Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Wednesday, October 5, 2005 at 12:47 AM EST

The following was transcribed by Betsy Byrd:

Shannon Moore talks about his release from WWE, training with Les Thatcher at HWA, the "School of Punk" and more:::

In an episode of Wrestling Weekly on October 2 with Doc Young and Les Thatcher, It was an evening of substitutions when PW Torch columnist Bruce Mitchell filled in for a no-show Mikey Whipwreck.

Bruce Mitchell went on to talk about TNA "iMPACT!", Jonny Fairplay stories, and more.

Wrestling Weekly's second scheduled guest, Shannon Moore, joined the program and talked about his nearly 11 year wrestling career with Doc and Les. Influenced by Shawn Michaels, the Rock-n-Roll Express, Andre the Giant, and the Ultimate Warrior, talk quickly turned to the recent WWE DVD release about "The Warrior." Shannon said, "I guess that's turned into a real riot these days." He said he watched the DVD recently and commented, "(It was) kinda sad watching it actually." Shannon also said that The Warrior's full adoption of the "warrior" image isn't all bad. "I wish I could believe in myself that much."

Les brought up how talented Shannon is by mentioning his wife Crystal's country music singing career, how Shannon had written his own entrance music, and his recent interest in studying to become a tattoo artist. Shannon said it's been hard to get time to work on tattooing, although he's tattooed some friends already.

Doc asked him about his recent endeavor, the "School of Punk," wrestling training school. Currently Shannon has a ring and is training a few students but it's not a formal thing at this point. He is looking for a building to house the school that will be used to train for Shannon and his friends since childhood, Matt and Jeff Hardy, among others. He plans to have someone available to train students all the time-even when he's on the road-but promises that he will be "there at least two days a week" in addition to Matt and Jeff "popping in and out."

Les and Shannon talked about the year he trained at Heartland Wrestling Association in Cincinnati, OH when Shannon was sent to the then WWE developmental federation. After his stint as part of 3-Count with Shane Helms and Evan Karagias at WCW and before he went to SmackDown!, Shannon began training with Les in Cincinnati. He said training with Les at HWA was rough in the beginning being so far from home but can look back at it now and say, "That was one of the best years of my life." He said Les helped him a lot in that year with ring psychology, mic skills, and more. He said he improved the most while at HWA and began to feel more comfortable on the microphone. "I wasn't as shy after I left there," he said.

Asked by Doc about 3-Count, the boy band gimmick he shared with Shane and Evan, he said, "Three-Count was fun." He said he was 19-years-old at the time and the boy bands were popular then but unfortunately, "it was never taken to the next level." He believed 3-Count could have been over as a heel group because it turned out they were unexpectedly hated anyway. Often times they would be pummeled on the way to the ring by drinks and M&Ms and had to hold up the green circles they carried to dance on to keep from getting hit.

Exploring wrestling training by having his own facility is only one of a few things Shannon has going on in his life at the moment. He is still working hard in the independents with upcoming shows booked until December, he has his eyes on TNA once his "no compete clause" is up with WWE on November 1. He is honing his "Prince of Punk" image and says, "I want to expand my career," referring to his release earlier this summer from WWE.

Doc asked if he was expecting the release from WWE and he said, "I didn't see the release coming" but admits that WWE hadn't been using him for at least two years prior to getting the pink slip. He said he had it in his head that since his "career was going at the same pace" for so long, he was probably going to ask for his release anyway. The weekly paychecks were nice, but he still wanted to do much more with his wrestling career.

Shannon will always be thankful for the opportunity of working for WWE, however. He was able to participate in two WrestleMania shows and said, "There's no hard feelings" and "I'm ready to expand a little more." Shannon is now taking indie bookings but says about TNA, "I'd love to be there."

Shannon Moore will be appearing throughout October in various locations including the LAW in Lumberton, NC on October 6, "Halloween Hell" at All Pro Wresting in Bakersfield, CA on October 22, and the International Wrestling Cartel in McKeesport, PA on October 29. For more on Shannon Moore, check out his homepage at www.theshannonmoore.com.

Hear the entire show at http://www.wrestlingweekly.com.