The Hurricane

The Hurricane

Career[]

Early career (1991-1999)[]

Helms began wrestling at the age of 16 in 1991. He won his first championship shortly afterwards, by defeating "Playboy" T.C. Cruise to become the SWA Light Heavyweight Champion. Helms spent the majority of his early career in his home state of North Carolina, winning numerous Light Heavyweight championships.

Helms began calling himself "The Show"Shane Helms, and teamed with "Big Daddy"Mike Maverick, initially using the team name "Assault and Battery". They later dubbed themselves "The Serial Thrillaz", and won several independent tag championships. The pair also began wrestling in theOrganization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA), which was founded by the Hardy Boyz,Matt Hardy andJeff Hardy. The Serial Thrillaz won the SCW Heavyweight Championship. SCW would mark the end of the Serial Thrillaz, as Helms vacated both titles before moving on to NWA Worldwide. Once there, Helms joined the "Bad Street Boys" withShannon Moore,Christian York andJoey Matthews.

World Championship Wrestling (1999-2001)[]

Helms and his friendShannon Moore signed withWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) in May 1999. In WCW, Helms, along with Moore andEvan Karagias, formed thestable3 Count and the trio debuted on the December 23 episode ofWCW Thunder. The trio was a parody of the boy bands "'N Sync" and the "Backstreet Boys", and theirgimmick involved making music videos and performing songs before their matches.

3 Count together won theWCW Hardcore Championship onWCW Monday Nitro in February 2000. This win made 3 Count the first trio to win the Hardcore Championship. At "Uncensored 2000",Brian Knobbs defeated all members of 3 Count for the Hardcore Championship. During a match, Helms suffered a broken nose, and was sidelined while he recovered. Upon his return,Tank Abbott has been added to the group, as a fan, and was utilized in an enforcer role. 3 Count had a long-runningfeud withThe Jung Dragons with the Dragons attempting to steal 3 Count's recording contract. This led to a ladder match between the two teams atNew Blood Rising, which 3 Count won due to Abbott's interference. As a result, Abbott claimed that he should be the lead singer of 3 Count, and was kicked out by the other three members, leading to a feud.

3 Count later disbanded as Moore and Helms kicked Karagias out of the group for attempting to steal the spotlight. At the same time, the Jung Dragons turned onJamie Noble, who formed a team with Evan Karagias. The three teams met in a "Triangle match" atMayhem, which 3 Count won. They also wrestled each other in a number one contender ladder match atStarrcade 2000, in which both Moore and Helms grabbed the contract at the same time. As a result, they later wrestled for the opportunity to wrestle for the championship, which Helms won, although he lost the subsequent championship match toChavo Guerrero at the pay-per-view.

Moore and Helms would leave WCW briefly in 2001 to wrestle inNWA Wildside where they held the Wildside Tag Team Championship for one day. Helms became the number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship after winning a match atSuperBrawl Revenge, but was attacked by Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore afterwards. Despite the attack, Helms would go on to defeat Guerrero for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship at Greed and was the reigning Cruiserweight Champion immediately before WCW was bought out byWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF). Helms' contract with WCW was one of twenty-five that were included in WWF's purchase of WCW.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (2001–2010)[]

2001-2002[]

Helms made his WWF debut on the July 5, 2001 edition ofSmackDown!, using the name "Hollywood"Gregory Helms. He was part of the "Invasion" storyline as a member ofThe Alliance losing his Cruiserweight Championship in a one-on-one match to another Alliance member,Billy Kidman.

Helms began wrestling asThe Hurricane on August 27, and also began wearing a superhero costume. That night, he won the European Championship fromMatt Hardy with help fromIvory, but lost it toJBL onOctober 22, 2001. In September 2001, Helms formed a tag team withLance Storm who was now managed by Ivory and Helms later picked up a sidekick, inMolly Holly who began to call herself "Mighty Molly", and the two came to the arena in a custom "Hurri-Cycle" (with Molly in the sidecar). The team of Helms and Storm began feuds with teams likeThe Hardy Boyz andBig Show andSpike Dudley. Helms and Storm got a shot at the WCW Tag Team Championship against the Hardy Boyz atNo Mercy 2001 in a losing effort.

During 2002, The Hurricane won theWWE Hardcore Championship at WrestleMania X8, but Molly betrayed him, hitting him in the back of the head with a frying pan, defeating him for the championship. Helms was later drafted to the SmackDown! brand following the brand extension, and he won the Cruiserweight Championship fromTajiri andBilly Kidman in a Triple Threat match. He lost it toJamie Noble atKing of the Ring. Later in 2002, he was traded toRaw, won the World Tag Team Champions withKane.

The Hurricane and Rosey (2003-2005)[]

In 2003, Hurricane feuded withThe Rock. In backstage segments the Rock referred to the Hurricane as "The Hamburglar" (in part because, his mask was similar to the Hamburglar's). The feud culminated in a match onRaw, in which The Rock dominated. Hurricane, however, was able to perform a schoolboy onThe Rock from behind after The Rock was distracted byStone Cold Steve Austin's appearance on the ramp. Earlier in that same match, The Rock took The Hurricane's cape (which Hurricane lays on a corner turnbuckle after his entrance) from the corner turnbuckle and put it on and continued the match whilst wearing the cape, later, tossing it out the ring, which afterwards The Hurricane was left enraged throughout the rest of the match.

In late 2003, Hurricane "discovered"Rosey's potential as a superhero and christened him "Rosey, the Super Hero in Training". On May 1, atBacklash, Rosey and Hurricane defeatedLa Résistance in the finals of a Tag Team Turmoil match to win theWorld Tag Team Championship. Not long after winning the championship,Stacy Keibler joined Rosey and The Hurricane as their sidekick, "Super Stacy". In August 2005, Rosey and The Hurricane lost Keibler as their sidekick when she andChristy Hemme were traded to the SmackDown! brand. On September 5, 2005 Hurricane and Rosey were defeated byLance Cade andTrevor Murdoch during Cade and Murdoch's debut match onRaw. As a result, Cade and Murdoch earned a title match at theUnforgiven pay-per-view. During the title match, Murdoch delivered an elevated DDT on The Hurricane to outside the ring. The DDT caused Hurricane to suffer a storyline "stinger" and allowed Cade and Murdoch to beat the injured Hurricane later in the match to win the World Tag Team Titles.

During the next few weeks, the pair began a losing streak, mainly caused by Hurricane's on-screen injuries. During theOctober 17 episode ofRaw, The Hurricane was assaulted byKurt Angle at the request ofVince McMahon. After the beating, footage was shown of The Hurricane ripping of his mask and striking Rosey because, he did not help him fend off Angle. The next week, The Hurricane no-showed a World Tag Team Title match, leaving Rosey to face the champions alone. During the match, The Hurricane (out of costume) appeared at the top of the entrance ramp, reverting to his real name, Gregory Helms, and watched as Rosey was double teamed and defeated. After the match, Helms announced that he was fed up with being funny for the crowd, and that he was sick of carrying Rosey as a tag team partner. This turned him into a heel in the process. Thereafter, in most of his matches, Helms used "Dirty" moves in most of his matches. On the November 7 Episode ofRaw, Helms and Rosey faced off in a singles match, which Helms won. Subsequently, Helms wrestled mostly on Raw's sister show,Heat. On theJanuary 2, 2006 episode ofRaw Helms confrontedJerry Lawler over jokes that Lawler had been making at Helms' expense, and Lawler said that when Helms was The Hurricane, he was entertaining and called Helms a joke. Helms responded by slapping Lawler, who hit Helms back. The confrontation led to Lawler defeating Helms in a match atNew Year's Revolution.

Cruiserweight Champion and injury (2006-2007)[]

Helms entered an open invitational match for the Cruiserweight Championship at the 2006Royal Rumble which he won even though he was aRaw superstar and the championship was defended solely onSmackDown!. He made his return to the SmackDown! brand in February 2006, to start a feud withNunzio,Kid Kash and the other cruiserweights. During this time, Helms defeated Nunzio in a one-on-one match. The next week, he was supposed to defend against Kid Kash, but Kash was away on a family emergency, soScotty 2 Hotty took his place. Helms defeated him and declared that he was better than all the cruiserweights. As a result, all the cruiserweights at the show invaded the ring and attacked Helms. It was later announced by SmackDown! General ManagerTheodore Long that at theNo Way Out pay-per-view event, Helms would face all the cruiserweights in a match for the title. Helms was able to retain the championship. Later, Long mandated that Helms had to defend his title against a cruiserweight each week onSmackDown! to prove that he truly was better than all the cruiserweights. Helms' first defense under this new rule was againstPsicosis of The Mexicools Helms retained by cheating.

In early Mach 2006, Helms suffered a broken nose. After complaining to Long having to wrestle on the March 10 episode ofSmackDown!, Long told Helms that he did not have to defend his title, but put Helms in a champion versus champion match against the United States Champion,Chris Benoit. During the match, Helms attempted to leave, but was blocked by other cruiserweights who threw Helms back into the ring, resulting in Helms losing the match. Helms underwent successful surgery on his nose and was expected to miss five to six weeks. During this time SmackDown! announcers stated that Helms had a no-compete clause in his contract allowing him to waive the thirty day title defense rule due to any injury. Helms returned to the ring on the April 28 edition ofSmackDown!, teaming withMNM to faceSuper Crazy,Paul London, andBrian Kendrick in a Six-man Tag Team match. Helms continued to defend his belt during pay-per-views, but he made more regular appearances onSmackDown!'s sister show,Velocity.

Helms continued defending his title against other cruiserweights, while on occasion facing off against SmackDown!'s other title holders in champion versus champion matches. Helms facedRey Mysterio on June 16 and United States ChampionBobby Lashley on July 7 but lost both matches. Eventually, Helms became the longest cruiserweight champion in WWE history, as well as the longest reigning champion of any kind in SmackDown! history. For much of late 2006, he feuded withMatt Hardy, with whom Helms exchanged several victories in matches onSmackDown!. In both Helms' and Hardy's hometown of "Raleigh, North Carolina", at the 2006 No Mercy pay-per-view, Hardy beat Helms. The two rivals also joined opposing teams atSurvivor Series, where Helms was in Team Rated-RKO, and Hardy was a member ofDX; Team Rated-RKO lost the match.

Helms went on to feud withJimmy Wang Yang over the Cruiserweight Title, after a tag team match where Hardy and Yang defeated Helms andSylvain Grenier. The feud ended after Helms defeated him to retain the title atArmageddon in December 2006.

In 2007, Helms once again feuded with the entire Cruiserweight division onSmackDown!. During this feud, Helms' reign as Cruiserweight Champion came to an end atNo Way Out, when he was unable to win a Cruiserweight open invitational, which sawChavo Guerrero win the championship. Shortly after losing the championship, Helms formed a tag team with Guerrero, but they didn't win any matches as a team.

On May 18, 2007, WWE reported that Helms had broken two vertebrae in his neck, one of which was pressing on his spinal cord. He underwent surgery with Dr. Lloyd Youngblood to repair them approximately one week later. A few weeks later Helms was announced to be out for a year due to his neck injury.

Interviewer and The Hurricane's return (2008-2010)[]

Helms returned on the September 19, 2008, episode ofSmackDown! in a non-wrestling role. Throughout the show, he appeared in short video promos, called "Hurrapops", referring to himself as "Hurricane Helms", a modified version of his old ring name "The Hurricane", and mocked heel superstars includingShelton Benjamin,Curt Hawkins,Zack Ryder, andThe Miz andJohn Morrison. On following weeks, he mocked several other superstars in the "Hurrapops", ending each promo with the phrase, "I'm just sayin'!". On the November 28 episode ofSmackDown!, a "Hurrapop" appeared in which Helms announced that he would make his return to the ring on the next episode ofSmackDown!. On the December 5 episode ofSmackDown!, Hurricane Helms defeatedMontel Vontavious Porter, who wanted to "Teach Helms a lesson" for mocking him on several occasions in "Hurrapops", all referring to MVP's losing streak. In his ring return, he appeared in a combination of his "The Hurricane" outfit, and his "Gregory Helms" outfit, also using the ring name "Hurricane Helms", in which in his ring return he began using his new signature move: "Underdog Drop". Afterwards, Helms was quickly placed in a feud with the United States ChampionShelton Benjamin, defeating him in two non-title matches onSmackDown!, one being a Tag Team match where Helms teamed up withR-Truth to defeat the tag team of Shelton Benjamin and MVP, whereas Benjamin and MVP were not a very cooperative tag team, leading to an easy win for R-Truth and Helms. Although Helms had failed to win the United States Championship Title match against Shelton Benjamin on December 26.

On April 15, 2009, Helms was drafted to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. Helms made his ECW debut as a backstage interviewer on April 28, 2009, reverting to his "Gregory Helms" ring name, interviewingEvan Bourne. He started a storyline where, while he was interviewingMark Henry, one of the ECW staff members was being crushed by a large shelf, whereas while Henry was distracted and looked back at Helms, who was gone, The Hurricane was shown saving the distressed person, then running off, and out of nowhere Gregory Helms once again tries to interview the confused Mark Henry. One the August 11, 2009 episode ofECW, Helms was attacked byPaul Burchill, while Helms was trying to interview him and had denied being The Hurricane. The Hurricane later attacked Burchill in the ring dressed in his Hurricane attire, to saveYoshi Tatsu. The next week on ECW, he made his in-ring debut for the brand as The Hurricane, and defeated Burchill. Helms, a few weeks later was attacked by Burchill, while he was trying to interview his sister, then Burchill scolded his sister afterwards. As a result, he continued to feud with Burchill, who had attempted to expose The Hurricane's true identity, until the November 17, 2009 episode ofECW when The Hurricane defeated Burchill in amask versus career match after executingEye of the Hurricane to Burchill, who was sitting on the turnbuckle, who had attempted a Superplex. The Hurricane then began a rivalry withZack Ryder on the January 12, 2010 episode ofECW after Ryder proclaimed he was the new 'Heart and Soul' of ECW. Ryder defeated the Hurricane on the January 14 edition ofWWESuperstars. On February 26, 2010. Helms was released of his WWE contract.

Independent circuit (2010–2018)[]

Following his WWE release, Helms began wrestling on theindependent circuit, including for the Canadian Wrestling's Elite as Hurricane Helms. OnOctober 23, 2010, Helms made his debut forJersey All Pro Wrestling, where he, under his Hurricane gimmick, defeatedAzrieal. On January 10, 2011, Helms signed a contract withLucha Libre USA. In the promotion, Helms allied himself withMarco Corleone, and in his debut for the promotion at the January 22 tapings, he defeated Corleone's rival andLucha Libre USA ChampionLizmark Jr. via disqualification.

On January 29, 2011 Helms made his debut forPro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), during theWrestleReunion 5 weekend, in a match, where he was defeated byJoey Ryan. He also took part in 20-Man Legends Battle Royale, making his second appearance of the night. He eliminated Cruel Connection, but later was thrown out byShane Douglas andTerry Funk.

In April 2011, Helms wrestled inCarolina Wrestling Federation Mid-Atlantic where he defeatedRic Converse and won the vacant PWI International Heavyweight Championship. In 2013, Helms returned to the revived OMEGA, now called OMEGA Championship Wrestling, and onOctober 12, he defeatedShane Williams to advance in a tournament for the OMEGA Championship. On November 16, 2013, Helms was defeated byChris Hero at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate event.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling (2015-2017)[]

In 2015 Helms was hired as a backstage agent forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He later made his debut on screen as the leader/manager ofThe Helms Dynasty. They feuded with theBroken Hardyz (Matt Hardy &Jeff Hardy) along with other teams in the promotion. In June 2017 Helms announced his departure from the promotion.

Ring of Honor (2018-2019)[]

Helms debuted inRing of Honor in mid 2018 reprising his character of The Hurricane. He entered into a feud withMarty Scurll referred to as "Hero vs. Villain".

Return to WWE (2018, 2019–present)[]

Helms appeared atRoyal Rumble 2018 apart of theRoyal Rumble match as entrant #21 but was quickly eliminated byJohn Cena. On January 28, 2019, WWE announced that Helms would return to WWE as a backstage producer.

Wrestling facts[]

• Finishing moves

• Eye Of The Hurricane (asThe Hurricane) /Nightmare On Helms Street (asGregory Helms andHurricane Helms) /Ultimate Shagger (Spinning Inverted facelock elbow drop), sometimes to an opponentsitting on the top turnbuckle
• Hurrachokeslam - 2002–2005, used rarely from 2005-2009, 2009-2010
• Shining Wizard
• SuperSwinging Neckbreaker - 2007
• Vertebreaker (Back to back sitout double underhook piledriver)- 2000-2002

• Signature moves

• Back Snap (Modified Double Knee Backbreaker)
• CrossFace Halo (Straight jacketsitout sleeper slam) - used when using his "The Hurricane" gimmick
• European Uppercut from out of the corner, as a counter to an oncoming opponent. - 2008-present
• Flying clothesline, sometimes to an oncoming opponent
• Frankensteiner
• diving crossbody, sometimes to the outside
• Front dropkick, sometimes from the top rope
• Hurricane Press(Lou Thesz press followed by multiple punches to the opponent's face) - as The Hurricane
• Inverted Side Suplex (Inverted side slam)
• Jumping neckbreaker
• Northern lights suplex
• Rope aided twisting headscissors takedown
• Rope-rebound Leaping Lariat Takedown.
• Russian Legsweep, sometimes while applying ahammerlock
• Snap suplex, sometimes with theatrics
• Somersault plancha
• StrangeHold Legsweep (Straight jacketRussian Legsweep)
• Sugarsmack / Hurrikick(Superkick) - 2000-2001
• Supersunset flip, sometimes as a counter to aRunning turnbuckle thrust
• The Best Kept Finish / The Helms Buster (WWE) (Single knee facebreaker)- 2006-2007, 2009; used rarely thereafter
• The Overcast(Diving neckbreaker)
• The Shoulder Wrecker (Inverted facelock shoulderbreaker)
• Tilt-a-whirlFacebuster
• Triple Facebuster /Trifecta Facebuster (Triple repeated sitout facebuster)
• Top Spin Facebuster(Spinning Fireman's Carry dropped into a facebreaker knee smash)
• Swinging side slam backbreaker
• Underdog Drop/The Calm Before The Storm /Death Wish(Double Underhook Mat Slam)
• X-Plex - 2000-2001
• Eye Poke, with theatrics
• Mortifyer (Hammerlock Reverse STO)

• WithShannon Moore

• Count Down (Samoan drop (Moore) /Nightmare on Helms Street (Helms) combination)

• WithRosey

• Simultaneous Samoan drop (Rosey) /The Overcast (The Hurricane) combination
• Super Hero Splash /Falling Star Bomb (Elevated splash)

• WithKane

• Double Chokeslam

• Nicknames

• "IBM: Insane Bump Machine"
• "Serial Thriller"
• "Soul Thriller"
• "Sugar"
• "Suicide Bomb"
• "The Show"

• Tag teams and stables 

• 3 Count
• The Alliance
• Serial Thrillaz
• The Hurricane & Kane
• Rosey and The Hurricane
• The Helms Dynasty

• Managers

• Mighty Molly (WWF)
• Hurrigirl/SupaSarah (Sarah Bradley)

• Wrestlers trained

• Mikael Yamaha

Championships and accomplishments[]

• NWA Wildside
  • NWA Wildside Tag Team Championship (1 time) - withShannon Moore

• Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts
  • OMEGA Tag Team Championship (2 times) withMike Maverick

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - withKane (1), andRosey (1)
  • WWE European Championship (1 time)
  • WWF/E Hardcore Championship (1 time)
  • WWE Cruiserweight Championship (3 times)

• World Championship Wrestling
  • WCW World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
  • WCW Hardcore Championship (1 time) - withEvan Karagias andShannon Moore

• Pro Wrestling International
  • PWI International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Quotes[]

• "Stand back, there's a hurricane comin' through!"
• "Whazzup wit dat?" (What's up with that?)
• "I've got Hurri-powers, beeyatch!"
• "Quick, to the Hurri-cave!"
• "You've got a cool costume, you've got a cool mask, you're 7 feet tall, and you don't fight crime?! Whazzup with dat?!" (addressed toKane)
• "Whooooosh!"
• "You don't like Chicken Fries? Whazzup wit dat?"
• "I'm just saying!"

Trivia[]

• In The Squid and the Whale, a poster of The Hurricane is seen, even though the film is set in the1980s
• Gregory Helms has had a different gimmick in each of his three Cruiserweight Championship reigns.
• Helms is a comic book fan, one of his favorites is the Green Lantern. He has a tattoo on his bicep which is the Lantern's logo and his original WWE character The Hurricane was based on The Green Lantern.
• Helms is a fan of the band Pearl Jam, Eminem, Linkin Park, Insane Clown Posse, Everlast, and Rob Zombie.
• Helms is friends withThe Hardy Boyz,Shannon Moore,Joey Mercury andChristian Cage in real life.
• The Hurricane’s entrance motion is in WWE 2K18, under the name “Super Hero”.

External links[]

• Profile
• Profile