Former WWE Star Big Damo Reveals How He & Nikki Storm Acquired PROGRESS Wrestling: ‘This Was Not On The Bingo Card For Us, Either’

PROGRESS

Former WWE star Big Damo has revealed how he and Nikki Cross acquired independent wrestling promotions PROGRESS Wrestling and DEFY Wrestling.

Big Damo (Killian Dain) and Nikki Storm (Nikki Cross) were announced to have acquired both PROGRESS Wrestling and DEFY Wrestling on May 26, with PROGRESS sharing an official announcement.

PROGRESS Wrestling is a British-based independent wrestling promotion, while DEFY is based in the United States.

With both companies now under their control, the former WWE stars spoke to Cultaholic’s Tom Campbell about how the acquisition came to be.

Damo explained that owning companies was not on “the bingo card” for either of them, explaining:

“Genuinely, this was not on the bingo card for us, either.

“We have talked about a million different scenarios for a long time. We have been wrestling for 22 years, Nikki has been wrestling for 18 years, so we know there is a time limit.

“We are going to have to start thinking about what is the future and we thought that was going to be with our little Scottish promotion in Glasgow, but no, it turns out.

“This opportunity came along a few weeks ago. Not long after Nikki had been released, actually. It was only a few days after. I’ll just be honest, I was in Belfast about to jump on a plane going to another show, and I had to sit thinking about it on the plane like, ‘This is wild. There’s no way this could happen.’ Then I come off the plane, and we start talking about it seriously.

“At first we were talking with James Amner, he’s been in situ at PROGRESS for a long, long time. He’s one of the hidden gems. He hates credit in every single way but he’s one of the reasons PROGRESS has been ticking over at all for maybe a decade.”

“When I broached Nikki with it, she was like, ‘What?’ So there’s been plenty of conversations and, listen, the boys made it very easy. I dealt directly with Martyn Best…and he was very patient with me, and we were able to come to the best agreement for both of us. That was one of the most amazing experiences in terms of how easy he made that for me.

“This could have been very, very difficult, and this could have been out of our reach, realistically, because we are living in the United States. That is still our home. Obviously, that will change in the next few years, but that is our handicap, effectively, in one regard. But now it’s putting us in a position where we’re starting to think about, ‘Okay, what do we want to do next?’ and PROGRESS Wrestling has answered a lot of those questions very quickly.”

When it comes to future goals with PROGRESS Wrestling, the couple want to turn it into the number one independent, with Damo saying:

“We can now start thinking about long-term, and that’s something Nikki and I were talking about the other day. Our goal is to make this into the number one independent promotion on the planet.”

Storm would reiterate that very point, making it clear that there are big plans ahead for the UK-based promotion, concluding:

“Number one. Letter A. Don’t get me wrong, we want to give back to the industry, but PROGRESS is going to be the number one wrestling company in the world.”

Killian Dain would be released from his WWE contract in June 2021 due to COVID-19 budget cuts, while Storm would remain with the company until April of this year, which saw a number of stars released, including all the members of The Wyatts Sicks.

The March Of PROGRESS

Founded in 2011, PROGRESS Wrestling quickly rose to be one of the top independent wrestling companies in the United Kingdom, with a rabid fanbase that was passionate about the “strong style” product.

Many of the stars who graced the ring at PROGRESS Wrestling would go on to careers in WWE, with Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, and GUNTHER being just three such names. Although very much a showcase for UK talent, international stars would also find their way into the PROGRESS Wrestling, GUNTHER aside, with Austin Theory competing there in March 2019, ahead of his WWE signing later that year, as just one example.

For many, PROGRESS Wrestling was the company that made a young Will Ospreay, alongside Revolution Pro Wrestling, with the star reaching new heights across the UK before heading to Japan and, eventually, AEW, where he would become a whole new beast of a performer.

From its early days, PROGRESS Wrestling had a knack for tapping into up-and-coming stars from across the United Kingdom, allowing them to hone their craft under the purview of three names – Jim Smallman, Jon Briley & Glen Joseph – who may not have been wrestling promoters prior to establishing the company but certainly had entertainment industry credentials and an eye for what worked.

Sprinkling in international talent, including Meiko Satomura, Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole, and others, only added to the anticipation of what was on offer.

Having hosted qualifying matches for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, the relationship with WWE would eventually see PROGRESS Wrestling, along with Scotland’s ICW, find a home on the WWE Network.

While PROGRESS Wrestling may now be divorced from WWE, founder Jim Smallman has gone on to a successful behind-the-scenes role as the international talent scout in WWE, having parted ways with PROGRESS Wrestling towards the end of 2019.

The influence of PROGRESS Wrestling would be seen in NXT UK from 2016 until its discontinuation in September 2022, with many stars familiar to the fans of the independent promotion finding success that continues in WWE to this day, and others finding their opportunities down other paths.

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!

• wwe
• nikki cross
• Killian Dain
• big damo
• PROGRESS
• Nikki Storm

Share this article with friends