Daniel Briley (born June 30, 1952), better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

"Nightmare" Danny Davis, is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. He is the founder and former owner of

Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion, professional wrestling promotion and former developmental territory based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow, Matt Jones (radio host), Ma ...

Career

Briley started wrestling in 1977 in the

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

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 Champions ...

. Davis had a frequent tag team with

Ken Wayne Ken Wayne (1925–1993) was an Australian actor of radio, theatre, film and television. Career Wayne made his film debut in ''Sons of Matthew'' (1949) and appeared in a number of movies including '' Dust in the Sun'' (1958). Wayne had a featu ...

in the 1980s. At one time, they wrestled under masks as The Nightmares. The duo also worked under masks as The Galaxians for WCW in the 1990s. 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, wit ...

in 1992. He retired in 1997 and opened

. In 2009, Davis opened Vyper Fight League, an

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

promotion, alongside

John "Bradshaw" Layfield John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield, is an American professional wrestling color commentator, retired professional wrestler and former American football, football player. He is s ...

. The promotion ceased operations in 2010. On December 13, 2012, he appeared on a segment of ''

Impact Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busine ...

'' 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 (formerly known as the Impact Wrestling Gut Check) was a tryout program turned indy wrestling rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a pr ...

. 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 for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/ World Wrestling Entertainm ...

Personal life

Briley has one son, Duane Briley, and one daughter April. 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 tenures in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) between 2002 and 2007, and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name ...

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 The NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship was the major tag team championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Alabama territory, Southeastern Championship Wrestling (SECW). It existed from 1974 until November 1986, when it became the NWA Con ...

( 3 times) - with Ken Wayne :*

NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA Southeastern Junior Heavyweight Championship was a secondary title for wrestlers considered "Junior Heavyweights", that is weighing under 230 lbs. It was promoted in the Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi Mississip ...

( 5 times) *

Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ...

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 South w ...

DSW Tag Team Championship References {{reflist Tag team wrestling championships Regional professional wrestling championships ...

( 3 times) - 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 p ...

GWF Light Heavyweight Championship The GWF Light Heavyweight Championship was the secondary title in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas. The title existed from 1991 until 1994, when GWF closed. The title was defended on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN. To ...

( 3 times) *

Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame The Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame was a professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the United States Wrestling Association. The induction ceremony for the Class of 1994, the inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame, took place at the USWA' ...

**Class of 2024 *

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 prom ...

:* 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 Wrestlin ...

Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship The British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title for lighter wrestlers in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs ...

( 1 time) *

USWA Junior Heavyweight Championship The USWA Junior Heavyweight Championship was a short-lived title in the United States Wrestling Association that lasted from 1990 to 1991. They used the old NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA Southeastern Ju ...

( 7 times) :*

USWA Middleweight Championship The USWA Middleweight Championship was a short-lived title 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 ...

( 1 time)

References

External links

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