Exclusive: “That Was It for Me” – Mikey Nicholls Opens Up About Leaving WWE Two Weeks After Becoming a Father
By @WrestleMobs
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Mikey Nicholls didn’t leave WWE in a blaze of controversy.
There was no scandal, no scathing tweet, no podcast rant.
He walked away quietly — two weeks after the most important moment of his life.
“My daughter had just been born, and two weeks later I was getting back on a plane to go do TV,” he told @WrestleMobs. “I just thought — this isn’t the life I want anymore.”
That one thought changed everything. For a wrestler who’d clawed his way from the independents in Perth, Australia, to the WWE Performance Center, it wasn’t an easy call. But it was a necessary one.
“I’d done everything I’d set out to do — made it to WWE, traveled the world — but I wanted to be there for my family. It just wasn’t worth missing out.”
In an industry that glorifies grind, Nicholls made the rarest decision of all: he stopped running.
From Perth to Performance Center
Long before NXT and network specials, Nicholls was grinding with Shane Haste in RSL halls and dingy Japanese gyms. Together, they formed TMDK, earned respect in Pro Wrestling NOAH, and eventually signed with WWE — rebranded as TM61 during the black-and-gold heyday.
They hit the ground fast. Matches with The Revival. A finals spot in the Dusty Rhodes Classic. Real momentum.
Then, Haste got hurt — and just like that, the push stalled.
“We came in with real momentum. TM61 was something real — Shane and I had been a team for years. But when he got injured, everything kind of slowed down. We weren’t really part of the plans anymore.”
For the first time in years, Nicholls found himself treading water. Still showing up. Still working hard. But the excitement was gone — and when his daughter arrived, so was the justification.
There was no blowup. No bitterness. Just clarity.
“I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t bitter. I just knew it wasn’t right anymore. It was time.”
Wrestling That Felt Like Wrestling Again
Back in Japan — the place where TMDK first found its legs — Nicholls rediscovered something deeper than just ring time.
“Going back to New Japan was like getting back to wrestling,” he said. “No extra noise — just storytelling, struggle, the stuff I’d always loved.”
In NJPW, Nicholls didn’t just find opportunity. He found rhythm. Honesty. The kind of structure that respects craft over catchphrases.
He linked back up with Haste and joined forces with Zack Sabre Jr., Bad Dude Tito, and Kosei Fujita — transforming TMDK from a tag team into a movement.
They weren’t brought together in a boardroom. They were welded by the road.
From Okada to Alpacas — Wrestling on His Terms
Today, Nicholls exists between two worlds.
In one, he shares the ring with legends like Kazuchika Okada, competes for NJPW gold, and carves out a path as one of the most respected foreign veterans in Japan.
In the other, he’s back home in rural Western Australia — not as a wrestler, but as a husband, a father… and an alpaca caretaker.
“These days, I get to go from tagging with Okada to feeding alpacas back home,” he said, smiling. “It’s a weird balance, but I love it.”
The schedule’s demanding, but the reward is rare: peace. The kind of peace you don’t get chasing bookings or crowd pops.
“It keeps me grounded. Wrestling’s intense — emotionally, physically. But then I’m back home and I’m mucking out stalls, or my little one’s tugging at my arm, asking if she can brush the alpacas. That’s real life.”
He isn’t done wrestling. He’s just doing it his way now.
Not chasing the dream. Living it.
Watch the Full Interview
Watch Mikey Nicholls on Bodyslam’s YouTube
Early access & exclusive content: Patreon.com/BodySlam
