In June 2007, after NWA split with TNA, Nicholls was involved in the Reclaiming the Glory tournament to crown a newNWA Heavyweight Champion,[13] but was defeated in the tournament byFergal Devitt.[14] In September 2007, Nicholls defeated championKarl Anderson andRyan Taylor in a 30-minute Iron Man match for the Empire Wrestling Federation American Championship.[15] In 2009, Nicholls wrestled forRing of Honor.[16][17]
On 23 February 2011, Nicholls made his debut inPro Wrestling Noah as he had a try-out match against his teammateShane 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 asThe Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK), won theGHC Tag Team Championship after they defeatedToru Yano andTakashi Iizuka.[21][22][23] On 16 September, Nicholls unsuccessfully challengedKenta for Noah's top title, theGHC Heavyweight Championship.[24][25] At the end of 2013, theTokyo Sports magazine named Nicholls and Haste the tag team of the year, making them the first foreign team to win the award sinceStan Hansen andVader in 1998.[26] Nicholls and Haste lost the GHC Tag Team Championship toMaybach Taniguchi andTakeshi Morishima on 25 January 2014.[27][28][29] They regained the title from Dangan Yankies (Masato Tanaka andTakashi Sugiura) on 10 January 2015.[30] They lost the title toK.E.S. (Davey Boy Smith Jr. andLance 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 defeatNaomichi Marufuji andMitsuhiro Kitamiya.[34][35]
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 theBriscoe Brothers.[36][37] At the ROH Showdown in the SuniPPV 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 forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), when they, along with Naomichi Marufuji, were revealed asToru Yano's tag team partners atWrestle Kingdom 9 on 4 January 2015.[42] At the event, the four defeatedSuzuki-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 aWWE tryout camp.[44] In February 2016, it was reported that Nicholls and Haste were scheduled to join WWE'sNXT 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 theWWE Performance Center in April, while working for the promotion's developmental branch NXT.[6] During the 19 MayNXT tapings, Haste and Nicholls were renamed Shane Thorne and Nick Miller, respectively, while TMDK was renamed TM-61.[46] On 19 November, atNXT TakeOver: Toronto, TM-61 lost in the finals of theDusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic to theAuthors 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 ofNXT.[50] On 14 December, Miller requested and was granted his release from WWE. According to theWrestling Observer Newsletter, Miller asked for his release in order to spend more time with his family in Australia.[51]
On 24 February 2019, it was announced that Nicholls would be returning toNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and would be competing in the2019New Japan Cup.Chaos'Rocky Romero subsequently revealed him as the newest member of the stable.[52] He would defeatHikuleo in the first round,[53] but would be eliminated by stablemateKazuchika Okada in the second round.[54] After his elimination, Nicholls participated in six-man matches, usually alongsideJuice Robinson,[55] and then later with his fellow Chaos stablemates.[56] On the Road To Wrestling Dontaku tour, Nicholls often partneredHirooki Goto orToru Yano in multi-man matches involvingBullet Club.[57] AtWrestling 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 theGuerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga andTanga Loa) for theIWGP 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 theFighting Spirit Unleashed tour in the United States, and went unbeaten, mostly facing opponents from the L.A. Dojo.[64] On 6 November, it was announced that Nicholls would be competing in the2019World Tag League, alongsideJeff 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 andDavid Finlay.[67]
In 2020 and 2021, Nicholls was unable to enter Japan due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Despite this, on 14 May 2022 atCapital Collision, he appeared for New Japan's American subsidiary,NJPW Strong, where he was reunited withShane Haste. TMDK and Bad Dude Tito defeated theUnited Empire, with Nicholls pinningKyle 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 inauguralStrong Openweight Tag Team Champions, but were defeated in the semi-final to the pairing ofChristopher Daniels andYuya Uemura.[69]
Nicholls returned to NJPW in November teaming with Haste in theWorld Tag League.[70] The duo finished with a total of 12 points, narrowly failing to advance to the finals.[71]
On 4 January 2023 atWrestle Kingdom 17, Nicholls competed in theNew Japan Ranbo, but failed to last until the final 4.[72] Later in the show, Nicholls and Haste approachedZack Sabre Jr., who had just won theNJPW World Television Championship, and offered him a TMDK shirt, which he accepted, officially joining the stable.[73] The following day atNew Year Dash!!, Sabre teamed with Nicholls and Haste to defeatChaos (Hirooki Goto,Tomohiro Ishii andYoshi-Hashi). At the event, the trio also added young lion,Kosei Fujita as a new member.[74] The victory at New Year Dash!! caused Nicholls and Haste to be in contention for theIWGP Tag Team Championship, held by Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi). Haste and Nicholls received their title shot on 5 February atThe New Beginning in Sapporo, but were unsuccessful in defeating Bishamon.[75] In April, the duo faced new championsAussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) for the titles, but again failed to capture the titles.[76] In July, Nicholls competed in the annualG1 Climax tournament, competing in the C Block.[77] Nicholls finished his tournament campaign with 4 points, failing to advance to the quarterfinal round.[78]
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