Smith made his debut on October 28, 2005, at East Coast Professional Wrestling event under the ring name Donnie "The Body" Johnson, where he lost to Ace Wylde.

On September 26, 2009, at NWA New Jersey The Dennis Coralluzzo Invitational 2009, The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord) defeated The Varsity Club (Baby Hughie and Rob Eckos).

[8] On March 10, 2012, Steele and James entered in a tournament to crown a new ACE Tag team Champions, but were defeated in the finals by The Movement.

In the late spring to summer, Dempsey returned to NXT as a tweener, squashing various low carders and local talents.

[16] On September 11 at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way event, Dempsey defeated Rawley in a squash with his new finisher The Diving Headbutt.

[17] Dempsey competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Qualification Tournament at WrestleMania Axxess 31, but lost to Tyler Breeze in the first round.

[18] After several vignettes aired to promote "Bull-Fit", Dempsey debuted his new gimmick on the August 26 episode of NXT, where he defeated Elias Samson.

James announced that he was set to debut in Combat Zone Wrestling, stating that he was coming after Sami Callihan, also known as Solomon Crowe, facing him on March 1.

On February 24, 2018, James lost the title to Alex Reynolds at Psycho Circus XVI only to regain it on March 31, 2018, at Aftermath.