Early career (1992–1995) As accomplished as Severn is in amateur wrestling, he is also an accomplished professional wrestler, having competed in
shoot style wrestling for
UWF International in Japan, as well as the
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the US. Severn claims
Lou Thesz as an influence to
professional wrestling. Thesz would later become a fan of Severn after watching him compete in UWFi and UFC, praising Severn's wrestling skills. Severn originally started competing in professional wrestling in 1992 for
UWF-I (Universal Wrestling Federation International) under the Union Of Professional Wrestling Force. This is the international version and not to be confused with
UWF-J which is the Japanese version. In his debut match on November 25, 1992, he defeated
Yuko Miyato. (also known as Shigeo Miyato) He then defeated the likes of
Yoji Anjo, and
Kiyoshi Tamura, which lead to 1993. On February 14, 1993, Dan Severn was defeated by
Nobuhiko Takada. This was Severn's first official loss in professional wrestling. On January 28, 1994, Severn began to wrestle for All American Pro Wrestling (AAPW) and faced
Shinobi in a winning effort. One day later he beat his former trainer,
Al Snow on an AAPW show. Severn began to branch out to other promotions such as
Border City Wrestling (BCW) and
Continental Championship Wrestling (CCW). On August 13, 1993, in UWF-I, Severn and
Gary Albright defeated Kiyoshi Tamura and Nobuhiko Takada. This was Severn's first tag team match, thus beginning his tag team career. 1993 was the first year that Severn made the Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500, at No. 389. During his time with the Union Of Professional Wrestling Force International, Severn participated in the
Best Of The World 1994 tournament, Dan finished before the semi-finals. On February 18, 1995, Severn was the number one contender against
Bruiser Bedlam for Midwest Territorial Wrestling Heavyweight Championship at a Midwest Territorial Wrestling (MTW) event. However, the match ended in a no contest thus saw Bedlam retain the title.
National Wrestling Alliance (1995–2010) NWA World Heavyweight Champion (1995–1999) Severn entered the
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1995, making his debut for the governing body at an event on January 6, by defeating Johnny Johnson in a "wrestler versus boxer" match. On February 24, Severn defeated
Chris Candido to capture his first
NWA World's Heavyweight Championship at a
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) event. Severn made his first title defense on March 17 against Benson Lee at a
Steel City Wrestling event, where he retained the title. He went on to win the UFC 5 tournament Championship in April, making him the first and only man to hold an MMA and a professional wrestling championship simultaneously. Severn defended the title on various NWA promotions, with most of his title defenses taking place in NWA New Jersey. His challengers during his first year of title reign included
Osamu Nishimura,
Tommy Cairo, Max Anthony,
Yoshihiro Tajiri,
Andre Baker, Tony Monroe, Geza Kalman Jr., and
Jim Neidhart. He also returned to SMW, retaining the title against
Bobby Blaze twice, at
Charlotte Memories and
Superbowl of Wrestling. He toured Japan, competing for
International Wrestling Association (IWA) at
Kawasaki Dream where he defeated
Tarzan Goto to retain the title in front of a massive 28,000 fans at the
Kawasaki Stadium. Severn was ranked No. 4 for the "most inspirational wrestler" award and No. 35 on the PWI 500 by
Pro Wrestling Illustrated in 1995. Severn continued to retain the title in 1996, against the likes of Jim Neidhart, Ghetto Blaster,
Repo Man, and Geza Kalman Jr. He also defeated his trainer
Al Snow at the
First Annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl. He retained the title throughout 1997 against
Harley Lewis,
Jimmy Cicero,
Johnny Paradise,
Devon Storm and
Typhoon. Severn also defended the title against the legendary
Dory Funk Jr. at the
Second Annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl. The match ended in a double count-out, resulting in Severn retaining the title. In the autumn of 1997, Severn returned to IWA Japan, where he retained the World Heavyweight Championship twice, against
The Great Kabuki and
Leatherface. Severn held onto the title throughout 1998, retaining against
Franz Schuhmann at the
Third Annual Eddie Gilbert Memorial Brawl. The other challengers for the title whom he defeated that year included
Rod Price, Paul Atlas, Rik Ratchet,
Lance Diamond,
Doug Gilbert,
Sgt. Craig Pittman,
Doink the Clown and Mike Roselli. Severn's final two title defenses were at major supercards, the first against
Steven Regal at
50th Anniversary Show and
Hack Meyers at NWA Florida event ''WrestleGrowl '98''. Severn defeated both challengers to retain the title. After holding the title for four years, Severn lost the World Heavyweight Championship to
Naoya Ogawa at a Universal Fighting-Arts Organization event
Battle in the Hama Ring on March 14, 1999. Severn's reign was the longest reign in over two decades and the
third-longest reign in the history of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Severn would challenge Ogawa for the title in a rematch at NWA Southwest on May 28. The match ended in a double count-out. It was restarted but ended in a five-minute time-limit draw.
Return to the NWA (2001–2002, 2006) Severn returned to NWA by appearing at a NWA Florida event
February Fury on February 20, 2001. The following year, Severn defeated
Shinya Hashimoto to win his second NWA World Heavyweight Championship at a
Pro Wrestling Zero-One event
Vast Energy on March 3, 2002. He defended the title only once against Big Kahuna at a Canadian Wrestling Federation (CWF) event on April 14. The match ended in a no contest. This title reign was controversial and short-lived, as the title was stripped from Severn when he was unable to appear on the inaugural
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pay-per-view to defend his title; the belt was won that evening by Ken Shamrock. On July 5, Severn challenged
Hotstuff Hernandez for the
NWA National Heavyweight Championship. The match ended in a double disqualification. Severn returned to NWA at its
United Kingdom-based territory NWA UK Hammerlock, where he defeated Johnny Moss on February 16, 2006. Severn lost the title back to Moss two days later on February 18.
NWA Hall of Fame (2010) In 2010, Severn was inducted into the
NWA Hall of Fame.
World Wrestling Federation (1997–1999) Severn made his first appearance, with the
NWA World's Heavyweight Championship belt, in the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) on the June 23, 1997 episode of
Monday Night Raw, which aired from
Cobo Hall in Detroit, joining the
color commentary team for
Ken Shamrock's match against
Rockabilly, although he had not yet signed a contract with the WWF at that point. Shamrock won in a
squash match with a
belly-to-belly suplex followed by an
ankle lock before confronting Severn at ringside. After a tense staredown, Severn and Shamrock eventually shook hands, showing mutual respect for one another. As NWA champion, Severn debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in March 1998 during a
story line where
the NWA invaded the WWF. Severn also wrestled on
NWA territories simultaneous to his tenure with the WWF. Severn was first seen attacking
The Headbangers when they were feuding with
Bob Holly and
Bart Gunn, who were a part of the NWA invasion. In his debut match on March 31, he defeated
Flash Funk in quick fashion. He was briefly managed by
Jim Cornette who
commentated during his matches and helped "
get him over". During his entrance, Severn and Cornette carried Severn's titles consisting of mixed martial arts championship belts and the NWA world's heavyweight title. Cornette stated that "He has so many titles he keeps some at home because he can't take them in the airport", which is why Severn brought only his most prestigious championships. His character was portrayed as a
heel (
villain). Like Flash Funk, he defeated multiple opponents afterwards, the likes of
Savio Vega and
Mosh, in quick fashion and by showing some of his MMA style and ability. This led to a winning streak. The NWA invasion was brief and saw the debut of
The Midnight Express and a repackaged
Jeff Jarrett.
Barry Windham was also a member. Severn would tag team with these members from the stable. Severn would then leave the stable soon after to continue further singles competition on his own. He feuded with old MMA rival Ken Shamrock, where the WWF played up their history in UFC. During his one-year tenure, he competed in the
Brawl for All tournament, (a legitimate
shoot boxing competition) beating
The Godfather in the first round. However, he withdrew prior to the
quarterfinals, allowing The Godfather to advance by default. He would also take part in the 1998
King of the Ring tournament, defeating
D'Lo Brown and
Owen Hart before losing to
The Rock in the semi-finals. Dan made his
WWF Shotgun Saturday Night debut in the opening match against G.I. Will in a squash match. On the June 8, 1998, episode of
Monday Night Raw, Severn would (kayfabe) injure Brown's
rib cage via the
bow and arrow submission hold, causing him to wear a chest protector for the next few months. On July 28, 1998, Severn competed against D'Lo Brown for the
WWF European Championship. He would win the match by disqualification, meaning Brown retained the championship. Later that year he was involved in a storyline with Owen Hart, where Hart caused an (kayfabe) injury to the neck of Severn, via a
piledriver. He was part of the 1999
Royal Rumble, being the 8th entrant and lasting almost 6 minutes before being eliminated by
Mabel. He left the WWF due to creative differences. His last match was on the following Raw, where
Steve Blackman defeated Severn via disqualification. In house shows leading up to this, Blackman would defeat Severn every time. According to Severn, shortly before the 1999 Royal Rumble, the WWF asked to him to tattoo "666" on his forehead ("the mark of the beast") and become a disciple of
the Undertaker, presumably as part of his
Ministry of Darkness stable forming during that time. Severn refused to do this, telling the company that he was uncomfortable with the nature of the storyline. When the company responded by telling Severn that they would bury his character if he declined to do as they asked, Severn countered by threatening to use his legitimate wrestling and fighting skills to
shoot on his coworkers and make them "look silly" in the process. This caused the WWF to back off on the idea, but Severn still asked for and received a release not too long after. Severn in a recorded interview stated that the talent of the
locker room was scared of him. He said he noticed this when they referred to him as "Mr. Severn" and thought it was a "
rib" (joke) as well as wrestlers avoiding him. He asked one of the talent and they responded saying, "You scare us. We're afraid that you're going to wig out in one of our matches."
Independent promotions (1999–present) Severn appeared in 2000 in the short-lived WXO promotion. On May 27, 2000, he defeated
Greg Valentine in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. In 2006 Severn wrestled on
AWE, the television series which had 1 season and 7 episodes on the
fight network. After this, the AWE folded due to financial issues. In 2015, on Great North Wrestling (GNW) Dan faced
Hannibal for the Great North Wrestling Canadian Championship in a losing effort in Hawkesbury, Ontario. In May 2016, Dan signed with AIW for a promotional deal. He was put into a championship tournament named the "JT Lightning Invitational Tournament 2016" Severn advanced by defeating
Colin Delaney. Severn was knocked out of the tournament in the semi-finals in a fatal four-way match when
Raymond Rowe was the victor against Dan,
Tim Donst and
Tracey Williams. On February 4, 2017, Severn was inducted into the War Wrestling Hall of Fame in
Lima, OH. On May 12, 2017, Dan Severn competed at Gladiator Championship Wrestling against Brent Myers in a winning effort via his Beast Choker finishing
submission move. Then on June 3, Dan returned to Price of Glory Wrestling where he defeated "so fine" Frank Isaac Anderson, who Severn trained to become a professional wrestler. On March 17, 2019,
Josh Barnett announced via
Twitter that Severn would be participating in
Game Changer Wrestling's (GCW)
Bloodsport, an event that features
worked matches presented in a
shoot style. Severn competed against former
UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir in Mir's professional wrestling debut at the event on April 4. Severn lost the match. On April 5, 2019, Severn appeared for
Major League Wrestling at their second
Battle Riot event. He competed in the titular match, entering at number two and was eventually eliminated by
Minoru Tanaka. Recently, Severn wrestled on July 12, 2025, for two matches for Pro Wrestling King in Elkhart, Indiana. He lost to
One Man Kru in a steel cage match. Later that night he defeated Mitchell Taylor in steel cage match.
Midwest Wrestling Alliance / Price of Glory Wrestling (2004–2018) Severn founded Midwest Wrestling Alliance (MWA) with Mark Pennington, based out of
Coldwater, Michigan in June 2004. Utilizing the many students at his pro wrestling school Michigan
sports camps, they created the popular promotion running on a monthly basis. In 2005, the promotion was renamed Price of Glory (PoG). Severn competed many times in PoG against the likes of
Jimmy Jacobs, N8 Mattson, CJ Otis, Jack Thriller and more. He was a referee for Price of Glory 17: Merry Massacre in 2005. On June 21, 2009, Severn and Johnny Dynamo had a
career vs career match for the POGW Heavyweight Championship at
Faded Glory IV, where the loser would be forced to retire. After a technical match-up, Severn came out as the victor and won the Price of Glory Heavyweight championship. The show ended with the two wrestlers showing respect to each other and the roster came out to pay tribute to Dynamo's career. Severn vacated the title at
Intrusion on September 13. After running for fourteen years, the promotion closed in 2018. ==Acting career==