Francine was an icon many of us loved to watch work during they heyday of ECW, and she was arguably at her best with “The Franchise” Shane Douglas as she added a new element to him that helped put him over.
She remains a favorite of hardcore fans to this day, and we came across an old interview she did on Hughezy Entertainment’s Youtube channel last year that shed a new light on Vince McMahon being out of touch.
Around 2006 she said she got a call from Tommy Dreamer about the WWE relaunching ECW and he pitched it to her that she’d have the same role she did previously.
Things started off on the wrong foot as she was handed a three year contract when she wanted and expected a one year deal.
Her gut told her not to do it, but her brain said it’d be another payday so after talking with a friend she decided to return.
Not as expected
After she signed, she learned that it wasn’t going to be the same deal Dreamer pitched to her, and she was told to pack a bunch of bikinis because she was going to be doing bikini contests every night and she refused.
She begged for her release, and that led to Vince McMahon approaching her and talking it over while they walked, and when she asked him why he didn’t know how to use her since he purchased the ECW library.
His answer was shocking, but he admitted that he doesn’t watch the videos. He has others do it and then report to him.
That sentence seems to answer a lot of question as to how the WWE has failed to use any of the multitude of stars they’ve signed over the last few years.
Before the pandemic, they had tons of stars they didn’t know how to use wandering around in segments to give them something to do. Now it makes sense how he didn’t know how to use EC3, Samoa Joe, Mike Bennett, and so on.
But Francine’s story gets even better.
Not WWE’s style
Francine said she was told watching her backstage was like watching paint dry because when she wasn’t on camera she’d find a quiet corner and read a book.
To her, it seemed like anyone that wasn’t homegrown had to put themselves out there constantly to get noticed, and she was even given a tip to help her get noticed and something to do.
She refused to mention names, but she said she was told to wear a low cut shirt, cover her chest in oil, and lean over Vince’s desk and ask him what he’s got for her.
She was told that’s what the other women did but she refused. As she pointed out, she knows her skills and worth. She didn’t have to sleep with Paul Heyman at ECW and she wouldn’t do that for anyone else to get ahead.
There have been rumors since the 1980s, when former employees appeared on the Phil Donohue Show along with Vince to air their grievances, about their jobs relying on sexual favors, and with the current investigation underway it’s brought a lot of these stores to the fore once again.
Whether or not they were true then or now is another story, and we’ll have to make up our own minds as we wait to see what the investigation turns up.
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