Doug Basham

Doug Basham
Basham in 2007
Birth name	Lyle Douglas Basham Jr.
Born	(1971-05-12)May 12, 1971 Louisville, Kentucky,U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Basham Doug Basham The Machine Paul Heyman's Personal Enforcer
Billed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Billed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Billed from	Columbus, Ohio
Trained by	Nightmare Danny Davis
Debut	1993
Retired	December 3, 2023

Lyle Douglas Basham Jr.(born May 12, 1971) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler.He is best known for his appearances withWorld Wrestling Entertainmentbetween 2002 and 2007, andTotal Nonstop Action Wrestlingunder thering nameBashamin 2007.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1993–1996)

Basham made his debut in 1993, wrestling inIndianaand forindependent promotionsinKentucky.In 1994 he wrestled for theUnited States Wrestling Associationlocated inTennessee.He stayed there until 1996.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (1996–2003, 2005, 2007)

Before being called up to WWE's main roster Basham competed in itsdevelopmental territory,Ohio Valley Wrestling.Basham is the nephew of OVW founderNightmare Danny Davis.Basham was a topfan favoritein the company winning theOVW Heavyweight Championshipon a number of occasions.

Basham turnedvillainousand was involved in a unique storyline that saw him compete under a mask as Machine (A character inspired by the film8mm). The story was that Basham and his real-life uncle and trainer Danny Davis had a falling out which led to Basham quitting the wrestling business. However, as his uncle's other OVW-trained superstars likeNick Dinsmore,Rob ConwayandDamajabegan getting opportunities to wrestle on WWE television and become contracted talents, Basham grew resentful and resurfaced as the masked Machine to spoil the opportunities for the other men Davis had trained. Dinsmore would go on to defeat The Machine in a Retirement versus Mask match at the Last Dance on June 27, 2001, and unmask Machine as Doug Basham.

Basham went on to create the Revolutionfactionandfeudedwith OVW's top stars. Basham signed a WWE development contract in April 2002 and was soon signed toSmackDown!in May 2003. In OVW Doug took credit for The Basham Brothers gimmick as his way of getting back at Danny a.k.a. Damaja. The two took part in an epic final encounter which saw Revolution members (includingJohnny Spade,Mark Magnus,andRob Conway) handcuffed to Damaja's allies (including Nick Dinsmore andJohnny Jeter) withMatt Morganon the entrance ramp to prevent any morerun-ins.Damaja was victorious leading to Doug being forced out of OVW. After the match, Doug disbanded Revolution causing the members to attack him and Damaja running back into the ring armed with a Louisville Slugger to make the save. Doug then embraced former partner Damaja and his uncle OVW owner Danny Davis, before going to the back shaking hands with the OVW fans thus making him a face.

After disappearing from WWE TV in September 2005, Doug would return to OVW under a new gimmick; "The Superstar of Superstars." At this time, he came out to the ring using theSupermantheme before signing a new deal with WWE in April 2006.

On March 7, 2007, The Basham Brothers returned to OVW and defeated Wyatt Young and Mike Tolar in adark match.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2007)

Main article:Basham Brothers

With WWE impressed by his in-ring ability,Doug received numerous try-out matches in late 2002 and early 2003 against opponents such asMark Jindrak,Charlie Haas,Lenny Lane,Val Venis,Nathan Jones,Redd Dogg,Nova,Johnny Jeter,Horshu,Shannon Moore,andBilly Kidman.He also teamed with the likes of Damaja,Sean O'Haire,andBull Buchanan.

TheBasham Brothersin 2005

Basham made his official debut on the May 29, 2003 episode ofSmackDown!as one-half of thetag team,The Basham Brotherswith his tag partnerDanny Basham.The Basham Brothers debuted as a team on May 29 and defeated the team ofRikishiandBrian Kendrick.The Basham Brothers were later joined byShaniqua.They were given a bondage-based S&Mgimmickand won their firstWWE Tag Team ChampionshipfromLos Guerreroson the October 23 edition ofSmackDown!.The team would go on to lose the titles on the February 5, 2004 episode ofSmackDown!to Rikishi andScotty 2 Hotty.On February 15 atNo Way Out,The Basham Brothers and Shaniqua faced Scotty 2 Hotty and Rikishi in ahandicap matchand lost when Shaniqua was pinned by Rikishi. The Basham Brothers would go on to lose their manager Shaniqua when she was sent to OVW for training not long after No Way Out. For the next few months The Basham Brothers were regulars onVelocityand appeared on a few occasions onSmackDown!generally losing.

The Bashams were given a one-off television appearance onSmackDown!as part of theTough Enough IVqualifiers. The remaining contestants received 30 seconds each to retrieve a flag from the far corner of the ring. Anyone who succeeded within the time limit would be immune from elimination until the next round. However, the Bashams were the obstacles that were put in place to prevent the challengers from reaching the flag. The Bashams managed to resist all seven finalists consecutively. They also teased hot favoriteDaniel Puderby letting him get within 1 inch of the flag in his final seconds of his turn. (Puder had become the hot favorite one week earlier when he almost defeated a freshKurt Anglein a real wrestling match in seconds immediately after 3 hours of circuit training specifically designed to wear the contestants out.) Impressed by their performance, the tag team were given a push. The Basham Brothers would go on to joinJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield(JBL)'sCabinetfaction on November 25 and became known as JBL's Co-Secretaries of Defense. Their role was often tosacrificethemselves to prevent JBL from getting harmed after he had provoked an opponent. The Bashams would once again win the WWE Tag Team Championship defeating the teams ofRey MysterioandRob Van Dam,Luther Reignsand Mark Jindrak, andEddie GuerreroandBooker Tin a four-way elimination match in January 2005. The Basham Brothers lost the titles to Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero atNo Way Outon February 20. The Bashams would then win sporadically onSmackDown!or defeat any teams that they faced onVelocity.The Basham Brothers quit JBL's Cabinet on the June 16, 2005 episode ofSmackDown!,claiming that they were tired of being "JBL'scrash test dummies"and not getting enough respect.

On June 30, Danny became one of the last minute trades in the2005 WWE Draft Lottery,which saw him jump from SmackDown! over toRaw.This left both men in singles competition in WWE on different brands. Basham would return to television on the August 27 edition ofVelocityunder "The Bash Man" Doug Basham gimmick. The Bash Man came out to the ring wearing sunglasses, a shiny leather vest, and shiny wool pants. Basham continued to worksquash matchesunder this unexplained gimmick sporadically over several months.

While disappearing off WWE television, Basham would return toOVWfor several stints before signing a new deal with WWE in April 2006. Both Basham and Danny would reunite inWWE's revived ECW brandduring July 2006 at severalhouse showsbefore becoming on-screen unnamed masked"Security Enforcers"for ECW leaderPaul Heyman.When Danny was injured with a torn biceps, he was replaced byDerek Neikirk,who continued Danny's role as the second masked enforcer.

The Security Team's existence came into question after Heyman was removed from WWE television. The team stayed to compete in one handicap match againstBobby Lashleybefore disappearing from television themselves.

On January 19, 2007, Basham was released by WWE along with a number of other wrestlers.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007)

Doug Basham or simply Basham and Danny Basham (now known as Damaja) debuted inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestlingon the May 10 episode ofTNA Impact!.They were subsequently revealed to be allies of the villainousChristy Hemme,and atSacrifice,Basham and Damaja defeated Hemme's rivalsKip JamesandLance Hoytin a tag team match.On August 15, Basham along with Damaja left TNA wrestling.

Europe, Return to OVW, and retirement (2008–2009)

In April 2008, the Bashams wrestled as a team one last time on a weekend tournament forJuggalo Championship Wrestling's Slam TV Tour.

In June 2008 Basham went toIrelandworking forIrish Whip Wrestling.Later that year he went toEnglandto work for various promotions. Basham returned to OVW for a one night appearance on October 10, 2008, and defeated JD Michaels with Al Barone by disqualification, due to Barone getting involved.He left Europe in March 2009. He returned to North America for his last match on September 5, 2009, for Pro Wrestling Fusion, defeatingFrancisco CiatsoinTemple Terrance, Florida.

In the fall of 2020, Doug Basham became the Advanced Wrestling Instructor for theAl SnowWrestling Academy inLouisville, KY.

Return to wrestling (2022)

Basham came out of retirement on August 27, 2022, teaming with Al Snow as they defeated Adam Revolver and Joe Mack at OVW's The Big One pay-per-view. He retired once again on December 3, 2023.

Other media

Basham appeared inWWE Day of ReckoningandWWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006.

Championships and accomplishments

• International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom/Revolution Pro Wrestling
  • IPW:UK Tag Team Championship(1 time) – with Iestyn Rees,Joel Redman,Mark Haskinsand Ricky Hype
• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Heavyweight Championship(4 times)
  • OVW Southern Tag Team Championship(2 times) – withFlash Flanagan(1) andDamaja(1)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #51of the top 500 singles wrestlers in thePWI 500in 2003
• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Tag Team Championship(2 times) – withDanny Basham

External links

• Doug BashamatIMDb
• Media related toDoug Bashamat Wikimedia Commons