PWR Heavyweight Champion - Shane "The Element" Evans

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
How's it going, guys. Thanks for tuning into this episode
of the Film Talk Sports Podcast. I got a very
special one in store for you today. But first, a
quick backstory. Anyone that's been a fan of this show
for any length of time knows that I'm a huge
pro wrestling fan. I got the belts behind me, the collectibles.
We used to cover wrestling on the show when I
had more time and I had the co host. So
been a fan my whole life very young, got into it,

(00:33):
never grew out of it, and as I grew up,
went to college for production. I've worked in just about
every sport you can imagine, baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, anything
you can think of, but I've yet to get involved
on the production side of pro wrestling, even though that's
always been a dream of mine. So that actually changed
here in twenty twenty five, starting the year off grade,
when I got linked up with PWR Pro Wrestling Rebellion,

(00:56):
which is a brand new wrestling promotion and based out
of the Land, Florida, which is right in my backyard,
maybe thirty minutes away, and I started following them on
social media. They had some shows coming up and I
started to recognize some of the people on these cards
that I crossed paths with back in the day when
I was expiring to be a wrestler. So I reached
out asked if they needed any help, any extra cameraman,

(01:18):
and they obliged. So I was out at what I
believe was their fourth show ever, which is a great
win to be at because it was actually the finals
of a tournament to crown their first ever heavyweight champion,
and that was won by local legend Shane the Element Evans,
and Shane has agreed to come on the show and
give his first one on one interview since winning the championship.
So that's what I have in store for you today.

(01:38):
Here is Shane the Element Evans. Guys enjoy the interview,
joining me now on the show. A pro wrestler of
over two decades and he started twenty twenty five off
of the Bang when he became the inaugural PWR Heavyweight Champion.
Shane the Element Evans, it's good to see you, Champ,
thanks for doing.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
This, Thank you, thank you. I appreciate you having me
on and taking the time to do this. I want
to give a Q shout out to PWR our sponsors.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
What we be able to do this without them.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
We got all star building material, complete overall construction of
waters car wash and then yeah, whatever you want to
talk about, let's get it going.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yeah, man, me and Chan actually go way back just
from like going to wrestling shows. I don't remember exactly
when we met, but it was it was definitely at
a TNA show in the early two thousands. You know,
we kind of lost touch there for a while. And
when this promotion came up right in your backyard and
only about a half an hour from me, and I
saw you were on the card, I'm like, let me
try to get involved with these guys, and you know,

(02:35):
I came to the perfect show is the third one
ever over one hundred people, but no, PWR already just
taking the Florida by storm, and what's that been like
just you know, it's only been around for maybe six
months now, but like, are you surprised how quickly things
are happening for this?

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Definitely.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
We're four shows in. The first show we did was
in I want to say September. I wasn't even on
that show. I actually didn't even originally plan to wrestle
in PWR. From the beginning but I plan to be
involved with it and to help out, and just kind
of seeing where it's progressed from show one to show

(03:13):
four makes me really excited to see where it's gonna
be from show four to show eight and show twelve
and so on and so on.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yeah, so when we met back in the day, you know,
everyone starts out as a fan. Usually, like there's the
rare occasions where guys don't watch wrestling but get into wrestling. Anyway,
at what point do you remember the moment where were like,
I'm gonna go from fan to attempt to get into
the business.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
That's kind of a nuanced question. So what really got
me into wrestling? I watched it like a little bit
as a kid. I remember like my grandpa having it on,
but it was really the video games on Nintendo sixty
four is what got me into it, specifically WCWNWO World Tour.
I think that was the first one of all those
games that everybody loves, and that progressed into wanting to

(04:03):
do the moves with the action figures, and then that
progressed into let me invite my friends over and let's
throw the couch cushions.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
On the living room floor.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
And do moves, and then that progressed into let's do
moves on the trampoline, and then let's do them on
a mattress in the backyard. But I never I got
you know, that.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
Was me at age eight or nine when all that started.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
By the time I hit age sixteen, I was very
interested in actually doing this seriously. But back then we're
talking like two thousand and five, two thousand and six,
the options to go get trained somewhere we're very limited.
So I went to FC OUT in Orlando. It was
a training school at the time. It was ran by

(04:43):
a guy named aj Gallant, very controversial figure in the
wrestling world for those that know them, but it was
mainly trained. The main trainers there were Devon Dudley and
Matt Bentley aka Michael Shane Shawn, Michael's nephew.

Speaker 3 (04:57):
He's to being TNA Vision Champion. Yep. Yeah, And that
was kind of what was my start into it.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
So would you before PWR you kind of mentioned that
you were always planning to help, but you didn't know
that you were going to get in the ring. It
had been a while prior to this. Did you kind
of consider yourself retired before all this came up.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
So I had done a show earlier in twenty twenty four,
back in like May, and that was the first time
I had wrestled in six years at that point. But
up to that point, yeah, I was I pretty much
consider myself done with it. I barely even even now,
even though I'm back into it, I really don't watch
a lot of wrestling anymore. I only loosely keep up

(05:38):
with what's going on. You know, I might watch a
promo here and there, but I'm definitely not like a
like a ravage ravaging fan like I used to be,
you know, and just it's kind of where my mind
was at with it.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Right.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
So in that time, you know, that's six years that
you didn't wrestle, you may have viewed it as all right,
that's it was a cool chapter in my life. And
then moving on in that time prior to now, what
would you consider like your high points of your career
up to up to now, prior to winning the title here, I.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Mean, I think this is the high point for me
because it's nice to come back into wrestling after having
had that time off and being able to mature and
have a different outlook on the business as a whole
and see the bigger picture of what it's about, and
that it's not necessarily just about how many flashy moves

(06:30):
you can do. It's about connecting with an audience. It's
about telling a story and to be in a position where,
you know, a promotion like this that's you know, starting
right off the ground. Hoot has entrusted me to carry
the brand. That's as high of a point as I
can think it'll get.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Yeah, could you have imagined, you know, even a year ago,
that someone told you you'd be, you know, a champion
of a promotion that's you know, built in your hometown.
What is has it fully set in on what's happened
in these past six months?

Speaker 3 (07:00):
No, No, it doesn't.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
And I don't want to come off as like cocky
when I say this, but I think with me and wrestling,
like I kind of just do it like the moment
doesn't ever feel too big, And a lot of that
I can pay to my older experience that I do
have from.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
Doing it before.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
That.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
Don't get me wrong.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
If you threw me in front of an arena in
front of fifteen thousand people, yeah that moment might get
a little too big, But sure.

Speaker 3 (07:25):
Up to this point.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
It's just natural for me and I'm very comfortable with it.
And that doesn't mean, by any stretch of the means
that I think I'm the best or anything like that.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
I try to get better every day.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
I know there's a lot I could do better in
the ring outside of the ring, training wise, everything all around.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
But yeah, that's kind of where I'm at with it.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
You mentioned that, like you casually follow wrestling now, and
that's easier to do than ever, Like you don't have
to watch a show. You can see a couple of
clips on Twitter, and I get what that show is about.
Wrestling's really changed from like when you became a fan,
I became a fan. We both became fans for N
sixty four games. I thought that was funny that you
mentioned that, because that's exactly what happened with me, with

(08:05):
it being so different. What do you like and not
like about modern wrestling compared to back then, just even
as a fan watching you know, the mainstream stuff.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
I don't know that it's really that different.

Speaker 3 (08:20):
I know, the you know, the presentation is.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Very glammed up compared to what it used to be.
But in terms of like the products itself from the
different companies. I mean, wrestling is fundamentally the same as.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
It always was. I don't really think there's anything.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
That's two different now as there was ten, fifteen, twenty
years ago. There's times where I maybe feel like it's oversaturated,
but then I look back and I remember in the
mid to late nineties there was literally wrestling on every
single night of the week, sometimes two different shows from
two different companies. And then overall there's certain things and

(08:56):
now this is me speaking specifically on like WWE, I
definitely think there's a lot of things.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
That are dragged out.

Speaker 2 (09:03):
Like I look at WrestleMania now and it's two nights long,
and before they went to the two night long thing,
you know, a one night was like a seven hour show,
and that was you know, in the last ten WrestleManias.
It's kind of been that way. But then you look
back on the some of the best WrestleMania's ever, you know,
like the seventeens and and the twenty ones and those ones,
and it was an action pack card and they got

(09:24):
it done in three hours. So like, I see how
they drag everything out on these shows, and everyone has
like a ten minute entrance and it's all this extra
and I get it, but at the same time, it's
just like it's overkilled.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
Yeah. I mean, as long as the shows have gotten
the amount of wrestling hasn't really changed. Like, you know,
we've had two WrestleManias in our area in the past decade,
and I went to both. I don't know that I
would go now to a two day event. One that's
a lot of extra money, it's a lot of free time.
You got to like get to the two day I
don't know about you. I would rather if I had to
pick the I would pick the seven hour day over

(09:56):
the two day show personally.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
What do you think, Yeah, yeah, because there's always going
to be stuff you want to see from each day
that you're not going to get to see on that
one day.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
Did you go to WrestleMania when it was in Central
Florida either in.

Speaker 2 (10:10):
Two thousand and eight, Yeah, yeah, okay that that was
the last one, So I didn't go to the Tampa
one or the recent the more recent Orlando one.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Right, Yeah, it was. I was at both of those,
but the eight one was more of a blur, but
I remember a lot of the other one, and that
was one of the last. Again, it was all you
were probably in your seats by five and you didn't
leave till like midnight. But like you know, you at
least feel like you got your money's worth.

Speaker 3 (10:31):
I feel at that point, oh yeah, I had a
great time.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
When you were getting I don't know if this has
changed from like the Shane Evans we see now to
the Shane Evans you know as you were coming up.
Just because you're like a fan of a wrestler doesn't
mean you're you take something from him and you're like,
I was a Jeff Hardy fan growing up. I would
never attempt to wrestle like Jeff Hardy. I'm just not
built that way. What are the wrestlers not necessarily your favorite,
but the guys you took the most influence from as you,

(10:56):
you know, learned and grew.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
I think the one one that everybody loves to point
out as I'm a huge Samoa Joe fan.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
I love the guy.

Speaker 2 (11:05):
Everything he does looks raw and real and gritty. He's believable,
so I try to emulate that. Kurt Angle is another one.
I really really like Brett Hart see them punk, You
know those guys, everything they do it's really simple, but
everything is believable and looks good, and that's kind of
what I try to go for.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
And on the flip side, who's a wrestler that's, you know, mainstream,
that's popular that you just don't get it? Like why
I don't like this guy? I don't like what he does.
Not trying to get you to shoot on anybody here,
but like just you don't get it. Whereas he's clearly
he or she is very popular anyway.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
So I don't really necessarily feel that way about anybody.
And I'll give you I guess this will kind of
answer your question. But like you're more modern guys like
Ospray and Omega like and I don't. I don't dislike them.
I totally see the appeal and what they do. I
see why fans like what they do. I think they're
both tremendous athletes. I'm not necessarily into that style. And

(12:00):
it's not even that I don't like that style, it's
that it's it's the same. They kind of do the
same thing every match. The no selling I know a
lot of people call it Japanese fighting spirit bang bang bang,
take a couple moves, you know, fight up whole cup
hit your moves, and like if it was saved and
used more sparingly, I think I'd be able to appreciate

(12:21):
that more. But I kind of know that, Like if
I were to sit down and watch one of their
matches that I hear hyped up from people on the internet,
I kind of already know what I'm gonna see. But
that could be said for anybody. I know, if I
watch a Rick Flair match, I'm gonna see him get
thrown into the turnbuckle and flip over it and do
a flop and all that, So that could be said
for anybody.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Do you have a favorite other show or match that
you just loved? Like Royal Rumble two thousand is my favorite,
like beginning to end, just the hardy table match, The
Royal Rumbles one of the most fun ones. But you
have like a show or match that's like people have
their comfort show. Do you have a comfort match, a
comfort match, or a comfort show that's if anything? Okay,
my favorite show.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
From start to finish is I'mer Slam two thousand and two.
I absolutely love that show. You got Angle versus Ray, Maisterio,
you got Rock versus Brock, a great match.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
With ben Wan RVD.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
There's another match I believe with Eddie and Edge for
the Icy title, or maybe that was the rv D
ben Wah. It's been a little bit since I've watched it.
Sure I used to frequent that match, but my favorite
match is probably Brett Hart versus Steve Austin at WrestleMania.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, that's that's a good call too. That with the
SummerSlam the Angle Mysterio match, that's considered like one of
the greatest openers of all time. So you like you
know exactly what you're getting in that show from from
the minute you get in there. Yeah, definitely what a
you know you're you're the champ. Now, the full match,
I think is still yet to be a real least
follow pw R on YouTube. The matches from this past

(13:47):
show is slowly rolling out. But what we have seen
that you sustained an injury in that match. You seem
to do be doing all right. But if you want
to let people know, how are you feeling, what's the
what's it looking like for you as you lead up
to to February show.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
Well, I'm stubborn and I don't like to go to
the doctor and get checked out and get prescribed things
and all that good stuff. I can say this, it's
been nine days since that happened. Now, if I had
to wrestle right now, could I?

Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yes? Would it be wise too? Probably? Not. It's definitely
pretty stiff.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
In my neck when I wake up in the mornings,
and I do even though I don't know for one
hundred percent sure, I do believe I suffered a mild concussion.
So probably giving a little bit more buffer of time
before I wrestled it would be the wiser thing to do. Fortunately,
I got a little over six weeks left to prepare
for the next show, so definitely going to be exploring

(14:43):
some new avenues with training and just getting ready for this.

Speaker 3 (14:46):
Overall.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
It's a little different than what I did previously.

Speaker 1 (14:50):
Was it obvious? Like the second you know you released
the clips? So I think we're okay to talk about it, Like,
did you know immediately like something was wrong?

Speaker 3 (14:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yeah, I've you know, I've taken some nasty bumps before.
But the pain I felt in that moment, the way
it kind of just shot down my neck and then
I could just tell that I was mentally out of it.
I literally said out loud to the ref that I
was hurt, and he walked over to me and he
wanted to call it off, and I said, we can't.
We got fans here, we got to put a show

(15:17):
on for we got to cut it short, and that's fine,
we can't call it off. And uh yeah, I definitely
knew something was wrong.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
So that obviously not tainted, but stirred up the moment
that you were, you know, hoping to have on that night.
But still, how did it feel to get that one
two three? Some shanigans were trying to go down. You
didn't let it happen. You you know, you out wrestled
the Tiberius got the one two three? How did that
moment feel? Even with everything going.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
On, all I have to go off of is looking
back on it in a video because I don't really remember.
I don't there's about a like I said, or maybe
I said this already, but there's about a ten minute
window of time that I don't remember. I remember winning
the bell or like the rough handing me the belt,

(16:02):
and I remember like struggling to physically hold it up
because of how much pain I was in in the moment,
But everything leading up to that, from the point. Everything
that's from the point I got hurt leading up to
that is a blur to me.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
Wow. Okay, well, I'm definitely glad you're feeling better. We're
worried about you that day. I'm glad I heard from
you that night, so I made me feel a little
better about it, for sure. Here's a quick lightning round question,
not counting the belt on your shoulder. What is your
favorite championship belt design in wrestling? Oh?

Speaker 3 (16:29):
Man, that's a hard question.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
Yeah, you give the top three if that helps.

Speaker 2 (16:34):
I love the two thousand and two Undisputed title. I
love the Big Goal World Heavyweight title. And I actually
prefer the Attitude Era title over the Winged Eagle title.
I know that's a controversial one, but I think that
wing Egle looks cool, but it's all it's kind of small.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
I like the at the Attitude one looks better on
more people because it's bigger. Like there's certain guys that
like if Yoko Zuna had the Attitude title like it
would it would look a lot better because it was
so you know, small on him. For sure. The Undisputed title,
I say it all the time that like it had
such a small window of time, Like I wish when
John Cena won the Spinner Belt. Anytime he wasn't champion,

(17:09):
they like reverted back to the other one because imagine,
you know some of those got edge or see umpunk
wherein that would have been great. But yeah, that's an
underrated one because it was only around for like two
and a half years or so.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
And this is a random tidbit about that belt that
I really like. But on the side plates it actually
has the McMahon family crest.

Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, I saw something about that which I don't know
if I don't. He must have a fascination with the
Eagles too, because of all the years that there had
to be an Eagle on the belt somewhere, which you know,
I'm an Eagles fan, so that works for me. But
you could just tell that there was a you know, there.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
Was somethings had a big win last night.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, yeah, I was gonna ask you about you know,
I didn't go your way, but I can imagine you're
a Broncos fan for those that don't know, Like, I
don't think people expected them in the playoffs this year.
Were you pleasantly surprised with bo Nicks this year? And
just as far as they got.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Yeah, I definitely hadn't followed them like I still follow
them every year, but in the last few years I
definitely had started to lose hope in them, if you will. Yeah,
And kind of going into this all this season, I
had very low expectations, like, all right, cool, we got
a rookie that we drafted, We'll see what happens. Seeing
his first few games, I was like eh. But then

(18:21):
I saw the progression and I was like, okay, cool.
I knew we were gonna lose yesterday. It would have
been nice to win, but it was just happy to
be in the playoffs again.

Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah, I mean, you got to you gotta start somewhere.
It's better to get there and then be, you know,
another five win season or whatever. Made a Broncos fan?
Was it like la growing up? Like that's that's most
people's answer.

Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, so silly enough, this is gonna be like a
really silly reason. But I grew up like a Gators fan,
and I didn't really necessarily have a favorite NFL team,
And the first Super Bowl that I recall watching was
the Broncos and the Packers, and well it was technically
in ninety eight, but it was for the ninety seven season,
but I remember rooting for the Broncos because they were

(19:00):
the orange and blue team like the Gators, So I
just kind of stuck with him ever since after they won.
I mean, I guess you could say, I guess you
could say I hopped on the bandwagon as a child, right.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
I mean, I'll give you even sillier reason the first time,
I really because you know, we grew up in Florida,
so you think you need to pick a Florida team.
But I remember watching you know, wrestling was my first love,
and Brian Dawkins like German Suplex, a guy on the Redskins,
and I'm like, oh, I saw a wrestling move in
the middle of a football field. Let me continue to
watch this team and this guy, and then it just
took over from there. So equally silly reason, I'd say.

Speaker 2 (19:30):
Yeah, I heard there was a pedigree as a touchdown
celebration or something last night.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
That's not what it looked, but apparently that's what it
was supposed to be. Like he kicked him in the
gut and he bent over, and then like he went
to put weight on him and he just it almost
looked like when the the announced table fell when Triple
H tour whatever he tore like, it looked like that.
Oh yeah, yea, the timing was not right, but I guess,
you know, a for effort.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
I guess so this at home?

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah exactly, And we were we were both those kids
you know that didn't listen with that. What would you
tell that kid back then? Something now, just like, what
would you change about upcoming? And obviously I said training
schools were limited at the time, but if you could
tweak anything, what would you tell that kid?

Speaker 3 (20:13):
Now?

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Are you referring to me telling myself? Yeah, oh that's
an easy one. Lose your ego, lose your ego, humble
yourself and go into this with an open mind to
learn and get better rather than thinking you already know
what you're doing.

Speaker 3 (20:29):
And yeah, definitely that.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
So you feel it. Do you feel your ego got
in the way at times?

Speaker 3 (20:36):
Oh? Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:39):
So I want to thank you again for this time.
This is I think we figured out your first official
interview as champion, and you know, we go back a
long way, so I do appreciate your time. I want
to be respectful of it as we get out of here.
You know, we're about six months in four shows into
pw R, you're already the champ. Obviously you want to
hold that with pride and dignity. But what is what's
your goals with this? Where do you see PWR going

(21:01):
and what are you hoping to accomplish as you're a
part of this promotion.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
Well, my goal as a performer, and it specifically is champion,
is to put butts in seats. Show three to show
four was a significant increase, and I did a really
good job in promoting with that, and I'm going to
do a great job of promoting every single month, and
we want to see substantial increase month in and month out.

(21:26):
My ideal dream scenarios that we go to an indoor
venue here in the coming months, you know, not later
than the summertime when it starts to get a little
hotter outside.

Speaker 3 (21:36):
And then once we you know, fill.

Speaker 2 (21:38):
That venue up and got to move into a bigger
venue and get more equipment, maybe have a training school
of our own one day, a permanent venue we can
run out of and then kind of just go from
their sky's a limit.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
Yeah, I mean definitely, with the way things are moving
faster ready, there's no reason to think those things can't
be accomplished. You mentioned, you know, wanting to be endorsed
by summertime. How often did you wrestle in like weather
like this? We don't get it for very often in Florida,
but it was interesting being there, Like I know, some
guys maybe tweaked the ring gear a little bit to
cover up a little more because it was cold. Man.
It was probably fifty something degrees that day, So like,

(22:10):
how many times have you wrestled in that cold weather?

Speaker 2 (22:13):
I wrestled in a show in Pennsylvania one time, and
I want to believe it was in early March and
it was snowing outside. I couldn't tell you the exact temperature,
but it was in a warehouse style building with no
type of insulation, heat, anything like that. And I wrestled
in my regular gear, which back the nd of the
time was just biker shorts and kick.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Pads Samoa Joe style.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yeah, so he met. You know, Shane mentioned wanting to
increase the attendance and stuff moving forward. If you want
to be part of that increase in attendance. Ob Barn
Lounge and Deulan in Florida, February twenty third, My Brutal
Valentine is the next show, Shane. I don't know if
you have your opponent picked you out yet or anything,
but I assume you'll be there and we're gonna see

(22:57):
some great stuff. So anyone that wants to be part
of that, this great show that's growing promotion. I'll have
all the social media's for Shane and PWR in the
description and i'll put the link in there for tickets.
You can buy tickets at the door as well, So
if you want to be a part of this, now
it's the time to hop on. Shane. I really appreciate
your time. Man, good luck, and I'll see you in February.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
Thank you, thank you for having me and I appreciate
your time.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Have a good night.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
Thanks for listening. Guys, We'll see you next time.