On 13 November 2006, O'Shaunessy and English wrestler Stu Sanders appeared on the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) show "Raw" at the Manchester Evening News Arena, as part of the security team ejecting D-Generation X from ringside, only for O'Shaunessy to later receive a "Pedigree" from Triple H. The following day, he and Drew Galloway had a tryout match against each other. In April 2007, he received another set of tryout matches in Milan and London against Galloway, as well as Sanders, WWE talent Jimmy Wang Yang, and Monster Factory alumnus Domino. This led to an offer and signing of a developmental contract with WWE, at which point he relocated to the United States.