Ring Of Honor’s Shane Taylor recently spoke with the ROH website for an exclusive interview; you can read a few excerpts below:
Shane Taylor comments on The Rebellion being forced to disband at ROH Best in the World:
My initial thoughts were I’m about to be out of a job, and the people I had watching my back were no longer going to be there. You’re surrounded by sharks in this world, and I don’t make friends easily, as you can see. But knowing that The Rebellion was done, it forced me to become desperate, forced me to go back to the mentality that I’ve been trying to stay away from.
Taylor comments on who he is and what he’s about:
Shane Taylor is a man who’s done just about everything there is to do. From fighting on the streets as a kid, looking for our next meal or protecting my family, to being the first in my family to go to college. I’m also a guy that has seen the worst of the world and has made a lot of mistakes. I’ve done a lot of things that I’m not proud of. I’ve hurt a lot people and I’ve worked for worse people. But even with all that, I’m here in ROH competing against the best talent in the world. I just hope they’re ready for what’s been unleashed in me, because there is no more nice Shane Taylor. Everyone from here on out has two choices: pay up or get put down. Cleveland’s “Capo” is back and I’m coming to collect.
Taylor responds to criticisms that he doesn’t follow the Code Of Honor:
My response is, walk a mile in my shoes and see where you end up. Let me put you on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, seeing over 100 friends and family members lose their lives to drugs, violence and gangs all before 15 years old and see what it does to you. Let me put you in our house that my brothers and I lived in, where we were only allowed to lay on the floor in the living room because our house would get shot up weekly because my dad wouldn’t let the dealers sell on our corner and see what it does to you.Let me give you three younger brothers looking at you for strength, guidance and stability when your mother dies of breast cancer the day before your 13th birthday and see what it does to you. Let me put you in a situation that you were supposed to fail, you were supposed to fall through the cracks, you were supposed to be just another statistic, and see where you end up. Since I’m not out here selling T-shirts like the Young Bucks, I’ve got to supplement my income in other ways. They sell shirts. I sell violence; I sell brutality; I sell ass-whoopings. It’s the same thing.
Taylor on what sets him apart from everyone else:
While everybody on this roster is a world class talent, at the end of the day they’re all showmen, businessmen. I’m a killer. What separates me from them is I know what’s waiting for me if I fail. I know what kind of life is out there for me, for my family, if I can’t make this work. I’ve lived that life, and I promised them I’d never go back to it. I’m a man of my word and I’m going to do anything I have to do to ensure my success here, whether they want me to be successful or not. Shane Taylor is the most violent, the most ruthless, the most dangerous competitor that ROH has ever seen, with a right hand that delivers one-punch, career-shortening, life-changing power. There’s a reason my nickname on the streets is “One Punch Shane.” ROH is just now seeing why.
