Violence Jack
Career Highlights

Bruce Shanahan lived in a rough slum-region of Boston, Massachusetts. Knowing very little of his family, Bruce grew to respect the codes of brotherhood and loyalty and involved himself in a very tightknit network of friends that became his street allies. It was here that the seeds were planted that would someday spawn his personality trademark: hatred, rage and a volatile mental state. Violence, treachery, and loss were his most common bedfellows and he grew to especially detest those more fortunate in society.

At age 20, Bruce collected what little savings he had from his dead-end factory job and used it to travel to Japan. He did this in order to make money and gain a reputation doing what he did best in life: fighting. He entered the notorious deathmatch wrestling circuit of Japan, slowly gaining renown for his uncanny threshold of pain and incredible stamina while waging war night-in and night-out in conditions that would cause the common 'extreme' American wrestler to have nightmares. It was sometime during this period that Bruce Shanahan garnered his now-recognized moniker of 'Violence Jack', in tribute to a Japanese anime character of the same name. As for exactly when or how this new nickname was christened upon the scarred native of the USA, the facts are hazy and primarily unknown.

Having built a solid reputation around the Orient for his savagery and ruthless nature, Bruce 'Violence Jack' Shanahan returned to the States and entered the American independent wrestling circuit. He spent a couple years toiling across the continent entertaining fans with his rage-filled speeches and in-ring fury. Jack entered several larger independent promotions full-time over a period of 5+ years and won a plethora of accolades nationwide.

At about this time, Jack and his ICW tag team partner, Chris Havenstorm, were accepted into the WWA federation of Primetime Central as a prominent tag team. Both men also entered separately in the 2nd annual Global Title Tournament as virtual unknowns. V-Jack, an outspoken nobody predicted to fall early without making so much as a scratch in the competition, defeated a rising star of the NTICW company, followed by the soon-to-be Cruiserweight champion of Primetime Championship Wrestling, and then destroyed one of the preliminary tournament favorites the following round. WWA closed shortly thereafter, and when the promotion talent were collectively released as free agents, Jack was picked up and given a contract by Primetime Championship Wrestling.

It was during this tournament that a new chapter was written in the life of Bruce Shanahan. He was haunted by a series of bleak, grisly revelations during his sleep. Finding conventional medication to be ineffective, Bruce sought out religious counsel by going to his old friend who had been called into the ministry in the Catholic Church. Father Randall Craven surmised that Bruce was under a psychic assault by a throng of malevolent demigods spawned from beyond the reaches of known space and fearfully spoken of in tomes of occult origin; beings officially denounced as myth by the Church, yet fought under a veil of secrecy unofficially. Few outside those claiming involvement believe this or any of the following to be true.

These beings, coined the Great Old Ones, were alien entities said to hold great power to the point they were touched with demigod status. They reigned on dismal worlds across the cosmos, expansion and power limited by both their foes and a complacent disposition, with several said to be slumbering on Earth itself awaiting the day of their resurrection. Bruce joined an elite underground society/brotherhood called the Blackhelm Coalition, a secretive faction chartered with the intention of preventing the imprisoned entities from awakening and destroying mankind, and thwarting their deranged cults in the process. The connection Bruce had to these beasts was unknown, though one appeared obvious as their pursuing of his soul and mind eclipsed the possibility of his targeting being sheerly random. Their clash continued across Earth under the veil of conventional military operations and experiments and even terrorist-type attacks. Even throughout these ordeals, most claim the accounts of those involved to be lunacy; some professing to be involved actually have been committed.

Somewhere along this line, Bruce went over the edge. Seeing the universal horrors of what lies beyond healthy human knowledge took a toll on the already-maddening man from Boston and he was committed to an asylum in upstate New York. When he was inexplicably released by doctors who had only days before claimed he was likely to never escape insanity, Bruce's demeanor had changed. What he had previously vowed to fight to his death, he now worshipped at the foot of obscene altars and read of in blasphemous books. Bruce started a vile cult for the reason that (as he said) 'was decreed on me by the Crawling Chaos himself, the Black Pharaoh, Nyarlathotep.' This cult was coined The Sect of Black Wisdom, based out of an old mansion in upstate Vermont.

PCW, disturbed and caught off-guard by this extreme shift of attitude, released Jack from his contract with a nationally-televised stunt using a lookalike of the infamous star. Contacted almost immediately by Steven Caldera of Five Star Wrestling, Bruce agreed to come to the federation to help Caldera fulfill his greed-inspired wishes. He was also driven by the ulterior motive of using FSW as a forum to finally spread his dark new faith.

FSW's existence was cut short by a series of political maneuverings across the industry, and as such left Jack without a mainstream avenue to spread his wild philosophies. But not long after FSW folded, PCW contacted their ex-employee with a new contract offer. Bruce, seeing an opportunity to prove the power of his beliefs to a worldwide audience, eagerly signed on yet again.

Shanahan stormed back on the PCW scene with a renewed fury and vigor not seen since his independent days, making a bigger impact in a couple short weeks than his entire previous tenure. After a long and grueling war with Skylar ‘The End' Green (a struggle considered the feud of the year by many), he captured the PCW Continental title. All the while, he managed to elude agents of the Coalition (ex-allies turned enemies) and further the cause of his decadent gods.

As luck would have it, history repeated itself with PCW as it had with FSW. PCW fell victim to the political panderings of various industry financial powers, and the proud and storied company was shut down. Shanahan completely disappeared for a period of nearly 5 months afterward, and only rumors exist as to his whereabouts during that period. Some claims state he was apprehended by Church or Coalition operatives and held for a period of time before escape, while others say he was temporarily institutionalized in a hospital for the criminally insane (escaping shortly thereafter or bribing his way out). Others say he simply went into a time of religious retreat, locked away with his followers worshipping their foul idols and preparing for a time of renewed vengeance on the society Shanahan so despised.

VJ went on to enter Rush Pro Wrestling in North Carolina, the rival promotion of tSC. Though he had a strong run, contending in main events for the top title more than once, unfortunately RPW went on hiatus due to undisclosed matters. And in the aftermath of the 2004 King of the Indies tournament, where Shanahan defeated Karina Wolfenden, Coral Avalon, Jeff Garvin and then-tSC Champion Sonny Silver all in on evening to win the trophy, the Squared Circle immediately signed the infernal superstar. Things looked well in the Squared Circle for VJ, even garnering a shot at Sonny Silver and The Championship in one of his first shows, but alas tSC closed down after a period of management shifting. Things have continued this way for the past several years, with the cult mastermind inexplicably disappearing and reappearing across the globe to hatch his nefarious schemes.

His strongest crusade yet was hatched amidst the GTT7 competition when Shanahan surged to the finals. Some claim Shanahan was only moments short of fulfilling the dark prophecies dictated centuries ago in his unholy books. The world was in veritable chaos, dark forces swirling across the dominion of man as he battled in the final bout against Garbage Bag Johnny and Desade. Desade triumphed, and with Shanahan's defeat, the shadows threatening to consume the world subsided. The dark priest's strength had been at its pinnacle and many say his failure was a combined result of Desade's heroic efforts and treachery in his own organization, a betrayal that resulted in three of his top lieutenants fracturing from the Sect of Black Wisdom to form their own cult.
Again Violence Jack seemed to vanish from both the wrestling world and the public light. But again, out of seemingly nowhere, he has resurfaced. With the annual Jewel In the Crown tournament around the corner, the malefic Bruce Shanahan has opted to reemerge in PRIME and pick up where he left off. Accompanied by memories of his ultimate evil nearly being finally realized, and his release of a new grimoire ttiled 'The Black Testament"across the cult underground, he is ready for war.

A new chapter is now written in the legacy of Bruce 'Violence Jack' Shanahan as he arrives back in the territory of PRIME, his sights on the Jewel in the Crown and the Universal Title. Bruce still aims to spread his hideous gospel of 'the Old Ones' to all who will willingly listen, and crush all whom deny his words as truth, thereupon imparting his wisdom upon their broken bodies. A man who was the epicenter of a worldwide panic as GTT7 hit its climax, he's seemingly defied his age limitations and continues to fight as a man possessed, ceaselessly warring in the name of the most ghastly of divinities. Whether Bruce is truly insane or whether there is a degree of reality to his hideous beliefs is a topic still under scrutiny. And it's one Bruce claims 'shall be revealed when the stars are right and Great Cthulhu rises from his undersea temple to revel again.'