Shane Helms has worn many hats in professional wrestling, and it's resulted in a job with WWE as an agent.
A Fightful alumni, Helms has had an intense couple of years, from rounding out his run in TNA, appearing at several WWE events, to working for Ring of Honor and at the All In spectacular. Much of that came to a head early this year, when he landed back with WWE after working with them sporadically throughout 2018.
When Shane spoke to Fightful, he told us that while the job itself was new, he was pretty familiar with the duties associated with it. Having a hand in so many aspects of the pro wrestling business certainly set the stage.
"So far it’s been good. It’s something I’ve been transitioning to for a little while anyway. Actually back in my first run in WWE, if I wasn’t doing anything on the show that night I’d always find a way to try to do something on the show to help out. They even let me produce a couple of vignettes backstage, and a dark match here or there. So, I dabbled my toes in the water for a while. Then in TNA, as you well know, I did it for a little while and had a lot of fun, and what I feel was a success. So far in WWE it’s been a blast," said Helms.
From cruiserweight to heavyweight, singles to tag to trios work, wrestler to manager, serious to comedy, and a lot more sprinkled in, it's not difficult to see why Helms would be a commodity to WWE. Considering that there's sometimes a disconnect between the old guard and the new one, "The Hurricane" sees himself as a bridge between talent, management and agents.
"I still speak the language of the boys. It’s gonna be hard for me ever to not be one of the boys. I know what they’re going through, when things aren’t going your way. It’s easy to be in that bubble when “it’s all about me, it’s all about me.” And when you’re a performer, sometimes you have to be like that. But sometimes you gotta take a step back and go “you know, we’re trying to tell a bigger story here.” So, as an agent sometimes you’re doing a lot of therapy. You’re more Dr. Phil than anything sometimes. But, like I said, I’ve been that performer that sometimes things weren’t going my way. And I’ve been that performer sometimes where everything was going my way. So, you gotta navigate those waters there for people who haven’t been in this position. Sometimes, for the first time, that can be tough," said Helms.
In addition to his backstage work, Helms appeared in a WWE 24/7 Championship skit with R-Truth during a recent San Diego Comic Con.
You can see our full conversation with Shane at the top of the page, and check out our full archive of his podcasts from his time with Fightful at this link.
