The big man lets fans in on what brought him to this point in his career.
Ring Of Honor talent, Shane Taylor, was recently interviewed by Jay Reddick of the Orlando Sentinel. Taylor went over his upbringing in Cleveland, which has molded him into what he is today; one of the toughest guys on the ROH roster. Shane Taylor would then dive into his pro-wrestling career; how he got his foot in the door and went over much more.
As noted above, Shane Taylor grew up in Cleveland, OH and as he tells it, it was not the ideal scene for a young kid to try and make the best of their situation.
“That was back when they weren’t trying to fix the city. It was a free-for-all, kind of like Chicago is now. I was always losing friends to drugs, gangs, violence. I saw what that brought out in people and I had to deal with it. You have two choices". Taylor recalls advice his father gave him. "You can keep [dealing] and I’ll show you how to be the best at it, but know that the end game will be you either die or go to jail. Or the other choice is, you can be better than me, change the story and break the cycle.”
Taylor still managed to pull out a 3.0 GPA throughout his educational days, but quickly discovered that the pro-wrestling life was for him. He had his first match at 21 years old, as a part of the International Wrestling Cartel promotion.
“I heard the crowd and felt that rush, it’s hard to explain, but I knew I was where I needed to be. Anytime you can love what you’re doing and get as much energy out of it as you’re putting into it; whether that’s music, painting or whatever, you know that’s truly what makes you happy.”
Shane Taylor is focused in on trying to always improve and become one of the best big men in the industry.
“When I played sports, I’ve never been JV anything. I’ve always been the man, the guy leading the way. Now in some instances, I’m having to learn to follow before I can lead, but I don't do anything to be second place. If you're going to stay ahead of me, you're going to have to out work me and that won't happen. I'm doing what I need to make sure the ROH officials, the fans and the locker room know that I will be here for a very long time.”
Shane Taylor has definitely caught the eyes of fans, as he recently had a great match against Marty Scurll on ROH TV. Stay on the look out for Taylor, as he has made it clear that he is not going anywhere."
