Was Shane Douglas the Hulk Hogan of ECW

[TMC1982 0]

Not necessarily in terms of overall popularity, but from the standpoint of being a key figure in the expansion and development of ECW from a regional NWA affiliate (Eastern Championship Wrestling), to innovative, cutting edge, hardcore revolution that we know today. With Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon saw him (along with his charisma, physique, and appearance in "Rocky III") as the I guess, figurehead in the WWF's push to a national, mainstream, "sports entertainment" product during the 1980s.

 

With Shane Douglas, Paul Heyman and Tod Gordon saw "The Franchise's" abrasive, loud mouth, quasi shoot promo style as the perfect fit for the counter-culture, anti-establishment image that ECW wanted to put across. If you've followed Shane's history, than you would be aware of the heat between him and Ric Flair (a long time NWA champion, for which ECW was trying to break away from). This along with, Paul Heyman's admitted grudge against WCW, for whom Ric Flair and the NWA had long been intertwined.

 

Paul E. said on "The Rise and Fall of ECW" DVD that Shane Douglas, who was their main singles wrestler at the time, was a very key element in breaking away from the "tradition and old school mentality" of the NWA. I am aware however, that Shane only agreed to throw down the NWA belt because the president of the National Wrestling Alliance at the time, Dennis Coraluzzo, buried Shane on Mike Tenay's radio show.

[TheFranchise 0]

Why did he bury Douglas? I had no idea there was a different reason for Douglas doing that.

[TMC1982 0]

Why did he bury Douglas? I had no idea there was a different reason for Douglas doing that.

 

Shane Douglas talks about this on the "Forever Hardcore" documentary. He claimed that prior to all of this, he had no personal relations with Dennis Coraluzzo, who went on Mike Tenay's radio show to tell people not to book Shane, that he was unreliable, he took pay from promoters and later, didn't show up, etc. Coraluzzo was later being very two-faced when he finally meets Shane face to face (being nice to him and the like).

[Zack Malibu 0]

I believe it was just a sidebar incident that went along with the Coraluzzo/Heyman/Gordon promotion feud. I don't recall it being anything personal against Shane, just a case of Dennis attacking the oppositions talent.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Wow. What a shitty business.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I always thought Shane was incredibly overrated during his heyday. I never got why he seemed to be so popular on the internet. Once he brought his act to WCW and couldn't cuss and rip on Ric Flair all the time, I think he was pretty much exposed as a hack.

[Mos_Def 0]

He was tremendously mediocre in the ring and his penchant for relying on cursing was exposed when he hit the big time in '95 and '99. He was so adept at feeling sorry for himself and blaming others for his failures, as well as coming from the Don King school of self promotion. He talked such a good game, people actually thought he was on a Malenko/Guerrero type level.

 

Truth be told, he was instrumental in getting ECW off the ground and responsible for a lot of their initial success. But I think his importance to the company's development takes a back seat to guys like Sabu, RVD, Raven...ext.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yeah, I remember Flair being on the old WCW Live show and talking about Douglas. He pretty much summed it up when he said "Shane Douglas was always the quarterback who threw the ball five yards short, or the basketball player who just missed hitting the three pointer at the buzzer." Somewhat talented guy but couldn't really live up to his own hype.

[TMC1982 0]

He was tremendously mediocre in the ring and his penchant for relying on cursing was exposed when he hit the big time in '95 and '99. He was so adept at feeling sorry for himself and blaming others for his failures, as well as coming from the Don King school of self promotion. He talked such a good game, people actually thought he was on a Malenko/Guerrero type level.

 

Truth be told, he was instrumental in getting ECW off the ground and responsible for a lot of their initial success. But I think his importance to the company's development takes a back seat to guys like Sabu, RVD, Raven...ext.

 

I think that Shane Douglas could've fit in during the Attitude Era (where his ECW persona would've fit in easier). When Shane was in the WWF (he was actually there on two seperate occasions, in 1990-1991 and in 1995-1996), they were still in the gimmick-laden, kiddie friendly stage (hence, him becoming Dean Douglas).

[TMC1982 0]

He was tremendously mediocre in the ring and his penchant for relying on cursing was exposed when he hit the big time in '95 and '99. He was so adept at feeling sorry for himself and blaming others for his failures, as well as coming from the Don King school of self promotion. He talked such a good game, people actually thought he was on a Malenko/Guerrero type level.

 

Truth be told, he was instrumental in getting ECW off the ground and responsible for a lot of their initial success. But I think his importance to the company's development takes a back seat to guys like Sabu, RVD, Raven...ext.

 

I would say that Shane was an essential part of the "essence" of ECW (he was an anchor of sorts if you ask me), much like Sabu (Shane on the verbal side and Sabu on the physical/athletic side). Guys like Tommy Dreamer were the "heart" of the promotion, since they were there during most of the ups and downs. Raven was also a key component of what made ECW from the pure storytelling standpoint (Shane/Taz/New Jack/Catcus Jack more so in the intense promos category). If anything, I would argue that Sandman could best be considered the closest thing to a "mascot" for ECW. Sandman had the whole blue color, anti-establishment look (i.e. wrestling in his ratty t-shirt, PJs, sneakers, etc.) with the cigarettes, bear, and cane.

[Broward83 0]

They weren't PJ's...they were Zubaz.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

I never got why he seemed to be so popular on the internet.

As ECW was growing so was the voice of the internet, and back then the internet was filled almost exclusively with hardcore fans who hated WCW and the WWF, so they ate up everything Shane said when he knocked Flair.

 

I've always said that Shane Douglas is a Jeff Jarrett like wrestler, who is good enough at everything to be a great utility wrestler, but lacking that something that could see him reasonably fit into the main event scene. His interviews could be really good at times, but more often than not they were adequate enough to get the job done and no more. Shane did rely on swearing far too much and doing so, especially outside of ECW, made him come off like the very cartoon character, albeit an adult orientated one, he decried in ECW.

[TMC1982 0]

They weren't PJ's...they were Zubaz.

 

Well lets just say that the Sandman didn't wear prototypical wrestling tights.