Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Monday, September 12, 2005 at 11:31 PM EST

The following was transcribed by Dan "Ho-Ju" Kriegbaum:

Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion and ECW World Television Champion & the brains behind the upcoming Hardcore Homecoming events, "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, was a guest on the 09/08/05 edition of Monday Night Mayhem, which can be heard in streaming audio every week exclusively on MondayNightMayhem.com & on The AudioWrestling Radio Network -- your official home of "The Spring Break Incident" Video-On-Demand, featuring SmackDown! Diva, Stacy Keibler!

The interview with "The Franchise" Shane Douglas is now available to hear for FREE in Real Audio!

Here are highlights from the interview provided by the show's correspondent, Dan "Ho-Ju" Kriegbaum, of www.MondayNightMayhem.com.

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The interview opens, with The Big Mosh welcoming Shane Douglas to the show, as Shane starts with talking about the Hardcore Homecoming show on June 10th, in Philadelphia, PA, and the great response that it got -- both from fan feedback & for breaking attendance records. The Angry Hero then asks Shane's thoughts on the event, now with the DVD release, which Shane mentions it the whole event being one of the few milestones he considers that he has had in his career.

The Big Mosh then mentions the recent WWE ECW-esque matches and storylines, including the One Night Stand Pay-Per-View, and the angles involving the network representative, and the Raven/Sandman child angle, with Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Dominick. Shane answers first about the Pay-Per-View, saying that he was contacted 5 times to appear, with the final offer being $25,000, but he denied it, so he wouldn't be part of the "raping of the legacy of ECW." Shane then says he has no doubt that Hardcore Homecoming was the better of the two shows.

The Big Mosh then asks about Bubba & D-Von Dudley being on the show, which Shane responds rather quickly saying The Dudleyz won't be there, but Mark Lamonica & Devon Hughes will be. Shane then goes off on a little tangent about Vince McMahon and not allowing his former employees to use their famous name, saying that whether it's "The Franchise" Shane Douglas or Troy Martin, fans still know who he is. The Big Mosh continues the Vince McMahon dicussion, furthering the names with Spike Dudley no longer able to use his name, bWo already off television, and Joey Styles not even being able to appear on his own Pay-Per-View. Shane then responds to that with more shooting on Vince, calling him a "scumbag human being," because he's trying to disallow all former WWE employees to put a roof over their heads and feed their families by not allowing them to use the names that they are known as. The Big Mosh then asks Shane his thoughts about his WWE contract and what it allows and doesn't allow it to do. Shane says that Joey is a smart man, shouldn't have been that willing to sign a contract unless it was for a load of money, and says that he would never sign a contract as long as the man that he doesn't respect, named Vince McMahon, is the boss.

The Angry Hero then mentions the upcoming shows on September 16th, 17th, and 18th, in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo respectively. Hero then asks about some hints at upcoming matches at the three events, or if they will rekindle any of the old ECW memories, which Shane responds by saying that everything that has been booked thus far, they always try to pay homage to ECW, including possibly continue some old feuds that never really ended. The Big Mosh then mentions the announcement of one city being able to bring their video cameras and record the event, which they are calling "Fan Cam Frenzy." Shane says that since it's all about the fans, they want the fans to have an experience you would never see in WWE, or if they do, they will only be following the lead of Hardcore Homecoming. The Angry Hero asks about the fans tapes being involved somehow on a special release, possibly on a DVD, which Shane responds with one word, "Absolutely." Another one of the people made famous by Extreme Championship Wrestling, Paul Heyman, is the next topic of discussion, as The Big Mosh mentions his new role in Ohio Valley Wrestling, and how well he's doing, making fans worldwide buzz about it. Shane says that Vince is smart to keep Paul under a WWE contract so he doesn't go to TNA or another company to make them succeed. Shane also mentions that Paul trusted his guys in ECW enough to not tell them what to do, because they were more than capable to know what to do on their own.

The Big Mosh then mentions TNA, mentioning the recent ads on television, promoting the TNA debut on Spike on October 1st. The Big Mosh asks what Shane's thoughts would be if he saw the reaction of the higher ups in the WWE when they first saw the TNA commercial air during their programming. Shane says that Vince would probably tell Spike TV that they shouldn't air those commercials, which would help Spike, and not help WWE, because that's the kind of guy he is. Shane mentions that now is the right time to go on television, because they have been able to bring in new, good talent to improve their product, and now is the time to put it on TV -- unlike two or three years ago. He then says that wrestling fans will finally get to see wrestling again, instead of the crap that Vince is shoving down our throats, and lost his "philanthropic attitude" like he had four-five years ago when WCW was receiving better ratings. Shane then uses Andrew "Test" Martin as an example to his opinion on Vince McMahon being a scumbag, noting at Vince firing Test in the middle of an injury that he sustained while working for the WWE.

The Big Mosh then mentions timeslots, with many fans tuning into the future timeslot of TNA now, for WWE's Velocity, which has had better matches than SmackDown, and how that could be the first step in the success of TNA on SpikeTV, and if that would ever get to a head-to-head timeslot against the WWE. Shane says that he doesn't think SpikeTV is afraid to put TNA against WWE head-to-head on Monday nights, but it shouldn't be done right away. While it's not the talent, the bad writing and behind-the-scenes work of the WWE is what is hurting them, according to Shane. Shane then uses another example, now being "Survivor," saying that the fans that are true to "Survivor" won't immediately tune into a show like it right away if they run head-to-head. He then says unlike the WWE, SpikeTV will see loyalty from TNA, and mentions that he was recently in talks with a SpikeTV representative who was really excited about the TV deal, after seeing a TNA event recently.

Tomorrow night's TNA PPV "Unbreakable" was then mentioned, as The Angry Hero runs down some of the matches on the card, and asks Shane what he thinks it will provide leading up to the TV deal. Shane answers by saying that it will help, and since the new creative team, including Scott D'Amore has taken over, shows have gotten better every week, which is important to be successful on television. Shane mentions that a TNA higher up said a few weeks ago in a meeting that the weeks leading into October 1st should be like preseason, with time to be able to fix what needs to be fixed before heading into what counts. The Big Mosh then mentions the next main focus after the TV deal, TNA's WrestleMania, Bound For Glory, on October 23rd. The Big Mosh mentions some names that were in talks about appearing at the event, including Kevin Nash, Chris Jericho, and Bret "Hitman" Hart, before he asks Shane who he sees actually appearing, possibly, from that list of names. Shane answers by saying that it could be one or two, or even all of them, and he doesn't really know, due to the lack of him being involved as much in those meetings. Shane then mentions TNA like a Thanksgiving dinner, providing a little bit of everything.

The Big Mosh then asks more about Shane's thoughts on both Shawn Michaels & "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, including Shawn taking shots on Hulk Hogan, and his thoughts on Flair still competing. Shane answers by saying the shots at Hogan were unprofessional, and Hogan should've fired back, whether on the microphone, or with a few stiff shots in the match. He also says that Ric's body is still saying he can do what he did twenty years ago, when really, he can't. He compares it to himself, when he said that when he turned 40, he wouldn't perform like he did ten years before, which was true, and it's all up to "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair when he wants to retire.

The Big Mosh then asks if TNA or Hardcore Homecoming would be helping out with the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, and what Shane's thoughts were about it all. He compares the early stages of the hurricane to some of the four hurricanes that hit in Florida last summer, until days went on, and it kept getting worse -- so bad that children were dying in their parents arms in the USA. He explains that he watches it every night on television, not because he enjoys it, but just because he gets heart broken and his eyes are like a magnet to the TV, but he is really appreciative about the response from countries worldwide, including our own, donating to help out. Shane then mentions some of the early discussions about what Hardcore Homecoming they can do to help, while it's now announced that you can donate a minimum of $5 to the relief fund, and go to the post show autograph signing, which more info can be found at www.hardcorehomecoming.com. Also, in the brisk of the upcoming shows, Shane announces that future possible shows will include Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, and Los Angeles (all scheduled for October). H.H. will be running Chicago's Odeum on September 23rd, in addition to The ECW Arena/Viking Hall (in Philadelphia) to end the tour on November 5th -- an event being titled "November Reign." Shows that were originally scheduled for October 7th in New Orleans, LA & October 8th in Baton Rouge, LA are in the process of being rescheduled.

To end the interview, Shane thanks The Mayhem Crew for having them on, and for the fans making ECW what it was, so they bring it back in the same way under a different name. Shane pleas to the fans in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, & Buffalo to make this tour successful in every way possible, especially by coming out to make money for the Hardcore Homecoming/American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief and to re-pay those that worked in Extreme Championship Wrestling from day one to the very end -- by going out the right way.

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Be sure to check out the rest of this week's slam-packed edition of The Mayhem, which contains all three hours of goodness from the special one-night only three-hour "Labor Day Live" show (currently archived on www.MondayNightMayhem.com & will soon-to-be- on www.AudioWrestling.com).

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Former WCW valet/manager & "The First Lady Of Wrestling," Missy Hyatt, will join The Big Mosh & Blade for an all-new edition of The Mayhem coming your way next week on September 16th. Missy has never been afraid to speak her mind about her times in WCW & ECW. Lord only knows what she has up her sleeve for The Big Mosh & Blade next week!

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This all leads to the "mother of all announcements." Starting on Monday night, October 10th, Monday Night Mayhem will return to the format that has made it one of the most respected & critically-acclaimed wrestling radio shows in the world -- LIVE! That's right wrestling fans, every Monday night from 7-9PM ET, you will be able to tune in to "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio" live -- along the airwaves of www.MondayNightMayhem.com & www.AudioWrestling.com. Wait till you see what's in store for the new MNM fall season...

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You can hear feel The Mayhem in its entirety every week -- exclusively on www.MondayNightMayhem.com & www.AudioWrestling.com.