Shane "Hurricane" Helms Talks TNA Personnel Changes, Working As An Agent. WWE Royalties, OMEGA

I recently spoke to TNA agent Shane "Hurricane" Helms, who was the longest reigning WCW Cruiserweight Champion of all time. We spoke about his role in TNA, as well as the money he made off of the Hurricane character in WWE.

You can check out the second part of the interview below, and the first part of the interview at this link. You can also listen to the interview in full in the audio player at the bottom of the page, or the video player at the top of the page, or download it here.

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Speaking of the Hurricane character, you were one of the top merchandise sellers in the company. What was it like hearing that?

"When I got my first big royalty check, I thought it was a mistake (laughs)."

Did you tell anybody!? That's the type of mistake you keep to yourself.

"All kinds of s–t was running through my mind. I got one or two before then, but they were nothing. WCW didn't have a lot of merchandise, they missed the merchandise boat on a lot of people."

Then when you did have merchandise, it'd ring up for somebody else's character.

"Yeah that s–t would say NWO. I got one, and this f–king thing is huge. I was like 'do I tell somebody. If I cash this, am I going to get in trouble?' It clearly has my name on it, it's mine. I went and cashed it, but for a couple of days, I didn't buy s–t. I thought they were going to call me after I bought a Corvette or something and say it was for somebody else. Those checks were pretty nice. I still get some nice ones from them for time to time."

Do you see any residuals from the WWE Network?

"The only thing I got from the Network is they paid me to do a couple of interviews. When it airs, we don't get anything for that. That definitely hurts the boys, especially pay-per view revenue is down because of the network. DVD business is going to s–ts. I can't tell you the last time I bought a DVD. So they're not getting DVD, PPV or Network money. It hurts."

You've made some appearances on television for TNA, any chance of you getting back in the ring for them?

"There's definitely a chance. I'm definitely in a transitional period where my career is at. I can do an indy show and that fire is still there, but when you're an agent and doing all these other things, it can spread you thin, and I don't want to spread myself thin. I want to be able to concentrate fully on what I'm doing, but there's an opportunity. One of my goals, and things they specifically asked me to help out on is to rejuvenate the X-Division. Some of the things I've helped them implement are doing that. They need star power. I'm not trying to sound like I'm the biggest star in the business, but I think I add to that division with my name alone. The negative is these kids are good, they can move, and I'll be 42 this year. I have to be cognizant of that. I'm a proud man, and proud of what I do in the ring, and if I can't do it the way I used to, I don't want to do it. If I can't, we're going to have to change the station."

TNA also brought in Trevor Lee, who you're kind of affiliated with on TV.

"I've known Trevor since he was about four years old. His dad was a part of the original OMEGA crew in the mid-90s. I just gradually saw him progress. He works hard, he's in the gym all the time. We did this last tour in Pennsylvania, flew home, and he went straight to a training session. I had to go home and sit on my couch for two days. Incredible work ethic. He grew up on the hybrid style, the OMEGA style. He grew up watching that, and really made it his own. He's already good, he's going to be even better. Andrew Everett is another guy. There are a lot of the guys on the indies that I think are ready for TNA and I hope I can help out. I think that's one of the ways to get the X-Division hot again. Let's get some new bodies, some new help. That doesn't mean getting rid of the old ones, either. We need more personell to help that division shine. Do you know what hurt the X-Division the most?"

You being an agent?!

"(laughs) No! I helped it. This was before me, it got over. When that style was fresh, that's what made it stand out. Now that style is commonplace. Look at Seth Rollins, that's an X-Division style in every match, and he's main eventing in WWE. It's not a niche, new thing anymore. You can see the X-Division everywhere. Gail Kim and Mia Yim are doing it. By being so successful, it lost all of it's mystique. That mystique is everywhere. The whole PWG card is all X-division. We need to get new personell to help challenge each other. It's not just doing moonsaults anymore, cause everybody does a moonsault. Mandrews does moonsaults on his entrance, which I told him not to do, and he better not do em' again. There has to be ways to spice it up. I think it's personell. Guys that can grab the microphone and deliver, have charisma. It's not just about moves anymore. It's about personality, the total package. That division has to grow."

Do you think that's a way TNA can gain viewers they've lost along the way?

"Without a doubt. If you want to see new stuff, you have to provide them with new stuff. It can't be one of those youth movements though, because they never work. The business always has these youth movements and they end up sucking. You don't just turn on Seinfeld and watch four new people. That's Friends. Where are all the people I know at? It has to be a couple guys here and there, but you need your main stars that people identify with. Give them new challenges. Then if the new guys come in and get more over, we make adjustments. That's how its supposed to be."

You're running OMEGA now. What's that been like?

"It's stressing the hell out of me. It's a big company in terms of indies, we have about 800-1000 people, 1200 has been our highest. The amount of work that goes into an event of that magnitude is a ton. The amount of respect I have for Vince Russo, Dixie Carter, even Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo from WCW, there's a lot that goes into it. The in-ring is actually the least of my worries, because my number one rule of booking is don't use people that suck. If you're not good, you're not going to be on my show. Being a booker and a promoter are entirely different things. I'm a much better booker than I am a promoter. Promoting is where my weakness is right now, that's where I have guys come and help me with advertising tactics, marketing tactics. That's where I need help. That's never been my avenue and never been my world. Working, writing a show, helping talent excel, I'm good at that. The last week of February we'll be running in XXXXXXXX arena, where the NWA used to go all the time. I was there so many times as a kid. I'm so giddy about doing this show. We're teaming up with Big Time Wrestling, a really great marketing company that does a great show. Me, Matt, Jeff, we're all giddy about it because we went there as kids. I chopped Nikita (Koloff) one time, but his chest was like steel, and it hurt my hands, I was like 12. I have pictures of me there with bandanas wrapped around my leg like the Rock N' Roll Express. So many memories there as a fan.

You've had a lot of big names and familiar names on the show.

"We've had a lot of ROH guys, too. One of my favorite matches I booked was the Hardys vs. The Briscoes. The Briscoes are one of my favorite tag teams. They are such a great product. I would love to have them on our roster. I know ROH needs to do everything they can to keep them, they're fantastic. I can't say enough good things about how hard they worked, too. I actually bonused them after that, too. They fulfilled their agreement and the money was all set, but we did good on the house. That's something we do, find somebody to bonus every show. Sometimes it's not something we really advertise too much. The boys want all the money they can get, I get that. As a promoter, you need to be making money, and setting money aside for future shows, and products to help your production values go up. But we did bonus the Briscoes for their performance. It's fantastic."

Where can fans follow you on social media?

"ShaneHelms.com is mywebsite. I make it easy for everybody. Everything else is ShaneHelmsCom. Twitter, Instagram, I'm on Tumblr right now looking at some s–t I shouldn't be looking at. Tumblr, you gotta be careful. You could be looking at totally PG stuff, then you're one click away from the worst thing of all time. That's always when my woman walks by, too."

Anything else you want to tell the fans?

"If there's any fans that were disenfranchised with TNA in the past, I say forget all that. I wasn't there then! I can't fix anything that was done in the past or mistakes made. Give it a chance now, I think we have a lot of stuff coming up. I know a lot of fans think I have to say that, but I ain't gotta say s–t. TNA isn't paying me for this interview. I do think it's a good product and I'm happy to be a part of it. OMEGA's great. I still love wrestling, I don't care what three letters come before it."