Shannon Moore Recalls Near-Firing After WCW Concussion

Shannon Moore recalled his early days in WCW on the Insight Podcast. Eric Bischoff initially planned a Tough Enough-style reality show featuring 21 cruiserweights living together. Moore and Shane Helms trained at the WCW Power Plant where they faced challenges from younger talent.

Out of the 21 cruiserweights only five or six were retained including Moore, Helms, Jimmy Wang Yang and Jamie Noble. The retained wrestlers were initially paid at home before being called to the Power Plant. After about two weeks at the facility Moore suffered a severe concussion during a training drill with the younger wrestlers who were attempting to bully them.

Moore woke up in a McDonald’s in Atlanta with no memory of recent events and asked Helms where he was. Helms informed Moore that he had driven them there after finishing training. In a panic Moore used a payphone to call his girlfriend and asked her where he was before returning to the Power Plant.

Moore’s father being quadriplegic prompted him and Helms to inform Paul Orndorff they were leaving to return home. Orndorff placed Moore and Helms on a list of wrestlers to be fired despite having told them they could leave.