During a recent edition of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, Matt Hardy recalled his match with Shane Gregory Helms at WWE No Mercy 2006.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Shane Helms’ reinvention as Gregory Helms in 2006: “They were ready to change him up as a character, I do know. And they wanted to give him a more serious edge. And I’m also pretty positive that they didn’t want him to go with the title of ‘Shane,’ because there was a Shane McMahon, obviously. And they were very big on people not having the first same name, especially in those days.
“So they ended up going with Gregory, who was his legitimate first name, he’s Gregory Shane Helms. But he just wanted to change things up, and he wanted to show people that he really could be a serious performer. And I think he took a lot of pride in it, and I was very proud of him for being able to make that change and being a very serious competitor.”
On his new look: “This was a good look for Shane, I like this look. I like this look with the biker briefs and the long, sleeveless overcoat. It’s just very different from The Hurricane. It’s very unique, it just kind of makes him look very different.”
During a recent edition of his “Hall of Fame” podcast, Booker T interviewed The Undertaker, where he discussed how wrestling has changed through the years.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the changes from his era to today’s era: “It is completely two different worlds. It’s crazy, because never in a million years can I imagine how athletic these guys are today. And I think because they are — I mean, they’re doing, I don’t know if it was the video games they played as kids. But they’re doing video game-type stuff in the ring. And I think it’s almost — sometimes it’s a curse. Because they’re so athletic and they rely so much on that aspect, that they forget the most important aspect of what we do which is storytell.
“And I think — you know, I’ve mentioned it to different people high up. And you know, it’s like, ‘Hey, we can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.’ But I think at some point, we’re going to have to. We have to figure out a way to get it back in there, because these guys — and I’m just thinking about their health, if nothing else. Because they, I tell people this all the time and people look at me like I’m crazy. But in any given wrestling match, any match. At some point in that match, you’re two inches away from something really catastrophic happening.”
On why that should be limited: “The stuff that these guys are doing to get reactions from the crowds — I mean, it just makes it exponentially more dangerous than than what it has to be. Because after a while, people get desensitized to the crazy moves, the double backflip off the top rope onto the floor. ‘I’ve seen it done a couple times, now what do you have for me?’ So you have to continue to push the envelope to, ‘Okay, what am I going to have to do to get a reaction?’”
On the transition in selling when he first did The Undertaker gimmick: “At first, I continued to work the same way. I was just a killer. And then I had to kind of slowly start expanding the repertoire, and figure out ways to make myself more vulnerable. And a lot of times — like, talking about working the legs, it just made sense. And I got to work with Brett a lot. And you know, Brett was really straightforward, and he was a no-nonsense kind of wrestler. Which is what I needed, because it’s what helped me expand what I could do.
“Because I was — I’ll never forget one. I was working — it was when Randy Savage and [Ric] Flair were wrestling on TV for the belt. And in the middle of the match, Vincent didn’t the way the match was going. So he stops the match right in the middle and brought both of them back. And sent the dark match, who was Razor and I, he sent the dark match to the ring. And he said, ‘Y’all just go until I tell y’all to go.’ So poor Scott, man. He just wearing me out. He’s hammering me and whack! And boom! Finally he’s so blown up, because I ain’t selling s**t, he goes, ‘Take, can I please put you in a reach chinlock?’ I was like, ‘Alright man, alright.’”
