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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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.