Shane Douglas' WWE Burial By The Kliq | Behind The Match

WWE in 1995 was in an all-encompassing state of tumult. Its on-screen product, with a depleted roster and uninteresting feuds, was failing to captivate a steadily-dwindling audience. At the time, two wrestlers (one an ascending mega star, the other an incoming veteran) found themselves embroiled in a fairly-typical feud in front of the cameras, and a much more heated one away from them. It all led to two of the strangest Intercontinental title changes ever, both of them occurring just minutes apart...
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Cultaholic provides video coverage of professional wrestling - including WWE (including WWE Raw, WWE SmackDown, NXT and 205 Live), AEW, IMPACT Wrestling (formerly TNA), NJPW, ROH, and more with daily news updates, reviews, lists, highlights, predictions, reactions, podcasts and much, much more.

[@pmplo]

In hindsight during the New generation era, the backstage politics were better storylines than the actual storylines

[@rxndxll]

Literally they need to figure out a good balance of mixing real backstage heat into storylines without going over the line like they constantly did to the Hardy’s

[@tempestfennac9687]

@@rxndxll It would have required a load of alignment changes but a Kliq vs. Bone Street Crew feud could have been interesting.

[@youknowJP]

Arent they always

[@isitoveryet9525]

@@rxndxll I doubt that balance is possible. Mixing business with personal rarely ends well, especially when it’s in front of millions upon millions of people. It would only be a matter of time before egos started getting bruised & it gets too personal.

[@bryanelam7431]

​@@youknowJPthere is a lot of truth in your comment, I was kinda thinking the same.

[@georgewilliams1470]

When you consider Michael's attitude at that time it's no wonder he buried Douglas.For "having no talent"Douglas had a pretty damn good career.

[@martianjones6725]

Who is Shane Douglas

[@gsv213able]

Douglas was a joke. He often complained. Was always hurt. While everyone else wrestled hurt Douglas didn't . Even in ecw, nothing memorable. His promos were a cheap pop. Lots of cussing is not a good promo. Should have never been the first ecw champion . Should have been sabu or funk

[@kenrickeason]

Shane Douglas just happened to be around when the Kliq was around which killed his run in WWF.. I think if Shane Douglas came in around 1996 or 1997 he would have got over in WWF..

[@kenrickeason]

@@gsv213able But WWF is the same company who copied ECW.. Keep listening to that one sided bias WWE rhetoric all you want but the truth is as good as these guys were wasn't putting butts in seats between 1993 to 1996.. The data is there! Nor Shawn, Nor The Undertaker which has my upmost respect,(Love this Guy but Truth is the Truth) nor Bret Hart was putting butts in the seats.. it took a WCW in Steve Austin and WCW and ECW the same company Shane Douglas got over in forcing Vince McMahon's hands to go edgy.. I know this cause I grew up in the 1990s knowing what really happened! Not just running with a story someone told me! As Much as I don't like Vince Russo but him, The Rock, Stone Cold, Copying some things ECW and WCW was doing saved the WWF or they would have been out of business right now.. Those Companies set the standard and WWE gets all the credit for it.. Then WWE is still bitter even though they won making WCW look incompetent even though they copied some of their stuff..

[@allwightallwong5045]

@Kendrick Eason As much as I favored WW(F) end of the day you are correct

[@alexmartin3143]

For all the trouble Michael’s caused you’d think he’d learned to actually fight by now...

[@isitoveryet9525]

He hung out with big guys, like Hall & Nash lol He never needed to learn how to fight, since they’d be there to protect him

[@sliderx1897]

He probably thinks he can

[@agiuggio1]

Michaels just oozes insincerity

[@paulwalkeer1842]

Credit RVD

[@rickstalentedtongue910]

And Razor is a murderer and a liar. I like him overall, but a murderer, and he will lie when it suits the clique.

[@nzelver559]

​@@rickstalentedtongue910 100% - humans are complicated, the wrestler Razor in the ring was really fun to watch but his private life was clearly a mess. Different level of arrogance, backstabbing and overall cutthroat mentality

[@tizmond]

25 years later and the legacy of the Kliq lives on, with Triple H constantly re-writing history and promoting himself as the GOAT.

[@dnakatomiuk]

That's true he did it with his titles as well

[@Maxx_d13]

Shutup

[@elijahchesterthomas5334]

100%

[@sleazyfellow]

Yeah and "the game" and "the franchise" had very similar characters. Dick head heels that still win, create a faction and have a lady valet. Only big difference was Douglas could cut a great promo. HHH went on and on and on.

[@kennethsnodgrass2607]

​@@sleazyfellow Douglas is toilet - HHH could deliver

[@Mischa521]

Even as a "better person" Shawn Michaels can't admit they effed him over. And we all knew Scott Hall would never admit how much pull the kliq had. They were the 90s John Cena.

[@danielbryan8206]

Lol what? Cena put over Edge, Randy Orton, RVD, Sheamus, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke, Roman, and Seth Rollins. He’s nothing like Shawn he never had to pretend to lose his smile just so he wouldn’t lose a fake belt.

[@sese6227]

That's what annoys me....his die-hard fans claim he's a "changed man", yet he seems to have apologized to everyone except the people he actually fd over. I'm sure Vader, Douglas & a plethora of other wrestlers would've appreciated an apology long ago.

[@sese6227]

@@danielbryan8206 Cena also refused to turn heel, even tho it would've been better for the business as a whole, he screwed over Nexus, and his can't lose superhero act, that seemed never ending was pretty tiring.

[@johnkolko5199]

X-Pac is the only one from the Kliq who has come out and said they screwed him over. Nash wont back down on anything. And I dont buy Michaels is a new guy. thin he is the same old a hole he always was but hides behind religion now

[@mjgoat2366]

@@danielbryan8206 ur acting like hbk didnt put over hhh, cena, angle, y2j, orton and many more superstars in his second run

[@defblinders9585]

How none of the guys in the locker room back between 1994-1997 beat the living Hell out of Shawn Micheals (aside from his fight with Bret) is a miracle.

[@bigrigjoe5130]

Apparently the Harris Twins got a lick in before they left

[@msr187]

Marty beat him down too lol

[@johncook9392]

I know right! I never liked Michaels, even before it was well known how much of an asshole baby he was...

[@brandontankersley8107]

​@@bigrigjoe5130 wasn't that with Taker watching the door to keep anyone from witnessing?

[@insertname1014]

Think about how far the likes of Jim Cornette, Vader, Shane Douglas, Bam Bam Bigelow could have gone in the company had it not been for the Kliq.

[@cld244]

@Toxic Sheeple I suppose at the time, Vince wanted to keep his biggest star from going to WCW.

[@cld244]

@Toxic Sheeple Also, this is what AEW are doing right, not signing people with huge egos.

[@hanssprungfeld8487]

@Toxic Sheeple absolutely wrong Bret saved WWF from going out of business Taker at the time fueds sucked

[@luketonkinson5440]

What happened to Cornette?

[@georgewilliams1470]

@@luketonkinson5440 I don't think that Cornette had too many problems with the clique as much as he detested working with Russo.

[@dontizzlejones7330]

I love this series so much. Thank you Sam and anyone else involved for the incredible amount of time that must go into these

[@superrobz]

I’m so glad Douglas didn’t stick around, he was one of the best workers in my opinion both in ring and on the mic. Shane was twice the wrestler Kevin Nash was

[@ChristopherJames1993]

Not even close. The fact that once he couldn't do mudshow bollocks any more he couldn't do anything.

[@superrobz]

@@ChristopherJames1993He really was🤷🏻‍♂️ Nash was a joke champion

[@jordanangivino9596]

HBK is absolutely 1 of the best all time but if i had a nickel for every backstage politics that involve him and/or The Kliq being jackasses I could buy my own country.

[@jasondelvaux3036]

Sounds to me as though you're making a great arguement on how he is absolutely NOT one of the best of any time. How low are your standards?

[@jordanangivino9596]

@@jasondelvaux3036 Because I'm capable of separating a mans talent/ability to perform and his character. Not sure what questioning my standards does for you but as an adult it's pretty easy to say "They are outstanding at what they do but they are a total dick outside of that"

[@ChristopherJames1993]

@@jasondelvaux3036 mate I hate to tell you that wrestling has ALWAYS been about politics. So shut up being a dumbass. He became the best of all time in no small part to who he knew. But he was also more talented than 95% of the wrestlers in the business today.

[@distantandvague]

You could use those nickels to exchange it for a dollar. Quit pretending that burnouts like Jannetty and Douglas were held back cos of one man, ya dunce.

[@chacemartin7856]

@@jasondelvaux3036 in-ring Shawn is one of the best showmen the sport has ever seen no matter what. But at the same time, he might have been one of the worst human beings on the planet prior to his return in 2002

[@JaimeD.]

Sam Driver is truly one who doesn't sugarcoat the real life story behind the handles of different promotions that are gone or current to this day in professional wrestling. Cultaholic does their search and analysis of the events that took place and aren't going to paint the story into the favor of any promotion. The narrating is straight on point, making wrestling fans think of the scenes they saw or heard into consideration of why they were so confusing or unjust to the wrestlers who gained valuable reputation before being degraded by the powers that may be.

[@Nicksuavemusic]

If they let Shane be the franchise character in wwf he might of had hope

[@bystandah9626]

The office was saving that character for HHH to rip off.

[@outlawrip-offartist4161]

Shawn Michaels is my favourite pro wrestler of all time, and I don’t rate Shane Douglas, but Shane Douglas got screwed no doubt about it here.

[@illkid86]

@Toxic Sheeple Hitman really is the best

[@sese6227]

@@illkid86 That's debatable.... who's the "best" wrestler, is pretty much a matter of opinion.

[@A_YouTube_Commenter]

Benoit was better.

[@Rene-ij1ut]

Good ol' backstage politics

[@DrakeKnight99]

Kinda ruins the image of some the wrestlers you thought were "good" guys

[@christiancholodiuk7836]

Shame, I have seen Douglas multiple times in person since we live in the same area. One of the most genuinely nice guys who absolutely still loves the business. Crazy to think what could have been.

[@josephcolella3107]

Saw him in ecw. Phenomenal wrestler. Could have taken anyone on and won.

[@CalloPasta]

@@josephcolella3107 wtf do you mean could have "taken anyone on and won" ? As if it were legit competition? Lol

[@josephcolella3107]

@@CalloPasta you know what I mean lol. Scripted of course lol

[@timfox9590]

I loved his promo style as the Franchise. I think Shawn was jealous of his promo skills, confidence, and ECW success. I wish he was portrayed as the Franchise and not Dean.

[@American-Zero]

It's not skills if you curse like a sailor in a promo just to get over.

[@dantecarroll2435]

Why would hbk be jealous of Shane he wasn’t even on Shawn’s level hbk was the best on the mic and the ring

[@American-Zero]

@@dantecarroll2435 Right? HBK was at the prime of his career then, influence from the Kliq or not, he was on top of his game. All Douglas was was a guy who overrates himself and his abilities when in reality he was average in the ring and boring on the mic unless he was cursing or blaming HBK or Flair for holding him back as if it was their job to make him a big star.

[@dantecarroll2435]

@@American-Zero I totally agree

[@lucag.lisickza425]

@@dantecarroll2435i dont understand why there are so many guys simping for hbk, when is universally known that he was fake af, everyone calling him the greatest, the greatest in only one company which was and still is the fakest. i would like to watch hbk wrestle in England for world of sports or with hansen and Gordy in Japan

[@robertshay9235]

Shane Douglas was one of my favorites. I’m a Pittsburgh guy and so is he. He was a fantastic heel. TRIPLE THREAT 4 LIFE!!! Francine and him were a perfect match!!

[@vlogger4567]

Douglas was a former WCW World Tag Team Champ, so OF COURSE WWE would treat him like a squash boy.

[@rxndxll]

My theory is Vince only signed him in the first place to take him away from ECW he was ECW’s star they had no real plan to push him from the beginning it was just an F U to the competition, especially with the gimmick they gave him they gave him no real chance from the start

[@KingKhanate1997]

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that, Vince and ECW always had something of an amiable relationship. He let ECW invade Raw in 1997 before their first PPV and I heard he helped bankroll the promotion too when Paulie’s shitty finances started popping up.

[@R4ULTR]

Douglas had one of the best combinations of in-ring skills and talking skills, such a shame he couldn't get to the top in WWF

[@rickstalentedtongue910]

There was a system in place, with people entrenched that would not allow it.

[@gary6754]

well, the firs problem was that michaels was having sex with mcmahon and pat patterson

[@padge2]

Really enjoyed this and the attempt at a different presentation. Off now to watch the rest of the series.

[@TONYGILLEY]

Douglas actually did have a rematch for the IC belt after Survivor Series (during a RAW taping the next night) it was practically a Jobber-Squash match as Razor Ramon easily trounced him, all while pointing to his Shawn Michaels memorial arm band as HBK "died" in the ring earlier in the night during the Live Telecast.

[@angrypirate6666]

Hmm. Who to believe? A wreck of a human being and his Prima Donna friend? Oooooor Shane Douglas? That's a tough one.....

[@RyanAcidhedzMurphy]

No kidding. You have one group of people who have been proven time and again to lie about everything. And Douglas, who may have a big mouth and an abrasive attitude at times, but always comes across as an honest and sincere man in interviews. Even going so far as to expose all his drug abuse problems in the hope of helping others get off painkiller addiction. Yeah, reeeeeeeeal hard choice on who to believe...

[@acidmack1041]

If ANYBODY thought a Kliq member did something to sabotage them in the mid 90's and multiple Kliq members said it was not true i know for a fact i would not be believing the Kliq members version of events lol

[@themanwithoutaface2260]

Never liked Shawn Michaels. Never liked Vince McMahon. Never liked Razor Ramon. All three are scumbags. It wouldn't matter how good of a worker Douglas was, he had no chance in hell in the WWF. If you were not the Kliq, you were either buried eventually or you were a jobber to begin with.

[@craig_amun_ra]

Triple h stole Shane Douglas whole gimmick

[@ReanimatorsMutilations]

How

[@ChristopherJames1993]

No he didn't at all.

[@ReanimatorsMutilations]

@Andrew Cazessus oh come on lol

[@sese6227]

@@ChristopherJames1993 yes tf he did lmao....from the "cut my music" to the way he cut promos, to the fn hats Shane wore 🤣Anyone who can't see that the game is a direct rip off of the Franchise, is either a die-hard HHH fanboy or blind as bat.

[@mohammedriadh4990]

@@sese6227 so did Rick flair with his nature boy gimmick which it was a rip off from buddy Roger

[@TheCologneist1]

the first original screwjob, another one that hbk had something to do with

[@subdan6593]

Screwjob? What's that

[@Biffo316]

The original screw job was actually fabulous moolah and Wendi Richter. Somehow I don't think he had anything to do with that

[@SheriffOutlaw]

I think the Moolah/Richter screwjob was the beginning of the Screwjobs age

[@martianjones6725]

Who is hbk

[@martianjones6725]

@Bubba Sawyer I thought his name was shawn michael

[@Zephyrbal]

Shane definitely got no favors from the kliq here, but I also don't believe for a second that the Dean Douglas gimmick would have ever gotten over.

[@MrPerfect2000Z]

Would have gotten him a match with Bret or Taker but that was about it lol You know like the Pirates and Dentists

[@American-Zero]

No way...Douglas' gimmick was too cartoony...its more or less a ripoff of The Genius. Even if he didn't get screwed by HBK and the Kliq...I don't think he would've gotten past mid card.

[@RichSmithson]

His wrestling in the WWF was god awful. Go back and watch his matches. Botches galore and boring as hell. People are blaming his failure on the Dean gimmick or the Kliq but what I think it came down to is he didn’t impress Vince or the other talent. Austin was given a crap gimmick when he started too and he managed to turn it around, so did Rock. Rock actually got bullied pretty hard by HHH and Shawn when he started and he never gave up. Also Douglas didn’t want to work hard and was asking for time off constantly. You can’t do that with Vince who literally expects you to give up your life for most the year.

[@American-Zero]

@@RichSmithson Exactly. Too many people here are overlooking the fact that Douglas brought all this on himself by working as little as possible, not to mention being an all around jerk backstage. But people would rather do the easiest thing and blame The Kliq for it. If you asked someone to name one good match with Douglas in the WWF, they'll probably scratch their heads trying to remember. Even his debut match with the 1-2-3 Kid was pretty bad with the Kid having to carry him throughout the match and calling the spots out to him. After the match, he told Vince backstage "This guy doesn't have it." And this was back when Waltman could have a good match with anybody even with a fucked up neck. He barely wrestled matches and instead filmed segments of him in his classroom grading guys like Razor Ramon, 123 Kid, Shawn Michaels etc, and only wrestled far and in between PPVs. It was also said that ironically Razor and HHH..two members of the Kliq..tried to help him out backstage due to the heat he was bringing on himself but he refused it. Like you said, everyone was given shitty gimmicks...Rock was given one and was constantly targeted and bullied by HHH and HBK out of jealousy, but he found his footing and eventually got on good terms with HHH. It also doesn't help that Douglas complained about working hurt at a Madison Square Garden show and was chewed out by Yokozuna who was a member of BSK (and one of the locker room leaders) as he told him there were others working hurt worse than him..some even wrestling twice in one night and he needs to stop being such a lazy asshole. His downfall had many factors, falling out of favor with the Kliq, bad backstage attitude, and coming to WWF hurt.

[@RichSmithson]

@@American-Zero I agree Glad im not the only one who can see the obvious. Im watching all the old ECW stuff at the moment and just watched him debut and have a few matches. Slightly better here then WWF but still pretty damn average.

[@davidworden4470]

I was never a fan of the franchise until now that guy went through hell im glad to see hes doing good and should have his own podcast

[@shawnpsych0soulforce648]

Shane Douglas deserved so much more

[@tempestfennac9687]

I thought he was a pretty good wrestler so Shawn's criticisms just seem ridiculous to me (especially since Nash, Sid, Crush, Mable and Yokozuna were all in the company at the time and he didn't seem to have issues with working with Nash or Sid).

[@NiGiff]

You're right! He should be the MANAGER of the Walmart he works in, not a mere employee.

[@tempestfennac9687]

@@NiGiff I thought he was training to manage a Target at one point?

[@isitoveryet9525]

@@NiGiff he is a manager at target, & they make 6 figures lol Love how you’re acting like he’s a bum or something, when he makes more than most.

[@NiGiff]

@@isitoveryet9525 Oh yes, how silly of me.

[@RisingRecluse]

Wow this was great work. All the info I've seen in different shoot interviews but this is the first time I've seen it structured with a timeline.

[@publius9350]

Franchise was a monster in ECW. Imagine what it took for him storyline to be "struggling" in WWE.

[@thomasjohn3835]

Douglas was NOT "buried by the kliq" he was buried by a stupid gimmick thanks to Vince. Same as Terry Taylor, Dusty Rhodes and many other stupid gimmicks. Sure the Kliq didn't help and did hurt him but McMahon screwed him first with this gimmick and clearly never seen Douglas as a top guy. Remember a big part of McMahons expansion in the 80s was getting top guys from territories and paying them big money just to rob the original territory of them NOT to use them properly (Dino Bravo, JYD, Dusty Rhodes' Ted Dibiase, the Rogues, the one man gang, big boss man, Ricky Steamboat) to name just a few where all main event guys in their respective territories, but were never really given a sustained real push in the WWF they were just on the WWF dollar so they couldn't work elsewhere. And Vince kept the same attitude in the 90s, so just because he offered Douglas good money doesn't mean he was going to push him.

[@TimTE01]

Two things can be true at once. He was buried by the Kliq. He was given a bad gimmick.

[@thomasjohn3835]

@@TimTE01 Well i said they didn't help him but Vince clearly never seen him as a top guy from the the beginning. Even Shawn knew his limits with somebody, if Vince liked someone and clearly had plans for them Shawn would make them look like a million dollars. Also there are others who say Douglas' work wasn't good enough including Bret Hart who said Shane was sloppy in the ring and picked up a lot of bad habits in ECW. But ultimately it was the gimmick that killed him, stupid gimmick, that completely negated Douglas' strengths of his "franchise" character.

[@TimTE01]

Thomas John The key thing is that you’re deflecting here. The allow were a-holes and buried him. Period. Most of what you said is also true. Both things can be true.

[@thomasjohn3835]

@@TimTE01 He was perceived as a midcard guy and he was treated as a midcard guy, the issue here is he overrated himself, he was a big fish in a small pond in ECW he bought into his own hype. I said the kliq didnt do him any favours and i said they definitely hurt his career but he 100% blames the kliq for his failings in WWF and that's bullshit. Vince was never going to use him as a top guy, Vince put him in a stupid gimmick that hamstringed him, he himself wasn't as talented as he thought he was and he has a long history of blaming others for his shortcomings (Flair, Kevin Sullivan, Eddie Gilbert and Sid Vicious) all got blamed for "burying" Douglas by Douglas. There comes a time you got to look in the mirror.

[@TimTE01]

Thomas John Did the Klingon bury him in matches and booking? Yes. That’s the point. Your dissertation means nothing here.

[@blindterrytucci2752]

It’s hilarious that people pretend The Kliq is the reason for his 1995 run turning out the way it did. Did the Kliq bury him when he was a Dynamic dude and didn’t get over? How about when he was in the WWF in 1990-1991 and didn’t get over? Ricky Steamboat was so good that it made him appear over in WCW in 1993 but that run was so irrelevant that a video that pretends he’s some kind of hero doesn’t even mention it. The guy didn’t get over at all until the NWA tournament in 1994 and it had NOTHING to do with his talent. It was because of his speech where he threw the belt down. Then he goes back to the WWF doesn’t get over. He goes back to ECW where he’s a “star” because he craps on the big two companies and says “fuck”, then to WCW where his career disappears with the company because nobody but ECW fans gave a shit about him. ECW diehards will support anything that company did from 1994-1999 no matter what. Shane Douglas sucks. Period.

[@maxxgagliardo8754]

Kliq mark

[@CarnivoreAF]

Douglas was amazing on the mic and one of the best heels in the history of the business and Vince let the Klik ruin what could have been. Thankfully that brought us the Franchise in ECW!

[@dstaple3]

Every time I hear about the Syracuse Incident, I go "Ayeeee" since that's close to home

[@ian3314]

Great job once again on these awesome videos Sam and crew!

[@DavidBaillie1986]

These behind the match videos are great. Keep up the good work.

[@philipguerra6269]

Have to agree with Michaels. Douglas just didn't get over. As a fan who watched live and obviously unaware of the backstage politics. I was happy to see razor win, besides we would have never got goldust lusting after razor

[@bighuc]

Thank God timing was on Steve Austin side! Just thank if Austin arrived earlier.I never liked the "Dean" angle! Shane was a great heel that Vince ruined.Shane would've been great with The Dangerous Alliance(Rude, Austin, Anderson and Eaton) and Paul E and Medusa managing.Another heel that would've been great but his attitude and politics got in the way was Al Perez

[@steveo10861]

This is great....but I need more War Stories!!!

[@A..D..D]

Shawn wouldn’t sandbag someone … ( cut in footage of Mania 11) taking the worst Powerbomb ever , and that was against a friend .

[@CalloPasta]

Starting to really get into these videos. Thanks for content...

[@VIGLounge]

The Kliq never looked out for themselves... Come on Shawn tell me a lie....

[@chrisxavier3147]

Listen to Shane’s shoot about the incident, it’s pretty awesome

[@tonym2786]

Great video Sam, some of this through various interviews, but you put it all together nicely.

[@user-kx2er7vx5z]

the kliq was the worst thing that ever happened to wrestling

[@RichSmithson]

Hogan was worse. Much much worse.

[@mariomanningfan]

As a group yes. Funny enough though, those individuals are almost solely responsible for wrestling making it through the 90s or at least up to 98

[@yoblunt]

Is that's the case, then say goodbye to the nWo and therefore dX... Talk all the shit you want, they saved the business and brought it to places it has been clawing at ever since.

[@mariomanningfan]

@@yoblunt I'd argue the kliq didn't exist by the time NWO or DX came around. I got to agree with him that had those four stayed in the same company it would've been like Hogan on steroids and they might've done to WWE what Hogan and Flair did to WCW

[@ChristopherJames1993]

@@mariomanningfan the NWO and DX was just the Kliq taking over desperate companies. Half in WWF and half in WWE.

[@benjaminroberts1496]

Cultaholic = best wrestling content on KZbin

[@NoSnowFlakes1]

Well for the kliq hating on douglas so much its ironic that hhh stole douglas's ecw gimmick when he went solo.

[@anuar0307]

Lol soldier beat Shawn, probably from Ft. Drum which is an hr away. I used to be stationed there.

[@brocklanders3616]

He was jumped by 4 marine's, and he was blackout drunk.if Michaels was sober, HBK would of super kicked there heads off.

[@hhtptai]

This would make such a great Dark Side of the Ring episode.

[@johnfalcetta5431]

As stated by the host NOBODY has ever said Shane Douglas couldn't wrestle before or since. But there's a ton of stories of HBK screwing people over especially during this time frame. So I believe Shane here

[@ExodusAoA]

An excellent video and channel, I will definitely be subscribing and looking for past content!

[@outlawrip-offartist4161]

Every time I heard the Dean the first thing that came up to my mind was the Dean from community, and how much I want him to have a pro wrestling career right now, and yes this is really random thing to say.

[@fizzyfuzz5878]

Love the whole setup of this video, it was amazing! Anymore behind the match videos?

[@Cosmic_Gorilla]

Yeah, they've done a few videos in this series, including videos on Taz vs Mike Awesome for the ECW Championship and Randy Savage vs Dennis Rodman at WCW Road Wild.

[@johnfalcetta5431]

Go to their page look at the Playlist

[@alwaysxnever]

Dean was my introduction to Douglas. I liked it. But then when I found out about The Franchise I hung my head in shame. Lol and Fuck the Kliq.

[@Deadsticle]

6:08 "HBK vs and evil version of Ben Stein's character" So just Ben Stein then.

[@wisewolftony]

This is why I don't miss this era of wrestling where a group backstage could ruin your career just because they didn't like you for some reason or another. I mean you know it's bad when even Undertaker feels like he had to start his own group backstage to protect himself and make sure the Kliq couldn't do shit against him or anyone else in his group backstage. didn't get much better when Hall and Nash left as it just meant that you still had HBK and HHH doing their shit backstage in WWE while Hall and Nash were doing the same in WCW so now you just had the two biggest promotions in wrestling having the Kliq running it. Which meant a lot of times someone would be buried and hurt by the Kliq in WWE only to then go to WCW thinking they would have a better shot over their. Only for HBK or HHH to tell Hall and Nash about how they don't like said talent so then Hall and Nash would make sure they had zero chance to succeed in WCW. I'm not saying todays WWE is great with it all coming down to what some 80yr old man thinks of you deciding whether or not you get anywhere no matter how talented you are in the ring or on the mic or how over you are with the crowd. And this is a man who seems to change his mind about talent every week being really in on a guy one show only for the next for him to completely change his mind. But hey at least the looker room is a much better place in todays wrestling. As you never hear anything about people in the looker room being against each other. Only way they would be against you is if you did something that the entire looker room was against. You no longer hear anything about some guy not wanting to put over another and refusing to do it. Even guys who had a past history of that like Randy Orton are now fine about such things and are willing to work with and put over other talent. Like Randy has been doing with Drew and losing to Keith Lee in under 8min.

[@meztizo_americano86]

HBK used more than his in ring talent to satisfy Vinnie Mac. He wasn't Sherri's boy toy he was Vinnie's

[@brocklanders3616]

Shawn wasn't Mr. McMahon type. Vince likes really big muscular guys. Shawn himself loved hot women, which at that time he was pounding a young prime Sunny

[@FloridaGuy53]

One Lone Patron: Winner of your next Royal RUMble.

[@bigdog6230]

Everyone in wwe starts off with a stupid gimmick that they have to somehow transcend to truly become superstars

[@flch95]

Lol that’s actually very true

[@kefkarothsephka7708]

WWF!!!

[@Mackdez]

It's the same we didn't get to see the franchise versus Shawn Michaels. I believe Sean was scared, because the franchise was a boulder bigger character than his even with DX. So much money left on the table

[@damk25]

I literally just watched this last night on the wwe network lol

[@lerryperry]

Shane Douglas should have REJECTED McMahon

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

I never saw Shane Douglas as more than a midcarder. His best home was in ECW where Paul Heyman could cover up his weaknesses. His promos were the stereotypical angry snarling guy, and his ring work was decent but unremarkable, which is why he didn't go far in multiple WCW stints either.

[@RyanAcidhedzMurphy]

Douglas's promos were not stereotypical when he started doing them in the early 90s. HHH got his entire "the game" persona from Douglas. He started ripping him off as soon as he became HHH. Most of what Nash and Hall did as the early NWO was stolen directly from Douglas and other ECW personas. The entire Attitude era was ripped off of ECW's style, which Douglas helped pioneer. Lots of people have ripped off Douglas's style. Austin is basically early ECW Douglas combined with Sandman, and he stole Mikey Whipwreck's finisher. Douglas helped usher in one of the most, if not the most, successful periods of pro-wrestling since Vince killed the territories. But he gets no credit for all the things he did, and people like you constantly try to undermine what he does have. I think any bitterness he has is totally understandable. He didn't get far in WCW because Flair never liked him. It's hard to get anywhere when you have someone like Flair actively working against you, and I don't just mean behind the scenes. Flair is one of the most accomplished, wittiest wrestlers in history. Nothing Douglas could do would ever look as good as it could have with Flair deliberately making him look bad. Does Douglas have a big mouth and a problem with authority? Yes. Is he responsible for a lot of his own problems? Yes. But that doesn't mean Flair and The Kliq didn't f*** him over. It just means that he probably alienated people who could have been allies. Although since the Kliq also worked to sabotage him with Taker and his group by lying about why he had missed some shows, and I think they also lied about why he had left the WWF the first time as well. It is fair to say Douglas was isolated and had no one to help him. He left the first time because his father had cancer, and he needed to help care for him. The second time he had a nagging back injury that Vince wouldn't give him any time off to heal. The Kliq told Taker's crew that Douglas was faking his injury and just didn't want to work.

[@Goldnfoxx]

Based on experience with debacles in my own life, I suspect there's truth in what both of them have said. Michaels "losing his smile" completely aside, in my mind the real problem here was, as ever, McMahon and his seeming complete inability to a) push guys he didn't create and, b) give up on talent long before it's reasonable to do so. The gimmick was the problem. As a fan, I knew who Shane Douglas was, but I hated watching that gimmick. Not everyone can be Dusty Rhodes and turn an absolute attempt to sink him before he even starts into something fans can latch onto (and really, you need to be a face to make that happen, I think), or Undertaker and turn a gimmick that shouldn't work at all and turn it into legend. And it's silly to expect that of anyone, especially right out of the gate, but given we're talking about the guy who thinks sneezing is a weakness, silly is kind of Vince McMahon's whole thing. I'd still love to know what was really going on with Shawn at that time. For the most part, I believe him. He's got no reason to lie at this point, especially when this whole affair would be so dramatically overshadowed soon after this (and love or meh with Shane, the dude wasn't Bret Hart). That said, I'm betting Shawn was just far too quick to dismiss Douglas' in-ring work and his ego took over from there. From what I've seen since, Shane could've been great if he had just been allowed to be the persona that made him so big and respected in the first place. I (though I can't emphasize enough how much I'm armchair quarterbacking here) honestly think the gimmick and McMahon being McMahon were the real problems.

[@philipglover3295]

I do think the Kliq didn’t help but Shane Douglas kind of leaned into it for the rest of his career . Yeah the Kliq were bad but he’s one of those wrestlers to me who had a decent career but his attitude stopped him having a great career as he could have been in WWE with the Radicalz in 2000 but chose to stay with WCW

[@powwowcritic13]

Pco, Shane Douglas, bret hart, Brian pillman all victims of the kliqs arrogance

[@SheriffOutlaw]

@CultaholicWrestling I have been watching all the IYH from worst to best since the list was uploaded and I saw that match.....no wonder why Shane still hates them to this day. That was majorly disrespectful

[@RealAlphaDrum]

Razor's shoulders were down, but Razor was not covered by any part of Dean Douglas so that isn't a pin on Razor. Razor was the one with an arm on Douglas.

[@namebrandrobots1248]

Young Shane with the old ECW belt looks like 2023 GUNTHER.. his name should be all caps like KENTA

[@blackwrestlingdude9551]

Shane Douglas shoulda been a megastar during mid to late 90s.

[@Perkustin]

To be fair to Shawn i just recently watched Douglas' debut against 123 Kid and Waltman was perfectly generous and Kid had even got the crowd red hot with his initial offence but Douglas didn't capitalise, unable to even garner Boos. What's worse is he did the 'not yet!' thing where you pull the guy up from a 3 count, TWICE! Not even getting boos and after 2 very weak moves and cocky pins, i think this was improvised and Waltman was Rightly furious, 123 kid was a solid midcarder yet Douglas was treating him like Horrowitz.

[@plshelpmeawkdough]

Ain’t it lovely how the primadonna of ECW wasn’t even worthy of a final boss fight with Chad Michaels.

[@wbcwinnipegbeltcollector]

Yes WINNIPEG YAY YOU SAID WINNIPEG *Reference to the rocks Toronto promo*

[@simonmarshall19]

You should do the Kliq burries Vader and why he was not WWF Champion .

[@BBrubaker0804]

This is so damn biased. Nothing but fodder for kliq haters 🙄 Go back and watch Shane’s match against Kid, where he misses a ridiculous amount of spots. And this is when kid was having fantastic matches with TONS of top names). Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Razor, hell even Bastion Booger… they all had great matches with Kid, because at that time, he was on it. Period. He was a joy to watch, and that’s why Bret gave him a push. Nobody with actual talent had a problem having a great match with Kid at that time. Go back and watch the actual match at IYH with Razor where he stood in for Shawn. The first 5-7 minutes is nothing but Razor working Shane’s shoulder because Shane wouldn’t take A (ah) fucking bump. It was a slow and shitty match with a shitty finish. [Edit: I wrote this before I even got to that part of this video, btw. It’s THAT damn obvious when you watch the actual match.] He had a shitty gimmick (albeit that wasn’t his fault) but he didn’t even bring the skills or work ethic with him to give him a leg to stand on. He wasn’t Steve Austin. Beyond that, he [allegedly] brought a shitty attitude with him, to boot. He didn’t draw, and you couldn’t work with him. Everyone wants to say “oh what could have been…” Bullshit. He thought he was on the same level as Shawn Michaels but his matches were forgettable at best, and, many times, stank like week old shit.

[@roccoz2231]

Agreed. Shane was a talented worker but he had picked up a lot of bad habits in ECW. By the time he came back to WWF in 95 he was plodding and slow in the ring.

[@cutekanjii]

Shane Douglas looks so different from the wwf and before it time compared to his later ECW time until now. Looks like 2 different guys

[@itz-luigi1210]

Personally, I think the last 25 years of Shane has been cursed since he the nwà title in the trash

[@celebrategout1008]

anyone that can splice a video together without obvious jump cuts in audio gets my vote

[@delfordbobjr2308]

I might be wrong here but wasn't Douglass part of AWA for a little while just before they folded and then went to WWE for a little while?

[@silverzombie4477]

I can smell the BS coming from the Kliq explanations through my damn screen, my lord, Shane got done dirty.

[@justiceofthecross]

The Kliq screwed more wrestlers than Hogan and Cena combined. The only reason all these guys were able to screw wrestlers was Vince allowed it. Once HHH started screwing Stephanie things got even worse. They are all the reason wrestling sucks today. Way more politics than production screwed the business and made a royal mockery out of the company. I think everyone knew that especially with the many early deaths of stars and the eventual uncovering of the drug epidemic in the WWE. The most pathetic spot was when HBK cried about losing his smile.

[@NemesisBeast]

This was great!

[@axesoccer7887]

Imagine if the Triple Threat started in the WWF instead in ECW.

[@popfrictionultra4206]

They buried him because he was better than anyone in the WWF on the mic ( at that time) and nearly as good as Shawn Michaels or Bret in the ring.

[@bjchit]

HAHA no.

[@RyanAcidhedzMurphy]

@@bjchit Ha Ha Ha... YES. Watch Douglas's early ECW stuff and see just how much HHH, Austin, Nash and Hall all ripped him off. His mic work was always exceptional. The problem in WCW, when he went back there, is that Flair never liked him and that developed into full blown hatred later. Flair is probably the best on the mic of all time, and he was actively trying to make Douglas look bad during their "feud". No one came out of that looking good. As far as his ring work goes, he isn't flashy but he is a very solid worker. A bit too old school for a lot of people, but when he had a competent person to work with he could have quite good matches.

[@bjchit]

@@RyanAcidhedzMurphy being pissed at WCW is nothing unique to Douglas. Plus none of those guys had a gimmick that was anything like what Douglas did or ever would do. Outside of cursing at WWE, Ric Flair, the NWA, and the Klique, he wasn’t anything special. And sorry, he’s just no where near Michaels and Bret in the ring.

[@lilpoetat]

thanks!

[@nicholascurrado8467]

Hey im from syracuse!

[@DWM2309]

Shane Douglas was a bum in WCW and WWF. The only reason he was as big in ECW as he got was because he could curse. But no he's a victim because the Kliq didn't like him even though Yoko chewed his ass for refusing to work because his back was sore.

[@TheFailedmessiah]

Shane should have never went along with the nerdy gimmick. They were going in the attitude area direction next year anyway. They should have let shane do his vignettes but censor out the 4 letter words and have a parental guidance warning before showing them, and when he arrives. Have him drop a single S word and have his say ass or something and Shane would have gotten over somewhat. But who knows if that would have hurt Stonecolds character. I always felt Shane got a raw deal in his career. He never really made it at the highest level but had potential. ECW was more his speed. But that's a big fish in a smaller pond.

[@marcusbrothers5221]

I never realized the triple threat was at one point all Kliq victims.

[@flaco171ac]

The beach picture at 15:10 is Clearwater, FL not Kissimmee.

[@therealjohnfelixanthonycen5138]

You Can’t See Me! 👋

[@lerryperry]

Message to all established Wrestlers with successful careers elsewhere: DO NOT WORK FOR VINCE MCMAHON!!!!

[@marcus813]

I read about Sean Waltman basing Douglas' ability to work a match off only one match and I couldn't believe it. Some wrestlers just aren't compatible with each other. Also, the way the "Dean" character was designed was a poor fit for Douglas' heel persona, especially when you look at his heel work in ECW prior to his jump to the then-WWF.

[@abearbrown1594]

here for the "tolmult"

[@brianconnelly1238]

Some liked Shane Douglas, some didn't, as for me? I'm one of the ones that didn't like him, I agree with Scott Hall, he called Shane "OVERRATED"... I can't say Scott Hall was wrong, because he wasn't...

[@Mag7Music]

I think I must be the only person who actually likes the Dean Douglas character.

[@user-wg6ik1wi6s]

It definitely would've been a better idea to bring in Shane Douglas as The Franchise.

[@big_dro1713]

I assumed ECW owned the rights to the character.

[@johnzittrauer3930]

Did the War Stories series ever get completed?