Real Name is Troy Martin home town=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pro debut=November 1983
Shane Douglas, a.k.a. Troy Martin, has played both a babyface and heel in his career so far, and without a doubt he's a much better heel.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, native started out his career under the supervision of wrestling legend Dominic DeNucci, from whom he learned
all about the sport along with Mick Foley and the late Brian Hildebrand.
The training under DeNucci would pay off, as Douglas made his pro debut in November 1983. During the 1980's he made a name for himself in
his first time around in the NWA (today knon as the WCW) as a member of The Dynamic Dudes with Johnny Ace. A tandem that would have classic
battles with The Midnight Express.
He grew frustrated in his role with the promotion at that time and left the federation, only to return to bigger and better things several
years later. Douglas came back to a newly titled federation (WCW) and a new tag partner, the legendary Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. In no
time the duo just clicked and began taking on any and all who wanted a piece of them.
On November 18, 1992, Douglas and Steamboat defeated Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes for the federation's tag-team title. The tandem would
also clash with another fearless twosome, The Hollywood Blondes (Steve Austin and Brian Pillman). Their matches were so great that on some
occasions they were moved up to the main even because of the rush they would give the crowd. This in itself was a major accomplishment as
tag matches are very rarely, if ever, used as the main drawing cards.
But again, Douglas would become frustrated with the promotion and left the WCW to pursue a grappling career with the more extreme brand of
wrestling that ECW was offering. This would play a major role in his development as a wrestler, because he not only learned new skills in
the ring, but, more important, he learned how to be a heel.
While with ECW, Douglas went from being a good technical wrestler to one who had a full arsenal that could be utilized for brawling. Two of
the most important additions to his game were his his now convincing mic skills and his deadly finisher, known as the Pittsburgh Plunge.
After putting in his time with ECW he again returned to the WCW, where he plies his trade today. The Franchise character has gone over
really well with the fans, and Douglas enjoys every bit of playing this badass role for the audience.
When asked in an interview with scoopwrestling.com which role he prefers to play, heel or face, Douglas had this to say:
"Absolutely a heel. The Franchise charcter is a heel. He's an asshole. He's the dark arrogantside of everybody that they try to keep under
wraps. Troy Martin just lets him out. He's the guy that is good at what he does and knows it. If he lived next door he'd smack you in the
face before he'd cut the grass. The Franchise doesn't play well to a babyface. After playing him for 7 years, my tendancies in the ring are
heelish. Even when steamboat and I were the babyface tag champions , Bill Watts used to say 'damn, your charcter is such a heel!' I was The
Franchise even before The Franchise."
Here is another pic of Shane Douglas:
The following came from an interview he did on a radio show this week 3/16/04:
It’s been coming for a while, the show all TII diehards have been requesting and waiting for – the Anniversary Show. Not only that,
but Daniel and James run down the WrestleMania weekend, including but not limited to the whole damn WrestleMania event, and other
current WWE happenings.
Then, the interview. ‘The Franchise’ Shane Douglas gives over 2 and a half hours of his time in this shoot style interview. Why buy a
Shane Douglas shoot when everything you ever wanted to know about situations he has been in, is available for free in our audio
archives! Enjoy.
-- The show starts with a special montage entrance James put together for this one-year anniversary show, something that will never
be heard again!
-- Daniel and James go over all of the past moments that meant a lot to TII, and generally sum up what’s coming on the show.
-- James then shocks Daniel and actually plays the first ever recording between the two – the ‘hype’ show (an idea dropped as fast as
possible) for the never aired Buff Bagwell interview!
-- The two then run down the WMXX card from bottom to top, giving their thoughts and of course the insider news that could well affect
each of the matches in the long run!
Shane Douglas
-- When Shane was young, he watched what is classically known as the "old school" with Bruno Sammartino, Haystacks Calhoun, "Nature Boy"
Buddy Rogers, and others. He can remember putting a towel around his neck and jumping off the couch pretending to be Batman, the wrestler
not the Batman that's better known.
-- Another character Shane loved was "Superstar" Billy Graham. He isn't trying to sound condescending towards wrestling but he just
loved it from the first time he saw it and still loves it. That said, he grew up in a small town near Pittsburgh that has all of one
stop sign. So, wrestling wasn't exactly something natural for that environment. Most kids aspired to either join the work force or go
to college. Shane opted to attend college.
-- Shane pursued a Bachelor Arts degree in History and Political Science with a minor in Management. He achieved his degrees in 1986.
He paid for his college by wrestling and thought he'd continue wrestling until a job opened up in his field so that is when he decided
to pursue the offer given to him by Eddie Gilbert to go to the UWF. Shane says 20 years later, he's still looking for his field.
-- Shane's father was very ill with emphysema and a whole collection of ailments. Shane, his father's only son, would take him to the
doctor. Much of what was being done was painful for people to watch, Shane citing his wife as an example of someone who couldn't watch
what his father had to go through. His wife asked how he could watch the procedures being performed to his father and he admitted to
her that he always wanted to be a doctor. She suggested he pursue that field and he did. So, Shane found himself teaching school five
days a week, working for ECW on the weekends, and attending college on the weekends whenever he could squeeze them in. The classes he
took were not easy courses, either. But, Shane achieved A's in all of those courses except for one course.
-- Shane was accepted into medical school, a school called Saba in the Dutch Netherlands which specialized in older non-traditional
students which Shane considered himself. But, this was when ECW was just starting to pick up steam and Paul Heyman offered Shane a
contract. So, he was faced with a decision that had to be made. Shane chose to stick with wrestling. Looking back, he wishes he had
gone to medical school. But, he's not one to cry over spilled milk.
-- Dominic Denucci trained Shane. Bruno Sammartino, to a lesser extent, also trained him.
-- Wrestlers that are starting now should get an education first, in Shane's opinion. He can recall when someone didn't need to attend
college and could work in a steel mill and make a great living. The bottom fell out of that industry and now you need that degree to
fall back on.
-- Shane made his debut on Thanksgiving Day of 1982. He made all of $14.50 and participated in a barbed wire match. Shane feels it
was foreshadowing where his career would be going with ECW.
-- "He's crippled himself to enrich somebody else," said Shane when asked about Mick Foley. Shane respects anybody that makes a name
for themselves in wrestling and talks rather highly of Mick, but does admit it is scary to hear Mick's wife saying Mick is getting lost
on his way home from the airport. Shane says, "I certainly hope that is temporary and not long term." But, wrapping up on Mick, "I
sometimes think he's become a product of the business and lost sight of who he was then," says Shane. But, Shane feels it's besides
the point. He's more concerned for Mick than anything else.
-- Missy Hyatt helped come up with the name Eddie wanted to call him Shane but nobody could come up with the last name. Missy blurted
it out and instead of Troy Martin, Shane Douglas became Shane's commonly known name.
-- Shane says, "Eddie Gilbert was, to me, my key in the business. Eddie saw me and Mick Foley and he instantly saw something in us.
We stunk to high heaven! I'll eternally grateful to Eddie and I miss him. He was one of the rare guys that "gets it" and understands
how to make it work."
-- "I believe UWF was the predecessor to ECW," said Shane. The UWF was revolutionary in how the other companies were doing hip tosses
and in the UWF, Bill Watts was being buried under the flag. Compared to today, it was relatively tame. But, when in context, it was
completely revolutionary. In addition, 45 of the top 50 stars in the business over the past 20 years passed through the UWF and were
seasoned there, says Shane.
-- "Bill Watts got himself into trouble financially by trying to be too big too fast," said Shane. So, there were two options for the
UWF. Either it would fold or be bought. So, when Crocket bought it and the feeling in the locker room was hope that he'd let the legacy
continue. He feels the UWF was able to draw in places the NWA (Crocket's company at the time) was not. So, he would have run them as
two separate companies. Shane asks, "Who cares what name is on the door as long as the receipts go into my pocket?"
-- Shane is absolutely floored that Vince McMahon managed to do the same thing 15 years later. As the NWA (Crocket) could have had
NWA VS UWF events and angles. Instead, Crocket bought it to squash it. Vince did the same thing with WCW and avoided doing the "Super
Bowl of Wrestling" with matches like Kevin Nash against Big Show, Goldberg against Austin, or Shane Douglas against The Rock. "Vince
proved he was too cheap to buy the contracts," said Shane.
-- Eddie Gilbert came up with the idea of teaming Shane and Johnny Ace up. The original idea was to create a younger version of the
Rock 'n' Roll Express as "The Rockers" (as Shane calls them) were getting "a little long in the tooth." He feels they were trying to
appeal to young girls as the Rock 'n' Roll Express was rapidly losing that demographic.
-- A little known fact, The Dynamic Dudes was not the original idea for the team. They wrestled on national pay per view as "Johnny &
Shane, The New Generation." It was supposed to be a combination of the Rock 'n' Roll Express and an ultra modern gimmick. So, the night
after the pay per view, Shane and Johnny get in Eddie Gilbert's car. Eddie tells them they have a new name for the team. When Shane heard
"Dynamic Dudes," he started laughing figuring it was another Eddie Gilbert classic rib. "I was wrong!"
-- The thinking behind the name was, as Shane put it, "in Jim Herd's infinite wisdom as a pizza executive." They did a study that
showed the two most popular phrases in California where many think all hip trends stem from, were "Hey Dude" and "That's Dynamic!" So,
the name was created. Shane feels the name was considered ridiculous by the girls and only liked by the young girls and the guys in the
audience hated them, "so it was dead from the start." Eddie used the Dusty Rhodes style and tried to make lemonade out of lemons or
chicken salad out of chicken shit. So, they were turned heel.
-- "I just learned to roll with the punches. You had to laugh or you were going to cry," said Shane talking about the silliness of the
Dudes.
-- The Dynamic Dudes were working the Midnight Express one evening. Johnny started the match and Shane sees Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane
laughing out loud. Jim Cornette was covering his face with his tennis racket to hide his laughter as Johnny walked over and tagged
Shane in. As Shane entered the ring, he saw a massive sign in the upper deck that was written in big and bright letters, "Johnny Sucks
Shane's ...!" As they got to the back, Johnny asked if Shane was mad about it. Shane said, "Well, since it was you sucking me... If I
was sucking you, I'd be pretty pissed off!"
-- "It was the first time I made real money in this business. Everybody tries to bring it up to me, I don't laugh about it. I laughed
all the way to the bank with that gimmick," said Shane. Shane feels he'd rather be a Dynamic Dude than the Dean Douglas character he
played in the WWF in 1995.
-- Shane used to do a move combination where he'd dropkick someone to the floor, and then do a cross body to the floor. He was working
with Bobby Eaton who Shane says was very dependable. But, the pads outside the ring were set up differently to compensate for a smaller
area. With just Shane's luck, he did the move while his kneepad had slid down a bit. So, Shane came down on his knee and it required
surgery. During his six weeks off, he got calls from several members of the office. Jim Ross was one of them. Ross would "bitch and moan"
about Sting and Luger and how they wouldn't do what they were being paid to do. So, the injury heals and Shane returns. Backstage, Missy
Hyatt walks up. She was in a production. She asked, "How did you piss off the office, you just got back?" Shane had no idea what he
could've done wrong. So, Teddy Long comes up and tells Shane what he's doing that night. They wanted him to do the job for Mark Callis,
before he became The Undertaker, in 3 minutes to a heart punch. Shane couldn't figure how this would be a "push" as Jim Ross had said
they wanted to do with Shane. So, Shane finds Jim Ross and Ross calls Teddy
Long a "stupid son of a bitch" and says that is not what they want. They wanted Shane to do the job for Callis to the heart punch, but
they wanted it to be a competitive match. Shane mapped out a match, pitched it to Ross. Ross said, "Tremendous! Go tell Jody Hamilton."
Shane feels that should be an indication of how convoluted the company was being run. So, Shane tells Jody. Shane thought he was friends
with Jody. Jody wouldn't look Shane in the eye. Jody cut him off in mid sentence, "Shane, you're going to go to the ring and do the job
to Mark Callis in under 3 minutes in a squash match or you can walk your ass out of this building." Shane felt, "put it that way," and
threw a garbage pale at him, turned around and punched Jody's board destroying it and 3 hours worth of matches.
-- Shane got his stuff and headed to Atlanta. He wasn't going home, he was going to speak with Jim Herd. When he got there, Jim Herd
wouldn't let Shane talk. Shane had spoken to Pat Patterson but was under contract. Shane feels he had no reason to tell the booker of the
biggest wrestling company not to call him anymore. Herd was on Shane's case for taking the phone calls and took out a chart telling Shane
he wanted to show him why going to the WWF would be a big mistake. When Shane reached to read the chart, Herd pulled it away and said,
"Let me explain this to you being you won't be able to understand it since you're a wrestler." Shane thought "you son of a bitch" and
snatched the chart. What the chart showed was ratings. It was WWF ratings singular next to the ratings of a series of territorial ratings,
no matter how small the company. Combined together, NWA with the other companies against the WWF, the WWF was still beating everyone
combined in the ratings but it was close. Herd continued to try to tell Shane he was crazy to want to work for the WWF given what the
sheet said. Shane couldn't believe what he was being told. He couldn't figure
out how Herd could say wanting to work for a company bigger than the NWA and all other territories combined, most of which having nothing
to do with the NWA, was crazy. So, Shane ripped up the chart.
-- "At that point, the decision was easy to leave," said Shane. He persuaded himself to never allow himself to work for people like that
again and put his faith in the hands of the WWF, Vince McMahon, and Pat Patterson who he feels were running a crisp business.
-- The WWF production crew compared to the WCW/NWA production crew was like the NFL against peewee league football, in Shane's opinion.
In the WWF, they have signs everywhere in the building, girls working behind the scenes to assist you with your costumes, coffee, the
whole nine yards. In WCW/NWA, you had to walk around the building for 10 minutes to find a locker room and if you wanted coffee, you had
to send someone out to buy it or find an open concession stand. Shane says, "Every office building in the world has a coffee pot, not WCW!"
-- Shane puts Vince McMahon's production value on par with Disney. He feels it is the best production crew in the world. He feels Vince
does all he can to make his product look the best it possibly can. That said, he feels the problem is you can't use smoke and mirrors to
make the product they put on the air today look good.
-- Shane enjoyed his stay with the WWF the first time around in 1990-1991 even calling it his favorite WWF stay. That said, Shane's father
was becoming ill. When Shane was born, his father was 48 so his father was "a tough old World War II veteran." Shane got the call one day
saying his father was very sick and was to have 3 to 5 days to live. Shane went to Vince and told him he'd have to leave. Vince put his
hand on Shane's shoulder and said, "Listen Shane, family comes first. This business is bullshit. It's secondary to anything having to do
with family. You go home and spend time with your dad. If you ever want to come back, the door is always open." Shane has his problems
with Vince today but feels, at the time, Vince was very "gracious." Shane's father ended up going home after a long stay in the hospital
but he didn't die, as was expected.
-- In WCW, Shane teamed with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat quite a bit. "First of all, Ricky is a tremendous guy. Top-notch class! It's
rare to find in this business and he's also one of the top babyfaces in the history of the business. They put me with Ricky ... Ricky
could have easily said no to them and had enough clout to do it without any heat," said Shane. Shane feels Ricky may have seen a little
of himself in Shane in that he was going to "bust his ass." "He saw in me the same ambition in a time where he was probably starting to
get a little stale in the ring," added Shane.
-- "A lot of success I had later in my career as "The Franchise" I directly credit back to Ricky Steamboat. He taught me how to be a
main eventer. He taught me how to go from being that guy that gets beat up in the corner to the guy that does the beating up. As far
as gratefulness goes, I'll always be grateful to Ricky Steamboat."
-- Shane saw a lot of potential in Steve Austin. Shane feels Austin took advantage of his experiences in ECW and took a lot of each
character from ECW with him to the WWF. He sees a lot of Sandman, Taz, and even a little Franchise in Austin and feels he was the perfect
fit for the more "edgy" product Vince was getting ready to put on.
-- "Brian was one of those guys you could love to death and ten minutes later, want to beat up," said Shane when asked about Brian
Pillman. Shane feels he and Brian grew up together in the business. The story that popped in Shane's mind about Brian was an incident
they had in ECW. Brian got Shane's attention, spit on him, and Shane was to pick up a chair and crack him with it. So, Shane grabs a
chair and all of a sudden, Brian pulls a newborn baby in front of him straight out of the baby's mother's arms. Shane had to pull the
chair back with all his might, telling all to watch the tape and you can see him pull it, and coming close to hitting the baby with a
chair. In the back, Shane was pissed off. Brian was laughing, which pissed Shane off more, and Brian kept saying, "It worked, didn't
it?" Shane agrees that it did but he was more worried that a baby could've been harmed. Shane feels the bottom line is all that mattered
to Brian, nothing in between.
-- The whole thing about the Dos Hombres, which was supposed to be Shane Douglas and Ricky Steamboat under masks, was done out of
paranoia. Shane feels when you get done with a wrestling tour, you're not beaten up from the physical aspect of the business but from
dealing with all the paranoia. So, when Shane blew out his shoulder, he needed some involved surgery to get it fixed which would keep
him out of action for a while. WCW was persuaded he was going to screw them. "Ricky was too much of a gentleman to do that and being that
he was my boss, he wouldn't let me do it either!" But, the company was still insistent on getting the belts off of Shane and Steamboat and
as such the Dos Hombres were born with Brad Armstrong and Tom Zenk filling the role for Shane who, as stated, was injured. Shane wanted to
wait until he could and drop the belts to Brian Pillman and Steve Austin properly but WCW just wouldn't wait.
-- Shane left WCW for a number of reasons, the story above being a big part of it. Another part was his pay. He wasn't being paid what
he felt he deserved and when he talked to Bill Watts, Watts asked him to give him a few months because money was tight. Shane did but
in the meantime, Watts was fired. So, Shane asked Ole Anderson for a raise. Ole told Shane he didn't need a pay raise because when Ole
was Shane's age, he made just as much as Shane did and lived fine off it. Shane replied with, "Ole, you idiot!" He then explained how
the value of a dollar has shifted in the many years between their ages and how the dollar just doesn't go as far as it used to. So, Shane
just got fed up with the business and wanted out. So, he went back and started teaching and stayed near his father.
-- Around this time, Eddie Gilbert started calling Shane regarding ECW. Shane wanted no part of it at the time and told everyone he was
retired from wrestling. It wasn't until Eddie offered Shane the top heel spot in the company that Shane entertained and eventually took
the offer. Eddie also gave Shane a look at the booking aspect of the business in that time. "And the rest, as they say, is history,"
said Shane.
-- The Tito Santana ECW Heavyweight title victory never took place. They said the match took place in an elusive tournament match in
Florida that never happened. Why Tito left, he doesn't know.
-- The idea of throwing down the NWA World Title was planned and only two other people were in on it: Todd Gordon and Paul Heyman. Paul
told Shane the negative would be that many he grew up loving would peg him as a “backstabber” if he did it. What made the decision easy
is Dennis Carluzzo's commentary about Shane at the time. Carluzzo went on the radio and behind his back and told everyone not to book
Shane as he would no show and was a "bad risk." Shane can't recall ever no showing an event. Carluzzo, a high-ranking NWA official,
apparently was talking about a show Shane no showed because he was worried about pay. The promoter kept backing out of parts of the
agreement and in the end wanted Shane to drive instead of fly as was planned in the arrangement. So, Shane told the promoter to take
his name off the show and not to book him again. Shane credits Mike Tenay for telling him the story as Shane didn't even remember it.
-- The day of the event Shane was to throw down the NWA belt, he was still undecided. It wasn't until Carluzzo showed up and was stuck
to Shane's side "like a dingleberry" and wanted him to sign a contract which Shane couldn't sign. When he saw how disingenuous Carluzzo
was being, he decided to do it using his father's theory of doing right by the people that do right by you.
-- Shane feels there is some left over anger from the NWA about the tossing of the belt. When he went to TNA, he feels they could have
had him do the typical heel "nobody beat me for the belt" angle but opted not to.
-- When asked about the Dean Douglas character, "everything negative" was his response! The idea behind the character was to expose the
flaws in the ring work of the WWF superstars at the time. An example would be the lack of false finishes or proper hooking of the leg
except when the three count actually comes. Selling a dropkick that missed by a mile ... Things of that nature. It was a "tongue & cheek"
way to correct errors in the locker room. Well, the locker room took offense because the "WWF superstars know all and can't take
constructive criticism."
-- A lot of the problems Vince was having back then are the same problems he's having now, in Shane's estimation. He thinks they need to
start teaching the "seasoned veterans" the "basics" that are taught when you're a baby in the business.
-- In addition, the WWE needs "white heat" from the fans. An example would be when Shane was working on Shawn Michaels and suplexed him
on the ring steps, a fan jumped the rail. They need to find a way to make the fans get that passionate about wrestling again.
-- Shane feels tossing the belt is a historical part of wrestling heritage.
-- Razor Ramon AKA Scott Hall was not a lot of fun to work with then but in the WWF at that time, nobody was. Shane realizes Hall can
go when he wants to but the two couldn't have a match together likely because of politics. Plus, Hall likes to do the same match over
and over in different towns and that drives Shane nuts. So, one night as "Dean Douglas," Shane thinks he should change something up out
there a bit. Hall goes to throw his toothpick, something the "world's smartest wrestler" should know is coming since Hall has done it
every night since he became Razor Ramon, and as Hall went to do it, Shane slapped him upside the face. In a sarcastic tone, Shane says,
"Hall, being the great worker he is" crawled around the ring looking for the toothpick to do the spot!
-- Shane also didn't like the finger motions Hall makes as in "I'm scared of you." Hall feels that makes the heel look silly which means
you're starting the match with psychology 6 feet under.
-- Hall and Michaels wanted the belt to stay "with their boys." Shane started feuding with Shawn for quite some time when the injury
took place. The two were not getting along and the rumor in the locker room was Michaels was saying he'd embarrass Shane in front of a
live audience. Shane told the boys if Michaels pulled anything, he'd stretch him. Shane feels his wrestling training is solid enough to
stretch Shawn Michaels but he doesn't think he'd be a match for Kurt Angle. Anyway, it comes time for Shane to beat Michaels for the belt
and Michaels claims he's had a relapse of his head injuries. Shane, having had some medical training, asks if Michaels had gotten hit in
the head again. He was told no. So, Shane knows he was faking because he wanted the belt to stay with his boys and, considering Hall won
it back that night, it did.
-- "Vince says it's his company and he runs it his way. I say hogwash to that. The inmates are running the asylum," said Shane. Adding,
"it's comical to me."
-- With ECW catching on, Shane feels he became a hot commodity. Shane feels Vince saw Shane as the voice of ECW and that's why he wanted
him. Vince's logic was accurate. The fans were chanting ECW at the WWF events, not WWF at the ECW events. Shane feels Vince wanted Shane
to get over when he was brought there but it didn't pan out for a number of reasons. One reason was Vince wanting Shane to play the "boring
teacher" character because, as Vince told Shane, he once had a teacher that spoke that way and it drove him nuts. Shane tried to explain to
Vince that the difference is you can't, as a kid in school, get up and change the channel on the teacher. The people at home are channel
surfers and will change it if they're bored.
-- Shane was cutting the promos the way Vince suggested and then decided to have Vince view them the way Shane wanted to do them. So, a
group of production crewmembers, Stan Lane, Michael Hayes, and Jim Ross were in a room along with Vince. As Shane started his way of doing
the promo, very "Franchise" like, Vince had to step out to take a phone call as JJ Dillon informed him. When Shane finished up, he asked
the room what they thought and 100% of them said the "Franchise" way was better. When Vince returned, he put his glasses on the tip of
his nose, looked around for approval and said, "I like my way better." Every person that told Shane they liked the "Franchise" way better
turned and said Vince's way was better. Shane felt like he was on a ship called the WWF that was about to hit an iceberg and the crew
didn't want to steer the ship out of the way. At that moment, Shane thought, "What the hell have you done, you jackass!" He regretted
leaving ECW to go to the WWF.
-- "Luckily, Or maybe not luckily depending how you look at it" the WWF had a clause in their contract that relieved them of all
responsibility including in negligence on their part. Shane's lawyer caught it and it was changed appropriately before it was signed. That
said, Thanksgiving week, Davey Boy Smith was working in the ring and while working, the ring collapsed. A crew of 30 converged on the ring
to get it up before they went live in just a few minutes. They did, but it was not done properly. The mat had no give or spring to it and
the ropes felt more like steel beams. In a match with Scott Hall, Shane left with a broken back.
-- Shane also received a phone call from his wife worried about paying the mortgage which was under $480 a month. In 4 months of working
for the WWF, Shane made $6,700. Shane recalls when he was negotiating with Vince, his wife asked why Shane should leave ECW and a teaching
job to be on the road all the time. Vince stroked Shane's wife's hand and told her he'd make Shane a wealthy man. So, when Shane approached
Vince on pay issues, Vince said, "Hang in there, Shane. It will get better." Shane replied back, "I can't tell the bank to hang in there!"
So, Shane filed his 2-week notice to leave and Vince asked if he could make it a 4-month notice as he had a lot of money tied up in the
Dean Douglas character. Shane scoffed back with, "Well, it certainly isn't tied up in pay!" But, he stayed. While there, Vince gave the
impression he wasn't going to let Shane go. So, when he suffered his broken back above, he had the ability to sue the company for
negligence. Shane feels he isn't the type of person that would sue, he just wanted out and because of the injury, he was let out.
-- Back in ECW, a fan attacked Shane after a 16-year-old girl spat in his face. Shane jokes saying he doesn't know what was in the girl's
mouth in the past 48 hours and doesn't want her spit on his face. Security held him back and her father, because security was holding Shane
back, had a few free shots on Shane. Shane left with a severe injury that haunts him to this day.
-- ECW and Shane were sued over this incident. Shane sank $75,000 in legal fees fighting this issue which Paul Heyman was supposed to
reimburse. Heyman never did.
-- Shane says he'd "have given my right nut" to be given the center stage with Ric Flair when Flair was the champion.
-- Shane feels the TV title was the secondary title. The only time the TV belt was worth more was when Shane was injured for months and
begged Paul to get the world title off of him.
-- Taz was a true professional in the ring, according to Shane. He feels Taz was a good character to play off of. The only reason Shane
was hesitant to drop the belt was because he was owed money and realized he could've gone on WCW Monday Night Nitro and dropped it to Ric
Flair and made his legal fees back instantly. But, he felt the ECW fans deserved to see the belt change hands and not be a "Shawn Michaels"
and hurt the belt out of spite. "I'm damn glad I did," said Shane.
-- "Terry was different to work with," said Shane. "I always enjoyed working with Terry, but you could always expect him to throw one or
two potatoes" Shane loved working Terry because he was "so damn passionate."
-- Why didn't Shane drop the belt to Al Snow? Shane wanted to but Paul would have none of it. Shane realized he was injured and couldn't
defend it for a while and felt Al Snow had every bit the talent needed to carry the title. One thing Shane has heard is Paul got wind of
the idea of Al Snow leaving ECW for the WWF which would have been bad, to put your belt on a guy leaving the company.
-- The Triple Threat was a play on the IV Horsemen. The play was the Triple Threat needed only three top talent wrestlers to do the job of
what took four in the IV Horsemen. Shane feels the Malenko and Benoit generation of the Triple Threat was the IV Horsemen of the 90's.
-- Chris Candido has, as many in the wrestling business do, his demons. Shane says he looked clean the last few times he's seen Candido and
hopes that is the case. He feels he is a very special talent in the business.
-- Shane feels ECW became a parody of itself with the blood, chairs, and violence. He feels bleeding was done so often that it meant nothing.
"ECW folded under the weight of it's own success," said Shane.
The backstage environment of WCW was chaotic to say the least. He feels WCW saved his life financially but the company was being run poorly
backstage. A lot of the problems could've been solved, Shane feels. Such as guys refusing to do a job. Shane feels that you should not get
away with things like that and thins like that ultimately lead to the demise of the company.
-- If Shane knew then what he knows now, he would not have done the "Anti-American Revolution" angle. He feels it would never make the air
today but even before 9/11, it was over. He would tell the other members not to travel alone because there could be a crazy redneck waiting
to attack one of them with bats. But, the angle faded because they were being pushed one week and not being pushed the next.
-- It was hard for Shane to get a feel of Vince Russo in the WWF because he was always around Vince (McMahon.) At WCW, Shane got to actually
speak with Russo quite a bit and got a good sense on his creativity. Shane thinks he's creative but needs a wrestling counter balance. "If
it was up to Vince, we'd have alien babies being spawned out there."
-- Kevin Sullivan had "hard ons" for Shane, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero because Chris Benoit ended up with
Sullivan's wife Nancy, known to wrestling fans as "Woman." Sullivan had made it clear he would not push or promote any of them. They ended
up leaving, Shane stayed but was off TV because of an injury. Shane's muscle was torn 90% off the bone. Lex Luger suffered the same injury
but only had a 65% tear and he was off TV for 8 months. Shane was back in 6 days but not wrestling.
-- The Wall was as classy as Ricky Steamboat. "He was a truly gentle giant," said Shane. One night, Shane saw Jerry (Wall) was bothered by
something. At a bar, Jerry pulled Shane over and explained what was wrong. He had heard Bam Bam Bigelow giving the impression that there
was a problem with the friendship. Shane immediately called Bam Bam and settled it but because a long-term friendship was in danger, Jerry
was upset and it didn't directly affect him. "That was Jerry, he was always wanting to make sure things were cool," said Shane. Shane says
we've lost a lot of guys over the past few years. None of them have affected him like Jerry's death did.
-- Shane thought the pairing of Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo would work. They had very different styles. Eric was a very managerial style
of booker while Vince is "no more managerial than a man on the moon." Shane doesn't feel the reason it didn't work had to do with Bischoff
or Russo. He feels Bischoff played the politician, "hey Terry," instead of coming in and laying down the law. He says Hogan refused to lie
down for people and Flair wanted to work "half ass" with Shane himself. Shane feels that was the major problem with the Bischoff and Russo
era. They couldn't get everyone on the same page even though the initial concept was very well put together and could've worked.
-- Shane wasn't too favorable about his match with Ric Flair at Slamboree 2000 because he feels the finish was very week. He didn't see
a point to it and feels it subtracted from the match. He feels they should've just let the fans get a feel for the feud because the classic
WCW fans knew Flair intimately and just needed to hear Flair talk to tell the story.
-- Feuding with Kidman was favorable for Shane. He enjoyed working with him and feels he is a good guy. James brings up the Viagra on a
Pole match which gets a laugh. As for the scaffold match he had with Kidman against Madusa, Torrie Wilson shouldn't have been in the match.
First, the scaffold was shaking and it was more of a platform than the designed scaffold. Secondly, it was taken too high.
-- Hugh Morris was fun to work with. Shane wishes they had given more time to allowing a lot of his later WCW feuds develop and letting
characters develop. He points out that only half the fans recognized him from ECW.
-- The way Vince did it, he made money off of buying WCW. Shane says the AOL/Time Warner stockowners should seriously question this. Shane
also wonders how Vince avoided monopoly laws adding, "Maybe nobody's made the phone call yet."
-- Shane was under contract for over a year with Time Warner before it expired.
-- Maryland Championship Wrestling was fun because he got to do some stuff with Ricky Steamboat again.
-- The future of MLW doesn't look very good but in the same breath, Court mentioned hoping to work with Shane again in the near future so
there's a chance they'll get up and running again. He was booked to do the February shows which were cancelled.
-- Shane was hired to be the booker of XPW. "It's difficult to be the booker when you're that far away," said Shane. He would fax, call,
and email in his ideas and such but it wasn't the same as actually being there.
-- In a week's time, they sold more tickets than the first show in Pittsburgh and the first show was one of the most profitable in XPW
history. While Shane was on a WWA tour, he got a phone call from his assistant asking if he cancelled the show. Shane said "no, why?" The
XPW website reported that the show had been cancelled. Shane immediately called XPW owner Rob Black. Rob said they were going to lose a lot
of money, Shane said they sold more tickets in a week than the previous time in Pittsburgh and Rob seemed surprised and said to "uncancel
the show." Shane said, "You can't uncancel a show! You can't cause that kind of confusion!" That's when Shane threw his hands in the air
and tapped out on XPW.
-- Shane enjoys NWA TNA. He assists backstage and is enjoying the "New Franchise" faction. He says "good question" when asked why the "New
Franchise" isn't called the Triple Threat but also says he wouldn't want to subject Michael Shane to being compared to Chris Benoit.
-- At age 40, Shane now is trying to phase out of the in ring wrestling work. He doesn't want to overstay his welcome.
Here are the upcoming pages that I will have as of todays date 3/4/04:(they aren't here but working on them if i can upload the pics that is, to the host.)
You have to click each link for each individual wrestler's pics:
