Shane Thorne Says Vince McMahon Loved RETRIBUTION’s Masks

Shane Thorne recently discussed his time in RETRIBUTION as Slapjack, and revealed that Vince McMahon loved the masks they wore. Thorne told the The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast that McMahon was a big fan of the masks; you can check out some highlights below (per Wrestling Inc):

On the stable’s masks and names: “We assumed the masks were going to be an entrance thing. That all come, that was a whirlwind of a day. We knew they wanted masks. I think that came from Dijak pitching, even before that, he was pitching terrifying masks things for himself. He said he’d given Vince that pitch and Vince loved it. Then the guy who made Bray Wyatt’s mask made these masks as well. The quality of the masks were amazing. He did not design them, he did not. He just did the best with what they gave him, and we all saw how mine turned out. I guess they wanted to see what we would do with it.

“As we’re running backstage, we just get pulled aside and they’re like, ‘hey guys. Here’s your new names, Slapjack, T-Bar, Mace.’ We were just like bewildered. I know what a slapjack is. It’s a little weapon. They were meant to be weapons. I just wanted to hear from them so ‘What’s a slapjack?’. Like ‘Oh, it’s this badass weapon’, like that’s not what people are going to know.”

On Vince McMahon’s reaction to the masks: “Vince loved the masks. The first time we got them, we put them on and he’s like ‘I love ’em. These are great’. We were like, ‘Yes sir, boss, whatever you say’. You’re not going to argue. The vision on the Slapjack mask is like wearing horse blinders. So I just said, ‘can we get these cut down a little bit, so I can see?’.

“I wanted the masks, the mouthpiece, to change, to be like downward lines so that it didn’t look like a smiley face. Then maybe cover the nose part so it’s just the bottom of the nose, not my whole dorky nose hanging out. Then only a little bit of that changed which didn’t help anything. We had a tag match once, and I got hit with a kick from the side of the head. I was looking forward, BAM, I was out. It was hard to breathe in. It was hard to keep straight.”

On not getting TV time after RETRIBUTION broke up: “There’s only so much time and only so many main characters. I never took any of it personal. We tried different ways to do it [get on TV]. I had a few chats with Vince as well, of like spitballing ideas. Never came to. I expected it [his WWE release] for four years with the run I was having, so yeah, every day is good. When I got the call, I was like, ‘thanks, I know you guys tried’.

“Also like, they have that PC full of young talent, young, fresh talent who haven’t been seen. So why not use those people? Fresh stuff. People, consumers, and that love new things. I don’t take any of it personally, I saved my money and took care of my body. I made a lot of good friends, some great memories. So I got nothing to be too upset about, I would’ve loved one last run without the mask as myself.”