Exclusive: Mikey Nicholls on the Real Birth of TMDK — “There Were No Schools. We Trained in Garages and Under Buildings.”
By @WrestleMobs
Watch the full interview on Bodyslam’s YouTube
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There’s a version of TMDK that fans know today — the faction in New Japan Pro Wrestling, repping with Zack Sabre Jr., Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste, and Kosei Fujita. They’ve got merch, presence, chemistry, and swagger. They feel like a proper unit.
But to hear Mikey Nicholls tell it, that version is just the polished surface of something far older. Something raw. Something forged in obscurity, without spotlight or infrastructure.
“There were no companies or schools in Perth,” he told WrestleMobs.
“It was just Shane and I. We trained in garages, under buildings, with whoever had a ring.”
No wrestling academy. No dojo. No blueprint. Just two guys in a city forgotten by the wrestling world, figuring it out because nobody else was going to show them how.
“It was very different,” he said. “We had no idea what we were doing. We were just trying to get good at wrestling.”
That’s where TMDK was born. Not as a faction. As a mentality. As a necessity.
The Long Way Round
Nicholls and Shane Haste didn’t have the luxury of visibility. They had to go find it. That journey took them out of Perth, across continents, and eventually to Pro Wrestling NOAH, where their work began to turn heads.
But even as their matches got sharper and their names started to buzz, the thing that defined them wasn’t the wins — it was the stubborn insistence on doing things their way. That same mentality followed them to WWE, where they were rebranded as TM61 in NXT’s black-and-gold era.
“We got signed as who we were,” Nicholls said. “I didn’t have to become somebody else. And that meant a lot to me.”
He doesn’t say it with bitterness. There’s no resentment in his voice. Just pride — not in where they landed, but in how they got there.
“I’m just proud that we stuck to what we were.”
TMDK Today — The Spirit Survives
Today, TMDK is something bigger. In New Japan, it’s a faction with real roots, a crew that actually feels like a unit. It’s not “stable by booking committee.” It’s something that grew up alongside them.
“And now it’s what TMDK is now,” Nicholls said. “You know, Zack and Tito and Kosei… it’s cool that it’s still going.”
There’s no nostalgia here. No attempt to rewrite history. Nicholls isn’t interested in spin — just facts. And the fact is, the name may have grown in size, but the soul of it hasn’t changed.
“It’s always kind of been a real thing for us,” he added.
“Not something someone put together in a room.”
That’s what gives it staying power. Authenticity doesn’t expire.
The One Thing Left to Do
Even with all they’ve accomplished — from Japan to WWE to returning stronger than ever — there’s still one goal that lingers: a proper run with the IWGP Tag Team Championships.
“I’d love to get a nice run with the tag belts,” Nicholls admitted.
“That’s something Shane and I haven’t had here yet.”
He says it plainly, without posturing. But you can feel it matters. Not just because of what those titles represent — but because of where the journey began. From the garages in Perth to the Tokyo Dome… there’s still one more chapter to write.
Watch the Full Interview
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