{"id":58040,"date":"2019-11-15T19:57:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T00:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=58040"},"modified":"2021-05-12T12:55:04","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T16:55:04","slug":"indie-watch-the-bizarro-worldhausen-of-danhausen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/11\/15\/indie-watch-the-bizarro-worldhausen-of-danhausen\/","title":{"rendered":"Indie Watch: The Bizarro Worldhausen of Danhausen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>Indie Watch is our regular series that looks at all of the amazing talents working the independent circuits around the world. Some are veterans revitalizing their careers, some are indie prospects hitting their peaks, while others are names to be on the watch for! In this edition, we look at the macabre jester of the weird, Michigan&#8217;s Danhausen.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>For years, Detroit&#8217;s <strong>Donovan Danhausen<\/strong> has been working on breaking out the Midwest indie scene, but it&#8217;s only been in this past year &#8211; as he became simply <strong>Danhausen<\/strong> and adorned himself in a Joker-esque ghoul face &#8211; that he&#8217;s finally become one of the breakout performers of 2019.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58056\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58056\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-58056\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/11\/1571628120629-e1573864412262.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58056\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Basil Mahmud \/ instagram.com\/Beezzzzy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Danhausen got his start in the Michigan indies, after joining a then co-worker at a local wrestling school. Lucky for him, it was <strong>House of Truth<\/strong>, where he was trained by two former <strong>Ring of Honor<\/strong> stars in <strong>Truth Martini<\/strong> and <strong>Jimmy Jacobs<\/strong>. &#8220;My now close friend Woodrow (at the time a new co-worker) brought up that he wanted to become a wrestler with me in the break room, I told him I did as well but had no idea where to go or how,&#8221; he told <a href=\"https:\/\/thebritishwrestlingrevival.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/16\/interview-kid-gorgeous-donovan-danhausen\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">British Wrestling Revival\u00a0<\/a>in 2015. &#8220;He told me he\u2019s been looking into the House of Truth and it all grew from there. In a few words, training with them would be Tough but well worth it. Those guys are geniuses.&#8221; Soon he began to work for <strong>Metro Pro Wrestling (MPW)<\/strong> out of Wyandotte, Michigan in 2013.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58057\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58057\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-58057\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/11\/danhausen-e1573864796175.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58057\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Donovan Danhausen (Photo: Joel Loeschman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By 2015, he was working in the Midwest and Southeastern indie scenes, working regularly with the likes of <strong>Inspire Pro<\/strong> in Austin, Texas, <strong>St. Louis Anarch<\/strong>y, Chicago&#8217;s <strong>Freelance Wrestling<\/strong> and <strong>DREAMWAVE<\/strong>, and in Florida with <strong>Full Impact Pro (FIP)<\/strong> and <strong>FEST Wrestling<\/strong> to name a few. In 2016, he captured his first singles title with the FIP Florida Heritage Championship.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Sensational&quot; Stevie Fierce vs. Danhausen - Baderbrawl 3 - 11\/22\/17\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ddXnke6TMxY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He continued to work the towns, adding Ohio&#8217;s <strong>Rockstar Pro<\/strong>, Illinois&#8217; <strong>Glory Pro<\/strong>, and Indiana&#8217;s <strong>Black Label Pro<\/strong> in 2017 to his circuit, as well as breaking into the Southwest Ontario scene in the Canadian indies, with <strong>Destiny Wrestling, Alpha-1<\/strong>, and <strong>Superkick&#8217;D<\/strong>. In DREAMWAVE, he joined the <strong>Deep Six<\/strong> stable, working alongside <strong>Arik Cannon, Christian Rose, Ruff Crossing<\/strong>, and <strong>Brubaker<\/strong>, while in Florida with FEST, he allied with <strong>Awaken<\/strong>, featuring <strong>Leon Scott, Wolfe Taylor<\/strong>, and <strong>Jonny Vandal.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Danhausen vs. Matias De Napoli - Limitless Wrestling Studio Taping\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/czE4lBYiLVY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 2018, he joined Ohio&#8217;s <strong>Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW)<\/strong>, where he began to make the change to the character that has captivated the Social Media world of pro wrestling. More and more he began working as Danhausen A.D., and he soon found himself in a new faction, <strong>The Production<\/strong>, lead by <strong>Derek the Director<\/strong>. Alongside other members <strong>Eddy Only, Frankie Flynn, Colby Redd<\/strong>, and<strong> Magnum CK<\/strong>, The Production continues to be a big presence in AIW.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Danhausen vs. Jake Something vs. Josh Briggs vs. Pat Buck vs. Brad Hollister vs. Antoine Nicolas\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vs47kCKq_Ro?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But in the past year, the more macabre Danhausen got, the more he began to outshine every stable he was attached to. &#8220;Honestly, I think people are more open to just being themselves rather than trying to be what they think people want them to be. It\u2019s fun and less stressful,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/fansided.com\/2019\/10\/02\/indie-wrestler-of-the-week-no-002-danhausen\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he told Fansided<\/a> earlier this year. &#8220;My character came from the frustration of trying to please everyone else by trying to be something I\u2019m not. I was sick of just being a guy who wrestles, I didn\u2019t care anymore what people thought of me, I just wanted to make sure I was enjoying what I loved doing again. Inspiration wise, <strong>Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2,\u00a0Batman<\/strong>\u00a0(1989), <strong>What\u00a0We Do In The Shadows,\u00a0The Simpsons,\u00a0Conan O\u2019Brien<\/strong>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FREE MATCH | Danhausen vs. Xavier Walker | Glory Pro\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2-t9BwzAOU8?start=95&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He continues to work the Midwest heavily, becoming a bigger attraction with Black Label Pro and working with <strong>AAW <\/strong>and <strong>Bizarro Lucha<\/strong>, while also working with the likes of <strong>Beyond Wrestling, Southern Underground Pro (SUP), <\/strong>and <strong>Limitless Wrestling. <\/strong>All the while, his Social Media presence exploded. It became tough to take part in wrestling Twitter without seeing people adding -hausen to their profile names, or sharing photos of Danhausen&#8217;s work &#8211; and his infectiously large smile. &#8220;I had posted a picture of me pulling another wrestler\u2019s (Bobby Beverly) mouth apart while in a surfboard stretch, and captioned it \u201cI want to eat my opponents&#8217; teeth\u201d and it grew from there. People wanted to see it. Teeth gross me out. I want my enemies to share my disgust. The rest is a mystery, but I will say thank you, Clayton.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58058\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58058\" style=\"width: 413px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-58058\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/11\/EGyYXGuWkAE7L0i-e1573865728206.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"413\" height=\"500\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58058\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Warhausen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Danhausen has recently paired up with two other enigmas in the world of the US indies, teaming with <strong>EFFY<\/strong> is <strong>Gaytanic Panic<\/strong>, or alongside <strong>WARHORSE<\/strong> in Warhausen &#8211; with the latter, the duo has recently been given their own WrestleMania showcase, Wrestlevania, as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/2019\/10\/29\/the-collective-up-to-12-events-for-wrestlemania-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) Collective<\/strong> <\/a>in Tampa in 2020.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58059\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58059\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-58059\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2019\/11\/ECXu6Y4XsAEnKoT-e1573865781917.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"484\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58059\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gaytanic Panic (EFFY &amp; Danhausen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A solid in-ring wrestler, Danhausen has shed the &#8220;Kid Courageous&#8221; gimmick that launched him so many years ago and embraced a dark side that is both uniquely refreshing and comfortable in its familiarity. He&#8217;s developed a cult-like status in the US indies that grows exponentially every day, with an Armyhausen of the Dead following his every movement. With WARHORSE and EFFY at his side, look for Danhausen to break out even bigger in 2020.<\/p>\n<h3><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/search\/indie+watch\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Check out our full list of previous Indie Watches, showcasing emerging talent from around the world!<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Stay tuned to the<a href=\"http:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indie Watch is our regular series that looks at all of the amazing talents working the independent circuits around the world. Some are veterans revitalizing their careers, some are indie prospects hitting their peaks, while others are names to be on the watch for! In this edition, we look at the macabre jester of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":58041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[5842,3336,4130,4084],"class_list":["post-58040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-north-america","tag-danhausen","tag-effy","tag-indie-watch","tag-warhorse"],"modified_by":"Marilee Gallagher, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}