Everything about Shane Douglas totally explained
Troy Shane Martin (born
November 21 1964) is a
American professional wrestler and
promoter, better known by his
ring name Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned two decades, Douglas has wrestled in
Extreme Championship Wrestling and
World Championship Wrestling as
"The Franchise" Shane Douglas and in
World Wrestling Federation as
Dean Douglas. Martin most recently worked with
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Wrestling career
Early career
Troy Martin was trained by
Dominic DeNucci in the
Pittsburgh suburb of
Freedom, Pennsylvania, alongside
Mick Foley in the mid-1980s. However, he'd been wrestling professionally to earn money since 1982. When he started, he used the
gimmick of
Troy Orndorff, the ficitional nephew of
Paul Orndorff. In 1986, he wrestled
Randy Savage at a
WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping using his real name of Troy Martin. Later that year, he began wrestling as a
face for the
Universal Wrestling Federation using the name Shane Douglas, which was given to him by
"Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and
Missy Hyatt ("Shane" coming from Martin's middle name, and "Douglas" from
Michael Douglas, who at the time had just appeared in
Wall Street). Douglas defeated Gilbert for the
UWF Television Championship, on
August 3 1987 but didn't rise above mid-card status. Douglas lost the title on
September 2 1987 to
Terry Taylor.
National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling (1989-1993)
Eventually, he signed with the
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) /
World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He began using the name
Shane Douglas and was put into a
tag team of skateboarders known as
The Dynamic Dudes with
Johnny Ace. Since neither Ace nor Douglas knew how to skateboard, the fans saw through the gimmick and refused to buy into it. after NWA president Dennis Coraluzzo
buried Douglas on
Mike Tenay’s radio show. Shortly afterward, Eastern Championship Wrestling changed its name to
Extreme Championship Wrestling. Capitalizing on the controversy that surrounded his literally "throwing down" the NWA belt and the
promo following it, Douglas was encouraged to express his
true feelings in interviews by the ECW
bookers and began calling himself
The Franchise. This helped raise ECW's prominence in the eyes of wrestling fans and journalists and allowed it to become an alternative to WCW and the WWF.
It was during this time that he formed the first incarnation of the
Triple Threat stable, aligning himself with
Chris Benoit and
Dean Malenko. Douglas feuded with The Sandman in early 1995. Sandman's valet, Woman, seemed to have aligned herself with Douglas but then turned on him to aid Sandman in defeating him for the ECW World Heavyweight Title. A rivalry began between Douglas and Cactus Jack, as each wished to be the one to dethrone Sandman. Shane douglas eventually went on a tirade about the lawlessness of ECW and brought in Bill Alfonso as a troubleshooting referee to restore order. Shortly after this, "The Franchise" left for WWF.
World Wrestling Federation (1995)
In 1995, Douglas returned to the WWF, with a
college dean gimmick as
Dean Douglas. To establish himself, he filmed several
vignettes with a
chalkboard, "teaching" wrestlers and fans. He would also be shown "taking notes" of his opponents at ringside during some bouts, and frequently carried a
paddle (dubbed the "Board of Education") with him to the ring. Upon his WWF debut, he became the first former ECW World Heavyweight Champion ever on the active roster, and the only one until 1998, when
Terry Funk debuted as Chainsaw Charlie.
He was awarded the
Intercontinental Title on
October 22 1995 by forfeit when
Shawn Michaels was unable to wrestle after being attacked and severely beaten by a group of
Marines in
Syracuse, New York. His reign was short lived, however, as he was defeated by
Razor Ramon later .
His last appearance on WWF TV was at in December 1995, when he was booked to wrestle
Ahmed Johnson. According to the storyline, his back wasn't in wrestling condition and so he introduced
Buddy Landel as his substitute for the night.
Return to ECW (1996-1999)
In January 1996, at House Party, Douglas returned to ECW and soon targeted then-ECW World Heavyweight Champion
Raven. During this time he also had a memorable feud with
Cactus Jack. Cactus was getting ready to leave for WWF and was cutting promos encouraging
Tommy Dreamer to come with him, deriding ECW hardcore style and promoting "clean" wrestling. During several matches, he refused to wrestle hardcore. Douglas eventually pinned Cactus Jack in a match after a memorable drop toe hold onto a chair. After finding himself unsuccessful in his title shots, he began a feud with
2 Cold Scorpio, based on Douglas' lack of respect for the
ECW Television Championship. Douglas held the TV title briefly, but lost it to
Pitbull #2.
Douglas eventually won the TV title back (from
Chris Jericho) in a 4-way dance that also included
2 Cold Scorpio and Pitbull #2 (who had lost the title to Jericho) when
The Pitbulls'
manager,
Francine,
turned on them and aided Douglas. When The Pitbulls went on to
superbomb her through a table as part of the postmatch altercation,
Pitbull #1 suffered a (legit) broken neck.
Douglas, with Francine, went on to feud with Pitbull #2 for the rest of 1996 and, by year's end, reformed the
Triple Threat with
Chris Candido and
"Primetime" Brian Lee, later adding
Bam Bam Bigelow when Lee left ECW. He held the TV title for a year before losing it to
Taz at
Wrestlepalooza. He then turned his sights on ECW World Heavyweight Champion,
Terry Funk and, at
Hardcore Heaven 1997, in a rematch from
The Night the Line Was Crossed, Shane Douglas defeated Sabu (who had beaten Funk a week earlier for the title in a barbed wire deathmatch) and Terry Funk in a
three way dance to regain the ECW World Heavyweight Title. In
October 1997, he briefly lost it to Bam Bam Bigelow, but regained it 15 days later at
November to Remember 1997, held in his hometown of Pittsburgh. With the exception of these two weeks, he'd reign as champion until
January 1999, finally losing the title to Taz at
Guilty as Charged, whom he'd feuded with throughout 1998. It was also during this time that
Pro Wrestling Illustrated officially declared the ECW title a "World Title."
Return to WCW (1999-2001)
Differences with Paul Heyman culminated with Martin departing ECW for WCW in early 1999. Upon arriving in WCW, he pledged to "cut the cancer out" of WCW, the cancer being
Ric Flair (with whom he also has legit heat). He reunited with former Triple Threat members
Chris Benoit and
Dean Malenko, along with fellow former ECW wrestler
Perry Saturn, to form
The Revolution.
Asya was the group's valet. In Ric Flair's autobiography, Flair claims that Douglas approached him backstage at a WCW event and explained that the heat was work. FLair took exception to Douglas and thought little of him for the episode.
Douglas had an onscreen feud with Ric Flair, who was a favorite target of his during his ECW interviews, where Douglas had claimed "Dick Flair"—as he referred to him—held down his career. However, the group was rarely featured prominently and never really challenged the dominant wrestlers of WCW. This led to them never really getting over as an idea, though both Benoit and Malenko were over individually. He was part of
The New Blood group run by
Vince Russo and
Eric Bischoff which feuded with the older established
Millionaire's Club. He won the Tag Team Championships (with
Buff Bagwell), the
Hardcore Championship and the
United States Championship during this run which also saw
Torrie Wilson become his valet.
Independent circuit (2002)
After the WWF purchased and absorbed WCW
and ECW in 2001, Douglas later appeared for the newly-formed
XPW promotion. However, because of a failed TV deal, XPW folded very quickly afterwards. Douglas also had a short stint with
World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) after XPW's collapse.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003-2007)
Following the closures of XPW and WWA, Martin signed with
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in
June 2003. When Shane Douglas debuted in TNA, he immediately re-ignited his feud with
Raven. The two ended up joining separate factions (
The New Church for Douglas,
The Gathering for Raven) and clashed throughout the summer of 2003.
When this feud ran down, Douglas broke away from The New Church and began a quest, alongside his new valet
Tracy, to find "
The New Franchise". He decided on up and comer
Michael Shane and took him under his wing throughout the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004. However, when the grouping of Shane and Douglas broke up, Douglas went into a semi-in-ring-retirement. He became an onscreen commentator and interviewer for TNA's weekly television show,
Impact!, and their monthly pay-per-views. In addition to this on-screen role, he worked backstage as a
road agent and took a few independent bookings.
In 2005, Martin (while still working for TNA)
promoted and
booked an ECW reunion show called
Hardcore Homecoming. At the inaugural event on June 10, Shane Douglas lost a no-rope barbed wire Three-Way dance to
Sabu, which also included
Terry Funk. The show would carry on in the form of "The Reunion Tour" in the month of September, putting on two shows. At those shows, he'd pick up a victory in a Three-Way dance against
Jerry Lynn and Sabu in Cleveland, as well as a victory over Pitbull #1 in Pittsburgh.
Hardcore Homecoming would hold one last event (billed as
November Reign) on
November 5, where Douglas lost a Dog-Collar match against Pitbull #1.
In 2006, Martin took time off to undergo
rehab for an addiction to painkillers (see
below).
Shane Douglas returned to television on the
May 18 episode of Impact!, appearing on the entrance ramp as
Andy Douglas (no relation) made the save for his
tag team partner
Chase Stevens after a brutal
squash by
Samoa Joe. A few weeks later, on
June 15, Shane confronted them on their recent losing streak and their squandered talent, referring to their former manager and Douglas's ex-Triple Threat teammate,
Chris Candido in the process. He offered to become their manager, which they accepted. During the promo when he offered his services he
shot on the revival of
ECW by WWE, admonishing
Vince McMahon for "exploiting the memory" of the company he helped build nearly 15 years earlier. Since taking him up, vignettes showing Douglas training The Naturals have been shown on TNA programming, though he doesn't stand at ringside during their matches like most other managers. Once they were deemed ready for competition, Douglas billed them as "
The Newly Franchised Naturals".
On the
December 21 episode of Impact!, after The Naturals lost to
Team 3D in a Tables Match, Douglas turned his back on them, saying "This experiment is over." However, on
February 8 2007, he, along with Andy Douglas, came to the aid of Chase Stevens after he was attacked by
Abyss, who took out both The Naturals and their manager that night.
Despite the failed "experiment", prior to the departure of The Naturals from TNA, Chase Stevens was featured in a (unsuccessful) singles match, wearing the gold-and-black "Franchised" Naturals attire. Douglas came out after his match to heatedly confront Stevens about wearing his colors, leading to an in-ring confrontation between the two. After the angle, Douglas remained completely unseen on TNA programming. On
October 10,
2007, it was confirmed that Douglas was released from his TNA contract.
Independent Bookings(2007)
On December 8th, 2007 Douglas made an appearance for the
International Wrestling Cartel at their "A Call For Arms 4" Event.
Promotion career
Martin was a promoter for the Xtreme Professional Wrestling promotion. Under his promotion, XPW moved from California to Philadelphia and featured many former ECW stars.
Martin also conceived and promoted the 2005 Hardcore Homecoming events alongside
Jeremy Borash.
In wrestling
Managers and valets
Entrance themes
- In ECW, Shane Douglas (and associated Triple Threat members) used the song "Perfect Strangers" by Deep Purple.
- In WCW, Douglas used an instrumental remix of "Perfect Strangers", courtesy of Jimmy Hart.
- In TNA, Douglas used another instrumental remix of "Perfect Strangers". This song was titled "Deep", by Dale Oliver.
Championships and accomplishments
Border City Wrestling
Eastern Championship Wrestling | Extreme Championship Wrestling
International Wrestling Association
- IWA Heavyweight Champion (Ohio version) (1 time)
Major League Wrestling
Midwest Wrestling United
- MWU Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
New Era Wrestling
- NEW Northeast Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
North American Wrestling Alliance
- NAWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Xpress
- PWX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Southeastern Championship Wrestling
Southern Championship Wrestling
- SCW Heavyweight Champioonship (1 time)
Superstar Wrestling Federation
- SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
USA Pro Wrestling
- USA Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
United States Wrestling League
- USWL Unified Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Universal Wrestling Federation » *UWF World Television Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
World Wrestling Federation
Xtreme Pro Wrestling
Superstar Wrestling Federation
- SWF Heavyweight Championship
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked Douglas #118 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
- PWI ranked Douglas #82 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years in 2003 - with Ricky Steamboat
1Douglas has one additional reign which WWE doesn't recognize.
²Douglas wins the championship in a tournament while the promotion is named Eastern Championship Wrestling and is still a member of the National Wrestling Alliance.
Personal life
Douglas graduated cum laude from Bethany College in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in history and political science. He went on to receive teacher certification from Geneva College. Douglas taught at Beaver High School and Western Beaver Jr/Sr High School throughout the early 1990s, teaching emotional support classes, economics, and the history of the United States.
His first son, Connor, was born in April 2001, and his second son, Caden Andrew, was born on December 6 2005.
Douglas entered drug rehabilitation in February 2006 after becoming addicted to the analgesic Oxycontin. He left rehabilitation in April 2006, having taken no Oxycontin tablets since January 2006.
Shane Douglas is currently semi-retired from professional wrestling as of current status beginning in 2007 when he was released from his contract from TNA Wrestling in late 2007.
As of October 2007, Shane has entered the training program to become a manager with the Target Corporation for their retail chain in the local Pittsburgh area.
Shane also accepts independent books via his website and contact information for interested promoters and companies can be found at his website.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Shane Douglas'.
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