Shell Yeah! Shark Boy Joins Francine

I shoved.

We heard love not start. Okay, so we're just starting from the beginning.

Just start from the beginning.

Well, okay, So I am thrilled that I saw you this past weekend at the Square Circle Expo. Now I know has hit everybody really, really hard. This is one of the first conventions back for me since January of twenty.

Have you been out and.

About like bed, were you actively working or are you just like here and there?

Yeah, I'm just kind of here and there, you know, And then COVID pretty much brought everything to a complete halt. So it was it was really nice to get out and do this thing in Indianapolis.

You know, it's just been such a long time.

It was great to see everybody, great to connect with the fans again.

It felt like things were kind of starting to get back to normal finally, right.

And you had mentioned that you did you did, you worked a tag Saturday night at the Square Circle X.

But when was the last match before this that you had.

I want to say, I know I did something else in Indianapolis, probably in the fall, and I might have had one other thing, but I don't know. I would say no, you know, October was probably the last time I was in the ring, so just rust was just falling off me in the tag team match.

How did you feel? How's your body feeling?

You know, I'm getting old, older now everything hurts more. It's it's not as much fun anymore. I mean, the you know, the entertaining part is still very fun. But then the way I feel after the match is over, you know, it's you know, it's the older you get the herder this it's a young man's game, that's for sure.

Yeah, I find uh, I love conventions because even though I have trouble sometimes getting up and down out of.

My chair, right, but you know, it's less toll on the body.

Sure, And and I feel like, you know, at this stage in the game, we've all earned the right to not bump anymore and just sign you know, I agree.

So I love those. I love doing them.

I want to land more of those, I because I've only done a handful. Really, Wrestle con was a big one. I think maybe we talked about that a little bit. Was I saw you in New York City a couple of years ago at Wrestla Coan. That was the biggest one I've done. But I've done a handful of, but not enough. I'd like to do more of those. It's like you said, when the when the biggest of you know, uh, physical thing you're doing is get up up and down

Well, I will if you want to do them. I will definitely keep an ear open, yeah, and try to help you as much as I can.

You know, I think you should be on Cameo.

Yeah, because I'm so technologically great here.

Well it's not.

But the gear that you're wearing, the sharp boy mask, I think it is a niche. I think you have that certain something and I think Cameo would be a great fit for you. But we can talk about that later. I can get you involved in that if you'd like.

What a recruiter? Yeah, yeah, what a recruiter?

That's what I do.

But we were talking before you started at the power plant in ninety nine. Yes, and tell us again, who is in that group of guys that you started with.

Well, right when I came in, Jimmy Yang had just starts. Jamie Noble was also in my group, and then there were some guys that had already been there for a little while. I don't know where to start. Chuck Colombo, Mike Sanders, Alan Funk, crow Bar, a whole.

Lot of people.

You know, it was a pretty good sized class when I first got there, and then of course things started to go downhill for the company, and then the cuts started to come, and it seemed like, I don't know, there might have been thirty or forty guys when I started, and by the end it got down to about a dozen or whatever, and so kind of the you know, the way what.

The joke was if you saw the FedEx man come and.

You know, get the hell out of there, you know, cutting him off, jumping before he could deliver the uh you know the paperwork that says you've been cut, you know off.

That next man was the big heel.

Yeah, when when you were training, were you thinking about like the cruiser Weight division.

You know, when they signed me, there was actually this project apparently that Eric Bischoff was doing, that was it was going to be sort of like the way it was described to me, they were going to do like a Power Rangers Pro Wrestling, kind of like a separate project. And I was actually signed to be a part of that and so was Jamie Noble.

I think Jimmy Yang as well.

And so we were brought in for the separate project that never wound up materializing, So some of us, Yeah, so some of us sort of got worked into the main roster as a result of that project getting scrapped.

I think that's really interesting. I've never heard about that one.

Yeah, it was some kind of separate project they were doing. I don't I don't really know that. The way it was describing me was sort of like Power Rangers. I think it was going to be like a kid oriented kind of show.

Interesting.

Did you hear about that, Chad, I've heard about it in the past, yes.

Huh, Okay, so it would have been a different show than Thunder or Nitro. I think I would have been the stars of this.

Showing towards children, maybe like a Saturday more kind of you know, action adventure kind of wrestling themed thing for kids was kind of what I was picturing. But they wound up scrapping the project before it really you know, went anywhere at all.

So yeah, So how did you enjoy your time at WCW. Did you find it, you know, pleasing, because I know, like going to coming from ECW, which I loved, and then going to a place like WWE.

It just wasn't my cup of tea. But here you are, You're green, and you're you're switching over and you're you're getting on television quickly.

That's what happened to me. Were you comfortable with the role that they gave you? Did you come up with the Shark Boy gimmick?

Yeah, i'd been I'd been being I started doing Shark Boy in May of ninety seven, so it was a couple of years on the indies.

Yeah, I did.

I'll tell you where I first kind of got recognized was I did the first Brian Pillman memorial show in nineteen ninety eight, and I know Chris Kanyon was there, and I think he's one of the you know, he's sort of scouting and saw me and came up and talked to me, which you know, blew me away. As I was a Mortus fan, so it was kind of you know, it was amazing to me. He came over and said, you know, I'm gonna keep an eye on you.

Than that.

So then in ninety nine I think I remember Terry Taylor was at that one. So it was kind of like w CW was sending people to sort of scout talent maybe at certain events, and the Pilman Shows was one of them. So ninety nine was really my big break. They I did a cruiserweight tournament. They put me over three times in one night. A big surprise happened at the end. Mick Foley and Al Snow and d Loo Brown ran out and lifted me up on their shoulders

You never know who's watching you, right.

Well, it was a high profile thing Filman shows because all three of the major companies sent representatives WWEWCW, and ECW on every show was represented, and that was something that wasn't happening in the business at all at that time.

So yeah, yeah, I think.

You would have done well in ECW.

Yeah, and everybody thinks I was there for some reason. I remember seeing you in ECW. I'm like, no, you don't.

I was so.

Yeah, it seems like the gimmick, the gimmick would have fit right, It would have fit right in though.

Yeah, I mean we you know, a lot of our wrestlers didn't really have gimmicks, so to speak.

But I think yours.

I think yours would have been a good fit for some some crazy reason, I don't know.

I just feel like it would have worked, right, I think so too.

That's a shame.

I mean, there's so many people, there are so many people that wanted to work for ECW that never did work for ECW that I feel like if we had them, it just would have worked. And I think you would have been one of them.

But thank you.

Yeah. Yeah, but I know.

There there was a gimmick for a little bit with you and Daphne.

Uh, you were shark boy, she was Shark girl. I feel like she came up with that. But what was the story behind that pairing.

Yeah, she just kind of came to me and said, I really want to be shark girl, and yeah, yeah, I believe so yeah, Okay, she had said that to me, and she was really you know, She's like, I got I've got somebody working on a mask. I know what I wanted to look like, and she was just very excited about the idea, and I was flattered because I was a fan of her work, you know, w c W.

So I was like, yeah, let's do that.

If anybody's gonna be Shark girl, you know, it's got to be you obviously. So we uh so, yeah, she did that and then we we did it I think maybe once or twice on TNA maybe, uh And then we did it on the INDI, you know, and.

That was really all we got to do with it.

But always great working with her, and you know, she's awesome, the sweetheart.

There you go, there we are.

Yeah, so the office in TNA didn't like the pairing.

I'm not sure exactly what I know, you know, when when when I first it was kind of like I'd just gotten to TNA and they came to me with the idea, and I remember my first reaction was, well, they don't really know who I am yet, so it might be kind of soon to throw a second character, you know what I mean. So I know I was I was initially I was a little bit resistant to doing it on TNA. I would rather established Shark Boy for a few months and then oh look and there's this sharp girl too.

You know, I thought that, you know what I mean, I thought that would have been the way to do it.

So, I know, initially I may have drugged my feet a little bit on the idea, but you know, I was never opposed to it.

I wanted to do it.

It's just I thought it would have been smarter to establish Shark Boy first, you know, that was I thought about it.

Then, So you you've been working before the power plant. You said you were a couple of years in the indies and then you get your big break. You work for WCW. Doesn't really work out because the company goes under. A year goes by, and then TNA comes around. Now for that year, like, do you go back to the indies? Are you heartbroken? Did you think your career was over? Like where where's your mind at?

Once? W CW folds.

Yeah, I mean I never thought my career was over. Not at that point. I was.

I was still pretty young, you know, I was in my early to mid twenties there, So I mean I still I figured I had plenty of time to you know, I just was gonna have to find another way back up. You know back up there, you know. And the other thing was what's gonna happen? Is it just going to be WWE and that's it, you know, not going to be another you know. So I was really excited to find out that the Jarrett's were starting TNA, and I

So when you worked for WCW, you were allowed to work other shots, even though you.

Didn't said that we figured out ways to do it, you know what I mean. Yeah, even when we were at the power plant that you know, that was kind of the thing we would, uh, you know, three or four of us would go do an Indian Mum's the word hush hush, and I you know, they kind of looked the other way. The big rule was don't get hurt. You know, as long as you didn't get hurt on the indie or there wasn't gonna be a problem. But you know a lot of guys did that. I think

Now, did your opportunities have to go through the office or were you just booking yourself?

Yeah, we were pretty much just booking ourselves. It's pretty good.

Well, the guys that are the guys that were down there knew the places in Atlanta, around Atlanta where you could go and work an independent show, you know what I mean.

So we would there were certain.

Places that, like I said, the office just kind of looked the other way. You were in trouble if you got hurt, though, I found that out firsthand.

So cause you got hurt on one of the shows.

Yeah, yeah, Jimmy Yang kicked me in the ear and split my ear open. Yeah he was green, he was green. He was green as grass back then. But yeah, he it bled through the mask, that's how bad it was.

And yeah, so.

I had to I had to go to the doctor. I had to go to the emergency room that night, and they they glued it shut, you know, my ear right, and they said it should be fine. You know, he'll he'll, he'll back up everything to find just be very careful. So I had to go in the power plant the next morning, pretend like nothing was wrong with my ear. So I go to lock up with one of the other guys and on the lock up, boom, blood everywhere.

Now, now, can I make a suggestion?

And then this is probably twenty years too late, but why didn't you wear.

Your mask to the powerplant that day and just cushing.

Up that ear with a bunch of gauze and had the mask over you and nobody would have known about your ear.

Maybe, but I would have had to do that for like two weeks or whatever, you know, however long it takes for the ear to heal, right.

Of course, But you're looking at the gimmick. I mean, give it twenty four to seven. I'm just gonna wear my mask all day.

Well, yeah, and that's the other thing I would have stuck out.

Nobody else was wearing their gimmick to practice nation.

You're getting into your role.

I love it.

I would in hindsight, I probably should have done exactly what you're saying.

I want to cover it up your ear for sure, and then you take the mask if you go, oh, I don't know, my ear got caught on something in the mask a little.

What happened to it? Yeah, no, exactly.

Wow.

Wow, that's that's crazy. So now you're in TNA. You said you were there for ten years, give or take.

Yeah, my character, I think I had a contract for maybe nine or ten years. They would, you know, they'd put me on the shelf sometimes and take me back off the shelf, and so it kind of felt very kind of off and on. But I was under contract to them for probably nine, maybe nine or ten years.

Wow, that's a long time.

Yeah, why did you.

I'll tell you they It got to a point where I had, you know, a certain number of guaranteed dates, as you get with a contract, and I got a call from Terry Taylor and he said.

We're not going to be able to meet your dates.

We're probably gonna wind up exercising the out clause and maybe we'll talk about you know. I said, well, I'm still under contract for another three three or four months or whatever, and you're telling me I won't be working in that time. He said, no, I don't. We don't think we'll be able to match what we told you, you know. So at that point I said, we might as well

He said, well, do you think you can find opportunities elsewhere?

And I said, well, I don't know if I can or not, but I know I don't want to stay in a contract with someone who's not going to use me. So yeah, that's I asked for my release at that point. It just felt like the right time.

But would you have been paid for that four months if you paid?

Not the way my No, it wasn't a guaranteed, you know, Okay, not the way it was set up, I wouldn't have been paid.

So yeah, I would have rode that till the very last minute. If I was going to get paid, sure, who.

If I was getting a check every week, yeah, no problem. But that's not that's not the way it was set up.

Okay, I got you. So when you when you were released? What year was that?

Oh gosh, I don't know.

If I had to guess, would would that have been twenty ten?

Right about then? Some something like that.

Okay, so maybe the last aid you're not working for a major fred, you're still doing indies.

Here and there?

Yeah, pretty much?

Are you loving life more that you can make your own decisions?

Oh that's a really good question. I'll tell you. I've I've completely rebooted things.

I've got a new I'm on my second marriage, I've got a new kid. So yes, I enjoy I enjoy all that, you know what I mean?

Has a new kid?

I have a new kid? When I bought a new kid?

Yeah, no, I so, I mean, yes, I'm enjoying life more now. I do feel like I'm more in control. I'm definitely smarter about everything. I mean, you know, the business and family and everything.

So yeah, I see this.

I see this as a good It's definitely a good time in my life for sure.

You know, do I miss being on national television?

Yeah?

I mean that's what kind of you know, made all of this possible was getting to be on National TV. And they made an action figure out of me, they put me in a video game.

You know, of course you missed that kind of thing when it goes away, but you know.

I'm still kind of reaping the benefits of all that now, So right, yeah.

And you know what's crazy is that you look back and people talk about, you know, the eighties and the early nineties, these iconic names and the guys that will live on forever on shows. But your character, your gimmick is one of those modern day gimmicks that's going to be able to live on forever because people as they find you and they see this shark mass, you become identifiable.

Well, thank you.

Yeah, And you know it's like you said, with you, I always say, kids love robots, insects and sharks, you know, and like kids are just kids are just always going to be sort of drawn to this character.

I saw it at the convention Indianapolis.

These kids will come over and be oh my, you know, and how do they know who I am?

They're too young to see me on television, you know, But it's.

Because their parents or somebody said, hey, look there's this guy who dressed like a shark, and you know, thanks to YouTube, I'm alive forever and you know.

So, yeah, it is one of those things.

It's just gets hung around, and I hope, you know, it's like you said, it'll it'll just continue to stay.

Around, you know, And I've been really lucky in that regard. I think absolutely.

I think boobs have the same effects.

They do different.

Sometimes men will say, I don't know who you are, but it looks pretty good. Can I get sure?

Hell that might even be more true than what I just said. Yeah, oh gosh.

Well, where can people find you if they want to know more about the Shark Boy.

I'm on Twitter and my handle is a shark Boy twenty four underscore seven. That's me on Twitter, and that's really the best place because anything happens, I get on there and sort of talk about it, plug it or whatever. So that's what I would say. Come come visit me at Twitter, follow me on Twitter.

Okay, well, I would love to talk to you a little more about getting you out there because I feel I can uh lend a helping hands.

So to speak.

Cool, awesome.

Discuss stuff further later, But I'm so happy I ran into I love running into guys that I don't get to see very often, so you know. And like I said, you caught me after that first glass of whiskey, so I was.

But it was, you know what, I just thought of something else I could plug I have.

I have a pro wrestling tease. Oh yeah, I'm on there. I'm on there. I got some T shirts.

On there, but you just look under shark boy.

Yeah, I'm the only one there. You go, Well, who else is dressed like this? Well?

I love the gimmick. I think it's brilliant. And like you said, it you know it draws. You're you're gonna draw the kids because of the mask, but you're gonna draw the adults because of your talent.

Well, thank you. I I loved running into you too. And and I don't do a whole lot of these things. I don't know if you can tell that by by the problems I had with the technology here, but uh yeah, I don't do well.

I you know, like when you asked you, I said, I will do this for you.

Nice.

I appreciate that.

It's like I said, it's so nice. I just felt like people should know what's going on with you. And if you do want to tip your toes in the water, we got to get your face out there. So even if it's under a mask, but this is how people know who you are. So I'm thrilled to chat with you, and you know, keep in touch and if you need anything, let me know.

All right, thank you so much, Thank you both for having me. Thank you awesome, Thanks my friend. Okay, take care guys, Siyah.

All right, let's finish up here on this end, so we don't we don't have to go and record, you know, ten million times, but we'll go right into our patriots. So for the magic of editing, nobody had to go through what we had to get through getting sharp Boy connected on a few different potential multi mediums here. But we got it done and that's the most important part. Now, his picture was frozen, but we just.

Went with it right, and that was fine because I heard him crystal clear.

So exactly it worries about that.

So he's such a nice guy and I feel like he's again he's one of the ones that are underrated, and people you know may not know he's still out there, but he is. He's out and about and he looks great and he's just a nice person. So I really like Shark Bay.

Yeah.

Franci Francis franc Queen Extreme Extreme, The Queen Extreme Podcasts, The Queen Extreme Podcast. It's the Queen of Extreme Rule for enough your dreams lettend on the Scene frand Scene Podcast. What you mean when your tramplady to show you what you need? You puldn't The stand of Queens from the Beginning of Time. Odds here our Heart Radio, shine only a head and tell you a story from the wind.