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| The Shane Twins | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | Mike Shane Todd Shane |
| Name(s) | Wentworth Twins Phi De Kappa U The Johnsons Shane Twins The Regulators Gymini |
| Billed heights | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) - Mike 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) - Todd |
| Combined billed weight | 304 lb (138 kg) each |
| Debut | 1998 |
| Disbanded | 2008 |
| Trainer | Dean Malenko Jeff Bradley |
The Shane Twins (born December 21, 1967 in Galesburg, Illinois) are a professional wrestling tag team that consist of twin brothers Mike and Todd Shane. They were best known for their appearances in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Gymini.
History
Independent circuit (1998-2005)
After being trained at the Malenko School of Wrestling in Tampa, Florida, The Shane Twins debuted in the Florida based IPW Hardcore Wrestling in 1998 managed by Sir Ronald J. Niemi IV. They were originally known as "Biff Wentworth" (Mike) and "Chaz Wentworth" (Todd), collectively known as "The Wentworth Twins" or as "Phi De Kappa U". The Shane Twins held the IPW Tag Team Championships five times between 1998 and 2003. Their fifth reign began when they defeated The Road Warriors in Hokkaidō, Japan on a World Japan show. They would also take on the Warriors, as well as feud with The Nasty Boys, in the short-lived X Wrestling Federation at the promotion's Universal Studios Orlando TV tapings in November 2001.
The Shane Brothers as Phi Dekappa U w/ Ron Niemi wrestled The Pitbulls in the main event of an indie wrestling supershow named Break the Barrier at the world famous ECW Arena (Viking Hall) in Philadelphia, PA on May 15, 1999. The exposure from this show led to dates in 2000 with CZW where they worked with the Haas Brothers. Also in 1999 the Shane Brothers would travel to New Jersey to work with Tommy Fierro's ISPW in matches with the Misfits and The Stormtroopers.
On Jan 13, 2001 Mike defeated former WCW wrestler The Dog (Al Green) to become the first IPW Hardcore Wrestling TV Champion. Mike was competing as a singlers wrestler while Todd was out with an injury.
On July 10, 2001 the Shane Twins won the vacant NWA Florida Tag Team Titles to become the Florida Unified Tag Team Champions (IPW Hardcore/NWA Florida) being The New Heavenly Bodies and The Market Crashers in a Triple Threat match.
On May 3, 2002; the Shane Twins won the JAPW Tag Team Championship after defeating Da Hit Squad at IPW WrestlePlex. But on July 13, they stripped of the titles due to unknown reasons.
On June 8, 2002; The Shane Twins won the NWA World Tag Team Titles from Chris Nelson and Vito DeNucci in Lima, Peru. The twins appeared on the first TNA PPV (June 19) under the ring names "Richard "Dick" Johnson" (Mike) and "Rod Johnson" (Todd), known collectively as "The Johnsons". They wore latex bodysuits, which were intended to make them resemble a pair of large penises. The Johnsons were managed by Mortimer Plumtree until they left TNA after several weeks. The Shane Twins were then stripped of the NWA Tag Team Championships, as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) would gain exclusive rights to that title on June 28, 2002.
On March 20, 2004 Todd Shane defeated Steve Madison for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship which he lost to Madison on September 4, 2004 to end their feud.
They then began working for (NWA Florida), where they formed a stable with Ron Niemi, Steve Madison and Rod Steel known as "911 Incorporated", and won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championships on four occasions.
In July 2008, The Shane Twins returned to the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico for legendary promoter Carlos Colon.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-2007)
In January 2005 the Shane Twins were signed to developmental contracts by World Wrestling Entertainment, and on February 7, 2005 they were sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) to hone their skills. They were later transferred to Deep South Wrestling, where they debuted under the name of "The Regulators". They got immediately in a rivalry against High Impact (Tony Santorelli and Mike Taylor), as well as Ryan Reeves.
On January 6, 2006, The Regulators debuted on SmackDown! as the proteges of Simon Dean, under a new team name of "Gymini". (The name was a play on both Simon Dean's gimmick - that of a nutrition supplement pitchman - and the mythological Gemini twins.) They were introduced to destroy Paul London and Brian Kendrick to the delight of Dean, and soon they became his henchmen under the pretext of being satisfied consumers of his nutrition system. Gymini also frequently wrestled on WWE web show, Velocity, usually against jobbers. They were rarely seen on SmackDown!, until April when the team would get more exposure. For the most part the two men were unnamed; with announcers referring to them as "Gymini #1" and "#2" but during the April 14, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, their full ring names were revealed as "Jake" (Mike) and "Jesse" (Todd). Under the management of Dean, Gymini continued to dominate SmackDown!'s other tag teams before Jesse (Todd) became injured.
After Todd recovered, Gymini would make appearances in the WWE developmental promotion Deep South Wrestling. They entered a feud with commentator Bill DeMott after attacking him and smashing a computer over his head. DeMott allied himself with Freakin' Deacon to get revenge on Gymini, but they defeated them in a non-DQ mat when Deacon abandoned DeMott. In May, Gymini challenged for the DSW Tag Team Championship, but they lost to High Impact. At the end of October 2006, although the team appeared in various dark matches before SmackDown! events, they would not return to the main roster, instead being separated from Dean and returning to DSW. Gymini got there in a feud with The Major Brothers for the DSW Tag Team Championship, in which Jake and Jesse introduced their new valet Angel Williams.
However, when Urban Assault (Sonny Siaki, Eric Perez and G-Rilla) captured the titles, Gymini switched their chase to them. On December 14, 2006, Gymini captured the DSW Tag Team titles when Bill DeMott, burying his enmity with them, intervened in their match to attack G-Rilla, distracting Urban Assault enough to be defeated. DeMott became their manager and eventually replaced Williams. They wrestled a rematch against Urban Assault, who had turned on G-Rilla due to their loss and replaced him with Afa Jr., but Gymini became winners again when the former Urban Assault member attacked them. On January 18, 2007, WWE announced that they had released the twins, vacating the championships.
Personal life
The Shane Twins were national high school and college tennis champions, attending Northwest Missouri State University on athletics scholarships, and they appeared in a television advertisement for the restaurant chain Sonny's BBQ
The Shane Twins are no longer active in professional wrestling, and currently work as bouncers at the 2001 Space Odyssey club in Tampa, Florida.
In wrestling
- Double-team finishing moves
- Crash Diet / H-Bomb (Double crucifix powerbomb)
- Double gorilla press chokeslam - 2003
- Sky lift slam
- X-Trainer (Double arm trap neckbreaker)
- Todd's finishing moves
- Mike's finishing moves
- Managers
Championships and accomplishments
- Independent Pro Wrestling (Florida)
- IPW Tag Team Championship (5 times)
- IPW Television Championship (1 time) – Mike
- World
- Regional
- World Professional Wrestling Federation
- WPWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Worst Gimmick (2002)
References
- http://www.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Bios/gymini.html
- "WWE releases Superstars". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
- "Profile at Puroresu Central". Puroresu Central. Retrieved 2017-12-15.