With visions of someday being on the world stage, yet having to battle a life threatening ailment, Shannon Rose had a daunting task ahead, as the odds were stacked against him. The battle to survive and thrive had to prevail to accomplish his dream at any cost.
Shannon was born with a life threatening ailment known as EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) type 3. There are 6 types of EDS, all of them incurable, but some are fatal. EDS is a collagen mutation that causes hyper-extensive joints, muscle weakness, numbness, paralysis and more. Sadly EDS is often undiagnosed.
Growing up, Shannon’s parents didn’t know what was wrong with him. He fell all the time and lost his voice for a complete year. At the age of 12, one arm became paralyzed, then eventually the other.
Shannon would be in and out of hospitals and doctors’ offices for most of his childhood. In one instance, a doctor tried to scare him to see if the problem was in his head. When the attempt failed, and Shannon showed no movement in his arms, the embarrassed doctor realized this was a serious problem.
Shannon proved early on he was a brave young man. Shannon was at the Mayo Clinic, where a specialist who flew in from Germany would perform a test on him. That test was to run a needle down his spine to test the nerves in his body, an excruciatingly painful test. The test broke his father – who is usually a rock – down, yet Shannon told his dad it was going to be alright while the test was being performed.
His parents took him to see Dr. Boris Kouseff, who diagnosed him with EDS and continued to treat him through most of his life.
School was a problem for Shannon, depending on what EDS threw at him that day. Some of these ailments could last a day to a few weeks. Because of his condition, his school allowed him to complete his work over the phone so he wouldn’t get behind.
Growing up, Shannon loved professional wrestling; at the age of 12, Make-A-Wish Foundation granted his wish to meet the legendary WWF star Hulk Hogan. That wish, unbeknownst to Shannon, would lead to a career, and the first step to be on that world stage.
Upon meeting Hulk Hogan, Shannon was introduced to the Legendary Announcer Gordon Solie and icon “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. These men would mentor Shannon as a Professional Wrestling Ring Announcer.
At the age of 14, with both arms paralyzed in a sling, and a restored voice, Shannon would become a Professional Ring Announcer and he continues that career into today. Over the years, he’s worked with wrestling corporations from the ECW to the NWA.
Following his start as a Ring Announcer, Shannon also started his very own professional wrestling radio show. There, he had the pleasure to be one of the first to interview “The Rock” who was the former WWE Heavyweight Champion, and went on to star in a number of movies like “The Mummy.”
Despite the success and eventually regaining the use of his arms as he grew, Shannon still has problems with them. Today he still has little to no feeling radiating through them, which causes weakness and other troubling obstacles to overcome.
“I was determined to continue on, so my life wouldn’t just be filled with doctors. Pro Wrestlers were my friends and were there to keep my spirits up” Shannon says.
Shannon also managed and maintained a professional wrestling website called Prowrestlingdaily.com, which he grew to over 100,000 hits a day! It provided news from all the professional wrestling companies keeping fans informed on their favorite wrestlers.
After high school, Shannon started to tread deeper in the realm of entertainment, working towards his goal of being on the world stage. He would start acting and in 2007 did various promotions for HSN, and other companies throughout the Tampa Bay area.
For his accomplishments and success, as well as his work in the community, Shannon was given many accolades. He was named Rising Star of the Year in 2009 by St. Petersburg Times Newspaper, in 2010 named Bay News 9’s 2010 Everyday Hero and honored by the Tampa Tribune. In 2011 Shannon was given an accommodation by the Hillsborough County Commissioners for his community service work.
“He is such a hero to so many people in our world; but unlike Spider-Man or Batman, Rose does not need to wear a mask to be a hero” – says Static Multimedia Video Game Magazine
Shannon continues to spread the word about his ailment and has become the official spokesman for EDS, with hopes of gaining awareness about this ailment around his community.
2010 was a marquee year for Shannon. It was then that Shannon achieved his dream of being on the world stage, as he was cast as one of three Ring Announcers in EA Sports’ newest video game “EA Sports MMA.”
Shannon heard about the audition for the game in Orlando, decided to try out for it, and managed to secure a spot in the video game; meeting his destiny.
Shannon spent over 10 hours a day announcing names for the game, going through hundreds of pages of script. He would be called back on occasions as changes were made to the game. He was honored to sit on the same seat Golfing Legend Tiger Woods sat to voice over his video game.
In November of 2010, EA Sports released the video game to the world. The video game was an amazing success for the company, and Shannon can say he’s a part of that.
Today, Shannon is the owner of a successful National PR company named “Eclectic Media Productions.” He also hosts the “Rose Entertainment Report,” a segment heard on over 400 radio stations nationwide, by over 1 million listeners on “The Mancow Experience,” “USA Radio News Network” and “America’s Radio News Network.” This segment gained him the nickname “Mr. Hollywood.”
The nick name “Mr. Hollywood” followed Shannon into Florida Underground Wrestling, where he’s the co-manager of “The Cuban Assassin” Fidel Sierra with Fantasy. There, he’s known as “Mr. Hollywood,” Shannon Rose.
The segment provides insider news and gossip out of Hollywood, about everyone’s favorite celebrities, blockbuster movies and television shows.
“I never give up, regardless what is thrown my way, “No” is not in my vocabulary. I hope that my story inspires others to take the same course of action to achieve what they want in life” says Shannon.
Shannon is currently sourcing out opportunities for a book about his life, and maybe a show depicting his struggles and accomplishments over 15 years in the making.
For more information about Shannon Rose visit imshannonrose.com
For more information about “The Rose Hollywood Report” visit rosehollywoodreport.com
