“Stand back, there’s a Hurricane coming through!”
How many of you remember that sentence at the start of Gregory Helms’ entrance theme as he wrestled under the ring name, The Hurricane?
While his gimmick was purely comical you could not deny that Helms was talented and that he made the most of his time in the WWF/WWE.
Helms debuted in 2001 as part of the WCW/ECW Invasion. He lost his Cruiserwieght Championship to Billy Kidman (another Alliance member) during his debut. Not longer after that Helms picked up his superhero gimmick and began wearing his mask and cape to the ring. On his first night as The Hurricane he won the WWF European Championship from Matt Hardy (with help from fellow alliance member Ivory). It is funny to me that on his first night as a superhero he won a title from his long-time friend Matt Hardy. (Hardy and Helms are both from North Carolina and have known each other since their younger days of trying to break into the business.)
The Hurricane would lose the title back to WWF member Bradshaw a few months later right before he began a tag team with Lance Storm. (Storm, it should be noted, did not dress as a superhero). Soon after, when in a rivalry with Spike Dudley, the Hurricane “rescued” Molly Holly and soon she was no longer Molly Holly, Spike Dudley’s girlfriend, she was Mighty Molly, a superhero sidekick.
The gimmick would not die and not many people wanted it to. It was pure, funny entertainment. The Hurricane and Mighty Molly would arrive at arenas in a “Hurri-Cycle” (Molly rode in a sidecar) and The Hurricane oftentimes put his cape on, mid-match, before jumping off of the top rope and attacking his opponents.
The team of The Hurricane and Mighty Molly was broken when, after winning the Hardcore title, which was defended under 24/7 rules, Mighty Molly hit Hurricane from behind to take the title from him which she lost soon after.
During Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch’s debut The Hurricane suffered a storyline injury which would lead to them losing the titles. The losing streak continued and when Kurt Angle attacked The Hurricane (at the request of Vince McMahon, the Hurricane took off his mask and hit Rosey, berating him for not helping him fight off Angle.
The following week The Hurricane no-showed during a tag title match, leaving Rosey alone. During the match The Hurricane, reverted back to Gregory Helms, stood at the top of the ramp and watched Rosey be beaten. Helms would go on to announce to the crowd that he was “fed up” with being the comedy portion of the show and carrying Rosey as a partner. The two would fight it out and would move off into singles competition.
Helms spent the rest of his time in the WWE vying for the Crusierweight Championship and returning to the Smackdown! brand where he feuded with his fellow Cruiserweights. Helms’ cocky attitude led to all of the Cruiserweight in the locker room to come to the ring and attack him (Nunzio, Scotty 2 Hotty, and others took part).
Helms continued to perform as a heel character in many champion vs. champion matches including wrestling Chris Benoit (U.S. Champion) and Rey Mysterio (World Heavyweight Champion).
Helms has the longest Crusierweight reign on record, spanning 13 months before he lost the title to Matt Hardy.
Helms would suffer an injury to two vertebrae in his neck, requiring surgery and time away from the ring. He returned in 2008 in an interviewer capacity, calling himself Hurricane Helms. He would record short promos called “Hurrapops” in which he mocked characters such as Shelton Benjamin, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. Helms returned tot he ring on Smackdown! in a victory against Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP).
Helms then wrestled for the ECW brand (beginning in 2009) where he began interviewing people again. In this story line Helms would leave an interview shortly before the interviewee would be in a scripted accident, only to save the person while dressed as The Hurricane. This story line lead to a rivalry with Paul Burchill which Helms would come out the winner of in a mask v. career match in November 2009.
