Q and A

May 31, 2011



Q: I enjoyed reading your reprinted FS column regarding the Jumping Bomb Angels vs. the Glamour Girls, particularly because it brought back a lot of great memories of seeing them wrestle one another at the 1987 Survivor Series and the 1988 Royal Rumble. Given that, I am wondering if you have a preference for either the JBA’s WWF matches or their Japanese matches against opponents like Bull Nakano and Dump Matsumoto; if so, why?


A: I can't say that I saw any of the JBA's Japanese matches.

Q: You suggest training any body part once a week. But there are so many exercises - especially for back and chest - that I don't know which ones to pick for training. Any suggestions for back training? I only get to do this area once a week and I want to the best results.


A: The best bet is to change them up occasionally so you don't just do the same 4 exercises for ever. Some of my favs are: A wide grip pull down or chins, a close or reverse grip pull down, Seated cable rows, bent over rows, single arm bent over dumbbell row (lawn mowers).

Q: Do you believe in Aliens or UFO's??


A: While I am a skeptic when it comes to little green men landing in space ships, I find it hard to believe that there isn't life of some kind out there some where. Keep in mind “life” out there could be a bacteria or amoebic type organism. As for UFO's I'm going to be literal here and say I see many flying object I can not identify, so I certainly believe in UFO’s, but that does not mean they are Alien spaceships.

Q: When going to cracker barrel, and given the choice of seating – do you ask to be seated near the fireplace or away from the fireplace? Also, was the Buff Bagwell and huge dickhead?


A: I never specified seating preference at Cracker Barrel; the place was always so busy we were just happy to get seated. If given preference I’d lean toward a window over the fire place, especially considering Cracker Barrels are more prevalent in the south where it isn’t generally very cold. I think that label for Buff is unfair. He became accustom to an environment in WCW and did not adjust quickly enough to a very different environment in WWE. Wow I’m feeling politically correct this morning. 

Q: Besides JR, who would you say are the best announcers to call your matches?


A: I always thought Paul Heyman did a great job of my stuff in WWE, Joey Styles called my style of match in ECW well also.

Q: What are your favorite top 3 movies of all time?


A: I can’t pick this kind of stuff. There are so many movies and depending on my mood at any given time I would likely pick a different three.

Q: Do you prefer being a heel or face? Why or why not?


A: Heel by a long shot. Generally the heel role is the controlling role and I find I am better suited to the ring general role. I also think my personality is better suited as a heel. I am not selfish enough to be a great baby face.

Q: Is there a particular wrestler that you always get excited to wrestle?


A: There are a bunch of wrestlers that I was always excited to stand across the ring from: Chris Jericho, Jerry Lynn, Edge, Rock, Dave Finlay, Tommy Dreamer, Gerry Morrow, Chris Candito, Johnny Smith, Ultimo Dragon, Danny Collins, Hiro Tenzan. Just to name a few.

Q: How tall is Christian? Do you think it will benefit him if he add about 15-20lbs of muscle?


A: He is 6’ 1” or 6’ 2” It would benefit most people to gain 15-20 lbs but you can’t just gain 20 lbs because you want to, unless of course you take certain drugs that are banned by WWE’s wellness policy.

Q: Do you prefer answering Q&A questions by email/commentary or on Facebook? I find I have a hard time keeping up with all the FB questions as opposed to going through a regular commentary like the “good ol’ days” : ) Do you have a preference??


A: I much prefer doing them in this form and encourage fans to email questions here. If the questions are of a more time sensitive nature Facebook works fine but I think they are easier to keep track of here.

Q: What criteria does WWE look for when adding wrestlers to their alumni section at WWE.com?


A: They don’t run this kind of thing by me so I can only make assumptions. You obviously have to have worked there, and I assume be on good general terms with the company.

Q: In my opinion wrestling at its core, from a fans point of view, is about good guys vs bad guys. John Cena has stated a few times now that he doesn't try and sway the crowd in either direction. I can appreciate that he respects the fans freedom of speech, but do you think that it hurts his opponents’ credibility when they are trying to be a heel or a face? It seems to me that this would be confusing as people don't know whether Cena's opponent is a good guy, or a bad guy since Cena himself (according to crowd reaction) may get booed or cheered.


A: John Cena is a GOOD GUY and no one is confused about that. There is a certain core group of fans that hates Cena and that is never going to change, which is likely what he was referring to. I doubt he was stating that he doesn’t try to be a face or heel, I think it was more a case of him realizing he can’t sway that certain percentage that boo him so he doesn’t worry about them.

Q: On the March 25th edition of your Q & A. You criticized me for one of my questions you answered that day (the one you said you deleted 80% of it). I admit I did kind of ramble on the question and I did actually cut the question in half before sending it to you. Anyways, you also said if you wanted my opinion, you'd go to my website. That got me wondering about the details that went behind creating your website. Like what company did you go through for the domain name and the server space and how much does it cost you? I actually need to create a website as a portfolio site for my art and animation projects and I want to avoid the ads and the limited domain names that the free sites would attach to my potential site.


A: I got the domain name through Network Solutions, and my server is through Total Choice Hosting. TCH are awesome to deal with, they have great customer service. I recommend using them.

Q: Have you watched much of CHIKARA or the Quebec based Interspecies Wrestling? Do you like more comedy based promotions like CHIKARA or ISW, or do you think that they're more of a "niche" product?


A: I’ve never seen the Quebec group and the little I’ve seen of Chikara I’ve determined it’s not my cup of tea.

Q: I’m a big fan of your work with Bryan Alvarez on F4W Online website. My first question is when did you first become aware of Bryan’s website / newsletter? Second question, what do you think of Bryan’s work in the ring (your match together in TCW & Bryan working other opponents)?


A: I honestly don’t know when I became aware of Bryan or his site. I think he contacted me to do a radio interview in 2004 or 2005 and at that time I think I just figured he was Meltzer’s side kick. I became aware of his own site and became friends with him likely around 2007-2008. I ended up meeting him for the first time last spring.

Q: Is there anything Jericho would do to annoy you on road trips when you were in Smokey Mountain and is there anything he does now to get on your nerves? I can honestly see him doing something to you to get a cheap laugh.


A: We didn’t travel together much in SMW. I lived in Knoxville and drove to shows with my wife, where he lived in Morristown and often drove by himself or with the guys he lived with. Like anyone else when you spend enough time together there are things Jericho does that become annoying. I would imagine he would say the same about me. There was nothing specific or unusual though. He is not as punctual as I am, which would be my biggest complaint.

Q: Take your best guess, how long do you think it will be before Dixie Carter is held accountable for TNA being a failure and when will they eventually just stop pouring money into this disaster?


A: There is no way to know.

Q: Have you ever witnessed an exploding cage match or a fire death match live while you were in Japan? And have you ever participated in one?


A: No on both fronts. I only did one tour for (FMW) a company that did that type of thing and it was a small tour with nothing that big on the shows. I mostly worked for WAR which featured good wrestling rather than absurd gimmick matches

Q: Have you ever had a match where you felt that you and your opponent were doing everything at the right time in the right way, but the crowd just wouldn't get into it? And conversely, have you ever had a match that you felt was sloppy or not very good, and the crowd was going nuts during it?


A: If the crowd was dead I would never feel that I was doing everything right; you have to work to your crowd. I don’t ever recall feeling my work was sloppy. If you asked a 1000 people to describe my work, or even criticize my work, I doubt the word sloppy would ever come up.

Q: How hard is it working with a celebrity guest performer? I imagine that this type of match would put a great deal of pressure on the performers to protect the celeb. Generally, I know you can't speak for everyone, what is the reaction to working with an inexperienced celeb?


A: I don’t think I ever had to, and I would imagine each case is very different. How much of a fan they are and how good of an athlete they are would play such a big role.

Q: I noticed in your last Q&A you said you don't think you've ever seen a Colt Cabana match, yet his Street Fight against Homicide headlined the Ring of Honor show you wrestled on in Chicago Ridge on April 2006. When you were wrestling, would you usually leave after your match or would you stay for the whole show and watch the main event?


A: I did not leave that night, but the building set up was such that there was not a convenient place to watch the matches from backstage. I saw very little of that event.

Q: I was just watching RAW and The Miz just won the triple threat with the winner facing Cena at over the edge (the next PPV). Anyways Cena goes through that so there will be no complaining the match "will have no count outs, be no DQ, no pin falls and no submissions. You just have to make me say I QUIT." Now I have a huge problem here. Now correct me if I'm wrong but isn't saying I QUIT infact A submission. These are the knit-pick things that really get me about pro-wrestling. I'm a huge fan. But it's the little things that seem to send me "OVER THE EDGE."


A: I agree completely, even more so considering the finish. Had Cena just beaten on Miz until Miz couldn’t take anymore and said “I quit” then it would have at least felt a bit different. Using his regular submission hold and just getting the verbal submission instead of the tap out came off fairly lame in my opinion.

Q: How many times have you been asked about the Christian/Randy Orton/WHC situation so far?


A: Certainly more than once.

Q: When the whole Bob Holly incident happened where he legit beat up that tough enough student on live raw what was the locker room in the back like? Were the "boys" mad at Holly.


A: It didn’t happen live on RAW it was shot at the training facility to be aired later on Tough Enough. Very few of the boys saw it when it happened and a lot of the boys never watched Tough Enough, I still to this day have never seen it.

Q: Do you think the WWE dropped the ball back in the day when Daniel Puder almost broke Kurt Angles arm with that kimora during the second season of tough enough? By that I mean did they not capitalize on an instant feud that showed itself on TV? Again what were the guys in the back reaction to this?


A: They didn’t drop the ball. They screwed up by allowing a situation like that to happen on the show. Puder was NO WHERE near ready to be doing a program with anyone on TV at that point so they COULDN’T follow up on that incident. Putting Kurt in a risky situation like that on TV was just a very bad idea.

Q: What are the origins of the term "X-Pac Heat"? Were people really that sick of Sean Waltman?


A: I don’t know where it all started but Waltman had the kind of heat where fans legitimately thought he was a scum bag little puke. It wasn’t boo you’re a heel, it was more boo you are a degenerate scum bag. I don’t know him well but he was always very nice to me, so I guess it is to his credit that he got people to hate him this much.

Q: When the booker books the match, how much of it does he determine? Does he just say who wins, and leave all the spots and match progression up to the wrestlers, or is it more micro-managed? I predict your answer will be it depends for different wrestlers, but use yourself as an example. Were you booked liberally, or within an inch of your life?


A: I was very seldom given more direction than, “We want him up (to win) and to look very strong”, “12- 15 minutes, you up.”, “You’ve got a 6 man tonight, have so and so take it with his finish,” and I would put everything together from that. I was a well respected ring general so other than the out come I was trusted to figure out the best way to get things done. On ECW house shows Paul often wouldn’t tell me anything other than my opponent and I would even decide who was going to win. Most of my live event matches with Jerry Lynn were like this. We just looked at the rest of the card and decided on our own what was best for the show.

Q: With WWE banning terms like “wrestling”, should we now call WrestleMania, Entertainment Mania?


A: I think the WrestleMania name is too valuable to switch. They could likely get away with just calling next years show Mania 28 but it might be difficult trade marking just “Mania”, so I think WrestleMania is safe for now.

Q: Is there any move that, no matter how well it's executed, makes you cringe?


A: Sheamus’s Razor’s Edge type move, and Hernandez’s Border Toss, are very bad in my opinion. When you are thrown like that and have to bump with forward movement you almost ALWAYS bang your head. Both moves should be banned in my opinion.

Q: I've read in a few articles and commentaries (of course not yours, but those of other people) that Vince Russo tends to favor (or generally favors) younger talent. Would you agree with this? How would you evaluate his booking of your character/matches? How did you get along with him backstage, if at all?


A: I’ve never thought much about Russo’s trend towards young talent, because in my opinion regardless of what talent he books, old or young, he has NO IDEA how to book them. I find almost all of his baby face characters completely unlikable. I only spoke to him a few times face to face in WCW, and none of those conversations, made me believe Russo knows how to create believable relatable characters.

Q: I'm not sure if you know this or not (since you no longer follow TNA) but TNA Wrestling has renamed/rebranded itself as iMPACT! Wrestling. What are your thoughts on this? By the way, I like the new banner on your website (the one that says "World of Hurt")...it looks cool.


A: I am aware of the name change, and while I think it is a better name than TNA, changing the name when you aren’t changing the product is just a waste of time and money, IMO.

Q: What are your opinions of Sting, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, the Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, and RVD? How was your backstage relationship with them in ECW and WCW?


A: Wow Quite a list:
Sting: I got along great with Sting and have much respect for him as a person and performer.
Goldberg: Get along great with Bill, have more respect for him as a person than a performer, but still like him a lot.
Hogan: Did not know him at all in WCW but got on great with him in WWE and loved working with him.
Nash: Kev is a very fun guy and almost impossible not to get along with and like. All of my personal experiences with him have been great. That said I have questioned some of his political tactics over the years.
Paul Heyman: I love Paul and enjoyed every minute I spent working with and for him. I would not have him do my banking but other than that have nothing bad to say about him.
The Rock: Don’t know him well but always found him very personable and professional. A great performer and a nice guy.
Steve Austin: Great guy, Great performer, very down to earth and a lot of fun, much respect.
Vince: Vince is hard to describe but I genuinely like the man and always got along well with him.
RVD: Rob and I are two completely different people so I don’t think outside of wrestling we would ever be friends, but we always got along well and I have a lot of respect for his talent and how hard he works. Outside of wrestling and a loyalty to our wives I don’t think we have anything in common.

Q: Have you ever read Bram Stoker's Dracula? If so, what was your opinion of it? I myself tried to, but after having to go through reading the old timey English slang terminology (i.e. "betwixt", "prithie" etc etc) I simply gave up.


A: I read it not too long ago and for the most part enjoyed it. WAY better than Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which was a complete load of crap.

Q: You've mentioned in your commentaries that you like comedies. Have you ever seen such shows as "The Simpsons", "Family Guy", "American Dad", or "South Park"?


A: I think I would have to live under a rock to have not seen the Simpsons. I find The Simpsons funny, and generally like South Park although I don’t watch it. I have not seen either of the other two shows. Is Family Guy the one where the dude looks like he has two testicles for a chin?

Q: Do you have any suggestions as to why the Gorilla Press/Big Splash is rarely if ever used in WWE or TNA since Warrior was about? I've always thought it was one of the best 'big man' moves ever and would have been ideal for someone like Mason Ryan.


A: As a combo I think everyone would think, “Warrior, wanna be” which is not the reaction people want.

Q: Since you read Jericho's second book I want your honest opinion on something. What's your take on the story he tells about stealing the hat from that one guy and then throwing it out? Personally, I think it was a real dick move and I lost A LOT of respect for him after I read that. I don't care how annoying someone is. You don't take something of sentimental value and get rid of it because of a petty grudge. It's cruel and inhuman.


A: “Inhuman” I think that’s a bit much. I honestly don’t recall the story, so it’s hard to comment. Was Jericho drunk at the time? Chris does not use his best judgment when drunk.

Q: Will you ever get around to publishing a Lance Storm autobiography?


A: Not sure, I would imagine now with e-book and self publishing there is a chance.

Q: We all know Vince has never been scared to mix it up physically with the boys. When guys like Stone Cold, The Rock, HBK, Hogan, etc. are working a program with him, do they treat him like they would any other wrestler when laying the angle out together backstage, or do they have to walk on egg shells because he's "the boss"? I'm not talking about in the ring; it's obvious that he didn't want anybody letting up on him out there. I know you didn't personally work with him, but any insight would be appreciated.


A: I was never there when they were putting their matches together, but I do know Vince would rather you beat the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title out of him than have it look bad.

Q: I was re-reading an old UK Wrestling Magazine (Power Slam) from around 1996 (when Kurt left WWE) and in one of their news bits they said you had started to train Bret Hart’s oldest son at your academy (Blade?). I never heard about this, did he last long? Did he show much aptitude?


A: His oldest son’s name is Dallas, and he decided against pursuing wrestling as a career. He only attended a couple classes.

Q: Have you checked out the e-novella series “The Dead Man”? They are pretty campy, but a lot of fun.


A: I have not, no.

Q: When you were in WWE, was Vince always present at RAW and SmackDown's TV events, as well as PPV events? And if that was the case back then, is he still present at these events today?


A: He may have missed one or two when I was there, but he was there every time as far as I remember. I think now he misses the occasional TV but is still there way more often than not.

Q: Back when you were just a fan, what was it that initially drew you to keep tuning in each week? (storyline, angle, etc etc).


A: TALENT, CHARACTER and GOOD WRESTLING MATCHES.

Q: Do you have any vacation plans for the summer and if not how do you typically spend your time off?


A: Some summers we go to Ontario to visit family for a couple weeks, this year we are staying home. My in-laws live on a lake a couple hours from here, so we will go up and spend a week or two with them. I have a couple friends who might be coming to visit as well.

Q: Are you aware that Little Guido is a referee now for WWE? I just saw him referee the Diva's title match at Over the Limit. Could you possibly take him seriously if he took a ref bump? (from a male or female wrestler)


A: I am aware he is now refereeing. I can take Guido serious doing anything, he is a very talented guy who I respect a lot.

Q: What do you think about Christian losing the world title after only 5 days? Should we be patient and see where this goes or was the loss major bullshit?


A: Depends where they go from here, I would say the jury is still out.

Lance Storm

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