Mikey Nicholls Says He Was Nervous To Go To NJPW After Leaving WWE

In an interview with NJPW1972.com, Mikey Nicholls explained why he was so nervous to join the NJPW roster after he left WWE and NXT, leaving his tag team partner from The Mighty behind. Here are highlights:

On leaving WWE and joining NJPW: “It was nerve racking. A big change of environment, but that nervous energy was good. I think wrestling in singles matches is a bit like riding a bike. You don’t really forget how to do it. It’s just a matter of taking a couple of hits to knock sense into you and make you remember that you can do it. I think having high profile singles matches back to back right away made me produce, made me get better in order to keep up.”

On returning home for Southern Showdown: “As big as Australia is, there’s a small town mentality. Wherever you’re from, as long as you’re from Australia itself, you’ll be embraced by the people there.’ For a wrestling community that has only garnered global attention in recent years, Nicholls was an early international ambassador, rising from a barely visible Perth indie scene in the early 2000s. For Mikey, the glory days of Jim Barnett’s WCW Australia, where the soundtrack of weekend lunchtimes was Jack Little’s growling voice relaying the technical expertise of Ron Miller and the dropkicks of Mario Milano, were the stuff of family folk legends. Perth itself actually had a big scene back in the day. I remember my dad telling stories of his grandmother, my great grandmother taking him to the wrestling there. I grew up hearing all this stuff, but by the time I got into wrestling, it was a distant memory. When I got into wrestling myself, it was a matter of ‘right, somebody has to get in there and get this ball rolling'”.

On training at the LA Dojo: “The La Dojo exemplified everything I loved about wrestling. It had the discipline, the hard training, everything I felt I needed. It was one of the best times of my life, honestly. Prince Devitt, Karl Anderson, Alex Koslov, who came through Mexico and Japan later on. Rocky Romero of course, who has been instrumental in my career. He’s been a real mentor.”