Shane Douglas Discusses If He Thinks TKO Is ‘Destroying’ WWE, Speculates That Triple H Is Still Speaks To Vince McMahon

During a recent fan Q&A on his YouTube channel, former WWE, WCW, and ECW star Shane Douglas discussed, Shane Douglas discussed how TKO is running WWE, answering a question if he sees TKO ripping the soul out of WWE by cutting costs and raising prices, and milking the product for all its worth before selling it at a later date. Douglas shared his thoughts about how TKO and Triple H are running the company.

Douglas also speculated that he thinks Triple H is probably still regularly talking to former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Below are some highlights:

Shane Douglas on How TKO Is Running WWE Right Now

“That’s what it does look like to me at this point. You know, they paid $9 billion for it. It’s their baby. It’s their playground. They get to run that playground how they want. I would think if they would just take a small step back and look at what they’ve done with UFC, the success they’ve had, some of the trips they’ve had along the way, the hiccups and burps, but by and large, when I look at my sons talk about UFC today, they sound like me and my friends talking about wrestling of yesterday. It was always my intention that with ECW, we would move wrestling away from the cartoon and much closer to what UFC would become after that. I was not correct in my assessment or my desire to do that with wrestling. Wrestling has its own engine, and it runs to its own tune. So, once in a while, Shane Douglas doesn’t get everything he thinks, unfortunately. But I think you’re right on that, Shane, is that TKO is probably squeezing a little bit too quickly. I also think they probably bought it as a place for them to send their Conor McGregor and older fighters when they can no longer do that style and into something else, and they’re probably talented at doing it. Conor McGregor’s really impressed me. He seems to have he has a lot of pro wrestling skill set there, which has served him well in that in that career before he broke his leg.”

Douglas on His Belief That Triple H Likely Still Regularly Talks With Vince McMahon

“The problem, I think, is that even though Vince is supposedly gone, who did Hunter learn from? Vince. Who did Stephanie learn from? Vince. So, them still being involved in it, they’re probably going to keep getting Vince. It wouldn’t surprise you in the least if, in fact, it would be my expectation that Hunter’s probably talking to him quite a lot. That’s not to say that Hunter’s not creating his own ideas or, you know, putting his own stamp on it. But if you learn from Dominic DeNucci, you’re probably going to deliver like Dominic DeNucci, right? If you learn from Shane Douglas and do a promo, you’re probably going to sound like Shane Douglas doing a promo. That’s no criticism of Hunter. I mean, it’s pretty damn successful on a business level. I’ve never really been a fan for that WWE cartoonized, albeit as successful as it’s been. Some people like vanilla, some like chocolate, and some like pistachio. I guess I’m the pistachio guy because I don’t like the super cartoonized version of wrestling.”

“It looks sort of silly and mundane to me, but when I watch UFC, I get so I can feel those nerve tingling like I did whenever I was a young kid watching wrestling. I think that if TKO and Dana White, and that Endeavor are looking to make the WWE the next home for their superstars in shoot fighting, that they’re missing it a bit right now. They need somebody that has that vision to figure out how to get it to that and not just say, ‘Okay, well, let’s just run it like this or that or squeeze it for everything.’ Mostly everybody that would you can’t criticize after you’ve spent $9 billion to buy nine plus billion to buy something you can’t criticize them for want to earn their money back, but I’d ask him if do you need to earn it back in the first day month year decade or do you plan this on being an integral part second tier if you will next level if you will you know next house or whatever the next entity for your shoote fighters to go over once they reach the age where they can no longer do the shoot fighting. And if that’s the Endeavor, then they’re going about it all wrong, in my humble opinion. So, it’s hard for me to sit here as somebody who doesn’t watch WWE on a week- to-week basis and say TKO or Endeavor is doing this or that right and this or that wrong. other than when I do watch it. You know, like I keep getting asked about John Cena’s last match when I’ve done it the same way if I was. No, I would not have done it the same way. But that doesn’t make my way right or wrong, and their way right or wrong. It’s all in the eye of the beholder. And in this case, right now, Dana White, TKO, and Endeavor seem to be the key holders. But I think they can get so much more out of it. So much more.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Shane Douglas Official, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.