10 Things You Didn't Know About Shane Helms
Stand back, there's a list about The Hurricane coming through!
At this weekend's WWE live events, Seth Rollins and AJ Styles resurrected a long-banned move, as The Architect dropped The Phenomenal One with a Vertebreaker.
A popular move on the indies, the Vertebreaker was used briefly in WCW and WWE by Gregory/Shane Helms, aka The Hurricane, before it was outlawed out of fear of causing serious injury (WWE were going through something of a neck injury crisis at the time, with many stars needing to undergo major surgery).
Helms wrestled for WWE between March 2001, when WCW was purchased by the WWF, and February 2010. In that time Helms won the Cruiserweight, World Tag Team, Hardcore and European championships, was involved in major matches against the likes of The Rock and Triple H and cemented himself as one of the most popular midcard acts of his day.
The 41-year-old has worked on the independent/convention circuit since and recently showed up in TNA, where he works as an agent primarily helping out the X Division. Helms' near 25-year career (he debuted in 1991) has seen ups and downs, gimmick changes and unsavoury incidents.
He's broken records and has not been afraid to speak his mind along the way. Here are ten things you (probably) didn't know about WWE's former superhero.
10. His Backstage Fight With Rodney Mack
Backstage fights are common in the testosterone-powered world of pro-wrestling. These are jacked-up, hyper-masculine men confined to the small space that is the locker room and with all the egos and pride and muscle involved, confrontations are always going to happen.
As you will read in this article, Helms is no stranger to scrapping with his co-workers. At a September 2003 house show in Knoxville, Tennessee, Hurricane and Rodney Mack got into a scrap backstage. Apparently the whole thing came about because Helms was planning out that nights match (Hurricane & Rosey Vs. Mack & Mark Henry) and objected to Teddy Long's charge throwing in his two cents.
Helms felt that he, as the veteran, should be entrusted to put the whole thing together and told Mack as such. Words were exchanged and a fight broke out. According to reports, Mack was the clear victor, with Helms having to be taken to hospital when all was said and done.
The planned tag matches for upcoming shows were then changed to Mack & Henry versus Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade and Hurricane & Rosey versus Tommy Dreamer & Steven Richards in order to avoid any further incident.