Shane 'Hurricane' Helms Loves Producing For WWE, Came Up With Rhea Ripley's Nickname
Barring about seven months where the company furloughed him at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shane Helms has been working for WWE as a producer since February 2019. Aside from fulfilling some independent bookings through April 2019, his only match since then has been entering the 2021 men's Royal Rumble match in front of zero live fans at the WWE Thunderdome. His in-ring career appears to officially be in the rearview mirror, but as he explained it Mickie James, Lisa Marie "Victoria/Tara" Varon, and SoCal Val on their "Grown Ass Women" podcast on Wednesday, he couldn't be happier with his current situation producing matches instead of wrestling in them.
"I love it; strangely enough, I like producing almost as much and sometimes more than working [in the ring]," Helms explained. "And I never thought anything would exceed my love for actually being in the ring. That's where I was always most at home; I'm pretty sure you ladies feel the same way. I absolutely adored it, and I still do. The physical part of that kinda ... my body checked out a little while ago. The producing, man? I absolutely love this job. I might have been made more for this than actually wrestling."
Helms then pivoted to the recent WWE European tour and how the crowd in Paris, France, in particular, was one of the hottest crowds he had ever seen in his entire wrestling career, before talking about the content of the shows on that tour. "The main event of that [show], the guys are using moves I created every night," he said. "Not because I asked them to; Because they wanted to. Little things like that, talent using moves I came up with, or using sayings I came up with, catchphrases — I came up with 'Eradicator' for Rhea Ripley." He felt a sense of accomplishment when she won the "SmackDown" Women's Title at WrestleMania while billed under that nickname, noting that everyone adds their own little piece of the puzzle.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Grown Ass Women" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.