Editing Gregory Helms (section)

=== Early career (1991–1999) ===
Helms began wrestling at the age of 17 in 1991.<ref name=slam /> He won his first championship shortly afterwards, by defeating "Playboy" T.C. Cruise to become the Southern Wrestling Alliance (SWA) Light Heavyweight Champion.<ref name=slam /> Helms spent the majority of his early career in his home state of [[North Carolina]], winning numerous [[Cruiserweight (professional wrestling)|light heavyweight]] championships.<ref name=slam />

Helms began calling himself "The Show" Shane Helms, and [[Tag team|teamed]] with [[Mike Maverick|"Big Daddy" Mike Maverick]], initially using the team name Assault and Battery.<ref name=slam /> They later dubbed themselves The Serial Thrillaz, and won several [[Independent circuit|independent]] tag championships.<ref name=slam /> The pair also began wrestling in the [[OMEGA Championship Wrestling|Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts]] (OMEGA), which was founded by [[The Hardy Boyz]] ([[Matt Hardy|Matt]] and [[Jeff Hardy|Jeff]]).<ref name=slam /> The Serial Thrillaz won the [[OMEGA Tag Team Championship]] twice between 1997 and 1998, before they began competing for [[Southern Championship Wrestling]] (SCW). They won the [[SCW Tag Team Championship]], and Helms also won the [[SCW Heavyweight Championship]].<ref name=slam /> SCW would mark the end of the Serial Thrillaz, as Helms vacated both titles before moving on to NWA Worldwide.<ref name=slam /> Once there, Helms joined the Bad Street Boys with [[Shannon Moore]], [[Christian York]], and [[Adam Birch|Joey Matthews]].<ref name=slam />