One of the most articulate and controversial wrestlers in the business, "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, joined "Between The Ropes" for a dynamic hour of radio broadcasting that featured him at his outspoken best, shooting on Ric Flair and Vince Russo, and lashing out at Kevin Sullivan, J.J. Dillon and The Radicalz.

Douglas' AOL Time Warner contract expired a week ago, so he was optimistic about a return to the ring, including the possibility of reappearing in the WWF. "I think 'The Franchise' character is something that they need," Douglas said. "I look at their roster of heels, and I don't see a heel up there that can talk."

The internet buzz on Douglas' feud with Ric Flair is well known, and was played up in a short-lived angle during the first Vince Russo-led WCW era.  Prior to the debut of that angle, "The Franchise" made peace with Flair and recalled a one-on-one meeting he had with "The Nature Boy," where he told Flair what he said in his infamous shoot-style ECW interviews and also explained why he did it. "I think you would have to search high and low to find true animosity any deeper or any more legitimate than you would find between Ric Flair and I at the time heading into the angle," Douglas said.

The meeting was a success, and Douglas believes they gained a newfound respect for each other. "I think Ric's view of Shane Douglas leading into that angle was, here's a young punk in the business trying to use my name to get ahead," Douglas said. "I think he walked away from it seeing that I was a guy very passionate about the business. But with that being said, I don't think we'll ever be best friends, or even friends for that matter."

Douglas was excited about the prospects of working with Vince Russo, based on the reputation he had for creating cutting-edge television. He thought "The Franchise" needed to move away from Paul Heyman's vision--the wheeling, dealing, chest-chopping and figure-four stealing Dick Flair--to something with a new attitude. "I'm a mark for Ric Flair's work," Douglas said. "Ric Flair is Ric Flair, and I'm not going to be a copy and a cheap imitation of him." Along with the frustrations of dealing with "The Powers That Be," Douglas thinks Russo did so well for so long that he had nothing to prove anymore, so "there was really no edge left."

During the Russo regime, The Revolution did an angle desecrating the American flag. According to Douglas, as far as ranking heat, it was a close second to the Gary Wolfe incident in ECW. "The crowd was keenly upset and they were acutely aware of what we were doing," Douglas said. "It was the kind of thing that, had they progressed with it, it would have drawn money for the company because people would have paid to see us get our asses kicked after doing what he had done."

Unfortunately for Douglas and the gang, some influential people didn't like their stunt, especially J.J. Dillon. "I'll never forget walking back from the ring, and J.J. Dillon is standing there, shaking his head, and having the audacity to look at me and say, 'that was sickening, that was disgusting,'" Douglas said. "I'm thinking to myself, wait a second, I've seen you (J.J.) do some ridiculous things on television. We're sitting here trying to do something to raise some heat in this company to draw some damn money for this company and earn our paychecks, unlike how many other guys in the dressing room who didn't want to earn their paychecks. How dare you, you old, washed-up piece of crap, come to me and say what I just did was disgusting. If you had a problem with it, you should have spoken up in the production meeting beforehand."

Former WCW and current XWF booker, Kevin Sullivan, was instrumental in ousting Vince Russo, and the way Douglas portrays the diminutive heel, there's no need to wonder why he was referred to in-ring as the Devil. "The sad thing is that I think Kevin has just figured out that it's easier to be a liar and to try to backstab people in the business," Douglas said.

According to Douglas, Sullivan claimed to be the mastermind of the nWo angle, although every once else remembered Eric Bischoff creating it. Some WCW employees told Douglas that Sullivan was claiming "The Franchise" was faking his bicep injury, which Shane had doctors verify. As far as Douglas is concerned, Sullivan is not only a liar, but incompetent, as well. "Kevin Sullivan is a piece of garbage with a brain about the size of a pea," Douglas said. "The results speak for themselves. Go back and look at what the ratings did under Kevin Sullivan. Go back and look at what characters he created when he was in charge. It's laughable. Whoever is the financial advisor for this XWF better wise up quickly."

The much-talked-about meeting with Bill Busch and The Radicalz was a group effort to halt the impending arrival of Kevin Sullivan's role as WCW boss. Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn asked for their releases, much to the surprise of Douglas. "I can tell you right now for the record, without equivocation, at no time would I have ever walked away from a $1.9 million contract," Douglas said. "Not one person that afternoon ever said that they were going into that meeting to offer their resignation or request their release. Had they done so, Troy Martin would have never walked into that meeting. I knew there was no opportunity to make that kind of money in the WWF."

WCW tried to release Douglas after the meeting, but he had a no-cut clause in his contract. "It was stuff that was clearly coming from Kevin Sullivan," Douglas said. Douglas sought legal advice, but the issue was resolved when Sullivan was dismissed.

Douglas insists that the Musketeer-like pact came from The Radicalz, not him. "The way the whole thing went down to me it was just sad that these guys had offered up their unity, and that we stand together and all of this, over a dinner, a bottle of wine, a handshake and a hug," Douglas said.

He said The Radicalz, specifically Dean Malenko, lied about being in Stamford and negotiating with the WWF. Douglas said Malenko told him he was in Florida, even though a WWF producer leaked their whereabouts to Vince Russo, who relayed the insider information to Douglas. After checking a hotel desk, Douglas confirmed they were indeed in Connecticut. "I called them all back on their cell phones, and none of them would answer now, so you can imagine the kind of promo I left for each of them," Douglas said. "I value friendship when it is legitimate friendship, but when it turns out not to be, I wash my hands of it. I don't have time in my life to deal with people who are false friends."

"Between The Ropes" airs every Wednesday on 740 The Team in Orlando from 10:00 p.m. until Midnight. Co-hosts Brian Fritz and Dickerman take interview suggestions at betweentheropes.com.