Full Career Retrospective and Greatest Moments for the Hurricane

"Stand back! There's a Hurricane coming through!"

Clad in green and black, a mask shielding his identity, The Hurricane exploded through the curtain and made his way to the squared circle in an attempt to save World Wrestling Entertainment from evil and corruption. Whether alone or with trusty sidekick Rosey, the superhero with extraordinary courage became one of the most popular and entertaining stars in all of WWE.

Behind the mask was Shane Helms, a mild-mannered cruiserweight standout who had become a major part of WCW's plans for the future before that company went out of business and was absorbed by WWE. One of the more promising young workers in the industry, he managed to balance the entertainment side of the Hurricane persona while also consistently delivering between the ropes.

Even when he lived long enough to see himself become the villain, he continued to consistently turn out strong performances that had SmackDown commentator John Bradshaw Layfield singing his praises.

Though his decade-long run with WWE came to an end in 2011, Helms remains a cult favorite from the Ruthless Aggression Era.

The Origin Story

A wrestler from the minute he could possibly be one, Helms embarked on his in-ring career at the ripe age of 16. Though life between the ropes was not easy, the North Carolina native acquired numerous light heavyweight championships before finding his way to the OMEGA promotion, owned and operated by a young Matt and Jeff Hardy. It was there that Helms and the future tag team champions would forge a friendship that continues to this day.

Along with friend Shannon Moore, Helms would finally have the opportunity to make a splash on a national stage when he was approached about joining World Championship Wrestling in 1999. Unfortunately, our hero would be saddled with a ridiculous gimmick that played on the overwhelming popularity of boy bands.

As one-third of Three Count, Helms would join Moore and Evan Karagias in the ring every week, singing and dancing and generally making a mockery of the likes of the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync. It was an absolutely absurd and stupid gimmick that really had no business working.

But it did. At a time when WCW was hemorrhaging money and on life support, Helms, Moore and Karagias made the most of their opportunity and wound up evolving into one of the few worthwhile acts in Ted Turner's company.

Their feud with the Jung Dragons at the turn of the millennium not only produced outstanding matches but made stars of all involved, including a young Jamie Noble, with whom Helms would become very familiar by the time they met up again in WWE.

Perhaps their finest match came at Starrcade 2000, when Helms and Moore met an excommunicated Karagias and Noble and Yang and Kaz Hayashi in a three-way Ladder match.

Helms would eventually split from Moore and embark on a singles run in WCW that saw him challenge Chavo Guerrero for the company's Cruiserweight Championship on numerous occasions, including both the Sin and Greed pay-per-views in January and March 2001, respectively.

It was at the latter event that he finally captured the title and appeared poised to become a breakout star. His momentum was halted, however, by the collapse of the once-mighty company, the scraps of which were left to be picked up WWE CEO Vince McMahon and his company.

"In Brightest Day, in Blackest Night"

When we last left our hero, WWE had purchased WCW and, along with it, the contract of Shane Helms. While many of the former WCW stars had to worry about job security in the wake of the monumental sale, Helms was not one of them. He was safe under the WWE umbrella and with Matt and Jeff Hardy already huge stars for McMahon, Helms had friends who would make the process of fitting in much smoother.

In front of the camera would be a whole other story.

While Helms had friends behind the scenes, he certainly had none in WWE Creative. At least not early. After becoming one of the breakout stars for WCW, he arrived in WWE and quickly dropped the cruiserweight title to Billy Kidman. Worse yet was the fact that management had stripped him of his "Sugar" Shane persona, forced him into competition under his real name (Gregory) and saddled him with some truly generic theme music.

Fortunately, a love of comic books saved him from mediocrity, from falling into the same midcard wasteland that so many others from Turner's company did during the Invasion angle.

Helms' fandom of all things Green Lantern caught the eye of WWE Creative, and The Hurricane was born.

A delusional Superstar who really, honestly thought himself a superhero, The Hurricane got over with audiences because Helms was a fearless performer. He did not let anything hold him back from making the absolute most out of the gimmick, and it showed.

Rather than being dismayed or disappointed by the turn of events that surrounded his career, Helms embraced the opportunity he was given, submerged himself in the gimmick and made it work. Fans loved the goofiness of the character.

Some fans—lifelong comic book lovers such as Helms—adored the character. Even in its silliness, it was somehow cool, and as a result, WWE had a hit on its hands.

The Hurricane Rises

After a brief tag team with Lance Storm in 2001 and a run with the European Championship, won from Matt Hardy, Hurricane became lost in the shuffle of the Invasion angle and what seemed likely weekly rewrites in an attempt to save what should have been the biggest money-making story ever from running off the tracks.

He would return to relevance following the demise of the story and make a memorable appearance in the 2002 Royal Rumble, where he attempted to summon his superhero strength to eliminate both Steve Austin and Triple H at the same time. Sadly, our hero would suffer a setback that evening, as he was tossed over the top rope and to the arena floor just seconds after entering the 30-man, over-the-top-rope contest.

He would work harder, train his body and come back stronger and better than ever.

At WrestleMania X8, he swooped in from out of nowhere, captured the WWE Hardcore Championship and spent the remainder of the evening evading evil. It would be an unforeseen betrayal by sidekick Molly Holly that ended his brief reign as champion.

Luckily, being drafted to the SmackDown brand presented Hurricane with another holy grail to chase: the cruiserweight title he once held with such great pride in WCW.

On May 16, 2002, Hurricane defeated Billy Kidman and Tajiri in a Triple Threat match to win the title. Shortly thereafter, though, he began receiving notes from a stalker of sorts.

Crack reporter Gregory Helms, the Clark Kent of WWE, investigated the notes and ultimately concluded that they could be coming from only one person: The Hurricane's ex-girlfriend, Nidia. Upon discovering her backstage, The Hurricane was attacked and beaten down by newcomer Jamie Noble, igniting a rivalry over the gold that culminated at the 2002 King of the Ring.

Noble won the title that night, but Hurricane would get the last laugh, as he found his way to Monday Night Raw, teamed with Kane and captured the world tag team titles.

Their reign was short, but it provided the young star with a high-profile spot on the card for a brief period of time, adding to what had been a monumental year for The Hurricane.

The Hurricane: People's Champion

When The Rock returned in 2003 as an egotistical Hollywood star, he could have chosen to work and interact with any Superstar on the card. His choice? The Hurricane. Together, they were part of some of the most entertaining and hilarious backstage segments in Raw history.

Whether Rock was laughing off Hurricane and his ridiculous outfit or our hero was catching wrestling's most electrifying star off guard with a well-timed one-liner, the dynamic the two possessed was something truly special. The segments demonstrated Rock's willingness to give back to the industry, to make a star out of a guy no other Superstar would have ever taken the time to work with.

On March 10, 2003, The Hurricane picked up the biggest win of his career when he pinned the Great One's shoulders to the mat for a three-count, capitalizing on a distraction by Steve Austin to do so. Was it a clean win? No. Did WWE manage to screw it up just weeks later? Absolutely. But for that one night in March, Hurricane celebrated a star-making victory.

Trusty Sidekick Rosey

In 2003, the decision was made to bolster the tag team division by pairing Hurricane up with second-generation Samoan star Rosey. Hurricane took the big man under his wing, labeled him a "Super Hero in Training" (look close, you'll get it) and gradually showed him how to be an effective hero.

Rosey's training would last for what felt like an eternity, but by the dawn of 2005, the duo was as good as any other team on the roster, and at Backlash that May, they would have the opportunity to prove it.

Hurricane and Rosey defeated the likes of the Heartthrobs, Tajiri and William Regal, Simon Dean and Maven and La Resistance to capture the tag titles in what very much amounted to a feel-good moment. After years of hard work, the team scaled the mountain and stood atop the division as its champions.

Soon, they were joined by the stunningly beautiful Stacy Keibler, who herself donned a mask as Super Stacy and became their valet. With comic book-based films picking up steam, thanks to the arrival of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, WWE had a potential gold mine on its hands.

Unfortunately, the company never really knew how to properly handle the group. WWE split the team up in the fall of 2005, never to reunite them.

You Either Die a Hero or Live Long Enough to See Yourself Become the Villain

The fall of 2005 saw The Hurricane abandon his mask and cape and reveal his true identity. He was Gregory Helms and he was going to put away the childish notion that he was a superhero and focus solely on his in-ring work in an attempt to prove that he was one of the industry's finest.

It worked, too. As a member of the SmackDown roster, he regained the cruiserweight title at the Royal Rumble in January 2006 and held it for over a year, losing it to Chavo Guerrero at No Way Out 2007.

During his reign, he would become one of the premiere workers on the SmackDown roster and even engaged Matt Hardy in a rivalry that culminated in a one-on-one match at No Mercy that October. But, again, WWE lost interest in the performer, and he was left to waste away, doing nothing of any real note.

With his career in a funk, it was time to revisit an old friend, someone who would make the hallways and squared circle of WWE safe for all, someone who would protect the innocent from the corrupt.

It was time to bring back the cape.

Hurricane Forever

Upon being drafted to the ECW roster in 2009, Helms became a backstage interviewer. It was during that time that he would repeatedly save wrestlers and crew workers from accidents, leading many to question if Helms could possibly be The Hurricane. One of the many was dastardly villain Paul Burchill, who insisted that Helms was definitely the green and black superhero and even tried to pound a confession out of him.

After weeks of torment at the hands of the Brit, Helms returned as The Hurricane and soundly defeated his nemesis.

On the November 17, 2009 episode of ECW, Hurricane defeated Burchill in a Mask vs. Career match, sending his foe packing for good.

Sadly, Hurricane would follow suit months later, as he was released from his contract with WWE in February 2010.

Today, he entertains fans across the globe in numerous venues, working for independent companies and appearing at conventions.