From: OldSchoolHero23 Shane, I would just like to get your opinion on what you thought of the ECW product towards the end in comparison to the product when you were working in ECW? Did you feel it had enough to survive if they were able to pay everyone towards the end and get a new TV deal or do you think they still could have survived if they went back to their roots of what they did in say 1994 only running a couple of shows a month? Shane's Answer: My opinion of the ECW product near its end is based on very little firsthand viewing. I was able to watch only sporadically. My take on it is as follows: It seemed to me that Paul was merely trying to rehash old angles with new faces. I think very highly of alot of the talent from that era of ECW, BUT It seemed to me that he was trying to fit their talent into the molds of earlier key talents of ECW lore. For instance, I thought that Simon Diamond was being presented by Paul as a version of the Franchise character- down to the black and gold. I am a mark for simon’s work. He is an accomplished performer that is able to bring his own style to the “dance”. Paul seemed to think that he could, like Vince, bring back certain characters without the people who created these stars. To Paul, just having talented people to re-enact famed angles from ECW’s glory days was enough, he thought, to propel ECW (in the end) to ratings success. I believe that ECW’s demise came after it went on a national network without all of the stars that made ECW the most talked about American promotion of the nineties- certainly the most imitated! After all, fans around the country who had read of the exploits of such ECW stars as Taz, the Dudley Boys, the Franchise, Sabu, Sandman and more were disappointed that none of these names were still a part of the ECW legend. That, coupled with the aforementioned rehashing of old storylines, is what I believe led to the ignominious end for ECW. From: Rayon Any intention having your own VCD/DVD consists of all your memorable actions in the ring ?? Shane's Answer: Perhaps I will produce a feature of my memorable in-ring experiences in the future. There are no plans for one at the present time because the footages are owned by so many different people and companies that it would probably be too damn expensive to buy the rights to all that footage. I do, however, plan to write a book detailing my career and all the “lovely” and “sincere” people I have met over the past two decades. From: seven What made you choose: 1)"Perfect Stranger"as entrance music 2)the belly to belly suplex as one of your top moves 3)XPW over WWF Shane's Answer: Perfect Strangers was actually Chris Benoits ring music first. It then became the music for the Triple Threat after I formed it along with Benoit and Dean Malenko. It then became mine as the leader of the Triple Threat and stayed mine after those two left ECW. Interestingly, if you listen to the words of “Perfect Strangers” it really does portray the mindset of the Franchise character. The Belly-to-Belly suplex became my signature move after I became Magnum TA’s protoge. I love doing the move and I love the reaction of the fans when they see it in my matches. They’ve become quite familiar as to what comes next after a belly-to-belly by the Franchise. As for my decision to go with XPW rather than the WWF, it dealt more with my desire to be able to have an immediate impact on the product of the company I worked for. I also have no desire, having never acquired a taste for kissing ass, to fight the dressing room politics and egos. From: Chris Shane, what do you think of Hulk Hogan coming back for his supposed last run and what do you think of a Vince vs. Hogan match for Wrestlemania? Is this a last ditch effort by the WWE to try and bring back the fans in your opinion? Shane's Answer: I will start by saying that I have witnessed the bookends to Hogan’s career. I was in the WWF for a few shots (doing jobs of course) in 1984. I used to rush to get showered and dressed after my matches so I could rush out and sit in the stands to watch Hogan’s entrance- it was ELECTRIC! Seriously, you could feel the hairs on your arm standing up when he appeared. I have also witnessed the WWE’s interpretation of the pop that Hogan got while working with the Rock last year. They thought that the pop he received meant that fans everywhere were waiting with bated breath to spend their final dollar on a ticket to see the Hulkster. However, if one looks at a few key points one will see that they were, perhaps, overcalculating. Firstly, the WWF return of Hogan was strategically, and very wisely, held off until a Canadian date. This was indeed a wise move because Canadian fans are more traditional in that they cheer babyfaces and boo heels. Also, Hogan had been a huge face in the eyes of the Canadians and it had been nearly a decade since any Canadian town played host to the Hulkster clad in his traditional red and yellow garb. Both of these factors played largely into the response Hogan received in that match. The response he has gotten in front of more discerning American fans has been less enthusiastic but still respectable. As for the rumored match between Hogan and Vince at Wrestlemania, it wouldn’t surprise me. I’ll also say that Vince is far more animated than most of his top talent and, I’m sure, would sell like a champ for Hogan. It would be a travesty, though, if he were to go over on Hogan as this would leave an unnecessary blemish on the final chapter of Hogan’s career. From: Chris Shane, what kind of workouts do you do at the gym and what kinds of food do you eat to stay in such good shape? Shane's Answer: My workouts focus largely on free weights and free-weight machines like the smith machine. I do moderately heavy weight with high reps as this helps me to maintain a nice strong base for the rigors of the business but also stay fairly trim. I still wear the same size tights as I did 22 years ago (although they are a tad tighter now) and my weight is within 12-18 pounds of where I was at the best shape of my career. Still, I would be lying to you if I didn’t point out that it is much harder to maintain being in shape than it was 10 years ago. From: Matt First of all, Triple H did something you didn’t; he climbed to the top of the business and didn't let his ego get in his way. (I don't buy any of the "HHH controls everything", because Vince McMahon is the only one who does.) Secondly, how are you going to get XPW national exposure? XPW doesn't have a chance of becoming competition unless they get tv time. And thirdly, would you ever consider returning to WWE? Shane's Answer: Now that I’ve stopped laughing at your statement about Hunter not “letting his ego get in the way”, I’ll try to address your statement and then your question. I assume you’re insinuating that I have let my ego get in the way of my career. Well, I plead GUILTY to the charge of having an ego. Anyone in this business who claims to not have an ego is flat out LYING! However, what one does with their ego is at the root of your allegation. If one’s ego leads you to refuse doing jobs, or a job to certain people, that is a misuse of said ego. If one uses his ego to undermine someone else’s rise in the business, thats a misuse of said ego. You get the point, right!? However, if one uses that ego to put himself in the frame of mind to go out and portray a self-absorbed, self-centered character with nary a redeeming quality that convinces fans that they must buy a ticket to see that character get beat, then I would say that that is a most appropriate use of one’s ego. Now apply these points of reference to HHH , and then to me and ask yourself to whom which reference point applies. I can proudly say that no one can accuse me of subverting them or using politics against them for self-gain. I certainly had enough stroke in ECW to do so had I wanted to. As for the question part of your statement, I disagree that XPW MUST have national exposure to survive and prosper, or even become competition. Although a national television deal could be very promising to a company like ours, you need to remember what happened to the venerable ECW when they secured the “luxury” of a national TV deal...it KILLED them!!! Now I don’t believe it was inherent in the tv deal that ECW’s demise came, but it certainly proved to be a case of the devil being in the details. You see, a company like XPW could benefit from a national TV deal but only if we could maintain the autonomy necessary to keep our product true to what our fans want and expect. In other words, if the XYZ network offered to air us today provided we adhere to some nitwitted set of rules that prevented us from keeping our product X-treme, we would certainly pass. This is precisely what led to one “genius” failing after obtaining the long-sought national TV deal. With that all said, I believe that technology exists today that precludes the necessity of having a national TV deal. For instance, with the near ubiquitous advent of computers in our society, and the emerging technology of VOD (video on demand) anyone with a computer would be able to access our programming immediately and stay current with our program, and hence, our storylines and, most importantly, upcoming live events in their area. We even envision the day very soon that we can notify potential customers in targeted areas of upcoming live events based on their VOD buys or Merch buys. XPW is in negotiations to be the first company to bring VOD and like technologies to the wrestling market. Remember Lee Iaccoca’s adage: lead, follow, or get out of the way. XPW plans to lead the wrestling industry on new and emerging technologies thus precluding the very necessity of a national TV deal. As for a return to the WWE, I currently have a job that I truly enjoy and keep very busy with. This XPW position also enables me to spend good, quality time with my son (my most important job is my job as Connor’s daddy!!!). That said, I do believe that the Franchise character is precisely what the WWE needs right now- a heel that knows how to draw heat (not try to be cool, etc), a heel that knows how to get his opponent over, a heel that can promo fans into a building or a PPV buy, and most importantly up there, display a loyalty that supersedes one’s ambitions (I have always been loyal to the company or person paying me and treating me with respect. I have always maintained that those are the two essential conditions I must be shown in order for me to work somewhere.) Now, if someone feels that I have let my ego stall from my ascension in this business, I would merely point out that nearly everyplace I have worked I’ve been used in top spots. And I was used in such positions even though I never kissed anyone’s ass, figuritively OR literally. From: Joe Flickinger Being a History teacher and former Wrestling Trainee, I naturally feel a bit of a kinship towards you Shane. My Question is how did you feel going into your match with 2 Cold Scorpio in the NWA Finals Tournament in 1994? Did you know a few days beforehand you would throw down the title, or was it a "day of" plan? Did it have an impact on you emotionally to do that considering the titles history? Shane's Answer: Its cool to hear that someone out there shares my weird likes and interests (ha ha). Seriously, bless you for staying in the teaching profession. I was amazed at how demanding a job teaching was until I served nearly 5 years in public schools. You certainly have my respect. As for your questions pertaining to the NWA tournament, et al.My feelings towards 2 Cold are of complete respect for him and his in-ring abilities. Thusly, I was very excited to get the opportunity to work with him in the finals of what has gone down as, perhaps, the key pivotal angle in ECW’s history. You’d be hard-pressed to have a more capable opponent for such an important angle. The concept was presented to me the week before the tournament by Paul Heyman. I still give Paul great respect over the way he presented me with the idea. As we now know, this move would forever define ECW and its future path and so, could have, and probably should have been told to me as an order. Instead, Paul was careful enough to let me think it over for several days. He even gave me opposing points of view to let me see some of the potential heat doing this could put on me, so as to let me make as informed a decision as I could. The key to my decision to go ahead with the idea was two-fold. First, Dennis Corraluzo (sp?) had done a radio interview on Mike Tenay’s radio program out of Las Vegas and said that I was a bad investment to indy promoters because he had heard from several such promoters that told him I had a reputation of being a no-show. This was unbelievable to me seeing as Dominic Denucci broke us (Me, Mankind, and all of his other students)into the business with the old-school work ethic that you never miss a booked appearance. I can honestly say that I have never no-showed someone who had me booked and confirmed (ie: sending the deposit, secured trans, etc). So Dennis going out and saying this to a pretty big wrestling ausdience could only be seen by me as an attempt to hit me where it counts- in the wallet! I was, needless to say, extremely pissed off. The second factor that weighed in my decision was how my then-deceased father had raised me. Being a military man, my father always expected us to strive to be the very best we could be at whatever we worked at. He used to tell me “you can strive to be as good as everybody else, or you can try to soar with the eagles”. This was the first time in my adult life that I had a chance to put Dad’s teaching into practice... I chose to try and “soar with the eagles”! After all ECW was at that time the only company who had put its full faith in me as a lead talent and I felt it incumbent on me to put my full faith into ECW (the company paying me and showing me respect). When I arrived at the building that day, Paul pulled me aside and asked me what my decision was and I told him. The plan was alive and in motion. Dennis had decided to become my shadow for the day, and followed me around for the day trying to get me to sign a contract that would have made me an exclusive talent for the NWA so that even ECW would need to book me through Dennis. I wanted to spit in Dennis’ face at the time because of the way he was trying to assail my stature in the business. Needless to say, I eluded him for the most part and I must say his was the most bewildered face in the arena. Paul even had him doing promos in the back thinking that the entire charade was just an angle. After the truth revealed itself to him, Dennis stripped me of the NWA belt I had thrown down- he really showed me! As for the impact it had on me, I was only concerned that some of the wrestlers I idolized, and had held that belt, would understand my position. As I have said in the post-match speech, and elsewhere, I considered the NWA to be an organization that had died some years earlier and believed that the future of wrestling was epitomized by ECW more so than the NWA. From: Christian Flay Will XPW ever be in GERMAN TV ? Will The Franchise ever wrestle with the XPW in Germany ? Shane's Answer: We are in talks currently to begin airing XPW in Germany and, do indeed have plans to do XPW tours of Germany. I believe the XPW style would be embraced by the discerning German wrestling fans. Plus, being of German dissent, I love coming to the fatherland. Please let your cable operators know that you want XPW on German TV. Hope to see you soon. Stay tuned to XPWrestling.com, this site, franchisefansite.com, or by reading Germany’s only wrestling magazine, Power Wrestling- edited by my dear friend Mr. Wolfgang Stach. From: Rick Why should a former wrestling fan like myself who has become bored with the current state of wrestling, who was a big supporter of ECW, try to follow XPW with no national coverage? Shane's Answer: Well, for starters Rick, you pretty much detail the reasons you should try to watch and support XPW. We are meant to be an alternative to the crappy state of the business today. I too am turned off by the offerings from the WWE. Being such an ardent fan of ECW, I would thing that XPW would be right up your alley. After all, we employ many of the stars that made ECW exciting (Jerry Lynn, Tracy Smothers, Justin Credible, Bill Alfonso, Danny Doring, Chris Chetti, Julio Dinero, your’s truly, etc). We try to give ECW it deserved props while also focusing on presenting our version of what X-treme looks like in 2003. I am of the firm belief that if Paul Heyman were any semblance of a businessman that ECW would still be in business and we’d be kicking the crap out of ol’ WWF(E), whatever. Thus, we’re trying to play to those 9 million disenfranchised (no pun intended) viewers that have tuned out of wrestling since Vince monopolized our industry. As I have said in numerous interviews to all those former ECW fans, “please just give us a chance to be what you want us to be.” Watch us, support us, give us critical and practical feedback. We want to become your new “Fix”. From: Conor Clare What are your thoughts on the comments made by Mick Foley about you in "Have a Nice Day"? Shane's Answer: Let’s just put it this way, Mick has an overactive imagination and a very selective memory. I think Mick wrote an amazingly entertaining book that did what it was intended and aimed to do which was to promote himself as an author. To that I say “author, author...”. I am, though, sad that Mick has decided that it was better for him to have friendship take a back seat to self-promotion. What a truly sad commentary. I will address specifically his musings about me when I can fully give my side of the story, perhaps in a book of my own. Remember, as they say there are two sides to every story. But perhaps mick doesn’t remember that from all the “smart” chairshots he took. All to hear a chant of “He’s hardcore”?!?! What can I say, Mick, you sure are... From: Paul Tadd Shane, what was your emotional reaction to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, knowing that your hometown of Pittsburgh was an intended target. Shane's Answer: I was watched the events of Sept. 11, 2001 unfold as most Americans did- with shock and horror, followed by anger and a desire for potent retribution. My Dad was a decorated war hero from WWII (one silver star and three bronze stars) having served in Patton’s famed and revered 3rd Army division. I hence grew up hearing and learning of the scar left on my Dad’s generation by the Pearl Harbor attack. Little did I know that my generation would also feel the sting of such cowardly acts. However,what emboldens me all the more is that my generation, like my fathers before, and his fathers and grandfathers before him, has stepped up to the responsibility of protecting the liberties we all took, until 9/11/01, for granted. I intend to support the President, and all of our soldiers in whatever capacity I can, including prayer. God Bless them. From: Jesse Acevedo What was it like wrestling and being in the presence of the late '' Ravishing'' Rick Rude and could you share any fond memories , advice ,or any experiences you had with him ? Shane's Answer: I was a mark for Rick’s “Ravishing” character and I was a friend of his outside the ring. What I most recall about Rick Rude was his passion for the game. He worked as hard as he could to entertain the fans. We had some disagreements in our respective approaches to a match. But we respected each other. I’ve incorporated some of Rick Rude into the Franchise character (along with some Brad Armstrong, Barry Windham, Rick Steamboat, Harley Race, and yes, definitely some Ric Flair). From: Fubar How is the relationship between you and Rob Black (now in XPW) different from the relationship you and Paul Heymen had in ECW before it folded? Shane's Answer: The key difference is that Paul always tried to make me feel like I worked FOR him, Rob makes me feel like I work with him. Paul was recalcitrant to allow meaningful input to the company. He would listen to you and feign agreement with you and the seldom incorporate what you had discussed with him. For that reason, the angles that I was involved in, for the most part, were ideas fleshed out of an inception of an idea thought up sometimes from Paul, sometimes from me, and sometimes from my opponent. For the vast portion of my tenure in ECW I received “finishes” from no one but myself. I was damned if I was going to sit around until 5 minutes before match time to await some ill-conceived of on-the-run conceived finish. As for working with Rob Black, he has given me free reign to develop my own ideas and in fact, hired me based on the idea of letting me “run his company” from the wrestling aspect. I work with Rob, not for Rob. That’s not to say that its problem free. We still have disagreements but Rob has never once listened to my reasoning on some strongly held belief of mine and said “yeah, but...”. He has always followed my advice when I have squared off with him. There have even been times that I have been convinced he was right and I should change my point of view after hearing his reasonings. I believe this is a definite strength for XPW. Rob knows the value of surrounding himself with other than a bunch of yes men. I know I certainly do. From: Justin Magnifico Shane, do you feel that the ECW talent in the WWE is being underutilized? If so, what would be their chances in XPW? Shane's Answer: No doubt! Absolutely, no doubt. I believe that this is just one of the reasons that the WWE is on the down-slide currently. Vince has always believed that he knows better than everyone else and thus, fails to push characters created outside of his company. As for their chances of being utilized in XPW... I can only answer that by telling you to look at our track record with guys like Tracy Smothers, Jerry Lynn, Justin Credible, etc. From: Michael Chapes As a Shane Douglas fan since you went by Dean Douglas(which I do agree with you when you said that the original concept was good), I've always wondered one thing and recently puzzled at another. First, why did you choose "Perfect Strangers" as your theme? Does it have a specific meaning, or do you just like the song. Second, what does the IV next to the F on your XPW shirt signify? Shane's Answer: As for the “Why” to Perfect Strangers please see above as I answered that for a “Seven”. I will elaborate a bit further, though, listen to the lyrics. They talk of a man who looks in the mirror and doesn’t recognize the man in the mirror- his own reflection. The Franchise character and Troy Martin are definitely two distinctly different people. As for the Roman numeral on the shirt (III on the old ECW shirt, and IV on the current XPW shirt) it stands for the number of times I have been World Heavyweight Champion. Thanks for letting me clear that up. From: Jonathon First off, let me be the one to say, that in my view, your a wrestler that many companies have looked over. Not only can u wrestle but you got a mic skill most wrestlers would die to have. My question is WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A KID WHO IS WANTING TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER? Shane's Answer: The same advice that I was given by Denucci and it has turned out to be the best advice I’ve ever gotten in reference to the wrestling business- GET AN EDUCATION, man. Without one, you’re at the mercy of whatever promoter you work for. If you have nothing else to fall back on, why not pay you and treat you like shit? Thanks for the kind comments before your questions, I am glad that you have been entertained by my work over the years. Good luck to you. From: Tad Garner Hey franchise if you could have a perfect dream match with past or present wrestler who would it be and why? Shane's Answer: I would love to have worked with the original Nature Boy because I’ve heard he was a great worker that was way before his time. I would also loved to have worked with Bruno Sammartino in his heyday. He was arguably the greatest champion of his day and perhaps, of any era having sold out the Garden and the Civic Arena every month for 7 years. Simply an incredible feat still unmatched by all those who today call themselves the “greatest of all time”... PLEASE! From: Joe August I have been a Franchise fan for a long time. I met Shane at a Steel City show in White Oak. I also worked security at the Mark Curtis show at the Rostraver Ice Gardens. I have front row at the March 8 Pittsburgh show. Is there any chance of bringing XPW to Rostraver Ice Gardens?? I live only minutes away. Shane's Answer: We would definitely like to run the Rostraver Ice Gardens in coordination with the Golden Dome just as we did with ECW. However, our current TV home in Pittsburgh (WBGN) is not as widely seen as ECW’s TV home (WB 22) was. So it all hinges on WBGN’s presence being expanded or us adding another more widely viewable station. Thats where you and all Pittsburgh fans can help. Let stations like WB, UPN, Fox, etc know that you “WANT YOUR XPW!”. Just keep making noise Pittsburgh and, together we’ll spread the revolution just as we did ECW’s. From: Jason D' Agostino Mr. Douglas, I'm a huge fan of yours, and I was wondering how did it feel to win the UWF TV title back in 1986, knowing that it was your first major title win? Shane's Answer: It was incredible to me because I was so new to the business and, quite frankly, had NO idea of what in the hell I was doing. Looking back, it signaled that Eddie Gilbert, who gave me my break in the business, was setting my future up in the business. He and the company had great faith in me and I appreciated it then, and I appreciate it now, all these years later.