In a recent interview with the Ringside Rant podcast, former WWE & NXT superstar Killian Dain (Big Damo) opened up on his WWE release and getting the call while at the WWE Performance Center.

“I think we got ourselves into a situation over the last few years where nobody was really being released at all, and then this last year has been very different, COVID has thrown a massive spanner in the works for everybody in every professional league and every business across the planet and originally, we were kind of exempt for a little while, but it eventually catches up and me personally, you see the writing on the wall, maybe a year ago when the first cuts were happening, I was thinking you know, this is one of those situations where could it be a bunch of us go at this point.

I was very lucky that it didn’t happen then, especially with how last year turned out, so I’m actually incredibly grateful of the timing in one way and very angry at the same time, but did I see it coming, no, not at all. Being featured on television quite a lot this last few months, like the feud with Imperium and then, the match with Alexander Wolfe, which we didn’t know at the time was his last hurrah as well, so there was a lot of things that you just did not see coming at all, but listen this is a fickle industry, it always has been, there will be periods where it will ebb and flow, you’ll be rocking and rolling, and there’s going to be times where bad things happen sadly and there’s been great and incredible talents who have been let go this time.

It’s a part of the industry, it always has been and there’s been plenty of guys before me who were incredible talents who got released and for me personally, I went through every range of emotions on the day and the funniest part is that I was actually in the WWE Performance Center when I got the phone call, so it was even worse because I’m actually in the building and I’m going, ah okay, this is awkward.

We were doing extra ring training every Friday where there’s an opportunity for anybody who wants to go in and work with coaches and I had been getting in because Hideki Suzuki and Robbie Brookside were taking sessions and Robbie’s been a massive influence in my career and Hideki Suzuki is an incredible catch wrestler, he’s one of the last people trained by Billy Robinson, so I’ve really enjoyed picking his brain, so I was in, myself, Tim Thatcher, actually my wife Nikki was there and a bunch of others and we’re having a good day and sadly, it didn’t end a good day, but I went through every range of emotion and to be honest, the weirdest part of it all is that initial, what if, and then, you know that subsides really quickly because you started getting excited about what’s next and the weirdest part of this week.

All I wanted as a kid was to be a pro wrestler and in my 17 years since I started, I managed to carve out a career that got me from the tiniest of towns, with no people watching, to..I managed to get on WrestleMania, so like I literally thought maybe I’ve peaked a bit early [laughs], but in all seriousness though, nobody can take that away from me, and that is something that no matter what happened, if I got hurt or if anything had happened to me, I always had that, that I managed to get there and the coolest thing now is thinking what’s next.

I’m in a brilliant position, I’ve been very lucky with injuries, I realized that I’m blessed in a way because some guys have terrible luck with this, but I’ve been very lucky, niggles yes, minor things yes, whatever else, but I’m leaving in great shape, I’m leaving probably about as healthy as I’ve been in 6 or 7 years and I’ve got 5 years of television experience working with the likes of Shawn Michaels, Fit Finlay and William Regal, all these people who I idolized as a child, as a teen and then idolized as a wrestler as I came through and all these people who have been helping when I was on NXT or on the main roster, so the reason why I’m quite positive is I’m definitely leaving a much better talent than when I started and I’m pretty excited to get out there again, almost like, bring my knowledge and experience to wherever I go and it’s hard not to be optimistic because the world is opening up again, we’re in this brilliant position now that we’re kind of on the other side of COVID, that the world will start again and it will be a lot easier for people like me to get around the world. I still have a few things in the bucket list that I want to do and this kind of gives me the kick up the arse I need to make those things happen.”

The interview is available in full at this link.

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