He then threw down Sawyer Fulton's jacket on the entrance ramp. In January 2017, he began to wrestle under the new ring name Killian Dain. On January 18, Dain seemingly joined the group in an official capacity after attacking Tye Dillinger and accepting Fulton's jacket from Eric Young. On January 25, Dain appeared as part of Sanity for the first time, attacking Chris Atkins by Eric Young's order. On February 8, Dain performed in a 6-man Tag Team Match with Sanity teammates Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young, picking up a victory against Tye Dillinger, No Way Jose and Roderick Strong.