Ric Flair's role in Shane Helms dropping The Hurricane gimmick
Shane Helms was recently interviewed by The Cut Pro Wrestling Podcast. During the interview, Helms discussed 'The Hurricane' gimmick and how he had to change his style of wrestling when he was The Hurricane. Shane Helms said he had to "wrestle it down" while he was wrestling as The Hurricane.
Shane Helms on deciding to drop The Hurricane gimmick
Shane Helms also discussed his run as the WWE World Tag Team Champions alongside Rosey, calling it his favorite title run. Helms also explained his decision to turn heel and leave The Hurricane gimmick behind, saying that it was Ric Flair's advice that eventually convinced him to drop the gimmick. Helms revealed what Flair told him:
"After the Rosey run with the tag championships, we won those and that's my favorite championship run. And then they took them off of us for another experiment of Cade and Murdoch, which might've been the least over team we ever worked up there. And it was just like really another gimmick like this. In this time, too, you know, Flair was always kind of a mentor for me. And Flair was just like, 'You're too good for this gimmick.' And like, he's saying that to me like a couple of years before the turn, but it was something that has stuck with me because me and Flair had a pretty good run there for a little while and got to work TV a couple of times, a couple of times on live events. And just that stuck with me, you know? 'You're too good for this gimmick.'" H/T: WrestlingINC
Helms turned heel when he dropped The Hurricane gimmick and found success in the cruiserweight division following his return to being a singles star. He won the Cruiserweight Championship and held it for over a year in what was a record-breaking run. Helms held onto the Cruiswerweight Championship for 384 days.
Shane Helms is currently a backstage producer in WWE. He was furloughed in April along with a number of other staff but was brought back last month. Helms also made an appearance during the Elite Deletion match at AEW Full Gear.