shane taylor promotions

Shane Taylor Promotions: Like The Alabama Crimson Tide, We’re A Problem Regardless Of The Starting Lineup

By Colin Tessier

At Ring of Honor Final Battle: End of an Era, Shane Taylor Promotions will defend the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against The Righteous. The man who the group is named after won’t compete in the title bout because he’ll be facing Kenny King in a bitter Fight Without Honor. As a result, STP will call O’Shay Edwards’ number for the second pay-per-view in a row; the powerhouse filled in for Taylor during the stable’s title defense at ROH Death Before Dishonor.

Heading into the show, which will be the final pay-per-view presented by ROH as we know it, the champions are beyond confident. Over ten months into their reign, they have showcased their ability to excel and overcome any adversity that comes their way.

In an interview with WrestleZone’s Colin Tessier ahead of ROH Final Battle, Edwards, Taylor and Kaun previewed the stable’s bout with The Righteous and described how it doesn’t matter which member gets plugged into a match because the stable, like the great Alabama Crimson Tide teams of the past, keeps rolling no matter what. [Note: Moses was unable to participate in the interview due to travel issues.]

“…Regardless of the starting lineup, man, we’re a problem,” said Edwards. “We run deep for a reason. Just because [it’s] always next man up. There’s a reason why Alabama is, and I hate to say it, ugh, God, but there’s a reason why Alabama is [a dynasty]. Because no matter, if the one guy goes down, doesn’t matter. The backup is just as capable as the guy starting in the starting lineup. So it doesn’t matter.

“This one’s a little different because at least in my eyes, man, the entire landscape of the wrestling world is going to be watching one show, and they’re gonna be watching us. And it’s our time to do exactly what we’ve said we’ve been doing since jump street. You know, we run this, we are who we say we are, you know. And for us, it doesn’t matter it’s The Righteous, it doesn’t matter if it’s anybody else. You know, give us your best three, you know, we gonna sit ‘em down because it’s what we do, it’s what we have to do, it’s what we’ve been doing so you know, granted those three men are exactly who they are, but there’s a reason we’re who we are and why we say we are. So for us, it’s just, we go to war regardless of who you are. You gonna get the best out of us no matter what.”

Kaun concurred by noting that the three-man group with O’Shay is somewhat different than the lineup he’s used to, but he’s looking forward to facing The Righteous on Saturday. He stated that fans can expect to see a fight at the event because that’s what STP does best.

“[It’s] definitely a different dynamic,” said Kaun. I’m excited to face these boys, though. It’s a different style, we’ve never faced The Righteous before in a tag match, six-man, eight-man, nothing like that. And they seem to like to get down like we do, so it’s definitely gonna be a fight, it’s gonna be a brawl, and we gonna hand it to ‘em.”

Taylor shared his excitement upon hearing his stablemates express their confidence heading into this title bout. He delivered another fitting sports metaphor when he described how the team should be able to run up the score on the opposition, even when he’s not playing. “The Baddest of All Time” then made it clear that he fully expects to see STP go out on top on Saturday by retaining the titles and continuing to prove that they’re the best group in the business.

“This is the talk that excites me,” said Taylor. “You know what I’m saying, like hearing the confidence, and I’m not surprised to hear it, man, ‘cause this is who they are. This is why, when I went to go recruiting and I talked to Ron [Hunt, the VP/C.O.O. of Shane Taylor Promotions], I had people by name, like this isn’t an accident, right. And I am the kind of leader that if I have to go out and score 50 points a game, I’m not doing my damn job as a leader, right.

“I should be able to check myself out at halftime and go alright, man, y’all kill this. Or not even play, [laughs] which is, you know, gonna be the case here. And have full confidence that they’re gonna go out there and absolutely run up the score on anybody that they get in the ring with.”

The former ROH World Television Champion went on to acknowledge the way The Righteous skillfully plays mind games; he pointed out that the group took Matt Taven “to his absolute breaking point”, but he emphasized that STP is built different, so Vincent will have a much harder time getting into the champions’ heads. Taylor also predicted that Edwards, Kaun and Moses will steal the show on Saturday.

That’s exactly what STP will aim to do at the pay-per-view because it’ll seemingly be their last chance to do so in an ROH ring. Plenty of the narrative surrounding the show has tried to focus on the fact that it offers everyone a chance to honor ROH one more time, but it’s also fair to wonder about missed opportunities for the talented roster. When asked about this perspective of the situation, Edwards and Kaun stated that they’re focused on the present because, at this point, that’s the only thing that matters. Edwards vowed to go all out and “show [his] whole ass” because he wants to capitalize on the opportunity to perform on such a meaningful show.

“We could sit here all day long and talk about, ‘Oh they coulda done this, they coulda done that,’ but I mean, man, you’re crying over spilt milk,” said Edwards. “Like there ain’t nothing we can do about it now. All I know is, Saturday, we showing up and I’m gonna punch somebody in the mouth. Like I’m pissed, like I’m about to wreck somebody, and unfortunately, it’s gonna be either Vincent or Dutch or Bateman. Somebody’s getting punched in the mouth, there ain’t no ifs, ands or buts about it. Somebody’s getting cracked. And at that point in time, it’s just like, we could talk about the missed opportunities, but the thing about it is, this is the opportunity that’s given to us now. So we’re gonna make the best of it. I’m going to, I use a phrase, I’m from the south, so excuse me, I’m about to show my whole ass because I got to. Because like I said before, the entire wrestling world is watching us. There won’t be an eye that’s not. And if they ain’t, man, you don’t want ‘em.

“Missed opportunities or not, man, this is the opportunity given for us. This is the opportunity that Shane’s put before all three of us. And I’ll be damned if I let this go by the wayside, I’ll be damned if I take this moment lightly. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that when I stand between Moses and Kaun that they ain’t gotta worry about it. I got they back, and they got mine. If I’m gonna die on a battlefield, it’s gonna be next to those two men right there.”

Likewise, Kaun remains focused on showing that Shane Taylor Promotions is indeed the best trio in all of wrestling, no questions asked. He argued that STP has made six-man tag team wrestling matter again, and the group fully intends to punctuate the ROH chapter of its run in a big way on Saturday.

“In the end, we should be talking about, we made trios wrestling relevant again,” said Kaun. “We are the most dominant six-man unit in professional wrestling today. We’re about to amass 300 days, and we’re the greatest six-man unit in Ring of Honor history, period, and we’re gonna end on that note. Like that’s what the news should be about, that’s the current and that’s what we can deal with, and that’s what we’re focusing on right now. If anything, [Edwards] says he’s gonna show his whole ass on Saturday, sh-t, so am I.”

Taylor echoed Kaun’s comments by pointing out how the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship was an “afterthought” when STP won the gold, but now the gold is firmly in the spotlight thanks to the stable’s excellent title reign. Again, come Saturday, Shane Taylor Promotions is determined to put back up their words and prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that everything that they say is true.

“This is our opportunity to go out there and show you what’s happening now, who we are now, what we do now, and what we are is just what we said,” said Taylor. “The most dominant six-man team in the history of Ring of Honor. We have gone on the best run, [we’ve jad] the most defenses against the best competition. The six-man titles when we got them were damn near an afterthought. And now here they are, this is what everybody’s talking about. They’re talking about what STP is gonna do, what Shane is gonna do, O’Shay, Kaun, Moses, [and] what we are gonna do at Final Battle.”

Tune in to ROH Final Battle: End of an Era to see Shane Taylor Promotions and the star-studded ROH roster deliver an action-packed show with “the best wrestling on the planet” one final time on December 11. The show will be available for streaming on pay-per-view and  HonorClub.

The card for ROH Final Battle: End of an Era is as follows:

  • ROH World Championship: Bandido (c) vs. Jonathan Gresham
  • ROH Tag Team Championships: The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (c) vs. The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe)
  • Fight Without Honor: Shane Taylor vs. Kenny King
  • ROH Television Championship: Dalton Castle (c) Joe Hendry vs. Rhett Titus vs. . Silas Young
  • ROH Pure Championship: Josh Woods (c) vs. Brian Johnson
  • ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championships: Shane Taylor Promotions (O’Shay Edwards and Soldiers of Savagery) (c) vs. The Righteous (Vincent, Bateman and Dutch)
  • ROH Women’s Championship: Rok-C (c) vs. Willow
  • Violence Unlimited’s Brody King, Homicide & Tony Deppen vs. Taylor Rust, Tracy Williams & Eli Isom
  • The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) & Chelsea Green vs. Miranda Alize & The Allure (Angelina Love & Mandy Leon)
  • Dragon Lee vs. Rey Horus
  • Hour One: Ten-Man Wild Card Tag Team Match

WrestleZone will have full coverage of ROH Final Battle: End of an Era when it airs on December 11.

RELATED: Shane Taylor: The Return On Investment Of Shane Taylor Promotions Will Be ‘Tenfold’

Colin Tessier
Colin Tessier

Colin Tessier is a lifelong fan of all things Marvel and DC, and he has used this passion to write about them for several years. Likewise, having been a fan of wrestling since he was a kid, he also covers professional wrestling. You can find him on Twitter at @ct_2110.

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