TM-61 Told They Were Winning Dusty Classic Before Plans Changed

WWE

Former NXT star and current NJPW star Shane Haste, formerly known as Shane Thorne, has recently opened up about a change of plans that while he expected, was still disappointing.

Speaking to the Two Man Power Trip, Shane spoke about being involved in the Dusty Cup in 2016 as a part of TM-61, along with partner Nick Miller by which they were initially told they would be the winners but Haste had a belief they weren’t really going to win.

In discussing the lead up to the final of the tournament, Haste said:

“We were told we were winning that Dusty Classic, until that day, I knew we weren’t. We had been working with AOP at all the house shows and I knew they were the ones they were putting all the effort behind. They are good dudes, I liked working (with them). They finally paid it back in the next Dusty Classic. They are good guys. They were good to us and appreciative of the work we did together, but they had the cool entrance, the music, and the manager and all these things. ‘I’m pretty sure we’re not winning.’ They pull us aside and go, ‘You’re not the main event anymore, you’re the opening match, you’ve lost a bit of time, and they are going over.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, we knew.’ The writing was on the wall.”

The second NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was held in 2016 culminating in the final match at NXT Takeover Toronto in November 2016 where TM-61 had bested the teams of Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli, Roderick Strong and Austin Aries and finally SAnitY on the way to the final against Authors of Pain.

Shane Haste was among those released from WWE in November 2021 with the company citing budget cuts for the rationale.

You can find a list of all Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners at this link. This year’s women’s Dusty Classic continues on tonight’s NXT 2.0, so stay tuned to WrestleTalk.com for live coverage of the show to keep up with the results.

Transcription via Fightful

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