shane taylor promotions

Shane Taylor Promotions: The HitMakerZ Drop Bars, We Drop Bodies

By Colin Tessier

When Shane Taylor Promotions faces The HitMakerZ (formerly known as Hit Row) at GCW For The Culture, fans will get the chance to witness a first-time clash between two renowned stables. For those who aren’t familiar with STP, it might be easy to underestimate them, given their opponent’s background as ex-WWE stars. But Shane Taylor, O’Shay Edwards, and Ron Hunt are confident that The HitMakerZ are the ones who will have to prove themselves in this match.

In a new interview with WrestleZone, Shane Taylor Promotions previewed their looming bout with AJ Francis and Tehuti Miles. Shane Taylor began by acknowledging the dream match aspect of the contest and praising his opponents. He then made it clear that STP’s ultimate goal is to deliver a show-stealing performance that leaves people talking about the group for the foreseeable future.

“When they were in the fed, this was seen as more of what could be, right, and the funny thing about wrestling, especially in today’s day and age is it’s so fluid now, so matches that we never thought we would see five years ago, ten years ago, are all of the sudden right in front of us,” said Shane Taylor. “And that’s what this was. This is one of the hottest up-and-coming stables in what was formerly known as Hit Row versus one of the most dominant and up-and-coming stables in professional wrestling, which is STP. You have someone the caliber of AJ Francis, who is a former NFL player, his accolades there, out of question. He has been able to transition into music, transition into wrestling, do TV, you know, the guy is super talented. And Tehuti as well, he’s a talent as well. Speed, agility, charisma, looks like an R&B guy, you know what I mean? He’s got star power written all over him, right. So it’s gonna be very interesting to see how that clashes with what we do inside the ring.

“O’Shay and myself, we’re not coming for anything less than to absolutely steal the show and put on a performance that people aren’t just gonna be talking about at every ‘For The Culture’, but every event that we’re on, everything that we do. People are gonna remember this match, people are gonna remember this performance and it’s just the start of our week. Because for me I plan on making this entire Mania week STP week, STP-Mania week. I want to make sure that the name on everybody’s mouth is STP, that they’re talking about Ron Hunt, that they’re talking about O’Shay, that they’re talking about Kaun, that they’re talking about Mozes. And in the words of LeBron James, I want my damn respect too. Because they’re gonna be talking about me too. I don’t care who’s on what stage, who has what match, who’s defending what belt, I don’t give a s—As far as I’m concerned, you are going to be in second, third, fourth, fifth place, no matter what your performance is like at the end of this week.”

O’Shay Edwards weighed in by explaining the true difference between the group can be found in their construction and in the way they do business. He noted that whereas STP is a “genuine” unit, Hit Row was thrown together that happened to work well. He then described how The HitMakerZ can have fun all they want by dropping bars, but at the end of the day, STP is more dangerous because they “drop hits.”

“Let’s be real, like everybody knows who they are,” said Edwards. “You guys were on the biggest show in the world, but never in my life have I seen everybody know who you are and then you’re still the underdog. They have to produce. They have to produce. Those cats were made, those cats were made. They were constructed, they were put together, and it just so happened to work. But we’re different. We’re built different. Regardless of where we go, we roll together because we’re genuine with a genuine article. They have to produce. You know why? Because this ain’t nothing new to us. We’re used to be overlooked, we’re used to being underestimated, like this ain’t nothing new. We’re used to being put on a second marquee. Oh, it’s the HitMakerZ. Okay and? Who they? And that’s how I see it. You gotta prove yourself to me, holmes. This ain’t the fed. This ain’t the fed. Nobody’s gonna give you this okay guys we gonna do this, this and this. Like hey man, knuckle up, we coming at you.

“Because for us, it’s the only thing that they haven’t got a chance to experience with somebody showing up in their face, punching them right in the mouth. That’s what we gonna do. I’m gonna punch them in the mouth. Understand something, this is mine. You’re on our turf now. Everything you get here, you don’t just get it. No man, you gotta earn this one. You gonna earn this ass-whopping. Drop bars all you want to, we drop hits. And not the platinum kind. Ones you gotta go to the hospital for. So for me, it’s all fun and games man, we can bro it up and hug afterwards, when that bell rings, I’m coming to knock your head off your shoulders. It’s the only way I get paid.”

Ronnell Hunt, the VP/C.O.O. of the group, then shared his mindset, which centered around the distinction that STP isn’t simply honored to be in the ring with former WWE stars. Instead, STP firmly believes that they are who say they say they are  — a group of fighters that’s been in the trenches and proving that they fully live up to the hype every time they’re in the ring. For this reason, Hunt expressed his firm belief that STP will emerge victorious at GCW For The Culture.

“I think one of the most significant sayings is everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” said Hunt. “And we just want this to be known that this isn’t gonna be an enhancement match. This isn’t gonna be people that are honored to jump into the ring with you because of what your name is. These are people that hat genuinely believe, what we believe because we are who we are. And who we believe. And I think that registers with the people. That’s why we say we are for the people. People understand what is genuine. This isn’t the feds. We’re not coming in to say thank you, thank you for the opportunity. No, this is just another Monday to us. Just another Thursday, just another Friday, just another Friday, just another Saturday.

“There’s nothing that I feel these two gentlemen are not prepared for when it comes to that fight on Friday. And the way that I look at it is, I really feel like where the edge is, while STP has been doing what they have been doing, when you look at the history behind the ROH World TV Title, look at the history definitely behind the Ring of Honor World Six-Man Titles, we’ve also been willingly fighting in the trenches on the independent scenes and in these other areas just to keep the blood flowing, just because we like punching people in the face…. I don’t feel like they have stepped into the ring with anyone that has not only matched them eye to eye but is also gonna catch them off-guard in multiple facets. And the question is, are you gonna be able to readjust, and not only readjust but stay on your A-game and finish the job. And when it comes down to it, I personally out of all respect, I don’t feel like they will be. And I feel like the two hands that’s gonna be raised at the end of that’s gonna be O’Shay and Shane on Friday.”

Finally, Shane Taylor drove the point home by sharing a saying that his father used to tell him before wrestling matches and football games: ” Your opponent’s reputation shouldn’t mean sh— to you because they haven’t proved it to you yet.” He then emphasized Edwards’ point that while HitMakerZ can rap all they want, STP drops bodies, and that’s exactly what they’ll do when the two factions collide.

” Just like O’Shay was saying, just like Ron was saying, the HitMakerZ are gonna have to come into that match and prove to us that they are who they say they are,” said Shane Taylor. “The difference between the two of us, just like O’Shay was saying, is they drop bars. We drop bodies. We’re not the same. But we will gladly reintroduce ourselves come that match.”

GCW For The Culture will air on April 1 on FITE at 4 p.m. EST.

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Colin Tessier
Colin Tessier

Colin Tessier is a lifelong fan of all things Marvel and DC, and he has used this passion to write about them for several years. Likewise, having been a fan of wrestling since he was a kid, he also covers professional wrestling. You can find him on Twitter at @ct_2110.

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