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As a lifelong fan of WWE , the British wrestler known as Chief Deputy Dunne always wanted to step into the squared circle.

When he turned 18, he began to train at Midlands Professional Wrestling in Coventry, then just over a year later made his debut.

At the same time, he started working as an auditor and, for 12 years, he juggled a full time office job with life on the pro wrestling circuit.

But not content with keeping his grappling exploits contained to the weekends, in June he announced he was leaving the office for good.

(Image: BEYOND GORILLA)

Now the 31-year-old, real name Damian McKeown, is living out his dream working for some of the best independent promotions in the UK.

And since deciding to make the leap, No Fun Dunne's faith has been rewarded with a role in WWE's first NXT UK TV tapings in Cambridge in July.

In an exclusive interview with Mirror Sport’s Tony Quant, the Anti-Fun Police tag team member discussed what led to him making the decision, the support he received from his friends and peers, his thoughts on the current UK landscape and much more.

(Image: BEYOND GORILLA)

As of June 11 this year, you gave up your full time job to become a full time professional wrestler. How hard was it to make that decision?

In some ways it was very hard decision to make in the sense of security and finances. I have been working in offices for over 12 years and this particular job I had been in same company for over 10 years. I have been very comfortable in that environment and made lots of friends. Also the company had invested a lot of time and resources into furthering me as a professional. After all that time and effort, for me to leave it was a hard decision to make.

But in another way I knew I wasn’t happy there, and that is nothing against the people or the company, but I just wasn’t enjoying office work and it wasn’t something I set out to do. Wrestling full time has always been my dream. Wrestling had been picking up for me and had gone from being a hobby to something I was going out every weekend and doing and I knew I couldn’t feasibly do both, I knew I had to pick one and that was an easy decision.

I’m assuming your company knew you were a wrestler - how did they react to the news you were leaving?

Yeah I mean it wasn’t something that I tried to hide! And if any of them had me added on any social media they couldn’t help but know. A lot of them were curious, some liked the idea, whereas others were critical and didn’t understand it. I was always getting asked standard questions like “did you win?” or “are you in pain?” Most people knew I did it.

Was the strength of the current British wrestling scene one of the main drivers as to why you could make the decision to become a full time professional wrestler?

It definitely helped. With pro wrestling the way it was few years ago, the idea to make a full time living may have been possible for a small number of people, but if you had a mortgage and bills, it wasn’t something you could do. This massive boom period has given people so many more opportunities, it’s not now just about working three shows over the weekends. There are shows on Monday and Tuesday nights now and these are not just small shows, some promotions are drawing hundreds to thousands of people on mid-week. The strength of the scene has definitely made it more feasible to make a living out of it.

Can you recall a time where you had to perhaps pass on an opportunity because of the day job?

There is nothing that springs to mind in terms of actually having to pass on opportunities, but there were times where I have had to use most of annual leave to do wrestling shows. I do remember when they had just announced the first WWE UK tournament and I was sat at work when it all kicked off.

All my friends were in London at the O2, dressed in suits, hanging out with Triple H and being announced for tournaments, and I was sat at work. It was the same time that a whole bunch of other friends were working the camps and so I had half of them being announced for tournaments and then looking on social media at the others who were all at the beach having a great time. It certainly caused me to be distracted at work!

(Image: BEYOND GORILLA)

With such a huge decision to make, I assume there was a lot of confiding in others around you. Eddie Dennis earlier in the year made a similar decision to leave his post as a school teacher. Was Eddie one of those people you sought advice from?

I have known Eddie for many years and so when he made his decision I had spoken to him about it and he had told me to do it. He left a job as a private school teacher, a job that would have paid very well, and that definitely inspired me. I also spoke to many other wrestlers, like my former tag partner [WWE UK Champion] Pete Dunne who is someone I have known since the age of 13. Everyone told me to do it. Having that support from those people who are so popular and doing so well across the world definitely helped.

It’s still relatively early days, but is there any ounce of regret?

No I wouldn’t say there are any regrets. Now I am full time, I am definitely having to look more at my finances a bit more and being more cautious with that. But I knew it was something that I wanted to do, even though I didn’t have courage to do it sooner. I have taken a bit of time to go on holiday and refresh and when I came back I just went straight back into it. Not having a full time job has given me more opportunities though and I am doing a lot more mid-week stuff.

I recently helped out at the WWE NXT UK tapings in Cambridge and that is an opportunity that I don’t think would have come my way if it wasn’t for the fact that I am doing this full time. I also have a lot more time now to better myself as a person, whether that is going to the gym more, building my brand, arranging my bookings and stuff which I was having to do off the side of my desk before.

How was the experience of wrestling for WWE? You are still working for various independent promotions such as Revolution Pro Wrestling, so do you have an agreement/contract with WWE?

As of right now there is no contract in place and no talk about one. I was asked to come along as an extra, I enjoyed my time there and felt like I did a good enough job. Hopefully I will be invited along to further tapings, but there hasn’t been any talk of it. The good thing is that I am now in their view point, they have seen me and know who I am and that is a good place to be. It was really a foot in the door, and a really surreal experience and I am very grateful for it. I was recognised by the crowd which was great and to have the WWE UK workers see me being recognised helps, as they will know that I have a lot of support. I am definitely hopeful that a contract is coming in the near future.

There has been some negativity towards the WWE NXT UK brand, with some suggestion they are "killing the independent scene in the UK". You are probably someone best positioned to respond to that - what do you make of it?

To be honest, it’s probably the first time I have been asked this. I’ve seen the talk of it, but my view point is I do not agree with that. I don’t think it’s killing the scene because there are always more wrestlers. The wrestlers that are being signed up by WWE have been busting their backs to do it as a full time career for a long time and they are now getting that opportunity. But when they move up, there are so many more wrestlers waiting in the wings.

I guess it’s like a step ladder, once one person goes up one rung, another goes up. Once people go to WWE, others now have the opportunity to headline shows and I think it’s a positive thing for wrestling in general. With so many opportunities now with the likes of WWE, WOS Wrestling and other shows with TV tapings going on, it is a positive and exciting time for wrestling.

(Image: BEYOND GORILLA)

It’s been a very busy year for you so far. Is there a particular moment which stands out as a highlight for you?

It would probably have to be WWE NXT UK tapings. It just came out of the blue. WWE is a promotion that I have watched since I was a child and then going to the tapings and meeting Shawn Michaels, somebody I have read his books and watched avidly as a fan, was surreal. To meet other employees and to step out on a stage and wrestle was something I never expected so soon, but something I am very grateful for and hopeful to do again. The strange thing was it felt like a normal show because so many of my friends were there. The response I received online was immense, I am very lucky to have wrestled for many different promotions.

Your character, Chief Deputy Dunne, has been received well by fans across the country. How did it come to be and because of the variety of promotions you work for, do you find it difficult adapting to the difference audiences?

I’m not sure where the idea came from, but it was given to me by Attack Wrestling, as they wanted the Anti Fun Police to shut down Attack. The whole vibe of Attack is weird, wonderful and mostly fun. I was in a tag team with Ryan Smile and it just grew from there. People laughed at it to start with, but the more and more I was ruining the fun, it all just spiralled from there. It has grown over time and the interest grew across other promotions and it’s just expanded across the country.

I think the character is quite easily adaptable and so I can dial it up depending on the audience. It’s a character that doesn’t want you to have fun and so that appeals to kids at Butlin’s for example and also adults at a PROGRESS Wrestling show. The comedy element is that I am a police officer who doesn’t want you to have fun but ends up in these fun situations.

You have ticked off wrestling full time and ticked off working for WWE. What is the goal now for Chief Deputy Dunne?

My dream has always been to wrestle full time, whether with WWE or someone else. Growing up, in my head WWE was the only real place that it was possible to do that. But now I can see that there are options across the world. I am excited to work for other promotions and I have seen a lot of people have success in different promotions across the world.

I just want to continue to grow the brand. Also now that I am currently working full time, I would like to be more secure and possibly sign a contract. I set myself goals, I mean the WWE NXT UK show was great and I would love to do that again. I just really want to wrestle as much as I can for as long as I can. I would like to wrestle different opponents for different promotions and just continue to grow. I want to watch British wrestling grow and carry on doing what I love as long as I can.