Debuting in 1982, Shane Douglas’ biggest contribution to wrestling history was starting Extreme Championship Wrestling on-screen with a shocking promo and a huge insult to the National Wrestling Alliance. Proclaiming himself “The Franchise,” Douglas would become one of the central figures of ECW, holding their World Heavyweight Title the most combined times as well as having the longest reign at more than 400 days.
With a couple stints each in WCW and WWE, Shane Douglas has been all over the wrestling world and has a lot of stories as a result.
10 He Was A Left-Field Choice To Start ECW
Extreme Championship Wrestling was born in the aftermath of a 1994 tournament for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship hosted by what was then named Eastern Championship Wrestling. Shane Douglas ran through Taz (then “The Tazmaniac”), Dean Malenko, and 2 Cold Scorpio to win the title, but he wasn’t considered a slam-dunk choice. After all, he was best known for being one of WCW’s Dynamic Dudes with Johnny Ace. But apparently ECW booker Eddie Gilbert was convincing enough that the company gave Douglas a chance.
9 His ECW Promo Took Everyone By Surprise
As alluded to, the post-match promo was a real pipe bomb. After winning the Ten Pounds of Gold, Douglas cut a seemingly impassioned promo only to suddenly throw the NWA Championship on the ground - a deeply insulting act - effectively cutting off all ties between ECW and the National Wrestling Alliance. Reportedly, only Douglas and ECW bosses Paul Heyman and Todd Gordon knew this was going to happen, and the NWA was completely blindsided by the act.
8 Running Afoul Of The Kliq
After a few years with ECW, Douglas made his way back to WWE in 1995, where he was given an unfortunate gimmick: Dean Douglas, who was literally college themed. He was in the company five years previous, but things had changed backstage.
"HBK" Shawn Michaels and his friends, known as The Kliq, had a lot of backstage power, and attempted to introduce Shane Douglas into the fold. Douglas didn’t approve of their antics, so he turned them down, and as a result suffered for it professionally.
7 Shawn Michaels Refused To Lose To Him
It was at In Your House 4 that Douglas was supposed to challenge Michaels for the Intercontinental Title, but Michaels infamously refused to lose matches to people he had grudges against. Instead of competing, Shawn Michaels faked a legitimate injury to get out of it, and the title was vacated. Shane Douglas was awarded the IC strap on the show, but ended up losing it to Razor Ramon the same night.
6 He Broke Gary Wolfe’s Neck
It wasn’t long after the IC title loss that Douglas would defect back to ECW in 1996. At that year’s edition of the Heatwave PPV, Shane Douglas would compete in a four-way match for the TV Title that included Pitbull #2. Douglas would get into a brawl with #2’s tag team partner, Pitbull #1 (a.k.a. Gary Wolfe) during which a DDT spot would go wrong. Both men disagree on what exactly went wrong, but the result would be Wolfe suffering a broken neck.
5 The ECW Fans Attacked Him For The "Halo Incident"
In addition to the “extreme” content, ECW was influential in how it blurred the lines between kayfabe and reality. The incident with Pitbull #1 ended up being incorporated into the storyline as Shane Douglas and his manager Francine cut promos mocking Gary Wolfe, further angering fans. Once he got healthy again, Wolfe returned to intervene in a match, but still wore the “halo” neck brace at Paul Heyman’s request. Douglas would grab onto the brace and pull it, causing the crowd to go ballistic. The reaction was so violent that Douglas and Francine had to escape the arena, fearing for their lives.
4 He Nearly Walked Out On ECW Over Money
By 1999, ECW was facing a myriad financial issues, which would lead to the promotion’s demise. Even the stars of the company were feeling the effects of this, including Shane Douglas, whom Paul Heyman owed money. At one point it was so bad he nearly no-showed Guilty as Charged 1999, the PPV where Taz was to end his 406-day reign with the ECW World Title.
Douglas was basically looking for a flight out of town when a call from Bam Bam Bigelow convinced Douglas that peacing out - necessitating a vacated championship and an ensuing title tournament - wouldn’t be good for anybody, especially the fans.
3 He Joined WCW Because Of Dusty Rhodes
Shane Douglas would leave ECW a few months after Guilty as Charged and make his way to WCW for a third run with the company. The circumstances leading to this involve Douglas hearing some kind words about him from Dusty Rhodes. In an appearance on Mike Tenay’s radio show, Dusty referred to Shane Douglas as a modern-day Ric Flair, so Douglas contacted Rhodes to express his gratitude for such a flattering statement. Rhodes in turn suggested he get in touch with WCW. Shane Douglas credits this stint with WCW for keeping him out of financial ruin.
2 He Could Have Been One Of The Radicalz
WCW fans who stuck around in the late period of the doomed promotion may remember Shane Douglas showing up and forming a stable called The Revolution with Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn. That’s a similar lineup to the WWE stable The Radicalz, albeit with Douglas instead of Eddie Guerrero. According to Jim Ross, Shane Douglas was briefly considered to be brought in along with the rest, but his disastrous run with WWE in the mid-’90s persuaded Vince McMahon to think otherwise.
1 He “Invaded” Raw
Shane Douglas never again wrestled for WWE after his time as Dean Douglas, but he did once show up in the crowd on Monday Night Raw in 2012. It was during a match between The Big Show and Kane where Douglas began to make a scene in the crowd, making his identity known and shouting before he took off and was reportedly escorted out by security. Turns out this was all just a publicity stunt to promote an upcoming show for his promotion Extreme Reunion (also known as Extreme Rising).