RETRIBUTION ran roughshod and completely annihilated each and every Superstar put in front of them in order to achieve the goals they set out to do prior to making their main roster debut. Several months after dominating the entire WWE, the stable imploded and was broken up, with Mustafa Ali, MACE and T-BAR staying on RAW, while Reckoning and Slapjack (F.K.A. Shane Thorne) was rumored to be moved to the blue brand.
Former WWE Star Shane Thorne (Shane Haste) recently appeared on "The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling" podcast, where he talked about how they wanted masks to be part of their entrance and gimmick and how it was given the green light by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Shane Thorne also spoke about how the guy who made Bray Wyatt’s mask was the same guy who made their mask and how one day they were just pulled aside backstage and given new names.
Shane Thorne said:
“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.”
Shane Thorne also talked about the one aspect of RETRIBUTION that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon loved as well as how he wanted to change certain parts of the mask.
Shane Thorne said:
“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.”
Shane Thorne then talked about how he pitched a bunch of ideas to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon himself, but they were all turned down and that he wanted to get TV time, though nothing came of it and he was released shortly after.
Shane Thorne said:
“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.”
You can check out Shane Thorne's comments in the video below. H/T to Wrestling Inc. for transcribing the above quotes.
