Shane Taylor Wants To Cement His Legacy By Becoming The Second Black ROH World Champion In History
Shane Taylor is looking to make Ring of Honor history.
Shane Taylor is scheduled to face RUSH on the final episode of Ring of Honor television for the month of February. In that match, he is hoping to become only the second African American to hold the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship.
Speaking with Andrew Thompson of POST Wrestling, Taylor explained what this would mean for him.
“I mean that’s the goal. Only three of us have held the Ring of Honor World TV Title: Myself, Jay Lethal, and Kenny King, and only Jay has reached the top of the mountain for the world title. That is why I make no bones about it that when I say I’m only chasing two legacies in ROH, that’s why, because we’re all here right now in our primes. Our careers are going to be compared. Like imagine if Kobe [Bryant], LeBron [James] and [Michael] Jordan all played in the same era, right? That’s what this is. So I’m chasing them in real-time. I can’t be worried about the ghosts of Ring of Honor past. I can’t be worried about legend’s past. I look at who’s in front of me, I look at who’s around me and they are here right now.”
Taylor continued, “Those [are] the legacies that I’m chasing. I’ve already won the TV Title. I’ve been on one of the most impressive championship runs in Ring of Honor history with that championship and then, you follow that up with a singles victory over Kenny King to make sure he couldn’t have that over me and I’ve beaten Jay Lethal now in tag team action on two occasions. He holds a singles victory over me but I’ve now pinned him more times than he’s pinned me, and so the only thing left to do now in my opinion is to give him company on the top of that mountain and go on one of the most impressive runs that anybody has ever had with the Ring of Honor World Championship, because especially now in this time, in this climate, in this era, not only in professional wrestling but in society, in the country, to have a prominent Black male figure standing at the top of a professional wrestling company, not dancing around issues, not saying things without saying them, actually saying them and standing by that, to me that speaks to progress, that speaks to innovation, that speaks to a willingness to really make change. Anybody in any company can just say they want it, but you have to show that you really wanna do it.”
Also, Shane opened up regarding his thoughts on Ring of Honor potentially partnering with another promotion. Although opening the “forbidden door” seems to be all the rage these days, Shane Taylor says Ring of Honor is doing just fine with the talent they have.
“I’ve said for years that we have enough talent, that we don’t have to have a partnership with anybody else. We have enough talent, we have the skill to be on our own and do those things. Obviously, when you partner up with other companies, you’re gonna get dream match-ups, it’s great for business, it’s great for the fans, all that stuff. As long as it truly helps Ring of Honor, I’m all for it. Usually what happens is that is not the case. It helps the company that we’re working with but it doesn’t really help us and so for me, my thing has always been, ‘We have the talent. Let’s showcase our talent. Let’s prove that it is not just whoever else was here and the rest of us.’ It’s not just big brother here and oh, here’s ROH. That’s not what this is. We are the best wrestling on the planet, we are. You can take anybody’s top ten, take our top ten and I’d match them up in the ring or out of it, you know what I mean? It is what it is. So for me, that’s always been a thing so I don’t think it’s necessary. Would it be welcomed if it made business sense? I’m sure. But again, as long as it actually helps Ring of Honor because if it doesn’t then what’s the point?”
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