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
The Shane
Twins debuted in the Florida
based
Independent Pro Wrestling promotion in 1998.
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.
In early 2002, The Shane twins won the
NWA World Tag Team Titles,
but were soon after stripped, as
Total Nonstop Action
Wrestling (TNA) would gain exclusive rights for that title. The
twins would later appear in TNA, they joined in August 2002 under
the ring names as "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,
and left TNA after several weeks.
They then began working for
Florida Championship
Wrestling (NWA Florida), where they formed a
stable with Ron
Niemi, Steve Madison, Rod Steel and Eric Loy known as "911
Incorporated", and won the NWA Florida Tag Team Championships on
four occasions.
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 became known as "The Regulators".
On January 6, 2006, the Shane twins 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
employed to destroy
Paul
London and Brian Kendrick, to the delight of Dean.
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 un-named; 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). Gymini
continued to dominate SmackDown!'s other tag teams before Jesse
(Todd) became
injured. Gymini would make
appearances in the WWE developmental promotion Deep South Wrestling
(DSW) after Todd recovered. At the end of October 2006, the team
appeared in various
dark matches before
SmackDown!
events, where they were joined by a new valet
Angel Williams.
They would not return to the main roster, however, but instead
continue make appearances in DSW, on
December 14, 2006, Gymini captured the DSW Tag
Team titles . On January 18, 2007, WWE announced that they had, in
fact, released the twins.
In July 2008, The Shane Twins returned to the
World Wrestling Council.
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, wherein they
played two mermaids who were sick and tired of a movement away from
fish eating, and so had had their fins turned into wheels so they
could drive to Sonny's and eat ribs.
In wrestling
Championships and accomplishments
- *Deep South Tag
Team Championship (1 time)
- Independent Pro Wrestling (Florida
)
- *IPW Tag Team Championship (5 times)
- *IPW Television Championship (1 time) – Mike
- *JAPW Tag Team
Championship (1 time)
- World
- *NWA World Tag Team
Championship (1
time)
- Regional
- *NWA Florida
Heavyweight Championship (1 time) –
Todd
- *NWA Florida Tag
Team Championship (4
times)
- World Professional Wrestling Federation
- *WPWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- *Worst
Gimmick (2002)
References
- Clark, Ryan. "New Tag Team Champions, SD! Rating, Trish Notes,
& More". From WrestlingInc.com. Retrieved 01-01-2007
External links