Storm passes: Wrestler ditches Hurricane moniker

NEW YORK — The Hurricane has been downgraded. Last month on World Wrestling Entertainment's "RAW," superstar Shane "The Hurricane" Helms blew away his stormy superhero persona, ripping off his mask and washing out his signature green hair.

The North Carolina native and former tag-team and cruiserweight champion recently spoke to The Associated Press about the climate change.

Q: So what do I call you?

A: Helms: Gregory Helms. Gregory is my first name.

Q : So Gregory, tell me about the persona change. I know you were known as The Hurricane for years.

A : It was just kinda time for a change. The superhero character was — in the initial stages — only gonna last for three or four months ... and I stretched it out to four years. It well exceeded its expectations.

Q: Why The Hurricane?

A: Actually, that was one of the first names that I ever was gonna use as a pro when I started. A lot of people, you know, want some kind of crazy story like I was conceived in a hurricane or something, but the truth was that my middle name's Shane my whole life and hurricane simply rhymed with Shane. It had a good flow, you know.

Q: Did the name change have anything to do with the hurricanes we've been through this year?

A: No, not at all. That just seems real petty to me. I actually did a lot of work helping victims of Hurricane Katrina. My character was never named after a force of nature hurricane.

A : It's just gonna be a way for me to show another side of Gregory Helms. I've been the go-to guy for the comedy spots for the past couple of years. I was the guy to make you smile, make you laugh when you needed to and the underdog in a lot of big-time matches. It's gonna give me a chance to show a different character.

Q : Lastly, are happy you won't have to have green hair anymore?

A : I think I'm the only guy in history who looked more normal with green hair than I do with regular hair just because I had it for three years, everyday of the week, 24 hours a day. And now everybody's so used to seeing me with the green hair that when they see the natural color, it just looks weird.