The Hurricane Gregory Shane Helms ( July 12 , 1974 ) is an American professional wrestler . He works as an agent for Impact Wrestling . He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) where he wrestled as The Hurricane and Gregory Helms and also for his time with World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) where he wrestled as " Sugar " Shane Helms . Helms first began wrestling in 1991 at the age of 16 , and wrestled in numerous independent promotions , including the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts , winning numerous light heavyweight and tag team championships . In 1999 , he signed with WCW , and gained fame as " Sugar " Shane Helms , a member of 3 Count . During his time there he won both the WCW Hardcore Championship and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship . When WCW was bought by the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF , now WWE ) , Helms ' contract was kept by WWF . Helms renamed himself " The Hurricane " and won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship . He later picked up a sidekick , Rosey , and they won the World Tag Team Championship together . He dropped the superhero gimmick in 2005 , and began wrestling under his real name . He once again won the Cruiserweight Championship in early 2006 , and held it for over a year , becoming the longest reigning Cruiserweight Champion and the longest reigning champion of any kind in " SmackDown " history . After being out of action for over a year after neck fusion surgery Helms returned to " SmackDown " in September 2008 , referring to himself as Hurricane Helms , before moving to the ECW brand where he reverted to his Gregory Helms name , and became the backstage interviewer . In mid - 2009 , he brought back The Hurricane character , and appeared as both Gregory Helms and The Hurricane on " ECW " . After " ECW " was cancelled , Helms was released by WWE on February 26 , 2010 , and returned to the independent circuit . 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 the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts ( OMEGA ) , which was founded by the Hardy Boyz , Matt Hardy and Jeff 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 " with Shannon Moore , Christian York and Joey Matthews . World Championship Wrestling ( 1999 - 2001 ) . Helms and his friend Shannon Moore signed with World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) in May 1999 . In WCW , Helms , along with Moore and Evan Karagias , formed the heel ( villainous ) stable ( faction ) 3 Count , and the trio debuted on the December 23 episode of " WCW Thunder " . The trio was a parody of the boy bands " ' N Sync " and the " Backstreet Boys " , and their gimmick involved making music videos and performing songs before their matches . 3 Count together won the WCW Hardcore Championship on " WCW 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 - running feud ( scripted rivalry ) with the " Jung Dragons " , with the Dragons attempting to steal 3 Count ' s fictional recording contract . This led to a ladder match between the two teams at New Blood Rising , which 3 Count won due to Abbott ' s interference . As a result , Abbott claimeed 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 on Jamie Noble , who formed a team with Evan Karagias . The three teams met in a " Triangle match " at Mayhem , which 3 Count won . They also wrestled each other in a number one contender ladder match at Starrcade 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 to Chavo Guerrero at the pay - per - view . Moore and Helms would leave WCW briefly in 2001 to wrestle in NWA Wildside , where they held the Wildside Tag Team Championship for one day . Helms came the number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship after winning a match at SuperBrawl 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 by World 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 – Present ) . 2001 - 2002 . Helms made his WWF debut on the July 5 , 2001 edition of SmackDown ! , using the name " Hollywood " Gregory Helms . He was part of the " Invasion " storyline as a member of " The Alliance " losing his Cruiserweight Championship in a one - on - one match to another Alliance member , Billy Kidman . Helms began wrestling as " The Hurricane " on August 27 , and also began wearing a superhero costume . That night , he won the European Championship from Matt Hardy with help from Ivory , but lost it to JBL on October 22 , 2001 . In September 2001 , Helms formed a tag team with Lance Storm who was now managed by Ivory and Helms later picked up a sidekick , in Molly 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 like The Hardy Boyz and Big Show and Spike Dudley . Helms and Storm got a shot at the WCW Tag Team Championship against the Hardy Boyz at No Mercy 2001 in a losing effort . During 2002 , The Hurricane won the WWE 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 from Tajiri and Billy Kidman in a Triple Threat match . He lost it to Jamie Noble at King of the Ring . Later in 2002 , he was traded to Raw , won the World Tag Team Champions with Kane , and held them for around a month in an alliance known as " Hurri - Kane " . The Hurricane and Rosey ( 2003 - 2005 ) . In 2003 , Hurricane feuded with The Rock . In backstage segments the Rock referred to the Hurricane as " The Hamburglar " ( in part because , his mask was similar to the Hamburgler ' s ) . The feud culminated in a match on Raw , in which The Rock dominated . Hurricane , however , was able to perform a schoolboy on The Rock from behind after The Rock was distracted by Stone 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 afterwars 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 , at Backlash , Rosey and Hurricanedefeated La Résistance in the finals of a Tag Team Turmoil match to win the World 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 and Christy Hemme were traded to the SmackDown ! brand . On September 5 , 2005 Hurricane and Rosey were defeated by Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch during Cade and Murdoch ' s debut match on " Raw " . As a result , Cade and Murdoch earned a title match at the Unforgiven 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 matchto win the World Tag Team Titles . During the next few weeks , the pair began a losing streak , mainly caused by Hurricane ' s on - creen injuries . During the October 17 episode of " Raw " , The Hurricane was assaulted by Kurt Angle at the request of Vince 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 of " Raw " , Helms and Rosey faced off in a singles match , which Helms won . Subsequently , Helms wrestled mostly on Raw ' s sister show , " Heat " . On the January 2 , 2006 episode of " Raw " Helms confronted Jerry 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 at New Year ' s Revolution . Cruiserweight Champion and injury ( 2006 - 2007 ) . Helms entered an open invitational match for the Cruiserweight Championship at the 2006 Royal Rumble which he won even though he was a " Raw " superstar and the championship was defended solely on " SmackDown ! " . He made his return to the SmackDown ! brand in February 2006 , to start a feud with Nunzio , 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 , so Scotty 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 Manager Theodore Long that at the No Way Out pay - per - view event , Helms would faceall the cruiserweights in a match for the title . Helms was able to retain the championship . Later , Long mandatedthat Helms had to defend his title against a cruiserweight each week on " SmackDown ! " to prove that he truly was better than all the cruiserweights . Helms ' first defense under this new rule was against Psicosis of The Meicools 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 of " SmackDown ! " , 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 of " SmackDown ! " , teaming with MNM to face Super Crazy , Paul London , and Brian Kendrick in a Six - man Tag Team match . Helms coninued to defend his belt during pay - per - views , but he made more regular appearances on " SmackDown ! ' 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 faced Rey Mysterio on June 16 and United States Champion Bobby 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 with Matt Hardy , with whom Helms exchanged several victories in matches on " SmackDown ! " . 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 at Survivor Series , where Helms was inTeam Rated - RKO , and Hardy was a member of DX ; Team Rated - RKO lost the match . Helms went on to feud with Jimmy Wang Yang over the Cruiserweight Title , after a tag team match where Hardy and Yang defeated Helms and Sylvain Grenier . The feud ended after Helms defeated him to retain the title at Armageddon in December 2006 . In 2007 , Helms once again feuded with the entire Cruiserweight division on " SmackDown ! " . During this feud , Helms ' reign as Cruiserweight Champion came to an end at No Way Out , when he was unable to win a Cruiserweight open invitational , which saw Chavo 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 of " SmackDown ! " 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 including Shelton Benjamin , Curt Hawkins , Zack Ryder , and The Miz and John 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 of " SmackDown ! " , a " Hurrapop " appeared in which Helms announced that he would make his return to the ring on the next episode of " SmackDown ! " . On the December 5 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Hurrican Helms defeated Montel 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 scripted into a feud with the United States Champion , Shelton Benjamin , defeating him in two non - title matches on " SmackDown ! " , one being a Tag Team match where Helms teamed up with R - 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 Supplemetal Draft . Helms made his ECW debut as a backstage interviewer on April 28 , 2009 , reverting to his " Gregory Helms " ring name , interviewing Evan Bourne . He started a storyline where , while he was interviewing Mark 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 of " ECW " , Helms was attacked by Paul 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 save Yoshi 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 of " ECW " when The Hurricane defeated Burchill in a " mask versus career match " after executing " Eye of the Hurricane " to Burchill , who was sitting on the turnbuckle , who had attempted a Superplex . The Hurricane then began a rivalry with Zack Ryder on the January 12 , 2010 episode of " ECW " after Ryder proclaimed he was the new ' Heart and Soul ' of ECW . Ryder defeated the Hurricane on the January 14 edition of " WWE " " Superstars " . On February 26 , 2010 . Helms was released of his WWE contract . Independent circuit ( 2010 – present ) . Following his WWE release , Helms began wrestling on the independent circuit , including for the Canadian Wrestling ' s Elite as Hurricane Helms . On October 23 , 2010 , Helms made his debut for Jersey All Pro Wrestling , where he , under his Hurricane gimmick , defeated Azrieal . On January 10 , 2011 , Helms signed a contract with Lucha Libre USA . In the promotion , Helms allied himself with Marco Corleone , and in his debut for the promotion at the January 22 tapings , he defeated Corleone ' s rival and Lucha Libre USA Champion Lizmark Jr . via disqualification . On January 29 , 2011 Helms made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) , during the WrestleReunion 5 weekend , in a match , where he was defeated by Joey 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 by Shane Douglas and Terry Funk . In April 2011 , Helms wrestled at Carolina Wrestling Federation ( Mid - Atlantic ) where he defeated Ric Converse and won the vacant PWI International Heavyweight Championship . In 2013 , Helms returned to the revived OMEGA , now called OMEGA Championship Wrestling , and on October 12 , he defeated Shane Williams to advance in a tournament for the OMEGA Championship . On November 16 , 2013 , Helms was defeated by Chris Hero at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate event . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling . Various storylines ( 2014 – 2016 ) . In 2014 , Grado appeared on the second season of " TNA British Boot Camp " in an ongoing feud with judge Al Snow . After missing the second round of the competition due to having lunch and losing track of time , Snow threw Grado out of the competition . Grado would then appear at the Manchester auditions and was once again thrown out . He reappeared in London and with some convincing from Gail Kim , Snow allowed him back into the competition . Snow would then send Sha Samuels to rough up Grado in the second round . He would make it through to the British finals and onto the U . S . finals before finally being eliminated at the Top 6 . After Snow eliminated Grado from the competition , Grado challenged Snow to a match at the SSE Hydro as part of TNA ' s Maximum Impact Tour in January 2015 . Snow accepted and Grado went on to win the match , followed by Snow shaking his hand . Grado appeared at Destination X on 10 June , having earned another chance in TNA following his victory over Snow . Grado later appeared in several backstage segments , attempting parkour and trying to lose weight to be able to compete in the X Division . Only at the weigh - in did Jeremy Borash inform Grado that " there are no limits in the X - Division " . Grado would immediately compete against Kenny King and Cruz , getting the pinfall victory over the latter . Grado fought for the TNA X Division Championship in a losing effort against Low Ki and Tigre Uno . Uno won the match and the title . During October and November ( taped in July ) , Grado went on to participate in the new TNA World Title Series tournament , where he was placed fourth of his block in Team UK . He failed to win all the matches against Drew Galloway , Rockstar Spud , and Bram , thus failing to advance to the round of 16 from his block . On the 26 January 2016 edition of Impact Wrestling . Grado competed in the Feast or Fired match and was the first man to grab the briefcase . Unfortunately , later in the broadcast , during the reveal ceremony , the briefcase revealed that Grado contained the pink slip and as a result of that , he was immediately fired from TNA . On 9 February 2016 , Grado returned to " Impact Wrestling " claiming he was screwed and was going to show proof that he was screwed when Eli Drake arrived with security . His security then chased Grado out the ring , and Drake attempted to attack him only to be assaulted by Grado . Grado escaped through a tunnel . Later in the night , Billy Corgan was talking about the new UK tour when Grado complained about being screwed . After repeatedly making a rant , security escorted him away . Drake then interrupted Grado and told him " he better shut up about whatever he thinks he knows " and then attacked him . Teaming with Shera ( 2016 – 2017 ) . During TNA ' s Maximum Impact tour of the UK , Grado would make an appearance as a masked wrestler under the guise of Odarg the Great , tagging with Mahabali Shera against Eli Drake and Jessie Godderz . He was billed from " Parts Unknown " and used Grado ' s move set and entrance theme . At Lockdown , he defeated Eli Drake in a Six Sides of Steel match . Grado would continue appearing during the Maximum Impact 8 tour claiming to have proof that he was " screwed " by Eli Drake . A week later , while showing viewers at home a proof for Grado ' s point of showing Drake peeking into Grado ' s briefcase , though it could not be seen if Drake indeed switched cases with Grado , the fact Drake opened Grado ' s case was enough for Grado to receive a contract ladder match against Drake , which he went on to win . Two weeks later , when he started talking to Mahabali Shera about his comeback party , both men were , with no clear reason , brutally attacked by Al Snow . More than a month after , on 10 May 2016 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , Grado returned during a rematch between Snow and Shera , making sure Shera won the match . On the 24 May episode of " Impact Wrestling " Grado had a street fight with Snow with Shera at ringside , which he went on to lose after interference by two unknown men . At Slammiversary , Grado and Shera were defeated by the two men , who are Basile Baraka and Baron Dax , also known as The Tribunal . On June 14 edition of " Impact Wrestling " , Grado and Mahabali have a four - way tag team match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship against The Tribunal , The BroMans and Decay , in a losing effort . On 28 June edition of " Impact Wrestling " , Grado , Mahabali Shera and Tyrus defeated Al Snow and The Tribunal . On August 4 edition of " Impact Wrestling " , Grado and Mahabali Shera defeated Al Snow and The Tribunal in a handicap match . At Bound for Glory , he participated in the Bound for Gold but was quickly eliminated by Rockstar Spud . On the November 24 episode of Impact Wrestling , Grado lost to Robbie E in a Turkey Bowl match where he was forced to wear a turkey suit .