The Franchise: The Most Underrated ECW Wrestler

[Loganity]

I've been watching a ton of the original ECW on the Network as of late and in my opinion it's painfully obvious that the best all around wrestler in ECW history, again at least in my opinion is The Franchise Shane Douglas. Yet for whatever reason I've always felt he doesn't really get his just due from fans as being the true face of ECW. I must confess that I've always been a big fan of Douglas. But it just seems to me that when people talk ECW they talk Dreamer, Sandman, Taz, and maybe even Cactus Jack.

If you look at his matches, who was better in ring wise? His stuff with The Triple Threat was way ahead of it's time. He and Bam Bam put on a classic at November to Remember 1997. He headlined ECW's biggest event 3 times. In my opinion he's one of the Top 10 guys to ever be given a microphone. He literally started on ECW (On screen) in 1993. in my opinion, he's the greatest champion in ECW history. Which is way him not not being involved in the ECW One Night Stand in 2005 is an absolute joke. Don't get me wrong, the PPV was great but without him something was certainly missing.

So, why is it that he gets kinda lost in the shuffle when the majority think ECW? Is it because he left for WWE in 95 and due to the terrible Dean Douglas gimmick his run there was overall very underwhelming , or is it because he had a falling out with Heyman in 99, and left for WCW spending both company's final years in the Turner fold as a midcard heel? Nonetheless he did have some success in both WWE and WCW winning IC belt and the United States Championship.

So, am I off base in think he's underrated overall, if so, why? Who was better in ECW? If you agree with me, why do you think that is? Let me know your thoughts!

 

[Hyorinmaru]

I'd say he's pretty accurately rated.

One of ECW's best and a main stay in their Main Event scene but Heyman had a knack for hiding people's weaknesses and in Douglas' case it's the fact he's a very basic wrestlern. Not bad but nothing that really makes him stand out. In ECW he had Francine, he had the Triple Threat people that could help him hide that as well as various opponents.

Outside of ECW he was never able to reach past the midcard and that's because he was no where near as good as he wants people to think

 

[sikkbones]

Remember what the fan yelled when EV 2.0 returned under one condition and a fan yelled no Shane Douglas???

Yeah, that's about it... He's burned bridges with everyone.. Starting with the Nwa in 1994,

The only money match was him and flair in the late 90s.

Don't forget Shane was in the wwe long before the dean Douglas crap in the early 90s as well.

As well as being a dynamic dude....

Man had plenty of chances...

While I do feel that he should be in the hall of fame if ECW is inducted.... Due to without Shane there is no ECW...

The man has no business in the business anymore.. And constantly attempting to bring back the bloated corpse of ECW has only made his reputation sink further.

 

[Loganity]

Remember what the fan yelled when EV 2.0 returned under one condition and a fan yelled no Shane Douglas???

Yeah, that's about it... He's burned bridges with everyone.. Starting with the Nwa in 1994,

The only money match was him and flair in the late 90s.

Don't forget Shane was in the wwe long before the dean Douglas crap in the early 90s as well.

As well as being a dynamic dude....

Man had plenty of chances...

While I do feel that he should be in the hall of fame if ECW is inducted.... Due to without Shane there is no ECW...

The man has no business in the business anymore.. And constantly attempting to bring back the bloated corpse of ECW has only made his reputation sink further.

But when he was given the ball in ECW he did nothing short of run with it and take it to the house. In the years before he left for WWE where would ECW had been without him? Probably nowhere. Should he have tried so hard to keep the memory of ECW alive? no. But does that take away from how he great he was, also no.


I've seen him several times at Indy shows this year, while he isn't what he used to be in the ring, he is just as good on the mic

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I remember him only from the dying days of WCW. He was ok IMO. Like between him and another former ECW wrestler, Lance Storm, I say Storm was the better Wrestler and even had the more entertaining character.

I guess the problem with Douglas is that his moniker of being called "The Franchise". Once you are called that and can't live up to that name it's a lot easier for people to call you overrated than underrated.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

He always seemed like he should be more entertaining than he actually was. He was the guy who looked kind of nuts and had the "iconic" moment of renaming the belt that played over and over again. But in the end he isn't one of the people I remember enjoying in ECW. I remember enjoying RVD, Sabu, Mike Awesome, Pit Bulls, Funk, Snow, Dreamer, all the Dudleys, Richards, the women, Raven, and even Whipwreck. Douglas just wasn't a guy I remember too much of. He was a heel but not exactly a heel I loved to hate.

I won't even get in to his WWE or WCW time.

Maybe I was just jealous that he had Francine.

 

[stingray11214]

You may not like this, but Shane Douglas was the Enzo Amore of his time. Quick, tell me ONE match that he has had that was memorable? You can't. He was a very good talker. That I will give him. His dumping the NWA belt is what everyone remembers him for. And, that is because it was a GREAT promo to introduce the ECW strap. Other than that? He was an OK wrestler. Nothing spectacular. He also had a knack for pissing people off in the back. That is why you have not seen him mostly anywhere in eons. And, you still won't.

So, underrated? No, not even close. He just never lived up to what he could have done. To compare him today? He is a 6'4 version of Enzo Amore: Good talk and not much else.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm not really seeing it. I've always personally thought that Shane Douglas was either pretty damned overrated or someone who didn't live up to his own potential because he's such a huge mark for himself that he wound up pissing everyone off. As others have mentioned, he was a good talker, a very good talker a good deal of the time, but he was, at the very most, average inside the ring so I never saw him as some sort of game changer.

Douglas was basically the prototype for bitter wrestlers taking to the internet to air their grievances in shoot interviews against anyone they felt had/has it coming. In my eyes, I think Douglas has always thought himself as a much better wrestler than he actually was but he'll die before you get him to even acknowledge the possibility. Instead, to hear him talk, you'd think there was some sort of industry wide conspiracy designed to keep him from reaching greatness; he's blasted everyone he's ever worked for whether it's WWE, WCW, TNA or even ECW and won't even entertain the possibility that he might, just MIGHT not have been the wrestler he thought he was or that he might have gotten in his own way.

 

[sikkbones]

You may not like this, but Shane Douglas was the Enzo Amore of his time. Quick, tell me ONE match that he has had that was memorable? You can't. He was a very good talker. That I will give him. His dumping the NWA belt is what everyone remembers him for. And, that is because it was a GREAT promo to introduce the ECW strap. Other than that? He was an OK wrestler. Nothing spectacular. He also had a knack for pissing people off in the back. That is why you have not seen him mostly anywhere in eons. And, you still won't.

So, underrated? No, not even close. He just never lived up to what he could have done. To compare him today? He is a 6'4 version of Enzo Amore: Good talk and not much else.

Johnny ace is probably better remebered for being a dynamic dude than him....

And I'm pretty sure he's remembered but not in a good way for dean Douglas...

 

[AnthonyM4]

I agree. I'm a huge fan of Shane Douglas myself. He was the greatest ecw champion of all time. I loved his promos. Loved the "cut the fucking music" when he came to the ring. I think he would have been big in wwf if they let him be "The Franchise" character there rather than an evil teacher.