10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Feb 19)

9. Shane Douglas Wasn't Originally Called 'The Franchise' In ECW

Speaking of Shane Douglas, he revealed a fact about his own career to the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast recently. Infamously, Douglas dumped down the NWA Heavyweight Title at an ECW show on August 27, 1994. This caused controversy amongst those in the National Wrestling Alliance, effectively ending their relationship with ECW. Upon his signing with the company in 1993, Douglas had been made aware by Heyman that he planned to build the promotion around him. For that very reason, the grappler cultivated the persona of 'The Franchise'. The top heel in ECW, he was booked to brashly claim that he was the best in the world and certainly greater than everything else in the organisation. Incredibly, 'The Franchise' wasn't the first nickname planned for Shane Douglas. Instead, he was going to be called 'The Fabulous One', and whilst the persona would have had similarities, it was imagined as a homage to Eddie Gilbert's work in the Memphis territory. Heyman didn't see things that way, and tweaked Shane's new character.