Lance Storm Discusses His Wrestling Career, How He Plans To End It, & More
Former WWE Superstar Lance Storm recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet about his career, his relationship with Chris Jericho, his plans to reopen his wrestling academy, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
Lance Storm on meeting Chris Jericho for the first time: “We all stayed at a hotel. Well, there was two people from Calgary who lived in Calgary, but we all stayed in a hotel in Okotoks, Alberta, which is you know, it’s basically a bedroom community now. And it was this crappy hotel and I got picked up at the airport and taken to this hotel and every person I see when I get there is a skinny little kid, big fat guy. Like no one looked like an athlete at all. And I had no again you didn’t have internet, you didn’t know that. That’s what all wrestling schools look like. I was you know, and I trained and was in good shape. It’s like I’m expecting to show up at like an NFL camp right where I’m like, praying to God I’m in good enough shape to hang. And then I see this and because my stepdad had looked into the power plant and looked into the Hart Brothers, I chose Hart Brothers because Stampede had a rep for smaller guys, and staying in Canada made it easier But I went to the end of the hallway there was a fire escape and I’m standing on the fire escape and in my mind, I’m thinking I’ve made a huge mistake. This place is a joke. So I’m in my mind going, can I change my flight? Can I, you know, I’ll call my stepdad. I’ll see if he can get me into the Power Plant. I need to get the hell out of here. And then this green beat-up-looking 76 Volare pulls into the parking lot, and out jumps Chris Jericho. And I see a kid that clearly goes to the gym and clearly looks like an athlete. And I’m like, running down the fire escape to meet this person. Because maybe if there’s someone else here that has a hope in hell, then maybe I didn’t make a mistake. So I ran down and introduced myself to Chris and helped him carry his trunk of clothes and stuff out of the trunk of his car, and helped him move in. And it’s like, if not for seeing him, I probably would have been on a plane back home the next day.”
Lance Storm on Chris Jericho wanting him as his final opponent: “Yes, that’s sort of the running joke between us because we’ve over the years made a pact because our very first match was against each other. We did like a 10 or a 15-minute draw, I don’t remember which in Ponoka, Alberta out here. And I’ve always contended that it would be cool especially because we know each other still to do our last match with each other too and have us both bookend our careers. And on one of the Talk is Jericho podcast as well as recently just personally, we’ve sort of, you know, what’s the word, reaffirmed the pact to do it. But I keep joking with them. It’s like, Dude, you have to retire at some point, or I’m not going to be able to do it. You know, you’ve got to retire inside the next 5 or 10 years, dude, or I’m not going to be, I don’t want to do it at 75.”
Lance Storm on how Canadian wrestlers are often heels: “Well, I think and only in the US and that’s something that you know, WWE, never understood. But it’s all about America’s always, America’s the greatest place in the world. And, you know, if you’ve actually been anywhere else, it’s not necessarily the truth. And I think any foreign person who touts their country as being good, gets heat in the US. And I say how WWE doesn’t realize it. But that, like, they assumed the Unamericans would be heels everywhere. Yeah. And I’m like, No, we’re gonna be baby faces everywhere but the US you don’t get this. And they didn’t understand that. My pro-Calgary thing would be a babyface in other parts of Canada. They’re like, Well, you’re not from New Brunswick. Why would they like you here? It’s like because Canada’s the world’s biggest small town. It’s like if you’re a Canadian that made it on the international scene. You’re our hometown boy. Doesn’t matter if you’re from Victoria, you know, Moosejaw, New Brunswick, or Ottawa. If you’re a Canadian that made it internationally. You’re our hometown boy, you just are. We’ll buy you a Tim’s that’s the way it goes.”
On if he plans to reopen his wrestling academy: “I don’t see it happening. It was such a giant task of getting it started. Getting insurance is a gigantic hurdle, even just getting a ring, was a lot of work. And I don’t know if I have the desire to do that much work again. And I stopped doing it primarily because I’m a hands-on teacher. I took literally every time we taught moves, I was pretty much taking them from all the students first from a safety standpoint too because I’m really good at protecting myself. So all right, we’re doing DDTs today, I’m going to make sure you’re doing it right, DDT me first, okay, we’re doing suplexes, suplex me first, if you don’t hurt me, and I feel like you’re competent, you can give it to the rest of the students. And I had matches with every single student but one. He was someone who kept showing up late and his last day, which was his turn to have a match. He showed up late and didn’t get his match. But I had a match with every student and it just started taking its physical toll. It was probably more abuse than having a wrestling career was and I was just no I’m done. I really enjoyed the producer teaching aspect of it. So I suspect I will stay with Impact for an extended period of time because I love the atmosphere and the talent there and very much enjoy the schedule.”
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