Shane Helms recently spoke with Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated; you can read a few excerpts below:
Shane Helms comments on the design behind his Hurricane mask:
“If I was going to wear a mask, I decided to create a different style of mask. I didn’t want to be like anyone else, and that’s why I went with the half-face and straps in the back.”
“I know about the luchadores from back in the day, especially a forefather like Mil Mascaras, and I wanted to wear a mask where you’d know right away that it was The Hurricane. I’m not wearing the standard $10 mask that so many other guys wear. I wanted people to know right away that it was my mask.”
Helms comments on some of the problems facing 205 Live and WWE’s Cruiserweight division:
“Imagine watching your favorite show. You turn it on one week and the show has an entirely new cast, and you don’t know anyone whatsoever–that’s going to be a tough sell. So WWE brought back this championship, which is still called the Cruiserweight championship, but pretended the cruiserweight division never before existed. That insults the intelligence of a lot of fans. There was a cruiserweight division, I know, I was the champion for the longest out of them all.
“And they brought in a bunch of new guys. They are very, very talented, but nobody is a star quite yet–there are a few that could be, without a doubt, but nobody is that big star yet. Enzo Amore brought a lot of character and flash to that division, because there has to be more than just wrestling, especially in WWE, which is about the big show and the spectacle more than just flips and kicks.”
Helms comments on potential for Aro Lucha:
“This is something I tried to do with a company called Lucha Libre USA in 2011 right when I left WWE, I tried to combine that really flashy Lucha style with the old-school psychology of the American wrestling. That’s the strength of both; it’s the psychology in American wrestling, and Lucha’s style is athleticism. That’s something Aro Lucha has been real focused on, building a hybrid.
“Doing that is what made Rey Mysterio one of the best there is. He had the Lucha style, then he added the American psychology. Rey went from being a regular luchador to one of the best in the world, and he is the prime example of how it can work when done properly. I can’t say that about myself; I was never classified as a lucha, but I was always trying to maintain that old-school psychology but also flash it up when necessary.”
