Early career (1993–1996) Basham made his debut in 1993, wrestling in
Indiana and for
independent promotions in
Kentucky. In 1994, he wrestled for the
United States Wrestling Association located in
Tennessee. He stayed there until 1996.
Ohio Valley Wrestling (1996–2003, 2005, 2007) Before being called up to WWE's main roster, Basham competed in its
developmental territory,
Ohio Valley Wrestling. Basham is the nephew of OVW founder
Nightmare Danny Davis. Basham was a top
fan favorite in the company, winning the
OVW Heavyweight Championship on several occasions. The Bashams were given a one-off television appearance on
SmackDown! as part of the
Tough Enough IV qualifiers. 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 to prevent the challengers from reaching the flag. The Bashams managed to resist all seven finalists consecutively. They also teased hot favorite
Daniel Puder by letting him get within 1 inch of the flag in the final seconds of his turn. (Puder had become the hot favorite one week earlier when he almost defeated a fresh
Kurt Angle in an actual 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 was given a push. The Basham Brothers would go on to join
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)'s
Cabinet faction on November 25 and became known as JBL's Co-Secretaries of Defense. Their role was often to sacrifice themselves 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 of
Rey Mysterio and
Rob Van Dam,
Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak, and
Eddie Guerrero and
Booker T in a four-way elimination match in January 2005. The Basham Brothers lost the titles to Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero at
No Way Out on February 20. The Bashams would then win sporadically on
SmackDown! or defeat any teams they faced on
Velocity. The Basham Brothers quit JBL's Cabinet on the June 16, 2005, episode of
SmackDown!, claiming that they were tired of being "JBL's
crash test dummies" and not getting enough respect.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007) Doug Basham, or simply Basham and Danny Basham (now known as Damaja), debuted in
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on the May 10 episode of
TNA Impact!. They were subsequently revealed to be allies of the villainous
Christy Hemme, and at
Sacrifice, Basham and Damaja defeated Hemme's rivals
Kip James and
Lance Hoyt in 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 for
Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Slam TV Tour. In June 2008, Basham went to
Ireland to work for
Irish Whip Wrestling. Later that year, he went to
England to 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, defeating
Francisco Ciatso in
Temple Terrance, Florida. In the fall of 2020, Doug Basham became the Advanced Wrestling Instructor for the
Al Snow Wrestling Academy in
Louisville, KY.
Return to wrestling and second retirement (2022–2023) 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==