Before being called up to WWE's main roster Basham competed in its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Basham was a top fan favorite in the company winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship on a number of occasions.

[2] Basham turned villainous and was involved in a unique storyline that saw him compete under a mask as Machine (A character inspired by the film 8mm).

However, as his uncle's other OVW-trained superstars like Nick Dinsmore, Rob Conway and Damaja began getting opportunities to wrestle on WWE television and become contracted talents, Basham grew resentful and resurfaced as the masked Machine to spoil the opportunities for the other men Davis had trained.

The two took part in an epic final encounter which saw Revolution members (including Johnny Spade, Mark Magnus, and Rob Conway) handcuffed to Damaja's allies (including Nick Dinsmore and Johnny Jeter) with Matt Morgan on the entrance ramp to prevent any more run-ins.

After the match, Doug disbanded Revolution causing the members to attack him and Damaja running back into the ring armed with a Louisville Slugger to make the save.

On March 7, 2007, The Basham Brothers returned to OVW and defeated Wyatt Young and Mike Tolar in a dark match.

With WWE impressed by his in-ring ability,[citation needed] Doug received numerous try-out matches in late 2002 and early 2003 against opponents such as Mark Jindrak, Charlie Haas, Lenny Lane, Val Venis, Nathan Jones, Redd Dogg, Nova, Johnny Jeter, Horshu, Shannon Moore, and Billy Kidman.

They were given a bondage-based S&M gimmick and won their first WWE Tag Team Championship from Los Guerreros on the October 23 edition of SmackDown!.

They also teased hot favorite Daniel Puder by letting him get within 1 inch of the flag in his final seconds of his turn.

(Puder had become the hot favorite one week earlier when he almost defeated a fresh Kurt Angle in a real wrestling match in seconds immediately after 3 hours of circuit training specifically designed to wear the contestants out.)

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.

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.[8] 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.