The Context 

Here we have Shane Douglas talking about working his last weekend for ECW, and not wanting to go home because Paul Heyman gave him a check. Shane figured if he took the check home and deposited it, it would have taken a couple of days to clear, and the funds wouldn’t have been there, so he rented a hotel room until Paul’s bank opened on Monday. He detailed running into problems with the bank teller, who wouldn’t cash it. After some back-and-forth (and Shane threatening legal action), Douglas figured out that the issue was that this branch was tired of wrestlers coming into their bank to secure their funds there.

Shane talked about being owed $140k+ and never recovering it in the ECW bankruptcy. He says it would be easy to hate Paul, but you take the good with the bad, and while Heyman did screw him over, he also allowed him to be “The Franchise” character, and that’s why people were listening to him now. 

Analysis 

The story about the check is plausible because there are tons of stories of ECW wrestlers running to the bank in different parts of 1999-end of ECW, before their checks bounced. His timeline might be a little off because the last ECW result we have for him was 04/15/1999 in his home city of Pittsburgh, but it’s conceivable it was a weekend near the end of his run. 

The most incredible part of this was Shane’s outlook. He sounds hurt that Paul didn’t stay in contact with any of the ECW guys, and says he’s willing to put everything behind him. Making it even more amazing is that Shane Douglas wasn’t owed $140k in back salary. He was fronting ECW travel money for everyone else and was never paid back. While it is true that he made money from WCW, TNA, and other smaller avenues during his run as The Franchise after ECW for a lot more than $140k, that’s an incredibly healthy way to look at it. Kudos to The Franchise. And honestly, shame on Paul for his rah-rah family speeches to keep the place alive, but not really keeping in touch with any of those guys afterward. Yes, Paul went through his own financial peril, but these guys all wrecked their bodies on top of it because they believed in Paul and his cause. 

The Clip

Please click the link below to see the clip.