The Mighty Don't Kneel

The Mighty Don't Kneel
Stable
Members Mikey Nicholls
Shane Haste
Elliot Sexton[1]
Jonah Rock[2][3][4][5]
Marcius Pitt[6]
Slex[7][8][9]
Name(s) The Mighty Don't Kneel
TMDK
Combined
weight		 707 lb (321 kg)
Debut 2010
Promotions EPW[10]
FSOW[11]
NJPW[12]
Noah[10]
NWA Lucha Libre[13]
NWA Pro Wrestling[14]
OVW[15]
ROH[16][17]
TNA[10]
Wrestle Rampage[10]

The Mighty Don't Kneel or TMDK is a professional wrestling stable consisting of Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste, Elliot Sexton, Jonah Rock, Marcius Pitt and Slex, though best known as the tag team of Nicholls and Haste. TMDK has also been said to stand for "Torture, Murder, Destroy, Kill".[18]

History

In the autumn of 2010, Australian wrestlers Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste passed a tryout held by World League Wrestling (WLW), which allowed them to begin training at Pro Wrestling Noah's dojo. They made their debut for the Japanese promotion on 23 February 2011, and began working together under the team name "TMDK". The Mighty Don't Kneel originated in the Explosive Pro Wrestling (EPW) promotion, where it is a stable, also including Elliot Sexton, Jonah Rock, Marcius Pitt and Slex.[1][6] Rock and Slex have also represented TMDK in Noah.[2][7] Nicholls and Haste then began working regularly for Noah in the promotion's junior heavyweight tag team division, though it was questioned whether the two actually were under the 100 kg (220 lb) weight limit.[19] On 15 December 2011, Nicholls and Haste received their first shot at the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by the defending champions, Atsushi Aoki and Kotaro Suzuki.[20] Shortly afterwards, Nicholls and Haste left the junior heavyweight division. In early 2012, Nicholls and Haste traveled to the United States, where they worked for several promotions, including Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW),[15] Ring of Honor (ROH),[16] and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).[10] In ROH, they won a one-night tournament to earn a match against the Briscoe Brothers at the Showdown in the Sun pay-per-view.[16][17]

Back in Noah, Nicholls and Haste also began breaking out in singles action, taking part in the 2012 Global League Tournament, where Nicholls wrestled Kenta to a draw and defeated Go Shiozaki, while Haste was victorious over Akitoshi Saito and Naomichi Marufuji.[21] In April 2013, Nicholls and Haste took part in their first Global Tag League. Though failing to advance to the finals, they picked up a win over the reigning GHC Tag Team Champions, New Japan Pro Wrestling representatives Takashi Iizuka and Toru Yano.[22][23] This led to a title match between the two teams on 12 May, where Iizuka and Yano retained their title.[23][24] Earlier that day, Noah had announced that Nicholls and Haste had signed contracts to become officially affiliated with the promotion.[25] A rubber match between Nicholls and Haste and Iizuka and Yano took place on 7 July and saw TMDK emerge victorious and become the new GHC Tag Team Champions.[26][27][28] In September, Nicholls and Haste both began chasing the GHC Heavyweight Championship, but were defeated in back-to-back title matches by the defending champion, Kenta.[29][30][31][32] On 10 December, the Tokyo Sports magazine named Nicholls and Haste the 2013 tag team of the year, with the two becoming the first gaijin team to win the "Best Tag Team Award" since Stan Hansen and Vader in 1998.[33][34] On 25 January 2014, Nicholls and Haste lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to Maybach Taniguchi and GHC Heavyweight Champion Takeshi Morishima.[35][36][37] On 20 December, 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.[12] They would go on to win the match, defeating Suzukigun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka).[38]

On 10 January, Nicholls and Haste defeated Dangan Yankees (Masato Tanaka and Takashi Sugiura) to win the GHC Tag Team Championship for the second time.[39] They lost the title to K.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) on 11 February.[40]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "A look at … Chris Vice". Explosive Professional Wrestling. 2013-10-15. Retrieved 2014-01-25. The Smashing Machine seemed set to get a championship match, before falling at the final hurdle to TMDK’s Elliot Sexton at Collision Course
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The First Navig.2014". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  3. ↑ "3月10日(日)「Great Voyage 2013 in Yokohama」横浜文化体育館大会 GHC公開調印式＆公開会見の模様". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  4. ↑ 「グローバル・タッグリーグ戦2013」各賞発表. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2013-04-28. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  5. ↑ "「The First Navig. 2014」1月23日(木)北九州パレス大会 試合後コメント". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2014-01-24. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Marcius Pitt and Siren Monroe vs Jay Taylor and Michelle K Hasluck in Mixed Tag Action.". Explosive Professional Wrestling. 2014-01-13. Retrieved 2014-01-25. TMDK member, Marcius Pitt
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "第7回日テレG+杯争奪ジュニア・ヘビー級タッグリーグ戦". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  8. ↑ "「Great Voyage 2013 in Tokyo 七夕決戦～みんなの願い～」7月7日(日)有明コロシアム大会 公開記者会見＆調印式＆イベントの模様". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  9. ↑ "「第7回日テレG+杯争奪ジュニア・ヘビー級タッグリーグ戦」7月21日(日)岐阜商工会議所大ホール大会 試合後コメント". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Tag team "TMDK"". Wrestlingdata. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  11. ↑ Alvarez, Bryan (2012-05-08). "Tues update: Heyman's WWE future, CM Punk apologizes, TNA YouTube push, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Road to Tokyo Dome". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  13. ↑ Martin, Adam (2009-08-10). "Indy News #5: August 10 (Lucha Libre)". WrestleView. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  14. ↑ Jackson, David (2012-02-13). "NWA Hollywood TV taping live report". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Van Drisse, Trent. "OVW TV taping report 3-7 Louisville". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Ruddick, Robert (2012-02-18). "2/17 ROH results Cincinnati, Ohio: Debut show with Tag Title main event, TV champion Lethal, Rise & Prove tournament". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Bishop, Matt (2012-03-30). "ROH Showdown in the Sun: Richards retains, Steen gets unexpected help". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  18. ↑ "2.11ノア名古屋大会で激突するTMDK vs K.E.SのGHCタッグ調印式で早くもヒートアップ!!". New Japan Pro Wrestling (in Japanese). 2014-02-04. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  19. ↑ ＧＨＣジュニアタッグ調印式で異例の計量. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2011-12-09. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  20. ↑ "The Weekday Navig. in Korakuen ～2011 Final～". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  21. ↑ グローバル・リーグ戦 2012. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  22. ↑ グローバル・タッグリーグ戦 2013. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 悪党コンビ初防衛！矢野はＧＨＣ２冠王手. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  24. ↑ 方舟新章. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  25. ↑ マイキー・ニコルス＆シェイン・ヘイスト選手入団のご報告. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2013-05-12. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  26. ↑ "Great Voyage 2013 in Tokyo “七夕決戦～みんなの願い～”". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-07-07.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Kentaが宿敵・丸藤との35分越え死闘を制しGHCヘビーV4". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 ニコルス＆ヘイスト組が王座奪還／ノア. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  29. ↑ 2013年9月7日(土). Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  30. ↑ 2013年9月16日(月). Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  31. ↑ "KentaがGHC6度目防衛／ノア". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  32. ↑ "KentaがGHCヘビー級Ｖ７／ノア". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 2013-09-17. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 【プロレス大賞】ハンセン、ベイダー組に並んだＴＭＤＫ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "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」". Battle News (in Japanese). 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
  35. ↑ "The First Navig.2014". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  36. ↑ "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". Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. 2014-01-26. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  37. ↑ ＧＨＣタッグ奪取の森嶋「超危暴軍」を旗揚げ. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  38. ↑ Caldwell, James (2015-01-04). "Caldwell's NJPW Tokyo Dome show results 1/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Wrestle Kingdom PPV - Tanahashi vs. Okada, Bullet Club, Nakamura, Jim Ross, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "New Year Navig. 2015". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-01-10.
  40. ↑ "Great Voyage 2015 in Nagoya". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). Retrieved 2015-02-11.
  41. ↑ "「The First Navig. 2014」1月23日(木)北九州パレス大会 試合後コメント". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2014-01-24. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  42. ↑ 「グローバル・タッグリーグ戦2013」4月21日(日) 大阪・ボディメーカーコロシアム大会 試合後コメント. Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2013-04-22. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  43. ↑ "The Mighty Do Climb". Explosive Professional Wrestling. 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2014-02-04. Rock and Pitt now join fellow TMDK stablemates Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste, currently the NOAH GHC Tag Team Champions with gold, the faction now holding championships in two continents.
  44. ↑ "The Rise & Prove Winners Get A Big Opportunity". Ring of Honor. Retrieved 2014-05-23.

External links