“And they can all, kiss, my, ASS!”
Shane Douglas
Today we’re going to take a look at the most famous wrestling pipe bomb that birthed ECW. Next week we’ll look at AJ Lee’s WWE pipebomb, and wrap it up the week after with MJF’s uh…meltdown I suppose you could call it.
One of the first-ever true pipe bombs was in the then National Wrestling Alliance: Eastern Championship Wrestling. You know it better as ECW. The year was 1994, August 27th. A young man named Shane Douglas had just won the most prestigious belt in all of wrestling.
Please note throughout this I will call it Wrestling. Sports Entertainment is garbage and for kids, I will not acknowledge any of the WWE Era so-called “Pipe Bombs” because they’re scripted garbage. Except one. AJ Lee. We’ll get to that later. But let’s dive right in. Sidenote, this is an update to an article from 2020, so if you’re going “Some of this looks familiar…” it is. But it’s updated.
So, going back to NWA: ECW. Shane Douglas had just won the title from “The Ice Man” Dean Malenko and 2 Cold Scorpio, both of who would go on to have careers that made them famous in WCW later on. Shane Douglas stood in the ring and gave a passionate speech. If you have not seen it, please, stop here, and watch this video. This is the COMPLETE video, the match, the aftermath.
“I stand here before my God and my Father….as I said I would be world heavyweight champion.”
Shane went on to name some greats, Lou Thez, Jack Brisco, Dory Funk Jr, Terry Funk, Nature Boy Buddy Rodgers, Harley Race, etc etc. He went on to thank everyone, accepting the NWA title. It was a passionate speech, but then after naming some more names, in a foreshadowing of what was to come, Shane stopped, looked up, and said “This is it, Dad.”
Let me stop you here. Everything from here on about disrespect and such, are my personal opinions. Did Shane do the right thing? In his mind, yes. But unlike most of the IWC, I can call it disrespectful as hell, and yet still respect the man. He did something no one in wrestling to that point, and for a long time after, would have the balls to do. Throwing down the NWA belt? Absolute sacrilege.
Do I hate that he did it? You bet. Do I respect the absolute hell out of him for doing it? You bet. Do I hate Shane for doing it? No. I have the utmost respect for the man. But let’s move on with my pure opinions. One final time because someone will get their panties in a bunch. This is an OPINION.
What was about to happen would forever change history, and was one of the most disrespectful moments in wrestling, ever. At least in my opinion. Shane continued to name a few more names while looking at the NWA title. No one but him, Paul Heyman, and a couple of other people knew what was about to come. This was a closely guarded secret, obviously, because I believe the NWA would have cut the cameras and they most definitely would not have allowed what was about to happen to transpire, unlike the “Montreal Screwjob”, but that’s for another time. This moment, this one moment shook wrestling down to its very foundation.
Shane Douglus looks at the belt, says “God that’s beautiful, and Rick Steamboat.” and then, the famous, “And they can all…kiss. My. Ass!” as he threw down the most prestigious title in wrestling, the NWA Championship. The belt that started it all. WWE, ECW, WCW, WCCW, TNA, Impact, ROH, almost every single united states promotion has gotten its feet wet thanks to the NWA, and this man disrespected the belt, and threw it on the ground, proclaiming himself the “NEW E C W World Heavyweight. Champion. Of. The. World!”
ECW. Not Eastern Championship Wrestling. ECW.
This was the birth of a new era. Tired of the then WWF and WCW’s “fluff” programming, Paul Heyman sought to revolutionize wrestling, focusing on death matches, blood, and shock value, and it all started on August 27, 1994, starting the era of “The ECW” as he said.
The reason Paul chose Shane was his “I don’t give a shit” attitude. He didn’t care. Shane had a famous dispute with Ric Flair in WCW after all, and the way he despised Ric could be heard in his voice during his promo, “The….’ Ric Flair’s…”. The disgust could not be hidden, but Shane Douglas had the respect to at least acknowledge Ric. Shane was perfect, Shane was the man to lead ECW. He had the look, he had the charisma, and he had the attitude. Since this moment in history, many people have tried to replicate this “Pipe Bomb” promo, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and John Cena, but those have all been scripted. This was real.
How Did Shane Douglas Help Create The New ECW?
Let’s take a look at the events leading up to this (in)famous promo. Let’s hop back in our time machine, which hopefully works better than a TARDIS, and go back to just before this famous night.
Paul Heyman was frustrated with the restrictions of the NWA. This would not be the last time a federation was birthed from the frustration of a then “dead” organization, according to Douglas’ promo. At the time, the NWA was only alive through other federations’ TV time. WCW and ECW both were holding NWA championship matches. The NWA itself did not have a TV deal at the time and really hadn’t had a TV deal in a very long time.
Without youtube and the internet, as we know it today, the NWA was reliant on other promotions and TV deals. Sure, now we have Fite where NWA Powerr airs weekly, but back then, the internet was in its infancy still. However, to have the NWA title or the NWA name, you must adhere to strict guidelines. These included rules that have long been forgotten, like no over-the-top-rope or you get disqualified. Heyman was obviously frustrated with this. The guidelines did not allow him to do what HE wanted, and we all know how Paul Heyman is, what Paul wants Paul gets.
At the time NWA: ECW was selling out local arenas, and was the only territory under the NWA banner at the time doing so. The NWA saw this and wanted the tournament held in what later became known as the ECW Arena. They pitched the idea of Shane winning the NWA title and dropping the Eastern Championship Wrestling title. It’s hard to get information on this exactly, even reading and watching videos I was sort of confused. My impression here was that Shane Douglas was the current Eastern Championship Wrestling champion, and the NWA wanted him to become the NWA champion to carry the legacy. Information is sketchy on this exactly.
So a couple of weeks before the actual tournament, Paul called up Shane and told him the plan, which Shane at first was sort of opposed to. Paul had laid out a couple of options, laying out the good and bad of the scenarios. Shane was not forced into this decision at all. During the weeks leading up to it, Shane was struggling with the idea of doing this, because he had a lot of respect for the NWA. The problem here was Shane could not call his friends, or ask for advice because obviously, this was all very hush-hush.
I can’t imagine having a huge moment like that and wrestling with it for two weeks before making a decision. Do you blast the oldest company in the US? Or do you not do it and continue running the NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling?
The nail in the coffin came a week before the show when Dennis Coralluzzo did a podcast (Radio Show they were still called then) with Mike Tenay and told people never to hire Shane Douglas, he was a thief and would take from your organization. Keep in mind Shane had never, ever met this man before in his life. Needless to say, Shane was not happy with this. Shane at that point, according to a show he did in I believe 2018 (No date was given, it’s on YouTube, “Shane Douglas on National Wrestling Alliance Title Incident,” from The Hannibal TV), was like, his words, “Fuck it. I’m throwing the title down.”
It came down to the actual moment. In his match with 2 Cold, Shane had still not committed to this, despite his earlier thoughts. Shane was still wrestling (no pun intended) with the decision. Throw down the belt or not? No one by this point knew which way this was going to go. Not Paul, not Todd Gordon, not even Shane himself.
Shane Douglas said in the interview that it came down to the promo, and as he started talking, he still had no idea if he was going to go through with it. In the interview I cited on YouTube, Shane said “Growing up my dad was a Super Hero, he was a WW2 vet…” and continued to talk about how his father was a superhero to him, and said, “Son always remember you can walk with your feet on the ground, or you can soar with the eagles.” Shane had no idea what he meant, until that night. When he stopped and said “Here we go Dad.” it was because he felt his father’s presence, the man who had just weeks before sadly passed away.
Shane said it was that moment, as he said “Here we go Dad.” That he knew what his father meant. He could continue to be a sheep and do what the NWA told him (“Walk with your feet on the ground”), or take off on his own, take a risk, and throw it all in. He knew it was time to soar with the eagles. The only thing scripted in that promo was the names. Shane said he was struggling to remember, but thanks to the audience throwing out names, he was able to get through it. It was a hot August day, he had done 3 matches prior, and it was boiling hot in the arena, and he was about to make a major, major change in the wrestling world.
Shane at this moment said he was STILL struggling with whether to do it or not. In a world today where everything is written months in advance, I can just see Paul Heyman and Todd Gordon in the back, sweating bullets, not knowing what was about to happen. Shane said the reason he kept dragging the promo out was he was still wrestling with the idea of throwing down the NWA title. Again, I can’t imagine a decision like this, the stress he had to be under.
The biggest hesitation on the promo was him worrying about these legends being angry at him for disrespecting their legacy. As he’s talking, during the promo, you see Shane turn to his left, and who’s sitting out there? Dennis Coralluzzo. The man that shit all over Douglas just days before, was sitting out there with the ring announcer. Shane said he made eye contact with Coralluzzo, and despite popular belief, he did not just throw the belt down.
He threw it right at Dennis Coralluzzo, the man that just cost the NWA the ECW for calling Shane Douglas a thief. If you watch the promo, the poor guy in orange behind Shane looks like he’s about to have a heart attack.
The fans, mostly, shockingly, embraced it. In the full promo, not the edited WWE one, the fans are chanting “E C W! E C W!” and “Flair is dead!” Afterward, in the video I linked above, the interview with Corluzzo, was NOT scripted. It was a moment of shock for the entire wrestling world, and it’s still one of the most talked-about moments of history.
Todd Gordan, former Eastern Championship Wrestling, now ECW commissioner, later said, “As of now, I have folded NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling.” This was one of, no, this was THE most revolutionary moment of all of professional wrestling today.
In an interview later, Dennis Corraluzzo said that Shane “threw the NWA belt down”. No, Dennis, He threw it at you. Not on the mat like it’s widely believed, but right at you. Karen, sorry, Corraluzzo, went on to say how disrespectful it was, and how he was going to speak to his manager. I’m sorry, the NWA Board of Directors.
He oddly continued to say Shane was the NWA champion, but in the same interview would continue to berate Shane saying how it was a disgrace, which I agree with. But I see Shane’s reasoning. Corraluzzo proclaimed he was the rightful champion, which was strange. You would think he would have proclaimed he was stripped of the belt for doing that. But I imagine tensions and emotions were running very high at the time.
One interesting bit was “Remember, Eastern Championship Wrestling is under the NWA Jurisdiction.” Hence why they folded, and like a phoenix, were reborn into the OG ECW. Something I caught at the tail end, which I could not make out, was after Karen/Corraluzzo said they were going to take care of the “Eastern Championship Wrestling Belt situation”, it sounds like he said something about “We’re going to see about having a third belt stripped off him.” Not sure what that’s about. Third belt? I couldn’t find a transcript, and CC for youtube didn’t exist then. Needless to say, we all know what happened after that.
What about you? What’s your most shocking UNSCRIPTED moment? Maybe I’ll write about it next. Hit me up on Twitter, @its_riley02, and let me know! Special thanks to The Hannibal TV and Wrestling Bios for some of the information used in this column.