Shane Taylor and Keith Lee were a dynamic big-man tag team on the indie wrestling scene, but the two eventually had to split thanks to the both of them signing with competing companies.
Taylor spoke with Fightful to talk about his old tag team partner and his progression as a singles wrestler since splitting with Lee. Before signing with Ring of Honor, Taylor had been teaming up wth Lee on the indie scene until Lee got signed with competing promotion EVOLVE. Despite this, Taylor said the two are still close and knew they had to do what was best for their respective families.
"We're still close. Keith is the man. I'm incredibly proud of him getting to go all over the world and showcase his talents. I couldn't be any happier for him. We were doing our thing as a team and we still do outside TV company stuff. Ultimately, when him and I talked, we decided, 'You do the best thing for you and your family and I do the best for mine,' and the goal when we teamed up is for the both of us to get jobs. It just so happens that it was for two different companies," Taylor said.
Regardless of the potential issues that could have come with having your tag team partner leave, Taylor said he had been mentally preparing for that possibility since he had an idea Lee would be signing with a competing company.
"I didn't know for sure. I knew he was weighing a lot of options, but like I told him, my job is to be a star with or without him. In my head, I knew what he was leaning towards so I had to mentally prepare to be solo and if he decided to stay, cool. If he had decided to go elsewhere, that's no problem. That was the way I approached it," Taylor said.
Having to transition back into being a singles wrestler was not a major issue for Taylor, saying it was a matter of going back to his usual ways before teaming up with Lee.
"It's been fun. I was a singles wrestler and I have been one for most of my career outside of teaming up with Keith. It was just sort like going back to normal for me. I had the brief stint with Rebellion with Kenny King and what's that allowed is for me, to do in that group is to ease my way back into things and find my own voice and that's transformed into the performer I am now." Taylor said.
Taylor signed with Ring of Honor earlier this year and has already entered the ROH TV title picture. Taylor will be a part of an ROH TV title fatal four-way against Kenny King, Punishment Martinez and Silas Young at Ring of Honor's Final Battle pay-per-view on December 15.
Fightful will have full, live coverage and a post-show podcast on Final Battle. Taylor's comments can be seen in the video above.
