AAW Titles Held: AAW Tag Team Championship w/ Bryce Benjamin (6/21/08-9/6/08)
Notable AAW rivalries: Trik Davis, Danny Daniels, Arik Cannon
AAW Alliances: Tyler Black, Jimmy Jacobs
Other Career Highlights: 2009 CHIKARA Young Lions Cup participant; 2009 Jeff Peterson Cup participant
AAW History:
Growing up in Davenport in the late 90’s, Shane Hollister like many kids his age was a huge wrestling fan that idolized Shawn Michaels. Shane met fellow AAW stars Tyler Black and Marek Brave in high school and they all found the common bond of wanting to one day make it in the professional wrestling business. After graduating Hollister decided to follow in his friends footsteps and began training under Danny Daniels at his camp in Iowa.
By the time Hollister had completed his training Black and Brave were already raising some eyebrows in the Midwest scene. Hollister’s ascent through the ranks would not be as rapid as Tyler and Marek but he made his AAW debut on January 14th 2006 teaming with the “Black Ninja” as they fell to the Michigan Invasion. In February Hollister had a good showing against Chandler McClure at the first AAW “Auditions” show and although he came up on the short end his performance was enough to keep him on the roster. For the rest of the spring Hollister would feud with the ill fated “Lady Thrillaz” stable (which actually featured a young Matt “Krotch” Mayday) and was relegated to either pre show duty or low card matches. Hollister however stayed steadfast in his training and belief in himself and would pick up his first significant win in the company at “Scars and Stripes II” over the massive Mississippi Madman.
A series of impressive matches against Trik Davis would round out the year for Shane Hollister and his work ethic and desire were beginning to pay off as the fans had begun to get behind him and he began to earn the respect of his peers and the veterans in the lockeroom. The top of the card was so crowded with names like Tyler Black, Jerry Lynn, and Eric Priest at this time that Hollister decided to take a crack at the tag team division and partnered up with Bryce Benjamin and his flamboyant manager “Lucas” (Joey Eastman) who named the team “Nation of Penetration”. The team quickly gelled and became very competitive in a tough tag team division with teams such as The Michigan Invasion and DP Associates. Tensions began to run high between Hollister/Benjamin and their manager when Eastman began acting increasingly strange sometimes showing up to the shows in the “Lucas” gimmick and sometimes not. It appeared Eastman was not playing with a full deck. Shane and Bryce kept on track toward their goal of a tag team title shot and were soon embroiled in a feud with The Phoenix Twins. Eastman showed his true colors and turned on Hollister and Benjamin in March of 2007 to join the Phoenix Twins and the rivalry would intensify, coming to a head in September in AAW’s first ever TLC match. Hollister and Benjamin (now going under the name Adrenaline Overdose) were victorious and were now serious contenders for the AAW Tag Team Titles heading into 2008.
Adrenaline Overdose were the hottest tag team in AAW and in May of 2008 they would face their biggest challenge yet as they were booked against Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley- The Motor City Machine Guns. This was a special opportunity for Hollister as Shelly and Sabin were two of his biggest influences coming up in the business and this was a chance for him to test himself. The match was very competitive but in the end the Machine Guns were victorious. The loss did little to Shane and Bryce’s standing in the eyes of the fans as they had become two of the most popular stars on the roster. In June they would get a shot at The Northstar Express’ AAW Tag Team Titles and they would capitalize, defeating Darrin Corbin and Ryan Cruz and capturing the belts. Things seemed to be going along well for Hollister as he enjoyed his first taste of gold in the company but behind the scenes his partner was having problems with AAW management. On August 9th 2008 Adrenaline Overdose was scheduled to team with Krotch in a six man tag against The Northstar Express and Arik Cannon. Before the match Bryce Benjamin got on the microphone and publicly quit AAW throwing down his AAW Tag Team Title belt and walking out on the match. This shocking moment would serve as a turning point for Shane Hollister. Much to his credit he would defend the Tag Titles by himself in September falling in a valiant effort against the Northstars.
The situation with Benjamin may have been a blessing in disguise for Hollister. He had come a long way in the last two years and the promoters had confidence in him for a run in the singles division. As 2009 began Hollister found himself in a three way feud with Arik Cannon and Mdogg20 for the AAW Heritage Title. The issue would be settled at Scars and Stripes V when Hollister and Cannon would meet in a “Stairway to Hell” ladder match. The match was the most brutal of Shane’s career and he showed a tremendous amount of heart in his first AAW main event. Cannon eventually won the match using a fireball to the eyes to retain his Heritage title. Hollister would take several months off to recover from injuries and made a successful return in September at AAW’s “Us vs. Them” show defeating Nick Brubaker. AAW would then expand into the Quad Cities and Hollister would go back to his roots competing in Davenport in several matches against his former mentor Danny Daniels. At the 5th Annual Windy City Classic Hollister would get his first shot at the AAW Heavyweight Title in a triple threat match against Jimmy Jacobs and Silas Young and although Young eliminated him from the match it was apparent that Hollister had proven he belongs in the upper echelon of the roster. In January of 2010 Hollister would come full circle and find himself looking across the ring at his old friend Tyler Black. The winner would be the #1 contender for the AAW Heavyweight Championship and in what some viewed as an upset, Hollister defeated Black and now finds himself next in line for a shot at the title.
