Alex Shane
Encyclopedia
Alexander Daniel Spilling is a British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 professional wrestler who is best known by his ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

 "The Ascension" Alex Shane. Spilling also works as a promoter and wrestling teacher.

Early career

Alex Spilling began wrestling for the NWA UK Hammerlock
NWA UK Hammerlock
NWA UK Hammerlock was a British professional wrestling promotion based in Kent.-History:Established in 1993 by former wrestler turned promoter Andre "Sledgehammer" Baker, it is one of the National Wrestling Alliance's territories...

 promotion in 1995 under the tutelage owner Andre Baker. After several years with the promotion, Spilling became an assistant trainer under Justin Richards and Doug Williams
Doug Williams (wrestler)
Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams...

 where he trained many of the Hammerlock roster such as Mad Dog McPhie
Mad Dog Mcphie
Mad Dog McPhie is an English professional wrestler. He has worked on the United Kingdom's independent circuit.-Professional wrestling career:...

, Jonny Storm
Jonny Storm
Jonathan Whitcombe is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jonny Storm. He has worked for many independent promotions across the United Kingdom, including the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, Real Quality Wrestling and One Pro Wrestling...

 and Jody Fleisch
Jody Fleisch
Jerome Fleisch is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jody Fleisch. He is best known for his work with the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, One Pro Wrestling and Real Quality Wrestling...

 along with others, Spilling later fell out with Baker and left to work for a new TV company UWA. During his time in UWA, Spilling formed a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 with fellow ex hammerlock wrestler Guy Thunder and developed much of his in-ring ability and mic skills as well as creating his heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...

 persona, Alex Shane.

Frontier Wrestling Alliance

In 1999, he was taken under the wing of Dino Scarlo along with Jody Fleisch
Jody Fleisch
Jerome Fleisch is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Jody Fleisch. He is best known for his work with the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, One Pro Wrestling and Real Quality Wrestling...

. During this time, Shane was first approached by the newly revived Frontier Wrestling Alliance
Frontier Wrestling Alliance
Frontier Wrestling Alliance is a British professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1993 as the Fratton Wrestling Association it soon became the Frontier Wrestling Alliance six years later and until 2007 when it lost a scripted inter-promotional feud with International Pro Wrestling: United...

 promotion. He and Guy Thunder worked the companies second show and later became the British Heavyweight Champion
FWA British Heavyweight Championship
The British Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the XWA. The championship was originally created and contested for in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance but moved to XWA when the former company became defunct...

.

Shane then opened his own wrestling school, Capital City Pro Wrestling. CCPW became the official London home of the FWA, and Shane became further involved in the company by helping to run the first-ever FWA London show at Barking
Barking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...

, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 in 2001. During this time, Shane also made appearances in a newly formed promotion known as Universal Championship Wrestling, it was here Shane was repackaged as LX Blade, a cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

 type robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

 character. The character was abandoned when the promotion folded after just two shows.

While promoting his CCPW venture, Shane to appeared as a guest on the talkSPORT
TalkSPORT
Talksport , owned by UTV radio, is one of the United Kingdom's three terrestrial analogue Independent National Radio broadcasters, offering a sports and talk radio service broadcast from London to the United Kingdom....

 radio show hosted by Tommy Boyd
Tommy Boyd
Timothy Leslie Boyd , better known as Tommy Boyd, is a British radio and television presenter who now lives in Chichester, West Sussex.-Early career:...

. Shane soon became a regular co-host and helped the show become the UK's first fully fledged national wrestling radio show. During his time on the radio show in 2001, Shane returned to the FWA under his most successful persona "The Showstealer." Shane also worked alongside Boyd to produce Supreme Wrestling Alliance Tour: Revival in 2002, which was broadcast on national TV. Alex Shane and Tommy Boyd fell out soon afterwards, and Boyd was replaced on talkSPORT by Alex Shane and his brand new show Wrestle-Talk, which had a reported 400,000 listeners at its highest point. It was not long before Shane leveraged this new position to take full control of FWA. TalkSPORT canceled the show in December 2002 as it felt wrestling was not part of the image they wished to promote.

Shane then teamed with former rival Ulf Herman
Ulf Herman
Ulf Nadrowski is a German professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ulf Herman. He is best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1998-1999 where he would join with the Full Blooded Italians faction...

 to defeat the UK Pitbulls
UK Pitbulls
The UK Pitbulls were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of brothers Bulk and Big Dave . Their motto was "if we don't beat you, we eat you!". They held a number of titles in the United Kingdom, notably in their own promotion and in some minor United States promotions...

 and win the FWA Tag Team Championship
FWA Tag Team Championship
The Frontier Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in the British Frontier Wrestling Alliance promotion. The title was only contestable by male tag teams and in tag team matches...

 upon his return on October 25, 2002. At British Uprising II, however, in 2003 Shane turned on Herman, dropping his baby face image to become one of the top heels in the UK. While in the FWA, Shane had a storyline with boxer Danny Williams
Danny Williams (boxer)
Daniel "Danny" Williams is an English professional heavyweight boxer.-Amateur:As an amateur boxing out of the famous Lynn AC boxing gym in SE London, Williams learned his trade quickly, often sparring with the likes of clubmates Henry Akinwande and Derek Angol...

, which started when Alex Shane, in a worked-shoot, informed the crowd that Danny's agent had, ironically, banned him from taking part in any sort of wrestling angle in the company. Shane then claimed he was going to grab as much publicity as he could and began to insult Williams and his entourage. Williams genuinely appeared to lose his cool when, as he walked away, Shane called him a homosexual and spat at his teenage brother-in-law, inciting a pull-apart brawl. Shane also feuded with Steve Corino
Steve Corino
Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino is a Canadian professional wrestler, who currently works for Pro Wrestling Zero1, Ring of Honor and numerous other independent promotions. Corino is a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and ECW World Heavyweight Champion.-Early years :Corino began wrestling in 1994...

 and Doug Williams
Doug Williams (wrestler)
Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams...

, defeating him to become FWA British Heavyweight Champion at British Uprising 3. Shane, however, then stepped down from running the FWA in 2004 as he wished to pursue interests outside of wrestling.

New Generation Wrestling and feud with Nathan Cruz

Alex Shane spent time training and coaching up-and-coming talent for NGW in Hull, debuting on the 'Summer Smash Brawl 2' show on August 7, 2009 where he and his partner, Dave Rayne defeated Paul Malen and Jack Toxic.
On February 27, 2010, at the show entitled "When World's Collide II", Shane was the special referee for the match between Dave Rayne and Jack Toxic, but because of interference from Nathan Cruz, Shane abandoned his role as referee and brawled alongside Matt Myers against Cruz and Dave Breaks.
On the March 20th show titled "Anarchy", Alex Shane and Matt Myers defeated "Prima Donna" Nathan Cruz & "Textbook" Dave Breaks in a tag team match, later on in the night, Shane was called out by Alex Cyanide, but before he could do anything, he was blindsided with a low blow from Cruz and was slammed into a chair head first as 'Cruz Enterprises' looked on. Cruz made Shane sign a contract to face him at the April 17 show for the title of the "Showstealer" moniker, a name that Shane has made famous.
However, due to conflict, NGW management never acknowledged it as a legit contract signing so on the April 17 show, Cruz faced and defeated Dave Rayne, later in the night, Nathan Cruz instructed his Enterprise members Richie West and Kev Cash to take a girl from the audience and set her up for the same fate that Alex Shane had suffered the previous show. The ring was beraded by all the faces, begging Cruz to stop; Dave Rayne came out and called Alex Shane via phone, thus confirming that on the June 6th "NGW 2nd Anniversary Show" Nathan Cruz will in fact face Alex Shane for the rights of the name "Showstealer", just after the call, Colossus Kennedy took out Dave Rayne and Nathan Cruz hit Rayne with the same move that took Alex Shane out in March.
Alex Shane faced Nathan Cruz at the 2nd Anniversary show in a "Last Showstealer Standing" match where the rules are that of a typical Last Man Standing match only when the fallen competitor gets back to his feet before the 10 count, he has to do the pose of the Showstealer and if anybody would interfere in the match on the behalf of a competitor, they would automatically be disqualified. This was called one of the most brutal matches in British Wrestling history. Shane's blood was shed, he was fastened onto the ropes and repeatedly whipped by Cruz telling him to give up, with which Alex Shane prominently responded "You are an arsehole!", infuriating Cruz and leading to more vicious belt shots.
This brought out much of the NGW locker room which included new NGW champion Sam Bailey who came into the ring to aid Shane.
Cruz went for another shot with the belt only to be stopped by Bailey, who snatched the belt of Cruz and hurled it to the floor facing off with Cruz. Cruz then screamed to Bailey "Hit me Sam, Go on hit me, make me the Showstealer, make me the f***ing Showstealer, Sam!"
Bailey refused to hit Cruz at the risk of costing Shane the match.
The referee almost counted to 10 when Shane got to his feet, just as it looked like Shane had somehow got a second wind, he turned around into a heinous chairshot courtesy of Cruz.
The referee started counting but Shane could not answer the 10 count leading to Shane dropping the nickname he had carried for years to the new "Showstealer" Nathan Cruz.
The full match can be seen on YouTube.

Promoting

Alex Shane would, however, continue his career in wrestling promoting and presented the event International Showdown at the Coventry Skydome which was attended by over 3,000 people with huge promotional help from The Wrestling Channel and branded "as good as it gets" by UK wrestling magazine Powerslam. In its sequel, Universal Uproar, Shane gained a pinfall over three-time WWE champion and 'Hardcore Legend' Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...

 in an elimination tag-match before 1,300 fans.

Hade Vansen won the FWA British Heavyweight Championship from Alex Shane in February 2006, however he did so by pinning Joe Legend
Joe Hitchen
Joseph Edward "Joe" Hitchen is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Joe E. Legend.-Canadian independent circuit:...

 and not Alex Shane, who retired from active wrestling soon afterwards. In 2007, his return to in-ring competition was announced as he was due to face Martin Stone
Martin Stone (wrestler)
Martin Harris, better known by his ring name Martin Stone is a British professional wrestler. He is best known for wrestling under Frontier Wrestling Alliance , International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom , Real Quality Wrestling and various other promotions throughout the United Kingdom,...

 but was forced to withdraw from the contest due to having emergency surgery on a tumor which was affecting blood flow to his brain.

In March 2006, Shane was announced as the new head of European Marketing and promotion for top American promotion Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...

. In August, he promoted the group's first overseas tour, and it was also the companies biggest grossing weekend. The company returned in March 2007 with the final ROH appearances of Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....

 topping the last tour numbers and drawing almost 2,000 fans to the same building over two days. In April of the same year, Shane promoted a 16 man tournament called "King of Europe Cup
King of Europe Cup
The King of Europe Cup is a European professional wrestling tournament in the style of the "King of Indies" and "Super 8" tournaments of the United States....

". With 4 shows in 2 days (two matinée and two evening events) the weekend did a report 2100 plus ticket sales although due to the ROH shows in the same building so close to the event, the sales were lower than originally hoped for.

After this Alex promoted a four day sell out UK tour for TNA in June 2008. He then returned to the ring in a surprise one shot deal for the IPW:UK promotion in South England to face Martin Stone. Billed as his last match before moving to India, Shane lost to Stone after almost 30 minutes in a plodding contest which left Shane showing serious signs of ring rust. Alex then travlled to India at the end of 2008 where he reportedly signed Indian Bodybuilding and TV star Varinder Singh to a contract to bring him to the UK and train to wrestle. Shane has said in interviews that he plans to use Singh as a spring board to bring wrestling to India.

Shane travelled back to the UK in early 2009 and made a shocking return to IPW:UK winning the annual "Extreme Measures" tournament. He then won the IPW:UK title from Lestyn Rees on April 18, although claiming to still be retired. In April 2009 Shane released his first book "Alex Shane's Guide to Pro Wrestling - Volume One". The book is a collection of his monthly articles in Fighting Spirit Magazine.

Personal life

After retiring from active wrestling, Shane began a career as a life coach, seeking to incorporate self-help thinking into wrestling training, primarily in the form of seminar tours. Alex has stated in interviews that he is writing a self-help book (working title "The Unholy Babble") using many of the lessons he has learned from his 14 plus years of wrestling himself, self-promotion, media appearances and teaching. He continues to run specialist training seminars around the UK and writes monthly articles for Fighting Spirit Magazine
Fighting Spirit magazine
FSM is a monthly professional wrestling and mixed martial arts magazine published in the United Kingdom by Uncooked Media...

for young wrestlers about getting the most out of your wrestling career by utilizing a variety of self-help and spiritual modalities.
Alex was in a relationship with Katarina Waters.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • Check–Up From the Neck Up (Facebreaker followed into a cutter)
    • One Night Stand (Sitout Death Valley driver)

  • Signature moves
    • Chokebomb
    • Shanesation Kick (Running big boot)

  • Nickname
    Nickname
    A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

    s
    • "The Showstealer"
    • "The Ascension"

Championships and accomplishments

  • International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom
    International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom
    International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom is a British professional wrestling promotion. Daniel Edler is the majority owner, chairman and founder of the company. The company was established in 2004 and since their foundation they have held monthly shows in Orpington, Kent...

  • IPW:UK Championship
    IPW:UK Championship
    The International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom Unified British Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned and copyrighted by International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom. The title was established in 2005 and is the highest ranked championship in the company...

     (1 time)

  • British Championship Wrestling
  • BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

  • Capital City Pro Wrestling
  • CCPW Championship (1 time)

  • Frontier Wrestling Alliance
    Frontier Wrestling Alliance
    Frontier Wrestling Alliance is a British professional wrestling promotion. Established in 1993 as the Fratton Wrestling Association it soon became the Frontier Wrestling Alliance six years later and until 2007 when it lost a scripted inter-promotional feud with International Pro Wrestling: United...

  • FWA British Heavyweight Championship
    FWA British Heavyweight Championship
    The British Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship contested for in the XWA. The championship was originally created and contested for in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance but moved to XWA when the former company became defunct...

     (2 times)
  • FWA Tag Team Championship
    FWA Tag Team Championship
    The Frontier Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in the British Frontier Wrestling Alliance promotion. The title was only contestable by male tag teams and in tag team matches...

     (2 times) – with Ulf Herman
    Ulf Herman
    Ulf Nadrowski is a German professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ulf Herman. He is best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1998-1999 where he would join with the Full Blooded Italians faction...

     (1) and Stevie Knight
    Stevie Knight
    Stevie Knight is an English professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:He began training in April 1991 and started putting up rings and taking photographs for promoter Max Crabtree. He made his professional debut in June 1991 at Whitby, Yorkshire, at the young age of 14...

     (1)

  • Original Pro Wrestling Organisation
  • OPWO Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

  • The Wrestling Alliance
  • TWA British Heavyweight Championship
    British Heavyweight Championship
    The British Heavyweight Championship is a top British wrestling championship found throughout the country's circuit.Many versions of the British Heavyweight Championship exist in the independent circuit of the United Kingdom at any given time but the scene is usually dominated by one companies...

     (1 time)

  • World Association of Wrestling
  • WAW British Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

  • Other titles
  • GPW British Championship (1 time)
  • RAMWA Southern Area Championship (1 time)
  • IWP North East Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • BPW Title (27 Times)
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