FEBRUARY 2004 Michael Shane:  More Than Just Shawn Michaels' Cousin

by Alan Wojcik

Please credit Alan J. Wojcik of http://alanwojcik.com thank you.

Many people know who MICHAEL SHANE is related to (WWE star Shawn Michaels), but do you know anything about Michael Shane?  This is a full length interview from training with the relative to his recent reign as NWA: TNA X division Champion.  Some people will walk in and out in this interview and everyone’s comments are there own and I am not responsible for them.  So enjoy Michael Shane’s interview which was recorded on January 24, 2004 at the Arena in St Pete FL as Michael prepared for a three way encounter against Danny Doring and Lex Lovett.

Alan Wojcik:  Seems everyone know who your famous relative is.  Was his being in established in wrestling the main influence you in becoming a wrestler?

Michael Shane:  It was a big factor obviously with him being that good in the business.  I have been a fan since I can remember anything.  I went to a house show one night when I was 12.  I told Shawn I wanted to be wrestler and asked how I became one and he told me, “You’re not going to be one, you’re gonna stay away from this lifestyle and go to school.”  I was playing baseball at the time and he wanted that to be my focus.  I took it as you’re telling me no and I am going to do it anyway.  I wanted to wrestle but Shawn wasn’t the only reason. 

AW:  What was the training like at the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy?

MS:  It was hell, 9am-noon on Tuesday to Thursday and then there was a night class from 6-9pm.  We did the night session because we wanted to be the best.  For the beginning two weeks we never got in the ring it was running and cardio work.  The school is above a Mexican eatery in downtown San Antonio with no air conditioning.  We are talking about 110 degrees in the middle of the summer.  You would think Shawn would have the nicest facility but he made it like the place he was trained in.

(Former ECW star Danny Doring enters the dressing room area and steals the recorder from my hand)

Danny Doring:  F#$k him he lying, the sonofabitch is lying he’s never worked Sabu and he doesn’t know what he looks like.  I said this; my name is Christopher Daniels thank you.

(Danny hands the recorder back to me)

MS:  Who the hell was that??

AW:  When did (real name deleted) become Michael Shane and how much of you is Michael Shane?

MS:  Michael Shane is my real name Alan.  Just joking.  Actually lots of him is me.  I can be a cocky prick when I need to and I can be a nice guy.  I’m a heel at heart and I can rib the boys with no remorse.  90% of your character needs to be based off your real life.  People want to see that real life in wrestling.

AW:  You got your first American notoriety working for the deceased ECW.  How did you join ECW in mid-2000? 

MS:  Before I worked for them I worked for FMW in Japan for about a month.  That was a good learning experience.  When I got back I tried out for ECW in Dallas and did a match, god damn it Scoot shut up.

(Scoot Andrews enters to begin dressing for his match with NWA FL star Justice sending change all over when dropping his bag to the ground.)

Scoot Andrews:  Not me dog I’m Chris Sabin.

MS:  Tommy Dreamer like my work and invited me on the road.  It wasn’t glamorous but it was another learning experience since I was just in the business in a year.  I made 50-75 bucks a night. 

Scoot:  It wasn’t working AJ Styles.

MS:  I worked from New York to Florida to Philly and all over the place.  It was hell driving all over and making no money but it was fun.  I learned lots from the guys up there.

AW:  The next group you worked with and still occasionally work with IWA Mid-South run by Ian Rotten.  How did you join IWA-MS and what were your impressions of Ian?

MS:  I came to work for them through Tracy Smothers, I was living with him and he took me one night to a show.  The first show I saw of Ian’s I thought it was ridiculous because of all the hardcore sh#$.  He is really changed the style in the past year even though he still has the death match stuff.  That’s where I worked AJ Styles for the first time.

Scoot:  That AJ is a good wrestler.

AW:  Early in your stay you wrestled the straight-edged man known as CM Punk on IWA-MS 5th anniversary show on October 21, 2001.  What was it like to wrestle Punk?

MS:  It was the most horrendous day of my life.  Is that your actual question?

AW:  Yes it is.

MS:  Have you seen him work?

AW:  I’ve seen him work and I’ve interviewed him.

MS:  He’s the drizzling sh#$s.  I’m just kidding Alan.  Punk was good.  I had heard of him but never seen him work.  That match was when we were just rising to where our careers are now.  It was fun and we had some good matches.

AW:  I’m going to put in here that Scoot Andrews critiqued all the questions and answers.

Scoot: Gotta do it baby.

MS:  Plus put in there Scoot is gay.

Scoot:  CM Punk is a closet homo.

AW:  This past year you were a participant in the Ted Petty (former Sweet Science 16) Invitational.  Had you worked Jerry Lynn before that night and what is he like an opponent?

MS:  We had wrestled each other in a five minute match on a WWF Saturday Shotgun show.  Our tournament match was about 20 minutes and what can you say about him.

Scoot:  He’s the best.

MS:  Jerry’s awesome to wrestle.  He’s phenomenal.

Scoot:  Nope that’s AJ Styles, son.

AW:  Speaking of AJ Styles on December 20th IWA-MS hosted the first ever meeting between the two of you.

MS:  It was good, next question.  Sorry kidding again.  I was looking forward to it.  We had booked it two months before hand.  It came off good with the crowd.  Hopefully another promoter will book it.

AW:  You got some internet notoriety from working for Ring of Honor.  How did you join ROH, what did you think of Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolski and their “code of honor” ideas?

MS:  I knew Gabe and Rob from ECW when they did the RF videos where they steal money from the boys.  Rudy Gonzales, who trained me at Shawn’s school, told me they were building a promotion and they wanted to use me.  The ROH concept with the strong style was good but it won’t sell in the long run.  They will stick to their core base of internet fans but it won’t get any other fans.  The strong style isn’t what people want, they want characters and as much as they don’t want to say it they want soap opera style shows.

(Danny Doring moons us from outside the locker room.)

AW:  Just ignore them they go away.  You had several matches with them but I wish to focus on one opponent, current WWE star Paul London.

MS:  He is a good friend and we met when he worked for Rudy in San Antonio.  The first match of his I saw was awful and I told him so and his impression of me was I was a big dick.  When I saw him again at ROH he had listened to Rudy’s advice and changed his ring style.  He is fun and easy to work with.  Being good friends helps matters.

AW:  We brought up the code of honor briefly.  Now ROH has begun to establish a “pure wrestling title.”  What do you think of that concept?

MS:  I think its f#$king stupid.  Do you know what it means because I don’t?  Let’s leave it there.

AW:  We have been teasing it so now its time to talk about the “Black Nature Boy” Scoot Andrews.  You were his partner against the Spanish Announce Team during your trip to work for Bill Behrens' NWA Wildside promotion.

MS:  There’s a big story before we even get to Wildside.  We had wrestled for IPW the night before.  I get called about 6am from Scoot Andrews and he’s yelling into my answering machine saying I need to wake up.  I’m thinking he’s in jail.  So I pick up the phone and he says what you doing?  (Scoot is laughing) I said mother f#$ker what do you want?  He says wanna go to Wildside?  No not really. Scoot says I need you to go. 

Scoot:  Because Mike Sullivan no showed.

MS:  So I go to Wildside and it was interesting needless to say.  It was easy to work the SAT but not as easy to work with Scoot. (laughs)

Scoot:  It’s never easy working with me baby.

AW:  There are two other groups you have done some recent work for.  One is a former employer, MLW (Major League Wrestling.)  How did you come to work for MLW and what were your impressions of Court Bauer?

MS:  Court Bauer is a Paul Heyman wanna be…

Scoot:  Who won’t return phone calls.

MS:  He has no charisma what so ever.  That’s my impression of Court Bauer.

Scoot:  And he won’t return phone calls.

AW:  Were you a fan of being paired with the “Queen of Extreme” Francine?

Scoot:  She returns phone calls.

MS:  I’ve never called her.  It was fun being paired with her.  It’s easy to work with her but Court Bauer is a jackass who doesn’t know what he is doing and he won’t return phone calls.  I don’t call Court appears Scoot has some important business with him.

AW:  During your stay you wrestled a couple of times, the “Big Wiggle” Norman Smiley.

MS:  Norman is a great guy to be in the ring with but unfortunately Court Bauer is a jackass who won’t return phone calls and he can go f#$k himself. 

AW:  One of your last matches saw you being paired with CM Punk to take on Norman Smiley and his partner for the night was Raven.  What’s it like to be in a match with Raven?

MS:  Interesting, he is quite a character.  He is easy to work with a guy with that much ring experience.  Like I said it could have been better but Court Bauer is a jackass who won’t return phone calls.

AW:  People can now see you weekly or semi-weekly on PPV with NWA: Total Nonstop Action.  How did you come to work for NWA: TNA and what did you think of the weekly PPV idea?

MS: I called their office every day for about two months and they finally told me to get my ass to Nashville and wrestle for them.  The PPV concept was different.  I didn’t think people would go for it but they are tuning in.  I hope they realize they need TV to survive.  It seems to be working so far since they’re still around.

AW:  When I interviewed Chris Sabin we spoke about the match where you became the X Champion, the Ultimate X match.  What are your memories of that match and the day before when testing out the ring setup?

MS:  After Frankie [Kazarian] fell in the ring I thought the match wasn’t going to happen.  We didn’t get to touch the criss-cross again until 5:30pm the day of the show and we couldn’t talk anything out before hand.

Scoot: Did I mention Court Bauer is a jackass who won’t return phone calls?

AW:  Yes you did thank you Scoot.  Is that your phone on the floor?

MS:  Wait are you interviewing me or Scoot?

Scoot:  Holy sh#$ it’s Court Bauer!!  Hello?  Oh wrong number.  He was calling for Spanky. 

MS:  Tell him he’s a jackass.  Oh you hung up on him.  Call him back and tell him.

AW:  You know this is going to make me edit all this MLW bashing out. 

MS:  F$#k MLW they can kiss my ass.

AW:  What kind of reaction did the fans and your friends/family give you after seeing the Ultimate X match since you were such a bloody mess?

MS:  I got great reaction and personally I like the second one better.  We totally winged the first one.  We never got the wire test or anything else.  It came off as good as you can hope.  I was bloody thanks to Chris.  My scar has healed though.

AW:  You can’t even see one.

MS:  Are you hitting on me?

AW:  You wish.  One of your first title defenses was against “the Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels. 

MS:  Chris is so smooth in the ring.  He is one of the guys that deserves to be further up than where he is right now.  He has total control of everything in the ring.  He should be working WrestleMania but for some reason he isn’t. 

AW:  For people that have been in a broom closet or don’t watch PPV you are a member of the new Franchise with the lovely Tracy Brooks and the “Franchise” Shane Douglas.  What went through your mind when the office told you we are paring you with Shane Douglas?

MS:  I was pretty happy to be told I would be working with people that have been in the business for a long time.  I can call Shane at any time and talk wrestling.  He is straight forward and doesn’t deal in bullsh#$.  Things are going good and we are getting over with the crowd.  Hopefully we will be going for the tag titles soon.

(Danny Doring moons the locker room once again)

MS: And there’s Danny’s ass again. 

AW:  The lady Internet fans want to see this.  Let me get a photo.

MS:  Danny.  Hey Danny!!  You need to wipe better next time man.

(Danny gives Michael a thumbs up, pulls his pants up and walks away from the door)

AW:  You briefly mentioned the Ultimate X2 where Low Ki and Christopher Daniels were added to yourself and Chris Sabin.

MS:  It was better due to more time allowed by TNA.  We had 16-17 minutes plus a couple of days to prepare.  Plus you’re adding Daniels and Low Ki to the mix so you can do more with those veterans.  Plus the belt didn’t fall twice like last time.

AW:  You have wrestled around the world including two promotions in Japan.  How did FMW differ from Zero-One?

MS:  It was not on the down fall. Wow there’s Danny Doring ass again, I wish you had a camera taping this for the fans.  FMW was on the downslide when I worked there.  We didn’t work in large buildings and there were crowds of 50-100 people.

AW:  What do you want Roderick Strong?

Roderick Strong:  Danny said to come in you guys wanted me.

MS:  Make him stop showing his ass off.  It’s frightening to sensitive eyes.

AW:  Back to FMW/Zero-One.

MS:  I also worked for All Japan under a mask as Omega Grapeon or something like that.  The booker for Zero-One was also with All Japan and he invited me without the mask.  Fun times took place that I can’t talk about in this interview.

AW:  While working there you wrestled and teamed up with Tom Howard.

MS:  I have tagged with him a couple of times.  Tom is a good guy.  I don’t know if his style would fit here in America.  Zero-One focuses on developed characters and the Japanese like Tom.  He is in a good slot over there.

AW:  You mentioned working for the WWF now WWE.  What does it feel like when you’re in their ring?

MS:  Same as any other ring.  It’s square with ropes on each side.

AW:  Very funny wise ass you know what I meant.

MS:  It’s exciting.  That’s what you watch growing up.  I don’t want to be there just doing Jakked or Sunday Night Heat.  I would want to be on Raw or Smackdown.  It’s an awesome experience to be in front of 15-20,000 people.  I would rather be in front of 15-20,000 people instead of 15-20 fans.

AW:  You are returning to Florida tonight by working for NWA Florida.  Why the return to the Florida wrestling scene?

MS:  Because Ron Niemi is the nicest and best promoters I have ever met in my life.  He has done so much for me.  He’s been waiting for me several times after a shower wanting to do things like….

AW:  Focus on the question Michael.

MS:  I moved back to Florida. I worked for Ron and Joe (Price) before.  So when I have a night off I want to come down and help draw some fans. 

AW:  Tonight you are in a three way dance with the man who mooned us Danny Doring and Lex Lovett.

MS:  I worked Lex before in another three way match.  He’s a good talent.  I worked Danny several times and I know him from my ECW days.  It should be fun we’ll try and entertain the fans.

AW:  Past or present who would be your dream opponent?

MS:  Obviously Shawn would be one. Ric Flair, Chris Jericho is tremendous.  All three of them are still active and I have hope for those matches.

AW:  In closing what do you hope the future holds for Michael Shane?

MS:  Lots of money.

Thanks to Michael Shane for his time.  Thanks also go to Scoot Andrews for his insightful commentary, Danny Doring for mooning us several times and Roderick Strong for just being Roderick Strong.  Special thanks to Joe Price and Ron Niemi of NWA Florida for setting the interview up.  For more on NWA: TNA log onto www.nwatna.com, NWA Florida at www.nwaflorida.com, Ring of Honor at www.rohwrestling.com, IWA-MS at www.iwamidsouthwrestling.com and MLW at www.mlw.com. 

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