Franchise University with Shane Douglas
FU to you all! ECW Legend ”The Franchise” Shane Douglas once again dons his Dean mortarboard and breaks out the trusty ”Board of Education” to beat some wrestling sense into you... verbally speaking... every Tuesday, Shane Douglas will take a deep dive into a different subject, event or performer with his trademark intelligence, expert insight and take-no-prisoners, spin-no-bullsh*t attitude. Without Shane Douglas, there would have been no ECW World Heavyweight Championship. It was Douglas who, on Aug. 27, 1994, won a tournament to become the new NWA Heavyweight Champion, and then threw the title down and proclaimed the death of the National Wrestling Alliance and the birth of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. No other competitor on the ECW roster could have pulled off such a flagrant act of defiance with the poise of the man who declared himself ”The Franchise.” Indeed, it was Douglas’ unflappable confidence, poison tongue and hair-trigger temper that made him both a captivating personality and a sports-entertainment outlier better suited for the uncensored world of Extreme Championship Wrestling. The Franchise did not start out this way, however. Trained alongside Mick Foley by Dominic DeNucci, Douglas skateboarded into WCW as one-half of the fun-loving Dynamic Dudes alongside John ”Johnny Ace” Laurinaitis in 1989. Looking like Zack Morris with his bleached blond mullet and neon high-tops, the upstart popped over to WWE in the early ’90s and then back to WCW where he developed rapidly during a championship partnership with Ricky ”The Dragon” Steamboat. Douglas’ breakout as a singles star came in 1993 when he abandoned his white bread good guy act as ECW’s newest villain. Dispatching his hardcore opponents with a rough, technical style — Douglas always favored belly-to-belly suplexes over barbwire bats — the Pittsburgh native became the first champion of the rebranded Extreme Championship Wrestling, and the leader of The Triple Threat. An obvious challenge to his nemesis Ric Flair and his Four Horsemen, the group’s rotating cast of characters included Bam Bam Bigelow, Chris Candido and “Primetime” Brian Lee at different times. A brief trip to WWE in 1995 became the career lowlight for Douglas as the Dean Douglas persona (based on the fact that he was formerly a school teacher) forced upon him failed to catch on with WWE fans who saw it as a retread of The Genius. When he returned to ECW, he had an even bigger chip on his shoulder. Now with his “head cheerleader” Francine by his side, The Franchise captured both the ECW Television and ECW World Heavyweight Titles while besting Chris Jericho, Bam Bam Bigelow, Sabu and many more. After losing the ECW World Heavyweight Title to Tazz at the Guilty as Charged pay-per-view in 1999, Douglas returned to WCW for a strong two-year run as The Franchise. He won both the United States Title and the WCW Tag Team Titles (alongside Buff Bagwell) and captained competitors like Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn in an impressive faction known as Revolution. With extra stops in TNA as a manager and wrestler, Extreme Revolution and a mainstay of the independent scene to this day, Shane Douglas has been involved with pro wrestling at every level for 40 years.
Listen on:
Episodes
Wednesday Mar 20, 2024
Wednesday Mar 20, 2024
Wrestling in 1998 | The Road to WrestlePalooza | Franchise University with Shane Douglas 24
In preparation for a discussion about WrestlePalooza 1998, Shane Douglas takes a look back at the news in the wrestling world from around that time. It was a huge year for wrestling and wrestling fans as the rise of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin continues with a WWF title run, the NWO runs rampant in WCW and ECW is in full extreme swing. This week, Shane will discuss some of the lesser known stories of the time and will give his thoughts on the way the industry was working and handling talent as well as the dramas that unfolded backstage.
Wednesday Mar 13, 2024
Wednesday Mar 13, 2024
After a stint in Canada on tour, Shane Douglas returns to catch up and give his thought on some of the news from the wrestling world from the past few weeks. Both Shane and James are still outside of their typical studio environments so visual and audio quality is not as high as we would like but things will be back to normal soon.
If you want your questions answered by the Franchise himself, send your emails to: shanedouglasquestions@gmail.com
Franchise University with Shane Douglas is part of the WSI Networkhttps://twitter.com/WSI_YouTube
Wednesday Feb 28, 2024
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
Wednesday Feb 21, 2024
How Wrestlers Cheat Drug Tests | Fan Questions | Franchise University wth Shane Douglas 22
This week is another round of your questions for Shane Douglas on Franchise University. Shane will be talking about a lot of different topics including:
- Would he accept an invitation to the WWE Hall of Fame?
- What happened to the new wrestling promotion he was involved in starting?
- How many times did he pee in a cup for guys to beat a drug test?
Enjoy!
If you want your questions answered by the Franchise himself, send your emails to: shanedouglasquestions@gmail.com
Franchise University with Shane Douglas is part of the WSI Networkhttps://twitter.com/WSI_YouTube
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
Wednesday Feb 14, 2024
WCW Halloween Havoc 1989 (Part 2) | Franchise University with Shane Douglas 21
This week, Shane Douglas completes his retrospective on WCW Haloween Havoc 1989. Not one but two tag team matches with some of the most notoriously tough tag teams in wrestling history: the Steiner Brothers vs Doom and the Road Warriors vs Skyscrapers. Shane will talk on the toughness of all those that are involved as well as talking fondly about Doom valet Woman and the legend that is Paul Ellering.
There is also some time taken to talk about the match between Lex Luger and Brian Pillman and their respective styles (as well as Lex Luger's unusual in ring...habbit).
The topic then shifts to the gentlemen on the show that represented wrestling's legacy in Ole Anderson and Bruno Sammartino before the main event which saw Sting team with Ric Flair againt the Great Muta and Terry Funk in a very unusual type of cage match.
If you want your questions answered by the Franchise himself, send your emails to: shanedouglasquestions@gmail.com
Franchise University with Shane Douglas is part of the WSI Networkhttps://twitter.com/WSI_YouTube
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Episode 20 of Franchise University and it's your questions answered. Who was Troy Orndorff? Is now the right time for a wrestlers union? Should blood in wrestling still be a thing? Shane Douglas will also cast some light on how much money he was screwed out of by Paul Heyman, the rumour that he was going to be the inaugural WWF Televison Champion and how many people knew that Scott Hall once shot and killed a man.
All this and more on this weeks edition of Franchise University.
If you want your questions answered by the Franchise himself, send your emails to: shanedouglasquestions@gmail.com
Franchise University with Shane Douglas is part of the WSI Networkhttps://twitter.com/WSI_YouTube
Monday Jan 29, 2024
Monday Jan 29, 2024
Episode #19 | Vince McMahon Lawsuit, Dark Side of the Ring S5, Sabu's Possible in Ring Return and MORE!
Taking advantage of a slightly delayed episode of Franchise University, Shane Douglas will look at the latest and biggest revelations of the major allegations against Vince McMahon. Alleged sex trafficing, manipulation, gaslighting and abuse of former WWE employee Janel Grant has dominated the news of the wrestling world in the past few days. Shane will discuss the accusations and give his perspective of the matter.
If you want your questions answered by the Franchise himself, send your emails to: shanedouglasquestions@gmail.com
Franchise University with Shane Douglas is part of the WSI Networkhttps://twitter.com/WSI_YouTube
Sunday Jan 21, 2024
Sunday Jan 21, 2024
WCW Halloween Havoc 1989 (Part 1) | Franchise University with Shane Douglas 18
This week, Shane is discussing the run to, the first matches of and the the news around the time of Halloween Havoc in 1989. Another PPV he was involved in, this time with tag team partner Johnny Ace as the Dynamic Dudes who would take on the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin).
If you want your questions answered by the Franchise himself, send your emails to: shanedouglasquestions@gmail.com
Franchise University with Shane Douglas is part of the WSI Networkhttps://twitter.com/WSI_YouTube
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
Happy New Year! After a short break for the holidays, Shane Douglas is back with a new episode of Franchise University. This week, Shane will be following up with some of the biggest news stories in the wrestling world including:
- Tammy Sytch's prison sentence
- Why Kenny Omega is out indefinitely
- Why Goldberg thinks Vince McMahon is a POS
Shane will also give his take on The Iron Claw, the tragic story of the Von Erich family put to film. Shane will discuss what he liked and didn't like about the movie and share some stories about the time he spent on the road with Kerry Von Erich.
If you want your questions answered by the Franchise himself, send your emails to: shanedouglasquestions@gmail.com
Franchise University with Shane Douglas is part of the WSI Networkhttps://twitter.com/WSI_YouTube
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
NWA TNA #62 (Part 2) | Franchise University with Shane Douglas 16
This week at Franchise University, Shane Douglas will discuss the last matches of NWA TNA #62. AJ STyles vs Jerry Lynn for the NWA Championship and the main event: Hair vs Hair | Shane Douglas vs Raven. Find out what caused Shane to barf during the match and how Raven got cut to ribbons by a set of hair clippers. Shane will also talk very candidly about his struggles with Oxycontyn from around this time and pay tribute to Anthony "Pitbull #2" Durante who would pass away shorty after the event.
Franchise University with Shane Douglas is part of the WSI Networkhttps://twitter.com/WSI_YouTube