Double takedown: Twins reach big time

Shane brothers climbing their way up wrestling ladder

Tuesday, April 4, 2006

By JUSTIN CONN

The Register-Mail

GALESBURG - Mike Shane sat at one end of a wooden, oval-shaped kitchen table at his mom's Galesburg home Monday evening. His identical twin brother, Todd, sat at the other end.

Both Shanes' large heads were shaved clean and both sported goatees. Chest, shoulder and upper arm muscles bulged underneath each brother's T-shirt.

The T-shirts were the only way to tell the Shanes apart. Todd's T-shirt was white, Mike's black with "Wrestlemania 22" printed across the chest and "Big Time" printed underneath.

Though the Shanes didn't participate in a match at this year's Wrestlemania - World Wrestling Entertainment's annual marquee event - they were there on Sunday in Chicago to watch as guests.

In the world of professional wrestling, the Shanes - Galesburg natives and 1986 Galesburg High graduates - have hit the big time. They're in the second year of a three-year contract with WWE, appearing regularly on WWE's Friday Night Smackdown TV show on UPN and on Velocity, which can be viewed at WWE.com.

Through television and their grandparents, who took them to AWA matches in the Quad Cities, the Shanes grew up with pro wrestling. Even as skinny tennis players at GHS, they dreamed of a future as wrestlers.

"From the time we were very little, it was always in the back of our heads that we were going to wrestle - no matter what," Mike said.

"We just didn't know how to get involved with it," Todd said.

The Shanes attended Northwest Missouri State on tennis scholarships. Todd earned his degree in corporate recreational wellness and Mike got his degree in geography. After college, both worked jobs and Mike married and started a family. He and his wife have two sons.

"I had a decent job in Omaha - I was the fitness coordinator for the Omaha Housing Authority - and Mike had a decent job, too," Todd said. "But we just gave it all up and decided to find a wrestling camp."

In Tampa Bay, Fla., the Shanes met Dean Malenko, a decorated pro wrestler in the 1990s known as "The Man of a Thousand Holds."

"We found this camp down in Tampa, but wrestling camp is crazy," Mike said. "You have to pay them $3,000 and they don't guarantee you a single match.

"Dean Malenko was running this thing, and he said to me, 'You ain't guaranteed nothing. You could take one bodyslam and walk out of here with nothing,'" Mike said. "I just told him, 'I don't really have a backup plan, so let's do it.'"

In 1998, the Shanes' wrestling careers began in the Florida-based IPW. They progressed through several wrestling companies and traveled to Japan, Saipan, Guam, Peru and Puerto Rico to wrestle.

"Working in Japan gives you credibility because their fans are really into it," Todd said. "But there were these shows in Japan that you had to take a 12-hour ferry ride to get to. The only place on the boat to sleep was this big open, carpeted room - no beds. You could buy a pillow for two bucks.

"You'd look around and you'd see all these guys who were big stars in the U.S. like the Road Warriors and Van Vader and there would be the big stars from Japan - the Hulk Hogans of Japan," Todd said. "But they were sleeping on the floor snoring away just like the rest of us."

The Shanes' first big breaks came against the Road Warriors in Japan.

"These guys were one of the greatest tag teams ever and in our first match against them I got knocked out about two minutes in," Todd said. "I wrestled the rest of the match, but I don't remember it. Mike did most of the wrestling. After the match was over, I looked over to Mike and said, 'Did we wrestle yet?'"

In 2002, the Shanes joined NWA Total Nonstop Action. NWA-TNA owner Jerry Jarrett had an idea for a gimmick involving twins. For several weeks, the Shanes wrestled as Rod and Richard Johnson. They wore latex bodysuits that were intended to make them resemble large condoms.

"This guy Jerry Jarrett was just begging us to do this for months - blowing up my phone," Mike said.

"But they kind of lied to us," Todd said. "They told us we would do two shows like that and then get rid of it. It didn't go like that, but that's pro wrestling - even if it's dumb, if they're talking about you it's good."

By 2005, the Shanes had paid their dues. After wrestling six single-match contracts with the WWE in Florida over the course of three years, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told vice president of talent relations John Laurinaitis to sign the Shanes to a three-year contract.

"We were up around 300 pounds, and WWE called us and told us to get down to 275," Mike said.

"So we lose the weight," said Todd, "and we show up and we have to wrestle in front of Vince and John Laurinaitis. We wrestled for about a minute, and Vince says, 'Are these guys those twins? They lost the weight? Hire them. They listen.' Then Laurinaitis pulled us into an office and signed us."

Currently, the 38-year-old Shane Twins are known in WWE as "Gymini." Their manager is obnoxious fitness guru Simon Dean.

"We're twins, and everything we do on the show is tied into fitness, which is the 'gym' part of the name," Todd said. "We've really been getting booed, which is good, so I think we're on to something. Hopefully this year we'll get a shot at the tag-team titles."