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"The Franchise" Shane Douglas Shoots On The New ECW & More On The Mayhem!

Posted: Jun 16th 2006 By: mikeiles

Former ECW World Heavyweight and Television Champion & the new manager of The Naturals, ?The Franchise? Shane Douglas, was one of the special guests on this past week's live edition (6/12/06) of Monday Night Mayhem, which can be heard in streaming audio every week (and live from 7-9PM ET every Monday night) exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network

Here are some of the highlights from the interview provided by the show's senior correspondent, & the host of Mark Out Radio, Dan ?Ho-Ju? Kriegbaum .

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The Big Mosh and Blade, while still being joined by Dave Meltzer, welcomed Shane Douglas to the show after a little SNAFU last week, but he silenced his critics this week, showed up, and was ready to talk. To start off, The Big Mosh mentions the ECW One Night Stand Pay-Per-View and asked Shane if he would take it as a slap in the face if Rob Van Dam threw down the WWE Title and renamed it the ECW Title, just like Shane did years ago with the NWA and ECW titles respectively. Shane said that it wouldn?t have been a slap in the face, but it would?ve been stupid to do since it?s already been done, and in the same ?company? of ECW, in front of the same fan base.

The Big Mosh then mentioned TNA?s Hardcore War and Slammiversary. Shane said that he wasn?t at the Hardcore War show, as he was in the process of moving from Florida back to Pittsburgh, due to untrustworthy babysitters down in Florida, but he heard the show went well from those who were there. The Big Mosh then talked about Rhino and Matt Hyson coming out publicly and saying that they are staying with TNA. Shane Douglas added that they?re taking the old wrestlers and making them name value with TNA, and said that he thinks they will be a big part of the TNA program.

Mosh then alluded to Paul Heyman?s comments from an interview in the Miami Herald where Paul said that he doesn?t even take TNA as a consideration of being competition. Shane?s rebuttal is that he totally disagrees with Paul?s statements. Shane said that TNA did create new stars, in that AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, Abyss and others were never heard of 2, 3, 4, or 5 years ago. Shane added that as far as the guys that came from the WWE are concerned, the gripes that they have are legitimate and they have every right to gripe about how they were treated up north. Shane also said that the fans want to hear the
reasoning as to why WWE let them go, and TNA gives fans that opportunity. He then added ?as far as not being competition to them, I totally agree. We?re not competition to them, because their not a wrestling business. We?re in the professional wrestling business, and I think that?s why the fans have begun to tune over.? He then joked that he?s confused why
part of WWE?s name is Entertainment, because it isn?t, and added that as an agent, he hasn?t seen anybody half-ass their work in TNA, and everybody who gets a push deserves it. Dave Meltzer then gave his thoughts on Paul Heyman?s comments as well.

The Big Mosh asked Dave to backtrack and give his thoughts on John Tenta?s death again, as some technical difficulties cut him off before Shane came on. Shane Douglas then added that John Tenta was a ?down to Earth good guy?. Shane then said that he?s been down that ?scary road?. Shane said that when he was prescribed the pain killers by his doctor, he was never told about the side effects including being addicted to them, in which he added that he would?ve
never have taken the first one, if he knew the road he was about to travel down. Shane said that when doctor?s prescribe medication to a patient, with their diploma on the wall, one would assume that they know what they?re talking about, but that wasn?t the case when he was prescribed Oxycontin, a highly addictive pain killer. Shane said that he?s thankful his wife
didn?t completely understand it, and the only way to understand is to go through it. Shane said that in this business, and the reason for most of these drug related deaths, is that there is no down time, where wrestlers then turn to the drugs to deal with the pain and keep up. Shane said that he?s glad he took the option to recover from it, and that TNA allowed him to do it. Shane then says that it?s hard to truthfully come forward, especially with the hard schedule in the WWE and having to go up to Vince to tell him, which then could lead into the outcome of death.

When the show gets back from a break, Shane said that he appreciates being allowed to get the chance to get his story out on The Mayhem. He also said that if he hears of just one person who goes into rehab and recovers, because of his story, he would be ?proud as peach?. He added that the addiction was even worse than losing his father, and it gives a feeling of loneliness because he wanted to hide it from his wife, friends and family. He also wanted fans to know that there was no pressure in giving the story about it to TNA, and he has always been open and talked about things to his fans, some that he probably shouldn?t have, and that
he was proud to be able to save his life, after being scared to come forward, and he still hasn?t heard a single negative comment about it. He then said if anybody listening is addicted, and is hiding it, the side that he?s on now is so much better than using, knowing that he can do things now without having to take a pill, and knowing that he?ll be around to live his life out longer, and see his kids grow up. He said the worst thing you can do is hide it, and just come
out of hiding and let somebody know that you need help, which includes frequent calls and looking to get help. He said that he and his wife spent hours upon hours, and days upon days to get help, but it worked out in the end, and he?s glad now that he did. ?If somebody closes the door on your face, open the next door?. He named Manatee Glens Hospital in Bradenton,
Florida where he went as one of the very good places to go.

The Big Mosh then mentions Shane?s Hardcore Homecoming show, and if Shane ever pictured ECW coming back, along with some of the guys from the Hardcore Homecoming roster. Shane said that he figured ECW would come back at some time after the ECW One Night
Stand Pay-Per-View last year. He also mentioned that to the guys that signed with ECW and WWE to make money, he gives all the credit for being able to tolerate working for Vince and the company, because he couldn?t do it. Shane said that sometimes he thinks looking back at his career, if he left his mouth shut he could?ve made a lot more money. But now looking back today, he?s glad he did it, because he doesn?t care what people say about him, and that he wasn?t mistreated for anything that he did, like he would?ve been in WWE. Shane admitted that he was contacted for the ECW re-launch, but he wouldn?t have made as much money as he?s already making in TNA, and WWE wouldn?t agree to pay him that much. He said that he?s being offered $25,000 dollars more in TNA, working 4 or 5 days a month. Shane says that the Vince McMahon produced ECW DVD said that Shane Douglas was the biggest part in ECW, and that he said he wasn?t asking for a huge amount of money. He then used the example
of Burger King offering somebody to work $5 an hour when they?re already working in McDonald?s for $10.

Shane then went on record and said ECW was a professional wrestling company, and not a sports entertainment company, and says that he knows that Vince McMahon is capable of screwing up a wrestling show, which he thinks will happen with the new ECW. He mentioned that if Vince wants to re-launch something, he should allow it to stand on its own feet, because it can, but he wants to push it as his baby. He added that the only reason he would?ve left TNA would?ve been to have financial support for his family down the road, and that wasn?t going to be the case.

Shane then started talking about how the current ECW is being run, from what he?s heard, regarding the Pittsburgh show. Shane said that the venue has already been changed twice, tickets are being put on sale only one week before the show, his partner from Hardcore
Homecoming was contacted twice in the same day saying they didn?t want to work with him, and then they did, and that Ticketmaster doesn?t even have any information yet because there has been no contract exchange completed through the venues, no approved license from the state, and WWE is announcing a show that now might not take place. Shane then said that
the way it?s being run is a perfect example of how Vince is treating the ECW re-launch, describing it as a ?red headed stepchild? that?s being treated the wrong way.

Shane adds that TNA is the opposite, including this week with iMPACT being shown an hour later (at midnight), Spike has given TNA another replay, which Shane said is on Friday night, to make up for the inconvenience, so people can still catch it Friday or Saturday, before making a final decision on whether or not to buy the Slammiversary Pay-Per-View. Speaking of the TNA PPV, The Big Mosh asked if there was any possibility of TNA moving outside of Universal Studios in Orlando for iMPACTS or Pay-Per-Views. Shane answered by saying that it?s being discussed, even though it took awhile, but it?s still being discussed. Shane added that they don?t have an office full of people like Stamford, CT: to discuss things like this -- spending millions of dollars, while they?re still trying to do weekly shows, now on their fourth anniversary. He believes that TNA has taken the right steps to move forward, including the increased ratings, and all we can do is sit back and watch what comes next, especially with anything that can happen in the television business.

Credit: Steve Gerweck & Gerweck.net