SHANE DOUGLAS
no matter what promotion he works for, when the franchise shows up, there's a good chance CHAOS AND controversy are coming with him.
lions pride sports is honored that shane douglas is part of the pride.
A Pennsylvania native, Douglas started wrestling in 1982, in part to pay for his college education. A few years later in Pittsburgh, he was further trained to wrestle by Dominic DeNucci. One of his classmates was WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley. In his early years in the ring, Douglas competed in the UWF, winning their television championship by defeating Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert.
Douglas spent parts of 1989 and 1990 in WCW teaming with Johnny Ace as a dynamic duo and battling The Midnight Express. Shane then moved to the WWF in 1990. He competed in numerous televised matches and had a lengthy showing in the 1991 Royal Rumble. Douglas departed the company due to family matters.
During his return to WCW the next year, Douglas formed a formidable tag team with WWE Hall of Famer Ricky Steamboat. The duo won the NWA and WCW tag team championships and feuded with The Hollywood Blondes, WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin and Brian Pillman.
It was ECW where Douglas became The Franchise and the promotion became extreme. Starting in 1993, Douglas made waves, picking up the Eastern Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. He stepped foot in the ring against fellow legends of the promotion like Taz and Tommy Dreamer. He was managed by Sherri Martel. And in a three-way dance with Terry Funk and Sabu known as The Night the Line was Crossed, he helped ECW earn a bigger spot on the wrestling map.
Perhaps Douglas's most well-known moment in professional wrestling came in August 1994 when he won the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship. During a passionate in-ring speech following the win, The Franchise threw the title down and said the NWA had died years ago. He said he would ignite a new flame for the sport, and declared the ECW title as the promotion's world championship. Shortly thereafter, Eastern Championship Wrestling split from the National Wrestling Alliance and became Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Douglas would hold the ECW title for more than a year, finally losing the championship after a long rivalry with The Sandman.
The Franchise became a dean in 1995 back in the WWF. Douglas offered poor grades of his opponents and appeared prominently in the federation's premier events. He obtained the Intercontinental Championship via forfeit because of an injury to Shawn Michaels, only to lose it that same night to Razor Ramon.
Back in ECW starting in 1996 and into 1999, Douglas had a wide range of feuds with extreme icons like Taz. In the entirety of his Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling career, The Franchise was a four-time World Heavyweight Champion, twice won the Television Championship, and of course had one of the shortest and most infamous NWA World's Heavyweight Championship reigns. He also formed two versions of one of the company's greatest factions, The Triple Threat. The second featured his close friend, the late Chris Candido.
Douglas made one more stop in WCW starting in 1999, one which included a bitter feud with two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and multiple championship matches. He left the company shortly before it was purchased.
For much of the 2000s, Douglas was a key player in TNA as a competitor, manager and interviewer. His battles with another extreme legend, Raven, were highlights of the early years of the promotion. Douglas also promoted shows for XPW and helped create a series of Hardcore Homecoming shows that brought some of ECW's finest back together.
The Franchise continues to bring his brashness to events across the country and has earned even more gold. He has dozens of title reigns to his name over the course of his decades in professional wrestling.
-Written by Steve Fullhart
(Information from various online sources)
