Daniel Briley (born June 30, 1952), better known by the ring name "Nightmare" Danny Davis, is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

and referee. He is the founder and former owner of

Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow and Matt Jones and Louisville mayor elect, Craig Greenberg. ...

Career

Briley started wrestling in 1977 in the

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

territory, where he made a name for himself as "Nightmare" Danny Davis. He would also wrestle as one half of the masked Masters of Terror in the

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestlin ...

. Davis had a frequent tag team with Ken Wayne in the 1980s. At one time, they wrestled under masks as The Nightmares. The duo also worked under masks as The Galaxians for

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

in the 1990s. Davis also had a brief stint during the latter days of the Central States/Kansas City territory as

Tiger Mask is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's ''Bokura Magazine'' from 1968 to 1970 and was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 1970 to ...

, which occurred a few years after Satoru Sayama's tour of the WWF introduced American audiences to the gimmick. He also wrestled in

Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, w ...

in 1992. He retired in 1997 and opened

. In 2009, Davis opened Vyper Fight League, an

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

promotion, alongside

John "Bradshaw" Layfield John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield (abbreviated to JBL), is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on ...

. The promotion ceased operations in 2010. On December 13, 2012, he appeared on a segment of '' Impact Wrestling'' where he was training Joseph Park to improve Park's skills. On March 7, 2013, he was named as a judge for

TNA Gut Check In professional wrestling, the TNA Gut Check (also known as Impact Wrestling Gut Check) was a tryout program turned Indy wrestling rookies reality series by the American professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), no ...

. He returned to in-ring action in the ''December 2014 Saturday Night Special'', teaming with Trailer Park Trash and losing to War Machine (Shiloh Jonze and Eric Locker). On April 6, 2018, Davis sold OVW to

Al Snow Allen Ray Sarven (born July 18, 1963) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Al Snow. He is best known as a wrestler for Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment. Sn ...

Personal life

Briley has two sons, Stewart Davis and Simon Davis-Millis. He is the uncle of wrestler

Doug Basham Lyle Douglas Basham Jr. (born May 12, 1971) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment between 2002 and 2007, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Basham ...

Championships and accomplishments

* Continental Championship Wrestling / Continental Wrestling Federation :* NWA Southeastern Continental Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Ken Wayne :* NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship ''(Northern Division)'' ( 1 time) :* NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - with Ken Wayne :* NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 5 times) * Continental Wrestling Association :*

AWA Southern Tag Team Championship The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...

( 1 time) - with Ken Wayne *

Deep South Wrestling Deep South Wrestling (DSW) is a professional wrestling promotion in the state of Georgia. Deep South worked in tandem with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a developmental territory from September 1, 2005, until April 18, 2007. Deep Sout ...

DSW Tag Team Championship The DSW Tag Team Championship was the tag team championship in Deep South Wrestling, a former developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling ...

( 3 times, inaugural) - with Ken Wayne *

Global Wrestling Federation Global Wrestling Federation was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. Often the promotion pr ...

:* GWF Light Heavyweight Championship ( 3 times) *

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the pro ...

:* NWA International Tag Team Championship ''(Calgary version)'' ( 1 time) - with

Hubert Gallant Hubert Gallant (born November 12, 1955) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler and trainer who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1970s and early 1980s including Stampede Wrestling and Emile Dupree's Grand Prix Wrestli ...

Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship The Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title for lighter wrestlers in the Canadian promotion Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion ba ...

( 1 time) *

:* USWA Junior Heavyweight Championship ( 7 times) :* USWA Middleweight Championship ( 1 time)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Nightmare Danny American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestling executives 1952 births Professional wrestling trainers Professional wrestling promoters Ohio Valley Wrestling Stampede Wrestling alumni Professional wrestling referees 20th-century professional wrestlers GWF Light Heavyweight Champions Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Champions Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champions