Shane Douglas

Hey Scott,

Great work, longtime fan, I really love the old school Raw and Nitro reviews.  My older brother would send me printed out postage versions of your original Raw rants back in 1998 and 1999 when I would go away to summer camp in the summer so I could stay up to date while away at Christian-centered YMCA camping retreats.

I have been listening to Stone Cold's podcast with Shane Douglas lately, and it's interesting to reflect on Shane's potential as a young fiery babyface in early 90s WWF, then continuing with Johnny Ace as a Dynamic Dude in WCW, until reinventing himself as the badass bitter ex-employee rebel of ECW.

What was the RSPW viewpoint on Shane in 1990-91 in WWF?  Did anyone think he had potential to be a successful top-tier babyface?  Or was he always slotted as an opening match geek?  Watching old shows in retrospect, I have a soft spot for Shane and his Shawn Michaels-esque sympathy he could generate.  Did the Clique screw him over because he was trying too hard to take Shawn's spot?

Furthermore, what do you think Shane's ECW legacy will be remembered for?  I recall the clips of throwing down the NWA belt, feuding with Taz, and walking around in a cast injured with Chris Candido and the Triple Threat.  Do you think Shane could have ever drawn money for the Big Two?   Or was he just not that good?   He's made a pretty significant narrative that he was important during the golden age in the last 15 years with interviews, promotion, and hardcore revival shows.  Was Shane a significant part of the golden era, or just a bitter ex-employee?

​He probably could have been bigger, but there's no question that the Clique screwed him over in the WWF and the gimmick was death to begin with.  The hole was just too deep.  But I mean, let's be serious, he wasn't THAT good.  Being a top level worker and talker in ECW at that time wasn't exactly high praise on the national stage, ya know?  Heyman very carefully controlled what you saw and heard from people like Douglas, which was obvious when he was left to die in the WWF alone.  Not to mention that 90-93 Douglas bouncing around the ring and having ***** matches with Ricky Steamboat as a partner is a far cry from 95-2000 Douglas having garbage brawls and nursing a sore back that whole time.  

So yeah, he might have been a solid IC title level heel, but Shawn Michaels?  Forget it.  ​