At XPW's first annual King of the Deathmatch Tournament in Feburary 2000, Douglas vowed to XPW's fans that he would "take millions and millions of [WCW's] dollars and then come right back here to XPW, hoist this company on my back like I did ECW, and make this f*ckin' company a God d*mn player in the sport of professional wrestling!"

Almost six years later and XPW is no more, but Shane Douglas remains one of the most talked-about performers in the wrestling business. Currently a backstage hand in TNA, he is one of the greatest minds in all of pro wrestling, and on Thursday he proved just why.

Douglas recounted everything that one could ever want to know about his involvement with XPW, discussing (among many other topics) his philosophy while booking XPW, his ever-changing relationship with Rob Black, and the effort that he went to in organizing the March 2003 mega-event in Pittsburgh, PA (which was the most financially profitable show in XPW history, and also the company's final show).

Also of note is that Douglas pulled absolutely no punches when asked about the topics of Joey Styles' sudden departure from XPW and Terry Funk's breaking from the script at Hostile Takeover. He had strong words to say about both friends. I'd like to thank Douglas not only for taking the time to contribute such insightful comments to "The History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only Half the Job," but also for his candidness and honesty on a number of controversial subjects, such as that of drugs in the XPW locker room.

Most of Douglas' XPW-related comments will be saved for print in future editions of "The History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only Half the Job," but for those "Franchise" marks out there who can't wait, here is just a small sneak preview as to what the former-ECW World Heavyweight Champion had to say about a variety of subjects:

"Anyone who's afraid of competition must be afraid of their [own] product.Those companies were all working to try to undermine us [XPW]. They were trying to schedule shows opposite ours, to screw ours, and we had no intent of going in there [to Philadelphia] to hurt anybody." - about CZW, 3PW, and ROH during the "Philly indy wars" in 2002

"The one thing Joey did that I thought was very unprofessional was [read the retrospective and find out]...I thought that was very unprofessional on his part. I just think that Joey took himself a bit too seriously." - about Joey Styles' short stay in XPW

"Chris was always impressive. I've always thought Chris was one of the best in-ring technicians in the business and so for me it was always fun [anytime I got in the ring with him]. Chris was always great to work with and always gave his best in the ring and never complained about anything, so I always enjoyed it." - about his friend, the late, great Chris Candido (RIP)

"I was always impressed with his work and his work ethic and just the kind of human being he is." - about AJ Styles

"As a booker, one of the things in this business I've always abhorred is somebody not wanting to do a job. It is what it is, and if you go to work tomorrow at 7-11 and the guy tells you to work the register, you don't pout and go home because you don't want to work the register. You just do it. And this is the only business that I've ever been involved with that somebody can pout and moan and get their way." - about the night that Juventud Guerrera faked an injury to avoid doing a job

"I'm one of those guys who, I don't care what you do on your time. If you wanna go stick drugs in your body, if you wanna screw other guys, it doesn't matter to me, but just don't do it on my time. And especially in wrestling, [with] what we do, the margin of error is pretty slim and I think you need all of your faculties in the ring to be successful and to be efficient and to be safe." - about drugs and painkillers in pro wrestling locker rooms

"Funk and I had been friends for probably 17, 18, 19 years at that point. Almost from the day I stepped in the business, I met Terry very early and had always been very friendly with him and always had gotten along great with him...I was very angry [at him for what he did] - and with every bit of respect I have for him - that was just an absolute direct disrespect to the boss and to the company." - about Terry Funk's shoot incident at Hostile Takeover

"I'm confident enough as a booker that if you can book better than me and outdraw me, then you got a better product. That's called, 'extreme market system.' So, I had no problem with anybody else going into the building a day before if they asked us. Rob [Black], however, saw it differently..." - about the "Philly indy wars" of 2002 between XPW, CZW, 3PW, and ROH

"I'm not a patient person and I don't wanna have to explain everything I'm doing, especially with something like wrestling that can become so convoluted and drawn out that it would take me hours and hours to explain why I'm doing something, especially with someone [Rob Black] who doesn?t understand the business." - about his mindset while booking XPW during the Philly run

"I was surprised at 'Hardcore Homecoming' at how renovated the building was. When I walked in, I was totally disoriented because the building looked so different [from the last time I saw it]." - about his response to seeing the recently renovated Viking Hall (a.k.a. The New Alhambra Hall)

"The Franchise" Shane Douglas can be seen frequently on TNA Wrestling broadcasts. This coming Sunday, he will make an appearance at TNA's "Sacrifice" Pay-Per-View, which will be headlined by Raven & Sabu vs. Jeff Jarrett & Rhino and will also include the Super X Cup finals, Jerry Lynn (another contributor to "The History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job") vs. Sean Waltman, and a whole lot more. Visit TNAWrestling.com for more info.

To keep up to date with "The Franchise" Shane Douglas' current endeavors, please visit FranchiseFanSite.com. Although "fansite" is in its domain name, it is Douglas' official web site and he actually referred to it on a couple of occasions during today's interview.

Douglas joins Jerry Lynn, Vic Grimes, Chris Hamrick, Kaos, Larry Rivera, Shark Boy, Supreme, Homeless Jimmy, Mike Modest, "White Trash" Johnny Webb, Dynamite D, Kevin Kleinrock, and many others in contributing comments to the "The History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job."

In related news, "The Original Gangsta" New Jack has turned down a request to contribute comments to "The History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job." New Jack is the fifth person to be contacted but refuse to comment on XPW, joining Jasmin St. Claire (turn-down), The Messiah (asked for money), Sean Waltman (turn-down), and Konnan (turn-down).

More names are in the process of being contacted, including - but by no means limited to - Sabu, Axl Rotten, Tracy Smothers, Ron Killings (a.k.a. K-Kwik/The Truth), Christopher Daniels, and many more.

The wrestlers who are expected to contribute to "The History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job," but are not 100% confirmed yet include - but again are by no means limited to - Danny Doring, Simon Diamond, "The Hardcore Homo" Angel, Altar Boy Luke, Tony Jones, M-Dogg 20, and Josh Prohibition.

Do YOU think you know XPW? This is the never-before-told story of the promotion wrapped up in more controversy than any other organization in pro wrestling history. These are the articles that Mike Johnson vowed would "never see the light of the day." These are the stories that Jasmin St. Claire doesn't want you to hear. This is the dirt that was too crude for the wrestling dirtsheets. Blood, sex, alcohol, drugs, porn, barbed-wire. Learn it all, from the plans to expand internationally to The Messiah's last weeks with the company and all of the controversy that followed his departure to first-hand accounts of the HeatWave 2000 riot to the real-life tragedies of Steve Rizzono and Damien Steele, along with so much more. This is XPW as it's never, EVER been seen before. This is "The History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job."

For more information on "The History of XPW: Bleeding Was Only HALF the Job," please visit DOIWrestling.com, Wicked-Wrestling.com, or ObsessedWithWrestling.com, or contact Piratez4v3go2@aol.com.

Jonathan Barber