In a recent interview with Fightful, former ECW talent Francine discussed her falling out with Shane Douglas after he left the company to sign with WCW in 1999. The two later reconciled and rebuilt their friendship. Here are some highlights:
Francine on her past falling out with Shane Douglas:
“There was a falling out between Shane and I before he left for WCW. I don’t wanna get into the whole why we fell out because it’s no one’s business. But there was a time where we were we had to work together and we weren’t speaking and that was rough. So he has apologized to me and said he’s not the same person as he was before. I feel bad because we lost a lot of years because he was my best friend in the business, but we talked it over and he did say he was wrong. Which, I was just like when you’re a female, and you don’t have seniority; you really have to bite your tongue a lot of the time. I couldn’t be as vocal as I wanted to be back then, but now having like 31 years in the business, I’m like, ‘Yeah, well, this is what happened and blah, blah, blah.’”
Francine on talking things over with Shane Douglas:
“So we had to sit down, we talked about everything and we’ve been good for years now because this was a falling out a long time ago, but he is one of my best friends. I talk to him several times a week. All this time later, still doing loops with him and Sandman and Jerry and my friends is the biggest blessing I can ask for. But back then, when I was filming that, I did not hear his side. So I was just hearing Jeremy go, ‘Well, he said, bi-bi-bi-bi-bi-bi.’ I’d be like, ‘Okay, well, here’s what I’m gonna say.’ It was like, they would show me, they would show him, they would show me, they would show him, but they never told the back story. So everybody to this day is like, ‘What were you fighting about?’ I’m just like, ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s all good.’ It left you a little confused.”
Francine on how they rekindled their friendship:
“When he did call me to do his series of shows, it was the first time I’d spoken to him in like a couple of years. I was like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be like Carrie when she wins prom queen and you’re gonna drop the blood on my head and I’m scared to come there.’ He’s like, ‘No, we would never do that.’ I remember showing up at the Arena and they filmed it, which was so awkward because I was just like, ‘Okay, it’s bad enough I haven’t talked to him in a long time. Now you’re gonna film it and put it on the DVD,’ and they did. I remember walking in the room and I’m looking for the pail of blood. I’m looking like, ‘Are you gonna get me?’ He just came up and extended his arms and we hugged and talked and that was that. So sometimes you just have to nip it in the bud. But at that time, I didn’t think I was allowed to. Like, I was so afraid I was going to get heat for voicing opinions. But we got it done.”
