Damian Mackle (born 20 February 1985) is an Irish

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Killian Dain and since his departure from WWE he has reverted back to his ring name on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

Big Damo. That ring name Big Damo is derived from his first ring name, Damian O'Connor. Prior to joining WWE, he won the

ICW World Heavyweight Championship The ICW World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling promotion. The title was first established as the ICW National Heavyweight Championship at ICW' ...

while wrestling for Insane Championship Wrestling. He also wrestled for numerous promotions on the British independent circuit, around Europe, and in the USA including

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

Progress Wrestling Progress Wrestling (stylized as PROGRESS) is a British professional wrestling promotion that was established in 2011 by comedian Jim Smallman, events and comedy promoter Jon Briley, and later, actor Glen Robinson (professionally known as Glen J ...

, Revolution Pro Wrestling,

Westside Xtreme Wrestling Westside Xtreme Wrestling, commonly shortened to wXw, is a German professional wrestling promotion based in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. wXw has been one of the leading professional wrestling promotions in Germany, and most of its even ...

Absolute Intense Wrestling Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manag ...

, Beyond Wrestling, Premier British Wrestling, Scottish Wrestling Alliance, What Culture Pro Wrestling and IPW:UK. On 19 October 2016, WWE announced that Mackle had signed a developmental contract with the company and had arrived at the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

, Florida. He began to work in the NXT brand as part of the stable Sanity, along with Nikki Cross, Eric Young and Alexander Wolfe. In 2018, Dain, Wolfe and Young were drafted to SmackDown, where they worked as a stable until the dissolution. Then, he was drafted again to NXT, where he stayed until his release, in June 2021.

Early life

Mackle played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for his university football side. He also played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

(up to university level),

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

. He stated that as a child he was attracted to professional wrestling because of the "larger than life" personas and face paint of wrestlers such as Sting and

The Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. Best known by his ring name The Ultimate Warrior, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 1 ...

. He cites fellow countryman Fit Finlay as a huge influence on his wrestling style and inspiration for his success.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2004–2010)

Mackle began his training with Scottish Championship Wrestling, before moving on to train with the SWA/NWA Scotland under Robbie Brookside (now a trainer at WWE NXT) and others. Of Brookside, he stated; "I don't think there is enough hyperbole to explain how good a coach he is...I can't think of a better coach I'd met in any sport". After training at NWA Scotland, Mackle debuted for the Scottish Wrestling Alliance at the age of 20 under the ring name Damian O'Connor. 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 championships in promotions such as 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 named the "Source Wrestling School". O'Connor has trained numerous wrestlers, including Joe Coffey, Joe Hendry and Nikki Cross.

Insane Championship Wrestling (2013–2016, 2018)

O'Connor wrestled sporadically for ICW between 2009 and 2012 under various gimmicks, but his return in November 2013 saw him debut as Big Damo. Damo defeated Chris Renfrew for the

in Belfast on 27 February 2016, marking the first time the title changed hands outside of Glasgow and making Damo the first ever Irish-born champion. On 31 July 2016, at ''Shug's Hoose Party III'', Damo was defeated for the Championship by Joe Coffey. On 11 November 2018. O'Connor (as Killian Dain) returned to ICW for one night only, defeating Mikey Whiplash.

Independent circuit (2014–2016)

In December 2014, Damo unsuccessfully challenged Drew Galloway for the EVOLVE Championship in

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...

, Scotland. 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. In October 2015, Damo debuted for Global Force Wrestling (GFW) on their UK Invasion tour, losing to Bram.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2016)

In January 2016, Damo appeared for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) as part of their ''Maximum Impact'' tour. On the 1 March episode of ''IMPACT Wrestling'', Big Damo unsuccessfully challenged Eric Young for the TNA King of the Mountain Championship. At TNA One Night Only: Joker's Wild, Big Damo and Jimmy Havoc were defeated by

Drew McIntyre Andrew McLean Galloway IV (born 6 June 1985) is a Scottish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Drew McIntyre. McIntyre is a two-time WWE Champion, one-time WWE ...

and Mike Bennett. On the 8 March episode of ''IMPACT Wrestling'', Big Damo competed in a King of the Mountain match for Young's King of the Mountain Championship also featuring Havoc, Ospreay and Bram; Young successfully retained.

WWE (2016–2021)

Sanity (2016–2019)

In June 2016, Mackle signed with WWE to perform on their NXT brand. On 19 October 2016, WWE announced that Mackle had signed a developmental contract with the company and had arrived at the

in Orlando, Florida. On 4 November, Mackle appeared at an ''NXT'' live event and cut a promo. Mackle made his in-ring debut at an NXT live event on 11 November, defeating

Rich Swann Richard Allen Swann (born February 15, 1991) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Impact X Division Champion and Impact Digital Media Ch ...

under the ring name ''Damian O'Connor''. He then reverted to using the ring name Damo. On the 7 December episode of ''NXT'', Damo attacked

No Way Jose ''No Way Jose'' is a 2015 American comedy-drama film. Adam Goldberg directed the film from a screenplay that he co-wrote with Sarah Kate Levy. It stars Adam Goldberg, Ahna O'Reilly, Pat Healy (actor), Pat Healy, Emily Osment and Gillian Jacobs. T ...

and seemed to align himself with the heel stable

SAnitY Sanity (from la, sāntā) refers to the soundness, rationality, and health of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational. In modern society, the term has become exclusively synonymous with ''compos mentis' ...

. In January 2017, he began to wrestle under the new ring name Killian Dain. On the 18 January episode of ''NXT'', Dain joined SAnitY in an official capacity after attacking Tye Dillinger and accepting Sawyer Fulton's jacket from Eric Young. On the 25 January episode of ''NXT'', Dain appeared as part of SAnitY for the first time, attacking Chris Atkins by Young's order. On the 8 February episode of ''NXT'', Dain teamed with Young and Alexander Wolfe to defeat Dillinger, No Way Jose and Roderick Strong. Earlier in the night, Dain and Wolfe defeated The Bollywood Boyz. At WrestleMania 33, Dain made it to the final three in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal before being eliminated by eventual winner Mojo Rawley. On the 19 July episode of ''NXT'', Dain lost to

in an

NXT Championship The NXT Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. It is defended as the top championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory ...

No. 1 Contender's match, marking his first televised loss. On the 28 March 2018 episode of ''NXT'', Dain was named as one of six participants in ladder match at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans to determine the inaugural NXT North American Champion. He, however was unsuccessful in winning. On the 18 April episode of ''NXT'', Dain lost a No Disqualification match to

Lars Sullivan Dylan Miley (born July 6, 1988) is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Lars Sullivan. He joined WWE in 2013 and spent several years training at the WWE Performance Center before making hi ...

. During the

2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up The 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the twelfth WWE draft, produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Instead of a traditional draft, changes between the brands were made behind the scenes, ...

, SAnitY (excluding Cross) were drafted to SmackDown. The group debuted on the 19 June episode of ''SmackDown LIVE'' where they attacked

The Usos The Usos (born August 22, 1985) are an American professional wrestling tag team composed of twin brothers Joshua Samuel Fatu and Jonathan Solofa Fatu, who are known professionally by their respective ring names Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. They ar ...

. The following week, SAnitY lost to The Usos and

Jeff Hardy Jeffrey Nero Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and musician. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Hardy is widely considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time and is regard ...

. On the 3 July episode of ''SmackDown LIVE'', the group attacked The New Day. This led to a tables match between the two teams at Extreme Rules, which SAnitY won. On the 24 July episode of ''SmackDown LIVE'', SAnitY and The New Day faced off in the first round of the

WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship The WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, representing the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for ...

No. 1 Contender's tournament. SAnitY (represented by Dain and Wolfe) were defeated. The group competed in only two more televised matches throughout the remainder of 2018, while primarily competing at live events. After a near four-month hiatus from television, SAnitY returned on the 2 April 2019 episode of ''SmackDown LIVE'', losing a three-on-one

Falls Count Anywhere match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

to The Miz.

Return to NXT (2019–2021)

During the

2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up The 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the thirteenth WWE draft – and the last to be branded as the Superstar Shake-up – produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands. Instead of a ...

, Young was drafted to Raw. With Wolfe joining

NXT UK ''NXT UK'' is a professional wrestling television programme that was produced exclusively in the United Kingdom by the American promotion WWE. It aired on BT Sport and 5Action (previously known as Paramount Network). In the United States, the s ...

, the group was officially disbanded. Dain made his return to NXT live events on 16 May, defeating

Jermaine Haley Jermaine Leroy Haley (born February 13, 1973) is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played c ...

. On the 3 July episode of ''NXT'', a promo advertising Dain's return was aired. He made his return on the 17 July episode of ''NXT'', attacking Matt Riddle following Riddle's match against Arturo Ruas. This led to a match between the two being scheduled for the 7 August episode of ''NXT''. However, Dain attacked Riddle before the match could begin. On the September 25 episode of ''NXT'', Riddle defeated Dain in a #1 contender's street fight match for the

ending the feud. Shortly after, Dain would enter in a three-way feud with Pete Dunne and Damian Priest. At NXT TakeOver: WarGames (2019), Dain faced Dunne and Priest in a triple threat match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Championship which Dunne won. In September 2020, he formed a dysfunctional tag team with Drake Maverick, turning face in the process. On June 25, 2021, Dain was released from his WWE contract, this as part of a fourth round of layoffs executed by the brand due to the effect of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Control Your Narrative (2022–present)

In February 2022, it was announced Damo was joining the new Control Your Narrative wrestling promotion created by EC3 and Adam Scherr.

All Elite Wrestling (2022)

On the May 20, 2022 episode of '' AEW Rampage'', Mackle made his debut in

(AEW), using his ring name "Big Damo." In his debut match, Damo was defeated by Shawn Spears.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2022)

On the June 4, 2022 episode of '' NJPW Strong'', Big Damo made his debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling losing to Tomohiro Ishii.

Personal life

Mackle is a lifelong supporter of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

team

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and NBA team

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was estab ...

. He has stated that he believes wrestling – unlike other sports – can be a uniting factor for people in his native Belfast as there are "no (sectarian) affiliations" in wrestling. He stated that he would not support Scottish football because there is "a lot of connotations" with sectarianism. He grew up in what he described as a mixed area and is conscious of keeping political affiliations out of his public life. On January 17, 2019, Mackle married fellow WWE wrestler, Nicola Glencross, known by her ring name Nikki Cross.

Other media

Dain appears as a playable character in the video games '' WWE 2K18'' and '' WWE 2K19''. Damo has also appeared on the YouTube wrestling quiz show Quizzlemania, hosted by

Adam Blampied Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Book of Genesis, Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a coll ...

on the "Parts Funknown" channel.

Championships and accomplishments

* 3 Count Wrestling ** 3CW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Renwick * Insane Championship Wrestling **

(1 time) * Pride Wrestling ** Pride Wrestling Championship (1 time) *

** PROGRESS World Championship ( 1 time, current) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Ranked No. 119 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2018 * Reckless Intent Wrestling ** Reckless Intent Hardcore Championship (1 time) ** Reckless Intent Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * Scottish School of Wrestling ** SSW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Scott Renwick * Scottish Wrestling Alliance ** SWA Laird of the Ring Championship (1 time) ** SWA Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Scott Renwick (4), Pete O'Neil (1), Micken (1) *Scottish Wrestling Entertainment **SWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * What Culture Pro Wrestling ** WCPW Championship (1 time, inaugural) * World Wide Wrestling League ** W3L Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** W3L Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Renwick ** W3L Heavyweight Title Tournament (2011) * WWE **

NXT Year-End Award The NXT Year-End Awards is a concept used by WWE, where awards, similar to the Academy, Grammy and WWE's own Slammy Awards, are given to professional wrestlers who have competed in NXT in the previous year. There have been five editions of the con ...

(1 time) *** Tag Team of the Year (

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

) – with Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young * X Wrestling Alliance ** XWA British Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** XWA British Heavyweight Title Tournament (2014)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dain, Killian 1985 births Living people Male professional wrestlers from Northern Ireland Sportspeople from Belfast