Shane Thorne Debuts Crazy New Gimmick Before WWE SmackDown

The former Slapjack takes inspiration from Crocodile Dundee, Steve Irwin and Nikki A.S.H.

by Andrew Pollard
Johnny Gargano Shane Thorne
WWE.com

Having been absent from WWE TV for nearly six months, Shane Thorne debuted a new gimmick prior to this past Friday's WWE SmackDown.

In a dark match that saw Thorne defeat Austin Theory, the Australian revealed what appears to be a Steve Irwin and Crocodile Dundee-inspired gimmick.

Of course, the former TM-61 member was most recently working as Slapjack as part of RETRIBUTION. Since that faction disbanded, Thorne - still as Slapjack - was moved to SmackDown earlier in the year. Following that move, his only TV appearance was in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the 1 April edition of WWE's blue brand show.

While Thorne has worked several dark matches in the months since that SmackDown outing, he has yet to be featured on TV in that time.

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For those grumbling about WWE handing a talent a bizarre new gimmick, Thorne has taken to Twitter to confirm that he is the one who came up with the idea for this fresh lick of paint. As he put it, he took inspiration from Nikki Cross' relatively recent change of character to become Nikki A.S.H. - a move that saw the Scot become Raw Women's Champion.

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