Shane Douglas
Douglas, as "Dean Douglas", in the World Wrestling Federation in October 1995
Ring name(s)	Dean Douglas[1] Mike Kelly[2] Shane Douglas[1] Troy Martin[2] Troy Orndorff[1]
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Billed weight	244 lb (111 kg)[2]
Born	(1964-11-21) November 21, 1964 (age 47)[1][3] New Brighton, Pennsylvania[1]
Billed from	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania[3][4]
Trained by	Dominic DeNucci[1][3][4]
Debut	1982[1][3]
Website	http://www.franchisefansite.com/

Troy Shane Martin^[3] (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas.^[1] In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly in the World Wrestling Federation. Martin later worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Martin is former four time ECW World Heavyweight champion and one-time NWA World Heavyweight champion.

Early life[link]

Martin was born one of six children, the son of a veteran of World War II, who died in 1991.^[3] He graduated cum laude from Bethany College in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in history and political science.^[3] He is an alumnus of the Psi Chapter of Beta Theta Pi.^[5] After earning his degrees, he was offered to join the Saba University School of Medicine^[3] but declined in order to continue wrestling.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early years (1982–1989)[link]

Douglas wrestling with Raven

Martin was trained by Dominic DeNucci in the Pittsburgh suburb of Freedom, Pennsylvania, alongside Mick Foley in the mid-1980s.^[6] He had been wrestling professionally to earn money since 1982. When he started, he used the character of Troy Orndorff, the fictional nephew of Paul Orndorff.^[7] In 1986, he wrestled Randy Savage at a WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping using his real name. He would also wrestle "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in the debut episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge, once again using his real name. Later that year, he began wrestling as a fan favorite for the Universal Wrestling Federation using the name Shane Douglas, which was given to him by "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt ("Shane" coming from Martin's middle name, and "Douglas" from Michael Douglas, who at the time had just appeared in Wall Street). Douglas defeated Gilbert for the World Television Championship on August 3, 1987, but did not rise above mid-card status. Douglas soon lost the title on September 2 to Terry Taylor.

National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling (1989–1990)[link]

Eventually, he signed with the National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling. He retained his Shane Douglas ring name and was put into a tag team of skateboarders known as The Dynamic Dudes with Johnny Ace.^[4][8] Mick Foley has opined that since neither Ace nor Douglas knew how to skateboard, the fans saw through the character and refused to buy into it.^[8] Jim Cornette, who was managing The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) at the time, decided to manage the duo to help them get over. When Eaton and Lane in storyline did not approve, they forced a match between the two teams with Cornette remaining neutral at ringside. He ended up turning on Douglas and Ace and the teams feuded for a couple of months. The Cornette turn was to have established The Dynamic Dudes as a top fan favorite tag team, but the turn backfired and made The Midnight Express more popular than they already were.

The Dynamic Dudes broke up in 1990 after Ace began competing progressively more for All Japan Pro Wrestling, which was breaking down its ties to American promotions. Jim Cornette also states that the end of the Dynamic Dudes came when Douglas went over his head to Jim Herd about having a finish changed to make him look stronger. Cornette, who was part of the booking committee, washed his hands of working with them afterwards. Douglas soon left NWA/WCW and wrestled on the American independent circuit.

World Wrestling Federation (1990–1991)[link]

In 1990, Douglas signed a deal with the World Wrestling Federation. His most memorable WWF performance took place at the 1991 Royal Rumble, where he lasted for 26 minutes and 23 seconds. This was the seventh longest time for any wrestler in the Royal Rumble's first four years. Shortly after, he left the company to take care of his ailing father.^[9]

Return to WCW (1992–1993)[link]

He returned to WCW in 1992 to team with Ricky Steamboat to win the World Tag Team Championship from Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham on November 18. The team of Steamboat and Douglas had a long feud with The Hollywood Blondes ("Stunning" Steve Austin and "Flyin'" Brian Pillman), often wearing identical body suits and masks and calling themselves "Dos Hombres". They eventually lost the belts to The Blondes on the March 27 edition of WCW Power Hour. Soon after losing the tag titles, Douglas left WCW for Eastern Championship Wrestling.

Eastern / Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1995)[link]

Upon debuting in ECW, he initially supported the fan favorites, but then turned on Tommy Dreamer during a match in which Douglas was defending the Tag Team Championship alongside him on behalf of Johnny Gunn against Kevin Sullivan and The Tasmaniac. Douglas blamed Dreamer for the loss and turned on him, proclaiming himself as "The Franchise" of ECW, effectively becoming a foul-mouthed, incredibly arrogant villain, an attitude that would define him permanently and give him success. Another notable moment in his career was at the event "The Night the Line Was Crossed", as he wrestled Terry Funk and Sabu to a one hour draw in the company's first-ever three-way dance.

Douglas was instrumental in the development of "extreme" wrestling when he won a tournament to become the NWA World Heavyweight Champion on August 27, 1994. In an angle which only he, Tod Gordon, and Paul Heyman knew about, Douglas threw down the NWA title belt before stating that he did not want to be champion of a "dead promotion".^[10]

In the tradition of Lou Thesz, in the tradition of Jack Brisco of the Brisco Brothers, of Dory Funk Jr., of Terry Funk-- the man who will never die. As the real Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, upstairs tonight. From the Harley Races, to the Barry Windhams, to the...(Douglas grimaces in a thinly veiled look of disgust) Ric Flairs, I accept this heavyweight title. ... Wait a second, I'm Kerry Von Erich. I'm the fat man himself, Dusty Rhodes. This is it tonight, Dad. God, that's beautiful. And Rick Steamboat, and they can all kiss my ass. (throws down the NWA World Heavyweight Championship) Because I am not the man who accepts a torch to be handed down to me from an organization that died-- RIP-- seven years ago. The Franchise, Shane Douglas, is the man who ignites the new flame of the sport of professional wrestling. [taking the ECW title] Tonight, before God and my father is witness, I declare myself, The Franchise, as the new ECW Heavyweight Champion of the world! We have set out to change the face of professional wrestling. So tonight, let the new era begin: the era of the sport of professional wrestling, the era of The Franchise, the era of the ECW.^[10]

He then raised the ECW Heavyweight Championship and declared it to be a World Championship, calling it the only real World Title. According to the Forever Hardcore DVD, Douglas only agreed to throw down the NWA belt^[11] after NWA president Dennis Coraluzzo^[12] buried Douglas on Mike Tenay's radio show. Shortly afterward, Eastern Championship Wrestling changed its name to Extreme Championship Wrestling. Capitalizing on the controversy that surrounded his literally "throwing down" the NWA belt and the promo following it, Douglas was encouraged to express his true feelings in interviews by the ECW bookers and began calling himself "The Franchise". This helped raise ECW's prominence in the eyes of wrestling fans and journalists and allowed it to become an alternative to WCW and the WWF.

It was during this time that he formed the first version of the Triple Threat faction, aligning himself with Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko before he began feuding with The Sandman in early 1995. Sandman's valet, Woman, seemed to have aligned herself with Douglas but then turned on him to aid Sandman in defeating him for the World Heavyweight Championship. A rivalry began between Douglas and Cactus Jack, as each wished to be the one to dethrone Sandman. Shane eventually went on a tirade about the lawlessness of ECW and brought in Bill Alfonso as a troubleshooting referee to restore order. Shortly after this however, Douglas left for the WWF.

Return to the WWF (1995)[link]

Dean Douglas in October 1995

In 1995, Douglas returned to the WWF with a college dean character as Dean Douglas. To establish himself, he filmed several vignettes with a chalkboard, "teaching" wrestlers and fans. He would also be shown "taking notes" of his opponents at ringside during some bouts, and frequently carried a paddle (dubbed the "Board of Education") with him to the ring. Upon his WWF debut, he became the first former ECW World Heavyweight Champion to ever be on the WWF's active roster.

He was set to wrestle Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship at In Your House 4 on October 22, 1995 but Michaels forfeited the title, due to injuries incurred after being attacked and beaten by a group of U.S. Marines in Syracuse, New York. However, Douglas immediately had to defend the title against Razor Ramon. Ramon would go on to defeat Douglas, ending his reign at only eleven minutes.

His last appearance on WWF television was at In Your House 5 in December 1995, when he was booked to wrestle Ahmed Johnson. According to the storyline, his back was not in wrestling condition and so he introduced Buddy Landel as his substitute, who was subsequently defeated by Johnson in just forty-two seconds.

Return to ECW (1996–1999)[link]

In January 1996 at the event House Party, Douglas returned to ECW and soon targeted then-World Heavyweight Champion Raven. During this time, he also had a memorable feud with Cactus Jack. Cactus was getting ready to leave for the WWF and was cutting promos encouraging Tommy Dreamer to come with him, deriding ECW's hardcore style and promoting "clean" wrestling. During several matches, he refused to wrestle hardcore. Douglas eventually pinned Cactus Jack in a match after performing a drop toe-hold onto an opened steel chair. After finding himself unsuccessful in his title shots, he began a feud with 2 Cold Scorpio, based on Douglas' lack of respect for the World Television Championship. Douglas soon won the TV Title at A Matter of Respect, but lost it under a month later to Pitbull #2 at Fight The Power.

Douglas eventually won the TV Title for the second time after beating Chris Jericho in a four way dance that also included former champions 2 Cold Scorpio and Pitbull #2 when The Pitbulls' manager, Francine, turned on them and aided Douglas.

Douglas, with Francine, went on to feud with Pitbull #2 for the rest of 1996 and, by year's end, reformed the Triple Threat with new members Chris Candido and "Primetime" Brian Lee before later adding Bam Bam Bigelow when Lee left ECW. Douglas would go on to hold the TV Title for a year before losing it to Taz at Wrestlepalooza. He then turned his sights on World Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk and, at Hardcore Heaven, in a rematch from The Night the Line Was Crossed, Douglas defeated Sabu (who had beaten Funk a week earlier for the title in a barbed wire deathmatch) and Terry Funk in a three way dance to win the World Heavyweight Title for the second time. In October, he briefly lost it to Bam Bam Bigelow, but regained it 15 days later at November to Remember, held in his hometown of Pittsburgh. With the exception of these two weeks, he would reign as champion until January 1999, finally losing the title to Taz at Guilty as Charged, whom he had feuded with throughout 1998. He eventually became a face and allied with former nemesis Tommy Dreamer against The Impact Players (Justin Credible and Lance Storm), defeating them at Living Dangerously before finally leaving for WCW due to differences with Paul Heyman.

Return to WCW (1999–2001)[link]

Upon returning to WCW, he pledged to "cut the cancer out of WCW", the cancer being Ric Flair (with whom he had a genuine rivalry). He reunited with former Triple Threat members Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, along with fellow former ECW wrestler Perry Saturn, to form The Revolution. Asya was later added to the group. In Flair's autobiography, Flair claims that Douglas approached him backstage at a WCW event and explained that the conflict was a work. Flair took exception to Douglas and thought little of him for the episode, though Flair has had a history of burying wrestlers in his book as a "receipt" (payback). Douglas has said in shoot interviews that he never told Flair that the heat was a work and that he meant everything that he said.

Douglas had an onscreen feud with Flair, who was a favorite target of his during his ECW interviews, where Douglas had claimed "Dick Flair", as he referred to him, held down his career. The group was rarely featured prominently, however, and never really challenged the dominant wrestlers of WCW. This led to them never really getting over as an idea, though both Benoit and Malenko were over individually. He was part of The New Blood group run by Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff, which feuded with the older established Millionaire's Club, which included Flair. He won the World Tag Team Championship once more, this time with Buff Bagwell, as well as the United States Heavyweight Championship, during which he also gained Torrie Wilson as his valet.

Xtreme Pro Wrestling (2002–2003)[link]

After the WWF purchased both WCW and ECW in 2001, Douglas returned to Xtreme Pro Wrestling in July 2002, where he won its World Heavyweight Championship after defeating Johnny Webb at the Night of Champions event. Douglas later helped expand the promotion from its base in Los Angeles to Philadelphia, and XPW held its first show in Philadelphia on August 31. Douglas would later become the final World Heavyweight Champion in XPW history, as the promotion held its final event on March 8, 2003 in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003–2007, 2009)[link]

Douglas prior to his match at Slammiversary

Following the closures of both XPW and WWA, Martin signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in June 2003. Under his Shane Douglas ring name, he immediately reignited his feud with Raven. The two ended up joining separate factions (The New Church for Douglas, The Gathering for Raven) and clashed throughout the summer of 2003.

When this feud ran down, Douglas broke away from The New Church and began a quest, alongside his new valet Tracy, to find "The New Franchise". He decided on up and comer Michael Shane and took him under his wing throughout the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004. When the grouping of Shane and Douglas broke up, Douglas went into a semi-in-ring retirement. He became an onscreen commentator and interviewer for TNA's weekly television show, Impact!, and their monthly pay-per-views. In addition to this on-screen role, he worked backstage as a road agent and took a few independent bookings.

Douglas returned to television on the May 18 episode of Impact!, appearing on the entrance ramp as Andy Douglas (no relation) made the save for his tag team partner Chase Stevens after a brutal squash match against Samoa Joe. A few weeks later, on June 15, Shane confronted them on their recent losing streak and their squandered talent, referring to their former manager and Douglas's close friend and ex-Triple Threat teammate Chris Candido in the process. He offered to become their manager, which they accepted. During the promo when he offered his services, he spoke his true feelings on World Wrestling Entertainment's revival of Extreme Championship Wrestling, admonishing Vince McMahon for "exploiting the memory" of the company he helped build nearly 15 years earlier. After becoming their mentor, vignettes showed Douglas training The Naturals have been shown on TNA programming, though he doesn't stand at ringside during their matches like most other managers. Once they were deemed ready for competition, Douglas billed them as "The Newly Franchised Naturals".

On the December 21 episode of Impact! after The Naturals lost to Team 3D in a tables match, a fed up Douglas turned his back on them, saying "This experiment is over!" However, on February 8, 2007, he, along with Andy Douglas, came to the aid of Chase Stevens after he was attacked by Abyss, who took out both The Naturals and their manager that night. Despite the failed "experiment", prior to the departure of The Naturals from TNA, Chase Stevens was featured in an unsuccessful singles match while wearing the gold-and-black "Franchised" Naturals attire. Douglas came out after his match to heatedly confront Stevens about wearing his colors, leading to an in-ring confrontation between the two. After the angle, Douglas remained completely unseen on TNA programming. On October 10, 2007, it was confirmed that Douglas was released from his TNA contract.^[13]

On the May 28 episode of Impact!, Douglas returned to TNA and attacked Christopher Daniels after his match with A.J. Styles. The following week on Impact!, Douglas again attacked Daniels during his match before subsequently stating that he wanted a second chance in TNA like Daniels received, after the latter was, in storyline, fired from TNA. The next week on Impact!, he was granted a second chance and was given a match with A.J. Styles which he lost, only to attack Styles after the match. Daniels would come out to help Styles, only to have Douglas hit him with a towel containing a pair of handcuffs. At Slammiversary, Douglas lost to Daniels in a "second chance match", resulting in Daniels retaining his spot on the TNA roster.^[14] Following the match, Douglas left TNA once again.

Although invited by TNA to participate in their ECW reunion show Hardcore Justice, Douglas refused due to the company not agreeing to his terms for his appearance.^[15]

Return to the independent circuit (2009–present)[link]

Douglas wrestling Daniels at Slammiversary for a new contract with TNA

On March 13, 2009, Douglas returned to the National Wrestling Alliance for the first time in nearly fifteen years, wrestling for the On Fire territory in a singles match, defeating fellow ECW alum Little Guido.^[16]

In 2012, Douglas announced that he would take part in Extreme Reunion, an event consisting of former ECW Originals.^[17]

Promoting[link]

Douglas was a promoter for the Xtreme Pro Wrestling promotion. Under his promotion, XPW moved from California to Philadelphia and featured many former ECW stars.

In mid-2005, Douglas conceived and, alongside Jeremy Borash, promoted and booked Hardcore Homecoming, a series of Extreme Championship Wrestling reunion events. The first event occurred on June 10, two days before World Wrestling Entertainment's own ECW reunion show, ECW One Night Stand. The final show occurred on November 5. On April 9, 2009, it was announced that Martin and Nite Owl Production were to promote a follow up to Hardcore Homecoming called November to Remember: The Final Chair Shot.^[18] Originally, the event was to occur in 2008 on the anniversary of the original Hardcore Homecoming event, but the date was rescheduled to coincide with an American Cancer Society charity event hosted by Douglas' former valet Francine.^[18]

Douglas will head the Extreme Reunion event scheduled for April 28, 2012.^[19] Unbeknownst to WWE, Douglas appeared in the audience on the March 19, 2012 episode of Raw to promote the event, but was escorted out of the arena by security after causing a disturbance.^[20]

Personal life[link]

In 1993 during his first stint with World Championship Wrestling, he began teaching emotional support classes, economics, and the history of the United States at a high school.^[3] While not wrestling, Martin works as a motivational speaker.

Martin married Carla Marie Reeves on August 13, 1999. Their first son, Connor, was born in April 2001, and their second son, Caden Andrew, was born on December 6, 2005.^{[citation needed]} Soon after his second son was born, Martin checked himself into a drug rehabilitation program due to a painkiller addiction.^[3] Since 2006, Martin has remained clean and drug free.^[3]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • As Shane Douglas
    • Belly to belly suplex^[1][2][3]
    • Pittsburgh Plunge (Fisherman buster)^[21][22] – ECW / WCW / TNA
    • Franchiser^[1] (Shoulder jawbreaker)^[23][24] – WCW
  • As Dean Douglas
    • Final Exam (Bridging fisherman suplex)^[25]

• Signature moves
  • Abdominal stretch^[26]
  • Diving crossbody^[27]
  • Dropkick,^[22] sometimes while sliding to the outside^[24]
  • Figure four leglock,^[28] sometimes while using the ringpost for extra pressure^[28]
  • Forearm club^[29]
  • Hangman^[30]
  • Indian deathlock^[29]
  • Inverted atomic drop^[22][31]
  • Knee lift^[32][33]
  • Military press slam^[32]
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Inverted slam^[24][31][34]
    • Sitout slam^[35]
    • Snap^[36]
    • Vertical,^[21][32][37] sometimes while delayed^[27][31]
  • Neckbreaker^[21]
  • Neck snap^{[21][24][27][34]}
  • Piledriver^[21]
  • Powerslam^[35]
  • STF^[38]

• Managers
  • Lizzy Borden^[3]
  • Traci Brooks^[39]
  • Jim Cornette^[40]
  • Bella Donna^[41]
  • Fallen Angel^[42][43]
  • Francine^[3][41]
  • Paul Heyman^[3]
  • Sherri Martel^[3][41]
  • James Mitchell^[41][44]
  • Torrie Wilson^[3][41]

• Wrestlers managed
  • The Naturals (Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens)^[45][46]

• Nicknames
  • "The Franchise"^[1][2]

• Entrance themes
  • "Perfect Strangers" by Deep Purple^[3][47] (ECW / IWC / ROH)
  • "Are You Gonna Go My Way" by Lenny Kravitz^[47] (ECW)
  • "This Is Extreme" by Harry Slash & The Slashtones^[47] (IWC)
  • "Deep" (Cover of "Perfect Strangers" by Deep Purple) by Dale Oliver^[47] (TNA)

Wrestlers trained by Douglas[link]

• Andrew Vain^[48]
• Brian O^[48]
• Jimmy Vegas^[48]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• American Pro Wrestling Alliance
  • APWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[49]

• Big Time Wrestling (Massachusetts)
  • BTW Heavyweight Championship (2 times, current)^[49][50]

• Border City Wrestling
  • BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[51]

• Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling
  • ECW World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^1[10][52]
  • ECW World Television Championship (2 times)^[53]
  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[54]

• International Wrestling Association
  • IWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[55]

• Major League Wrestling
  • MLW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[56]

• North American Wrestling Alliance
  • NAWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[55]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #20 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1996^[57]
  • PWI ranked him #118 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[57]
  • PWI ranked him #82 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Ricky Steamboat in 2003^[57]

• Pro Wrestling Uncensored
  • PWU Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[49]

• Pro Wrestling Xpress
  • PWX Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[49]

• Southeastern Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Southeastern Continental Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Lord Humongous^[58]

• Superstar Wrestling Federation
  • SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[59]

• United States Wrestling League
  • USWL Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[55]

• USA Pro Wrestling
  • USA Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[49][60]

• Universal Wrestling Federation
  • UWF World Television Championship (1 time)^[61]

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[62]
  • WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ricky Steamboat (1) and Buff Bagwell (1)^[63]

• World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)^[64]

• Xtreme Pro Wrestling
  • XPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[65]

¹Douglas' first two reigns began while the promotion was a National Wrestling Alliance affiliate named Eastern Championship Wrestling and was prior to the promotion becoming Extreme Championship Wrestling and the title being declared a world championship by ECW, which occurred during his second reign. Douglas held the title an additional two times after these events.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Mick Foley (2000). Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. HarperCollins. p. 768. ISBN 0-06-103101-1. 
• Shane Douglas F.A.Q.
• Solie's title histories
• WrestlingEpicenter.com SHANE DOUGLAS INTERVIEW ONLINE
• Shane Douglas interview by Alan Wojcik§

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shane Douglas

• Official website
• Shane Douglas Interview with WrestlingNewsSource.com Podcast
• Shane Douglas reflects on Wrestling career - THE SPORTS COURIER