Former WWE/WCW star Shannon Moore was interviewed this week on Tommy Dreamer’s “House of Hardcore” podcast.
Moore talked about his early training with Matt and Jeff Hardy, his time in WCW and move to WWE, his favorite moments in wrestling, wrestling Brock Lesnar, the dark times in his life with drugs and alcohol and how he overcame those demons, and much more.
Here are some highlights:
Shannon Moore talked about his early days in WCW: “I had fun. The guys were amazing. Guys like Sting were good to me. The only person who was really a d*ck was Buff Bagwell. He was always a d*ck to me. A lot of people had that same opinion. Jeff Jarrett took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. He let me travel with him. Sting was awesome. I remember showing up for my first day at Nitro and Sting jumped out behind a wall with his bat and said, hey kid, if you need anything I’ll be here. That was the greatest thing ever. To be 18 in that world, I went in there in complete fear but Kevin Nash was awesome as well as Curt Hennig and Scott Hall. They saw this young kid who was working hard and I think everybody respected the work I put in and they were willing to help me.”
Moore told the story of his drug addiction: “Toward the end of that last TNA run during the time Hogan and Jeff (Hardy) were in there, they (TNA) were all over the place. Bruce Prichard came in and he took control but it just kept switching from person to person running the show. I felt like I was lost in the mix. I think it was Austin Aries and Zima Ion. We were supposed to have a three-way for the TNA X-Division Title. I was supposed to win the TNA X-Division title and that changed again. My contract was coming up in the next three weeks. I knew I didn’t want to negotiate. I knew I just wanted to take some time off. That night, I was supposed to be on the PPV and then they sent me to do this big physical that night. I didn’t pass the physical because of a concussion I had. They wouldn’t allow me to wrestle that night. That set me off. I went home and then a week later, Bruce wanted to re-sign me and give me more money. I told him I am not interested. I just need to take some time off. Bruce was cool. He was trying to resign me and said we will do something better with you. I don’t know if it was my ego or burned out, but I said I don’t want to re-sign. I took some time off and that was the worst thing I could have done. It’s our passion and whenever you don’t have a passion for anything else and you are sitting home, you get depressed. That is when my drug use took off. I was married at the time to Julie. She was on the road doing costume stuff two or three days a week and I was sitting home. I didn’t have any purpose. For me, that sent me spiraling out of control with opiates and pills to the point where it caused issues in my marriage. Financially things started going crazy. I started spending all my money. It got out of control to the point where me and Julie ended up splitting. She kept the house and all that stuff. She deserved it. I was a horrible husband at that point. I was kind of homeless. I left there. I ended up with a girlfriend and moved in with her. I didn’t know where I was going. I was lost. I bought some real estate off the cuff in North Carolina. I opened another tattoo shop there. When I did that, it sent my drug use up. I couldn’t afford pills at that point. Then I started shooting heroin and fentanyl. I became this horrible person. I hit rock bottom. I didn’t care about anything and I had no purpose. I didn’t care about myself. I wanted to die every day. I was hoping the next time I shot dope it would kill me. I felt like my career was over because I walked away from TNA and felt I had heat from that. I didn’t know what my status was with WWE if I would ever do anything with them again. My drug use got to the point where I was spending $500 to $1000 a day on heroin. I wanted it to end. I either wanted to die or be locked away. Maybe if I went to prison for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t have to depend on these drugs the rest of my life. At that point, I was physically addicted and couldn’t get off it. I would shoot large amounts of heroin hoping I would not wake up. I drove to Florida to see Julie. She was at her house. I borrowed somebody’s truck because I traded my car for heroin. Looking back, I was hoping that she would have a way to put me out of my misery. My excuse for going was I needed to get my divorce done. She said you look horrible. You need to pick a lane and stick with it. I’ll never forget those words. Either get help or you’re going to be dead. Road Dogg popped in my head because I partied with Road Dogg in the past. We know Road Dogg’s story. I saw Road Dogg at shows I would pop into and I saw how he got sober and how he was thriving and living with purpose. I thought, why can’t I be like Road Dogg? He is sober, got a job with WWE and got his life together. He was right here where I am at right now. I reached out to him. I sent him a message on Twitter. I said I need help with drugs. I’m going to end up dead or in prison this week. That’s the only two options I have right now. I just want to be happy again. He sent me back a message and said God wants you to be happy. He said help is on the way. Within 24 hours, WWE had me sitting in a treatment center.”
Moore now worked a little bit in WWE after rehab and now works in a treatment center: “My intention was not to get a job with WWE after treatment. WWE saved my life. At that point, four months after I was sober and feeling good, I knew WWE owed me nothing. They just saved my life. I would do a lot of service work after I went through treatment. I saw other people’s lives change. I thought, this is where it’s at. It’s amazing being able to save somebody’s life. Once I started doing that, I felt I had a purpose again away from wrestling. It started there and then the C.E.O of the company said you should work for the treatment center. I get to work with pro athletes and wrestlers that come through here and at the same time I am doing a service. It was one of the greatest feelings I had since I first stepped into a pro wrestling ring.”
Check out the full interview below.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The House of Hardcore Podcast with Tommy Dreamer with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRH-_ZuX9x0
