In June 2007, after NWA split with TNA, Nicholls was involved in the Reclaiming the Glory tournament to crown a new
NWA Heavyweight Champion,[13] but was defeated in the tournament by
Fergal Devitt.[14] In September 2007, Nicholls defeated champion
Karl Anderson and
Ryan Taylor in a 30-minute Iron Man match for the Empire Wrestling Federation American Championship.[15] In 2009, Nicholls wrestled for
Ring of Honor.[16][17]
Pro Wrestling Noah (2011–2016)
On 23 February 2011, Nicholls made his debut in
Pro Wrestling Noah as he had a try-out match against his teammate
Shane Haste.[18] A month after the try-out match both men started to work full-time with the Japanese promotion. Nicholls competed in both the 2012 and 2013 Global League tournaments as a singles competitor.[19][20] On 7 July 2013, Haste and Nicholls, known together as
The Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK), won the
GHC Tag Team Championship after they defeated
Toru Yano and
Takashi Iizuka.[21][22][23] On 16 September, Nicholls unsuccessfully challenged
Kenta for Noah's top title, the
GHC Heavyweight Championship.[24][25] At the end of 2013, the
Tokyo Sports magazine named Nicholls and Haste the tag team of the year, making them the first foreign team to win the award since
Stan Hansen and
Vader in 1998.[26] Nicholls and Haste lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to
Maybach Taniguchi and
Takeshi Morishima on 25 January 2014.[27][28][29] They regained the title from Dangan Yankies (
Masato Tanaka and
Takashi Sugiura) on 10 January 2015.[30] They lost the title to
K.E.S. (
Davey Boy Smith Jr. and
Lance Archer) on 11 February.[31] On 28 December 2015, Noah announced that Nicholls and Haste would leave the promotion following their contracts expiring at the end of the year.[32] On 11 February 2016, Noah announced that Nicholls and Haste would return to the promotion the following month to take part in a five-show-long farewell tour, entitled "Departure to the World".[33] Their final Noah match took place on 10 March and saw them defeat
Naomichi Marufuji and
Mitsuhiro Kitamiya.[34][35]
Other promotions (2012–2016)
After starting out in Noah, Nicholls returned to the United States and Ring of Honor in February 2012. He and Haste won a tournament at ROH Rise & Prove, defeating two other teams to qualify for a match against the
Briscoe Brothers.[36][37] At the ROH Showdown in the Sun
iPPV in March 2012, the Briscoe Brothers defeated Nicholls and Haste in a Proving Ground match.[38]
On 20 December 2014, Nicholls and Haste made their debut for
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), when they, along with Naomichi Marufuji, were revealed as Toru Yano's tag team partners at
Wrestle Kingdom 9 on 4 January 2015.[42] At the event, the four defeated
Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer,
Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka) in an eight-man tag team match.[43]
In June 2015, Nicholls and Haste took part in a
WWE tryout camp.[44] In February 2016, it was reported that Nicholls and Haste were scheduled to join WWE's
NXT brand following their Noah farewell tour.[45]
On 25 March 2016, WWE confirmed the signings of both Nicholls and his tag team partner, Shane Haste. They began training at the
WWE Performance Center in April, while working for the promotion's developmental branch NXT.[1] During the 19 May NXT tapings, Haste and Nicholls were renamed Shane Thorne and Nick Miller, respectively, while TMDK was renamed TM-61.[46] On 19 November, at
NXT TakeOver: Toronto, TM-61 lost in the finals of the
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic to the
Authors of Pain.[47] Thorne then had knee surgery, which was expected to sideline him for seven to nine months. He returned on 14 September.[48] TM-61 then entered the 2018 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, being eliminated by the Authors of Pain in the first round.[49] The team was officially renamed The Mighty on the 6 June episode of NXT.[50] On December 14, Miller requested and was granted his release from WWE. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Miller asked for his release in order to spend more time with his family in Australia.[51]
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2019–present)
On February 24, 2019, it was announced that Nicholls would be returning to
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and would be competing in the
2019New Japan Cup.
Chaos'
Rocky Romero subsequently revealed him as the newest member of the stable.[52] He would defeat
Hikuleo in the first round,[53] but would be eliminated by stablemate
Kazuchika Okada in the second round.[54] After his elimination, Nicholls participated in six-man matches, usually alongside
Juice Robinson,[55] and then later with his fellow Chaos stablemates.[56] On the Road To Wrestling Dontaku tour, Nicholls often partnered
Hirooki Goto or
Toru Yano in multi-man matches involving
Bullet Club.[57] At
Wrestling Dontaku 2019, Nicholls was on the winning side of both eight-man matches.[58] On the Kizuna Road tour, Nicholls kept teaming with Robinson, as well as with his Chaos stablemates, continuing their feud with Bullet Club.[59] Towards the end, Nicholls challenged the
Guerrillas of Destiny (
Tama Tonga and
Tanga Loa) for the
IWGP Tag Team Championship,[60] and he and Robinson defeated G.O.D. on the final day of the tour to establish them as credible contenders.[61] However, on night one of Southern Showdown, Nicholls and Robinson were defeated by G.O.D.[62] On night two, Nicholls teamed with Yano and Robinson, as they defeated the Bullet Club trio of Tonga, Loa and Gino Gambino; this marked the last time he would be alongside other Chaos stablemates.[63] Nicholls then appeared on the
Fighting Spirit Unleashed tour in the United States, and went unbeaten, mostly facing opponents from the L.A. Dojo.[64] On November 6, it was announced that Nicholls would be competing in the
2019World Tag League, alongside
Jeff Cobb.[65] Nicholls would go on to state that Cobb was an upgrade on Robinson.[66] Nicholls and Cobb finished the tournament in ninth place with sixteen points, ten behind Robinson and
David Finlay.[67]
In 2020 and 2021, Nicholls was unable to enter Japan due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Despite this, on May 14, 2022 at
Capital Collision, he appeared for New Japan's American subsidiary,
NJPW Strong, where he was reunited with
Shane Haste. TMDK and Bad Dude Tito defeated the
United Empire, with Nicholls pinning
Kyle Fletcher for the win. Nicholls would point to the stable's logo on his tights as Tito joined TMDK.[68] Haste and Nicholls then entered a tournament to become the inaugural
Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions, but were defeated in the semi-final to the pairing of
Christopher Daniels and
Yuya Uemura.[69]
Nicholls returned to NJPW in November teaming with Haste in the
World Tag League.[70] The duo finished with a total of 12 points, narrowly failing to advance to the finals.[71] On January 4, 2023 at
Wrestle Kingdom 17, Nicholls competed in the
New Japan Rambo, but failed to last till the final 4.[72] Later in the show, Nicholls and Haste approached
Zack Sabre Jr., who had just won the
NJPW World Television Championship, and offered him a TMDK shirt, which he accepted, officially joining the stable.[73] The following day at
New Year Dash!!, Sabre Jr teamed with Nicholls and Haste to defeat
Chaos (
Hirooki Goto,
Tomohiro Ishii and
Yoshi-Hashi). At the event, the trio also added young lion, Kosei Fujita as a new member.[74]
The victory at New Years Dash caused Nicholls and Haste to be in contention for Bishamon's (Goto and Yoshi-Hashi's)
IWGP Tag Team Championships. Haste and Nicholls received their title shot on February 5 at
The New Beginning in Sapporo, but were unsuccessful in defeating Bishamon.[75] In April, the duo faced new champions
Aussie Open (
Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) for the titles, but again failed to capture the titles.[76]
In July, Nicholls competed in the annual
G1 Climax tournament, competing in the C Block.[77] Nicholls finished his tournament campaign with 4 points, failing to advance to the quarterfinal round.[78]
Personal life
Since 2017, Nicholls has been married to Danielle McDonald.[79] The couple have a daughter together.[51]