John Shane
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: How did you get your start in wrestling and why did you want to get into it?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: I went to my first wrestling show in 1977 when I was 12 with my best friend Rich Davidson. The main event was Bruno Sammartino vs Bruiser Brody in a steel cage. After a wild match like that, I was hooked!!. We used to go to the house shows every month or so at the Nassau Coliseum, pay our 4 bucks for nosebleed seats and sneak down to ringside. This continued through high school then I went away to Cortland College and met a guy by the name of Mick Foley. Mick used to do the radio show before mine at the college station. We became friends and used to talk wrestling all the time on and off the air. After graduation, I saw him working at an indy show on Long Island and told him I wanted to get into wrestling as a manager. Mick sent me to Sunny Beach and Dave Power (of the Power Twins fame) who were starting a school in Brooklyn at the time.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What was your training like? Did you train to be a manager or did you train to be a wrestler?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: I trained to be a wrestler, but my trainers knew I really wanted to manage Training was a ton of back bumps and front bumps in a roasting warehouse in Bayshore in the summer of 95. Even though I was a manager, it was important to be able to take bumps right along side the guys training to be wrestlers. Dave Power was my trainer at the time and from him I learned a hell of a lot. He was trained by "Doctor D" David Schutz, so it was pretty tough.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Everyone knows your history with the Doghouse. What was the doghouse like and what was a typical show like? Do you think there could be another "doghouse like" training promotion?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: The Doghouse was an old warehouse off Jamaica Ave in one of the roughest areas of New York City, with no heat and no A/C, but we all loved it. I always thought of it as a "wrestling dream factory" but it was Laithon that nicknamed the place "Ghetto Square Garden" That name kind of stuck...The Doghouse was Bobby Lombardi's baby and countless indy workers owe him a debt of gratitude and I am one of them . It got its name from Bobby, whose wrestling gimmick was "The Italian Bulldog", but we really did have a dog living there for a while. This mean old junkyard dog named Taz lived there and on show nights he was tied up to the fire hydrant outside to keep from scaring the crowd away . One night he bit Lord Clarence McDougal and after that, Taz got a lifetime suspension from the Doghouse. The school ran every weeknight from 7-11, but some nights guys would be working in that ring way past midnight Homicide and Laithon ran the school, and often local pros would stop in to train or work out a match, or just watch wrestling tapes in the back. I helped out where I could, working with the students on promos and mic work and I even ran a managers/valet class on Wednesday nights for a while. It was all about the wrestling down at 940 Jamaica Ave. Wrestling, plain and simple. We ran shows every Saturday night at 8pm, without fail. I think we might have taken off for Christmas, but other than that there was a wrestling show in Brooklyn each and every week as long as the place was opened. You always knew come hell or high water, anywhere from 25 or 250 people would gather at the Doghouse for the Saturday night show. Homicide booked the matches for the most part, and the we tried to keep angles and storylines flowing from week to week.The key was wrestling every week. That kept us sharp and doing it again and again in front of a live crowd gave us a lot of experience we would have never gotten anywhere else. Sometimes the shows got kind of crazy and the matches would spill out onto the street, with the crowd following the action. It was wild. We would cut promos in the graveyard on Jamaica Ave, or on the subway platform, in the bodega, in a phone booth, wherever we wanted. We got real creative. The people in the neighborhood got to know us and Bobby would let the young kids into the show for free from time to time. I always kept an eye out for Bobby when I was at ringside, because he would love to hit me or MacDougal with a stop sign or a chair, just to get a pop out of the crowd. It kept us on our toes believe you me.I am not sure there will ever be another place quite like the Doghouse. I hear Bobby is moving to Florida and is going to open a school down there and I hope he does well. It deserves it, he really does after all the BS the NYS Athletic Commision put him through. I wish him all the luck in the world.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: You used to write angles for the doghouse and currently are writing for JCW. How did you become involved in the creative aspect of wrestling?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: Homicide came up to me during an LIWF show at the Elks Club in '98 I think and asked me to come up with an angle for the match I was involved in. I was managing a guy who wanted to work face, so I cooked up an angle where I and his tag team partner turned on him. Homicide like it and asked me for other ideas. When the Doghouse started running weekly shows, Homicide and Laithon asked me to be on the booking team and help out with the storylines, which I was glad to do. Working on it week after week and trying to come up with new ideas was a great challenge and without a doubt helped me hone my skills not only as a manager, but as a booker too. It was a great experience., which I will always be thankful to Homicide and Bobby for giving me the chance to do it. When I started working for JCW, Mafia (Danny Maff) told Ricky O about my storyline ability and Ricky asked me to help out there and over time became a member of the booking team.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What do you prefer more, performing in front of an audience as a manager or booking?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: Booking is great, but managing is my first love as far as wrestling goes.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: You have managed many people. Who have been your favorite people to work with? Least favorite?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: The Solution, Livewyre, DRS and Mega are my favorites. Least favorites? Two very green kids I managed in Long Island back in 1997 whose names escapes me, but I think it was New Detention or something like that. I really do not remember.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: In my opinion, and in other indy fans opinion, you are the top heel indy manager. Do you think the male manager, who can't offer T & A has a hard time getting bookings in wrestling, and if so, how could that be changed?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: Thank you very much for the compliment, I really do appreciate it. It is really tough for male managers to find bookings these days for a number of reasons. Managers are "old school" and some promoters don't like to use them or better still don't want to pay them. I got that one time from a promoter in PA who told me "We don't pay managers, sorry" well Havok pulled him aside and talked to him a bit and guess what? I got paid that night. I don't see it changing anytime soon, but I hope to just keep on plugging and staying out there.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Who have been the best people you have ever worked with, either being the person's manager or opponent?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: The Solution, Homicide, and a special mention to Simon Diamond. I learned a great deal from him during his time at JCW and I hope to work with him again in the future.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: You play a big role in JCW, on and off the camera. What can we expect from JCW in the upcoming months?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: Well, The J-Cup is right around the corner in August and as you know that’s our biggest show of the year. We try to make each J-Cup better than the year before and that’s a tough task considering how great last year's show was. Expect big things from Ace Darling, Johnny Ova, Dan Barry, Noel, Shawn Sheridan and the rest of the gang Hopefully the return of a heathy Inferno, and I am sure a few more surprises in store for everyone.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Recently, on the DOI board, a JCW representative informed the fans that the JCW Tag Team Champions, The Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz are no longer on the JCW roster. As their manager, where does this leave you in feuds with The Solution and Los Boriquas? Can you shed any light on why the DRS were let go and when will we see them back.
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: The DRS and JCW mutually agreed to part ways and hopefully they will be back sometime in the future. I loved working with Blade and Negro and I wish nothing but the best of luck. They are a great tag team and I hope to work with them again sometime down the road. My new tag team The Disciples of Darling (DOD) are being groomed to get their shot at Los Borriquas and hopefully they will win the tag titles and be champions like their idol, Ace Darling.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What was it like to be slapped by Mrs Lethal?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: It was not fun. Next question.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Who are your favorite WWE guys today? All time? Indy guys?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: WWE guys today, Benoit, Taker, Austin. All time, Flair, DiBiase, Piper, The Freebirds, Heenan, Cornette, Steamboat and Austin Idol. Indy guys, Homicide, Low Ki, Hits, any of my old Doghouse buds.
Word Association
John Curse Great guy, teaching the younger talent the right way at Critical Mass
Mike Mayhem Another trainer at Critical Mass and a good wrestler in his own right
Homicide Tough as nails, a top talent.
Laithon , The Tower of Torture, always remember him just starting out in the old LIWF days
Ricky O. Great promoter, great friend, funny as hell.
Frank Goodman Never worked for him
Livewyre Great talent, wish him all the best at OVW
Jay Lethal Quiet man, great wrestler.
Dan Barry Everyones favorite wrestler, a good guy with a lot of potential
Low Life Louie One of the funniest guys I have ever met in wrestling, as well as a super worker
The Solution. Brothers of the Road. Great tag team and great friends.
Los Problemos Si'
Lord Clarence MacDougal. One of my closest friends in the business, a talented manager and a talented man.
Jim Cornette. One of the all time greats.
Bobby Heenan. Funny as hell, had a great line in his book " I manage as a wrestler and wrestle as a manager" Probably will go down as the greatest manager of all time.
Devin Sturgis. Pleasure to work with him in JCW, stole the bikini contest in my opinion.
Noel. A manager not a valet. She knows her stuff and also has an impressive knowlege of wrestling history
Bastion Booger. More bad gimmicks than Kevin Nash
Giant Gonzales Should have stuck to soccer
Declaration of Independents. Great site, read it all the time, keep up the good work.
John Shane. Hopefully entertaining
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What are your career goals?
"The Sure Thing" John Shane: To keep on working and traveling, hopefully expand into new areas outside the Tri-State region. I want to also keep working with the younger talent, lending a helping hand where ever I can.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: What do you have to say to anyone reading this?
“The Sure Thing” John Shane: I want to thank the staff of the DOI (special thanks to the Mic), Brett Schwan and the staff of The Wrestling Clothesline, Evan Ginsburg of Wrestling Then and Now and the other wrestling journalists who have supported me through the years. Thanks also goes out to Ricky O and JCW, Bobby Lombardi and the LIWF and George Espada of WWW for giving me the chance to get into the creative end of the business as well as working on their shows. A John Shane website is in the works, so hopefully I will get off my ass and get that done sometime in the not too distant future. Thanks again everybody.
Sean “The MiC” McCaffrey: Thanks a lot for doing this interview.
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