Shane Helms Talks Benefit Show From Last Month, Flair, Foley

The Miami Herald has an interview up with Shane Helms, focusing on the recent comedy event fundraiser held for him last month. Mick Foley originally came up with the idea to have the proceeds help Helms cover his medical expenses following his motorcycle accident last May.

"It's hard for a guy like me or any pro wrestler to get medical," Helms said. "All my attempts to get medical since I left WWE have been a dead end. I guess Mick knew I was going to have to front all these medical bills... You're talking about a couple of hundred thousand dollars. Yes I did make a lot of money in the wrestling business, but nobody wants to lose a couple hundred thousand dollars. Mick wanted to do this thing. I wasn't sure about it. People have their own things they are dealing with. This was my problem. I'll deal with it myself. That's how I felt, but I knew he wanted to do something."

Helms decided against having the proceeds go towards his medical expenses, and decided to produce a PSA instead.

"The idea for the PSA was spawned pretty soon after the accident," Helms said. "I'm coordinating now with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to get their involvement. There was a state trooper at the scene who knew me. He quoted that he never saw someone with that much facial trauma who lived. My helmet strap cut underneath my chin and cut close to my throat. That almost killed me. I almost bled out from there. So I just wanted to use his quotes and things like that to show if it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody. You never know what tomorrow brings."

The benefit included appearances by Foley, Edge, Ric Flair, Gunner, Reby Sky, Lodi and several others. Helms was grateful for all of the talent being a part of the show.

"It kind of summed up how I always portrayed myself inside the locker room," Helms said. "When you have legends like Ric Flair and Mick Foley, who aren't exactly the best of friends, put that aside and help me out, that meant a lot to me ? to have those who I respect a lot come out for me. I idolized Ric Flair growing up and being from North Carolina. Everybody showed up. Even though he was busy in Toronto, Edge showed up. He has a home in North Carolina but flew down just for the event. The guys from TNA and the lucha libre girls were there. It meant the world to me."

For the full interview, which includes Helms talking in detail about his accident, Scott Hall and the E:60 piece as well as drugs in wrestling, click here.

Source: The Miami Herald