This Saturday at CHIKARA‘s Fright Knight in Poconos Summit, Pennsylvania features an Atomicos match that sees Cajun Crawdaddy, Rory Gulak, Callux, and El Hijo del Ice Cream face the team of Razerhawk, Fire Ant, Solo Darling and WWE Superstar Hurricane Helms. According to Helms, it’s the last match he has booked as a wrestler and according to Helms himself, it “may in fact be my last match ever.” As it’s been well known for sometime now, Helms has returned to the WWE where he acts as a backstage producer/agent. If it proves to indeed be his final match, it will bring to a close a pro wrestling career that began 28 years ago.
This Sat is my last scheduled match and may in fact be my last match ever. If that’s the case … THANK YOU to everyone that’s ever watched and supported me. I did my best. pic.twitter.com/UqrhzmuB3t
— Hurricane Helms (@ShaneHelmsCom) April 25, 2019
Shane Helms’ career kicked off in 1991 when he was only 17 years old, when he began to wrestle with the Southern Wrestling Alliance (SWA) and in the North Carolina indie scene. In 1997, he joined his friends The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy) in Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA), where he was part of the Serial Thrillaz with Mike Maverick (Maverick went on to some success in the ECW and WWF as Jack Dupp in the Dupps tag team).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93f8JY-ofw
In 1999, he was signed by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), alongside fellow OMEGA wrestler Shannon Moore, and the pair joined Evan Karagias in the trio 3 Count, a parody of the popular “boy bands” of the time. The trio collectively held the WCW Hardcore title for a brief stint, but it wasn’t until WCW was purchased by WWE in 2001 that his career really took off.
Helms would move over to WWE during the WCW Invasion angle, and won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in June amidst the entire Ivasion storyline. Originally debuting as “Hollywood” Gregory Helms, by that August he began to wear a superhero costume and created his most beloved gimmick, that of The Hurricane.
Initially teaming with another former WCW Superstar in Lance Storm, he soon adopted a sidekick in Molly Holly, who became the superhero Mighty Molly in the process.
Over the course of the next few years, the Hurricane became a comedic fan favourite, winning the WWE European Championship, the WWE Hardcore Champion, and won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. He also briefly teamed with Kane, winning the WWE World Tag Team titles.
In 2003, he acquired another sidekick in former 3 Minute Warning member Rosey, whom Helms dubbed The Super Hero In Training (or Rosey, The S.H.I.T.), with the duo winning the WWE World Tag Team Championships. In January of 2006, he returned to being Gregory Helms and won his third Cruiserweight Championship, holding in for 385-days. Shortly after losing his title, he was severely injured and underwent surgery for two broken vertebrae in his spin, which kept him out of action for a year and a half.
He would return to action in late 2008 and in 2009 was drafted to the new ECW brand during the Brand Extension draft. He began as an interviewer before returning to the ring but in 2010, he was released from the WWE after nine years.
Follow his departure from the WWE, he returned to the indies, appearing for Carolina Wrestling Federation (CWF) Mid Atlantic, Lucha Libre USA, and more, and in 2011, he made his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) debut. He would tour the indies, adding CHIKARA, Maryland Championship Wrestling (now MCW Pro), Northeast Wrestling (NEW), and more to his travel itinerary.
In 2015, he joined TNA/IMPACT Wrestling as a producer/agent backstage, but he soon emerged as an on-screen character, using his birth name of Gregory Shane Helms, and in early 2016 created The Helms Dynasty, managing a stable that featured Trevor Lee and Andrew Everett.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMZU9aNmZ2E
That December, he appeared on the Broken Hardys‘ Total Nonstop Deletion in a segment with the Helms Dynasty. He was thrown into the Lake of Reincarnation and emerged as his 3 Count character, before going in again and briefly returning as The Hurricane.
In the summer of 2017, shortly after Anthem Entertainment took over IMPACT Wrestling and brought back Jeff Jarrett, Helms departed IMPACT and returned once again to the indies. In January of 2018, he made a one-night return to WWE for an appearance in the 2018 Royal Rumble.
In the summer of 2018, he joined Ring of Honor, where he once again had a mild-mannered backstage reporter and in-ring became his former superhero once again. He closed out the year in a Villain vs Hero feud with Marty Scurll of Bullet Club.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4VFahvxRgI
He departed ROH in early 2019 and returned once again to WWE, where he assumed a backstage position once again, working as a producer/road agent. He’s continued to work the indies since he returned but with his last obligation this weekend with CHIKARA and Helms himself in doubt, we may just be ready to witness the final appearance of The Hurricane in a wrestling ring.
So stand back…
