Lance Storm

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Lance Storm
An image of Lance Storm.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Lance Storm
The Black Mamba
Billed height 1.8349 m (6 ft 0 in)
Billed weight 103.63 kg (228.5 lb/16.319 st)
Born April 3, 1969 (1969-04-03) (age 39)
Sarnia, Ontario
Resides Calgary, Alberta
Billed from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Trained by Stu Hart
Keith Hart
Debut October 2, 1990
Retired August 13, 2007

Lance Timothy Evers (born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling. He runs a pro wrestling school, Storm Wrestling Academy, in Calgary, Alberta.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Lance Storm was trained for professional wrestling by the Hart Brothers Wrestling Camp in Calgary (where he met Chris Jericho) and debuted in 1990 as Lance T. Storm against Chris Jericho.[1] He mainly wrestled in Calgary, but also spent time in Japan in Wrestling Association "R" (WAR). Along with Jericho, Storm debuted in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1994, forming a tag team known as the Thrillseekers. The Thrillseekers had a memorable feud with The Heavenly Bodies which culminated in a bloody tag team match in August 1994. After Jericho was injured, Storm continued to compete in singles competition for a few months, even winning the "Beat the Champ" TV title. He then left SMW and moved on to a Winnipeg-based West Four Wrestling Alliance, where he teamed once again with Jericho.

[edit] Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996-2000)

In 1996, Storm joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). He made a name for himself by becoming a heel and teaming with Chris Candido. Then he was placed with valet Dawn Marie and teamed with Justin Credible as the Impact Players, racking up two tag team title reigns along the way. Early in his ECW career, he took part in a match vs Rob Van Dam at Barely Legal where he was booed by the crowd for two visibly "weak" chairshots to Van Dam. During this time, Storm also gained a position as a booker in ECW and had a hand in much of the product content on TV and pay-per-view.[1] Storm proceeded to feud with Jerry Lynn, facing him in the opener of Anarchy Rulz. After the company began to suffer financial hardships, Storm left ECW for World Championship Wrestling in order to support his family.[1] His final match was against his former tag team partner, Justin Credible.

[edit] World Championship Wrestling (2000-2001)

Storm left ECW in 2000 to join WCW, where he became a singles wrestler. He made his first appearance on the June 19, 2000 episode of Nitro and quickly became one of WCW's most important on-screen characters, winning the United States Heavyweight Title, World Cruiserweight Title, and Hardcore Championship in rapid succession.[1] As an affront to the fans, he renamed the titles to the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, 100 kg and Under Championship, and Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title (S.H.I.T.), respectively--complete with large stickers that covered the belts' faceplates. Storm was the first triple-champion in WCW history and tried to win the WCW Championship as well, but his efforts were defeated by champion Booker T. Storm eventually gave up the Cruiserweight/100 kg title, presenting it to Elix Skipper, and the Hardcore/S.H.I title, passing it on to Carl Ouellet (who lost in his first defense).

Storm's stable, Team Canada, feuded with General Rection's stable, the Misfits In Action, for several months. In particular, Storm and Rection feuded with each other over Storm's "Canadian" Heavyweight Title, which Rection finally won and promptly renamed back to the U.S. Heavyweight Title.

[edit] World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2001-2004)

When WCW was purchased by WWF in 2001, Storm's contract was kept and he became a WWF employee.[1] Lance Storm, portrayed as a serious, humorless heel, was in The Alliance and was their first WCW superstar ever to invade a WWF program: the May 28, 2001 episode of RAW.[1] Lance Storm got a decent push during the Invasion angle as he won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Albert on the July 23 edition of RAW. He lost the title a month later to Edge at SummerSlam on August 19.

The Un-Americans (Christian Cage and Storm)
The Un-Americans (Christian Cage and Storm)

Storm formed a tag team with The Hurricane and feuded with the Hardy Boyz over the WWF and WCW Tag Team titles for the next few months; this included a match at No Mercy, which Storm's team lost. Eventually, Team Alliance lost at Survivor Series, and Storm was fired along with the rest of the alliance roster (in kayfabe) by Vince McMahon. Storm eventually got his job back officially on the December 17, 2001 edition of Raw when Storm defeated The Rock with help from Test in a match that earned him a WWF contract. Storm remained a heel, and in 2002, he formed The Un-Americans along with Christian, Test, and later William Regal.[1] Leading angry tirades against the United States and waving an inverted American flag in the ring, they drew loud boos from the crowds. During this angle, Storm and Christian won the World Tag Team Championship on July 21 at Vengeance, defeating Hulk Hogan and Edge. They dropped the title to Kane and The Hurricane on the September 23, 2002 edition of RAW. Eventually, the stable broke apart on September 30, when they brawled with each other because they were frustrated that they all had lost on the same night.

Lance Storm continued teaming with William Regal as a regular tag team with the same Anti-American gimmick; Storm waved the Canadian flag and Regal waved the British flag. The duo won the World Tag Team Championship on two separate occasions. The first was by defeating Booker T and Goldust on the January 6, 2003 edition of RAW with help from Chief Morley, but they lost the titles at the Royal Rumble to The Dudley Boyz. Storm and Regal began their second reign as World Tag Team Champions the next night on RAW by defeating The Dudley Boyz with help from Chief Morley again. On the March 24, 2003 edition of RAW, Chief Morley announced that since the belts had not been defended in 30 days due to William Regal's health problems, the duo would be stripped of the title. He immediately named himself and Lance Storm the new World Tag Team Champions starting Lance Storm's 4th tag team title reign. Storm and Morley successfully defended the World Tag Team Title on an edition of WWE Heat prior to WrestleMania XIX against Rob Van Dam and Kane with help from The Dudley Boyz. The following night on the March 31, 2003 edition of RAW, Storm and Morley faced Kane and Rob Van Dam and The Dudley Boyz in a 3-Way Elimination match, dropping the titles to Kane and Rob Van Dam.

From there, Storm was briefly involved in a storyline in which Stone Cold Steve Austin, an authority figure, encouraged the fans to chant "boring" during Storm's matches (this includes the one with Storm facing against newcomer Garrison Cade on June 16, 2003). Storm eventually found help from Goldust to help his charisma and turned babyface, started dancing, and once again started hanging out with Val Venis. This new reformed team of babyfaces began entering the ring with very attractive women but this time their tag team never got a push.

Storm eventually turned heel once more on an episode of RAW following the 2004 Draft Lottery, only to be squashed by Rhyno immediately thereafter. This was his last appearance on RAW.

[edit] Semi-retirement (2004-2007)

In April 2004, Storm chose to retire from in-ring action. His last match was on April 19, 2004 and he faced Steven Richards at the Calgary Saddledome. He then accepted a position backstage with WWE, working as a wrestling trainer in Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's main developmental territory.

On March 23, 2005, Storm came out of retirement to participate in a six-man tag team match with Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro against fellow ECW alumni Tommy Dreamer and The Dudley Boyz. On April 9, 2005 in Cloverport, Kentucky, Storm teamed with Matt Cappotelli to face Mercury and Nitro.

Storm resigned from WWE in May 2005 and announced that he intended to open his own training school in his hometown of Calgary, the Storm Wrestling Academy, with the first semester beginning in September 2005. He returned to WWE for one night on May 30, 2005 and faced Maven on Sunday Night HEAT. Storm wrestled one last time on a WWE-promoted show at ECW One Night Stand 2005 on June 12, 2005, where he defeated his close friend and former tag team partner Chris Jericho with the help of Justin Credible.

Since leaving WWE, Storm has made several appearances on the independent circuit. At Hardcore Homecoming on November 4, 2005 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Storm interfered in a steel cage match between Justin Credible and Jerry Lynn, helping Credible defeat Lynn. At the December 3, 2005 Ring of Honor show Steel Cage Warfare in New York, New York, Storm congratulated ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson following a successful title defense against Rocky Romero. Storm has also stated that he would be receptive to working with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling if he was presented with an angle that piqued his interest, such as one involving his friends Christian and Chris Jericho. However, since then Storm has made it quite clear that he is no longer interested in working for TNA.

On April 1, 2006, Storm returned to Ring of Honor to face Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Championship in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to the event, Storm would commend Bryan Danielson and say that he is the one person to make him come out of retirement. Danielson defeated Storm by submission to retain the title.[2] ROH fans were appreciative of Storm's efforts and chanted "You've still got it" as a tribute.

Lance Storm has made rare indy appearances for Northern Ontario based promotion Blood, Sweat & Ears. He fought Christian Cage on December 3, 2006 in Mississauga, Ontario, losing after an Unprettier by Cage. On July 21, 2007, he fought Christopher Daniels in Timmins, Ontario, defeating him via the Superkick and in his hometown of North Bay, Ontario on August 11, 2007, he defeated Robert Roode with the same move.

[edit] Full retirement (2007)

He announced on his website August 13, 2007, that he had officially retired.[3]

In September of 2007, Lance helped Chris Jericho get back into ring shape at his Wrestling Academy.[citation needed]

Storm frequently blogs, occasionally controversially, about professional wrestling today. His topics have included comments on both WWE's version of ECW, which he was asked to become a part of, and TNA, as well as being a proponent of women in wrestling.

It is announced that Storm will once again return to ROH to compete at two of their shows. One in Toronto and one in Detroit.

[edit] In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling
  • CWA Catch Junior Heavyweight Championship[6]
  • West Coast Wrestling Association

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Straight Shootin’ with Lance Storm
  2. ^ rohwrestling.com (1 April). Ring of Honor Official results. “Bryan Danielson defeated Lance Storm to retain the ROH World Title”
  3. ^ That's a Wrap
  4. ^ StormWrestling.com Biography. stormwrestling.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  5. ^ Fighting Spirit Magazine. fightingspiritmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
  6. ^ Catch Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Title. WrestlingTitles.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  7. ^ ECW Tag Team Championship official history. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  8. ^ SMW title histories. ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  9. ^ Westcott. WAR - WRESTLE AND ROMANCE WAR INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE HISTORY. Solie. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  10. ^ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/war/war-6.html Wrestle Association "R" World 6-man Tag Team Title]. WrestlingTitles.com. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  11. ^ WWE Cruiserweight Championship official history. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  12. ^ Lance Storm bio. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  13. ^ United States Championship official history. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  14. ^ Lance Storm's first Intercontinental Championship reign. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  15. ^ World Tag Team Championship official history. WWE. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.

[edit] External links

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