Q & A

December 24, 2007

Q: What type of offenses would get you hauled into wrestlers court? Was there a wrestler's court in ECW, WCW, and WWE? If so, who served as the judge? What are the penalties?
A: Other than WWE I’ve never heard of anyone having a “wrestlers court”. I only ever witnessed court once, and Taker was the judge and Bradshaw the prosecutor. You could get taken to court over anything that was deemed disrespectful. An example might be continually sitting in first class without offering your first class seat to a more deserving veteran.

Q: Why do you suppose the invasion angle never worked out? I though it could have been a great angle, I myself enjoyed it.
A: I think there was a lot of little reasons behind it failure, or at least it’s overly brief success. I think to make an angle like that work it needs to be done 100%. WCW needed to come in and lay waste to WWE to make an impact and get the most out of that angle. WWE did not do that and protected their established WWE stars. I think they did this out of fear that the WCW Invasion force wasn’t strong enough or might not get over enough to warrant risking the credibility of the already established stars. I don’t blame them for that because our WCW force wasn’t exactly a complete A list of WCW stars. If we had Goldberg, Hall, Nash, Steiner, Bischoff, Flair, and Sting at that point it might have been a different story.

Q: Do you have a specific favorite on Corner Gas? I'm actually watching the show as I send this Email, it's the one when Hank becomes a crossing guard. I consider Hank and Oscar my 2 favorite characters, In My Opinion; they're the 2 funniest characters.
A: I’ve got a favourite 2, Oscar definitely being one, and Davis the other. The entire cast is great but if I had to narrow it down those would be my 2.

Q: Would it be legal for the WWE to give lie detector tests to the wrestlers to find out if their on something instead of urine and blood tests that we all know really don't work?
A: I have no idea about the legality, but I would imagine they could incorporate one if they really wanted to.

Q: When you decided to open up a wrestling school, where did you get the ring? I mean, it's not like you could just walk into "Wrestling Rings'R'Us" or "The Ring Shack" and pick one from the shelf, is it?
A: Chris Benoit helped me get my ring. He had a friend that had an old Stampede ring that I bought and then modified myself to make it more like a WWE style ring. I had a welder make me new posts, etc, and I made the ring ropes myself.

Q: What do you think is the absolute worst,corny,unbelievable wrestling move or hold to ever be used? I vote for The People's Elbow.
A: I don’t like using the word “worst” because I think some of the most corny and unbelievable stuff got over and thus isn’t the worst. The Worm was pretty ridiculous, as was Socko.

Q: Which of your finishers do you like doing best the Super Kick, Piledriver or the half crab?
A: I liked the Rolling Half the best because it was the most unique.

Q: How did you rate Mike Awesome as a worker and how come he never made to main event level in the WWE?
A: Mike was a decent enough worker but not a great one. I think he had a hard time in WWE because his entire career was spent being a big man and bumping others and once he got to WWE he was no longer considered a big man and had a difficult time adjusting his style to being a mid sized worker.

Q: Kurt Angle claims he is a 12X world champion. The only way to get to that number is by counting his tag titles. Sylvan Grenier, now a commentator on the French TNA program, said "That's 8X more than me" and he has yet to win a single's title. Do you think it's rewriting the book or cheapening the accomplishment when tag title are included in the count? To my knowledge, neither Triple H (11X) and Ric Flair (16X) take into account their tag reigns.
A: Guys can say what ever the hell they want and it doesn’t change or mean anything. I can say I’m a 47-time world champ it doesn’t change anything. Hogan keeps saying Andre weighted 700 lbs at Mania 3, it doesn’t make it so or change the record books.

Q: How much should a female wrestler in the Indy wrestling get paid to do a show in another state when she has been working for a year in the business how much should she ask for?
A: That really depends on what she brings to the table and what she is worth. There are no flat standards in pay in wrestling. Unless she is established or can really stand out she won’t draw a dime, so more often than not she will have to take what ever they offer her.

Q: With the upcoming WrestleMania being held in an open air venue, I'm just wondering have you ever wrestled outside when it was raining, and if so, how did that affect what you were able to do in the ring?
A: I wrestled outside during a Typhoon in Japan. It was bought show so if we cancelled the company lost all the money, so we ran. The match became more about not falling down and getting hurt than anything else, but we managed to have a decent match. I wrestled my regular tag partner from WAR Yuji Yasuroka.

Q: You have always said that you're very strict with your diet. On the road, how far out of your way would you go, or have gone to avoid eating at a fast food joint such as McDonalds or a Burger King?
A: I still had to eat fast food, but when I did I made smart choices like getting their Grilled Chicken sandwich, plain. You just get the dry chicken patty on the bun, throw out the bun and eat the chicken. It isn’t great but it’s way better on the diet than burgers.

Q: Anyone still in OVW that you worked with that has yet to make it to the main roster, who you think will be a star with WWE?
A: To be honest I’m not sure who is still in OVW.

Q: When all is said and done, which guy that you worked with in OVW will be the biggest star in WWE?
A:Bobby Lashley!!!!

Q: Say down the road WWE or TNA wants to bring you in as on camera mentor role for a few months to get one of your students over, would you go that far to help get one of your guys over?
A: I am not going back on the road, and doing that or a few months would require me to shut down my school, which I’m not doing either. I would consider an appearance or two to help out but that would be it.

Q: Why do you think Raven never really caught on in WWE?
A: I think Raven had a label on him from his Johnny Polo days and that label did not say Main Event one it.

Q: I am curious as to your reaction when you see a big bump. Say a guy taking a huge bump off a ladder, do you pop for the bump or is your first reaction “I hope that he is not serious hurt?”
A: I’m generally more concerned than entertained when it comes to matches like that and big bumps.

Q: Can you watch a match and just enjoy it, or are you always thinking and/or critiquing the match?
A: I can still enjoy a match, but it has to be a really good one, my standards are pretty high.

Q: As a guy who earned his living wrestling I was wondering your thoughts on the “you sold out chant” You would hear it a lot when say a guy would leave ECW to join WWE or WCW. To me it was dumb; the boys are trying to make a living after all. I just wondered if you ever got the chant and what you thought of it.
A: I think a lot of fans forget that this is our job, and we are trying to support our families.

Q: How much can over selling hurt a match. If a guy is out there selling every move like it is devastating seems like can be just as bad as now selling.
A: Unless it’s done realistically it hurts a match either selling too much or too little.

Q: I forget that match, but it was a tag with you and Regal vs. Kane and RVD (I think) where regal took a power slam and was K’OD in the ring. What were you first thoughts and what in general is supposed to happen when a guy get hurt in a match.
A: It was actually just a body slam, and it was at the No Way out PPV in Montreal. I was more confused than anything else because it didn’t’ look like it was possible to get hurt on the bump so I didn’t understand what happened. I was relieved that it was near our corner so I could tag in and work the match for him. There was even a spot later in the match where we were both supposed to catch RVD on a dive and I actually shoved Regal out of the way and caught Rob myself not wanting Regal to get hurt ant worse.

Q: Would a guy get any heat backstage from a match were a guy gets hurt and can not go on? You see guys like Cena, HHH etc get hurt then say “I had to finish the match”. Is that a wrestler thing to always finish, even when just going home may be better in the long run?
A: If the guy is seriously hurt and can’t continue the concern would be for his well being not the match.

Q: Would you be able to get tape from the WWE at all? Say you wanted to show your class a match from WWE TV from say 10 years ago, could you call up someone in the WWE office and get that? If not now, could you have while you were employed by them?
A: I doubt they would give me the footage, not so much because they wouldn’t want me to have it, but it would take them time and effort to do it, and if they did it once, guys would want access to the library for everything. They have done stuff like that for guys while they were working there. If for example I had a Hell in the Cell match coming up and asked them for past Hell in a Cell matches on tape to study to prepare for the match, they would get that for me.

Q: What do you think of Shelton Benjamin being moved to ECW?
A: They’ve wasted his talents for so long now does it really matter?

Q:How do you feel about catchphrases? Lately it seems like they aren't used much, but I think they are still important. Jericho's recent return on Raw included several of his catchphrases, and I thought it made the promo much more interesting. What are your thoughts?
A: Not everyone gets promo time anymore so it’s hard to get stuff like that over.

Q: How do you feel about veteran members of the roster requesting a light schedule such as only working televised events and not house shows?
A: This is a business, if they have the power to get what they want more power to them. If HBK, for example, is to the point where he has no interest in working full time, yet WWE still wants him on the show, the lighter schedule might be the best option.

Q: I was always curious what material is used for the surface of the WWE ring? Since I was a kid I always wondered this (and yes I know its a dumb question)
A: Well it’s called a canvas for a reason, it’s actually made of canvas.

Q: Didn't you work a couple of ROH shows in the past? I thought you came out of retirement to wrestler Brian Danielson when he was ROH Champion.
A: I did one appearance and one match for ROH. I wrestled Brian Danielson for the ROH Title in April of last 2006.

Q: What did you think of WWF Brawl For All?
A: I thought it was terrible. They did it with a planned ending (or what they hoped would happen) and then when it didn’t work they dropped the whole thing and it was a huge waste.

Q: Even after getting KOed by Butterbean, why do you think Bart Gunn wasn't pushed as a legitimate tough-guy character after winning Brawl For All?
A: I don’t know how you are supposed to push someone as a “legit” tough guy, when everyone on the show is supposed to be tough.

Q: Do you think having being drug-free and not engaging in backstage politics hurt your career very much?
A:I don’t like to look at it that way, but I certainly think taking steroids and doing more backstage campaigning during my career would have helped.

Q: Have you any desire to work for a major wrestling company as a road agent like Road Warrior Animal or Dean Malenko does?
A: That would still require me to be on the road, which I have absolutely no interest in at all. I’m so happy being home with my family, I don’t’ see me ever working on the road again.

Q: Despite the criticism, would you like to see TNA succeed and do you root for them to challenge WWE's "throne"?
A: I want them to succeed but I think challenging anyone is a complete waste of time. Why so many people seem obsessed with challenging WWE and beating WWE is beyond me. Much like if you want to succeed in pro golf, spending your time trying to be better than Tiger Woods is a waste of time. You need to practice and focus on just improving your game, if you want to succeed.

Q: Do you consider yourself jaded or "beaten down" by the business?
A: I don’t. I’m pretty happy and content with the way my career went and I feel quite healthy as well.

Q: In your RAW 15 commentary you said, "RVD was a huge surprise and it was great to see him again, if only for the 5 Star Sprog Flash (not a typo)." Is there a story behind the Sprog Flash title? Maybe I missed it on RAW if one of the announcers or wrestlers said it as such, but I’m wondering if there's a story behind it...
A: There is a story to it, which only the boys would get. Whenever Pat Patterson was Rob’s agent he would always miss pronounce Rob’s finish and say “Sprog Flash”. It was even funnier because he would also call RVD, DVD. Picture in your head Pat saying in a very thick French accent, “And then DVD, he hit you with the Sprog Flash…” You likely had to be there, but trust me it’s priceless.

Q: have you ever worked with "The model" Rick Martel? where is he now?
A:I never had a match with Rick but I did work with him in Winnipeg on a few shows. We did a TV taping or two and cut an angle to set up for a tag team program with him and I facing Bad News and Don Callis, but we never ended up doing the tour with the tag matches. I’m not sure where he is now, likely at home in Quebec somewhere.

Q: What you view on Steve Austin as a wrestler? I think people forget how good he was in the ring!
A: : Steve was an awesome worker, but yah I think you are right, I think a lot of people have forgotten just how good he was. Before the neck injury and even a while after that, he could really go. I was a huge fan of his from back in his Hollywood Blonde days. His character got so amazingly over, that it over shadowed his work to an extent, and he obviously had to tone down his work considerably because of his bad neck.

Q: Jeff Hardy beat Triple H at Armageddon and it seems he'll have his first ever Championship match at the Royal Rumble. I'm a big fan of Hardy, so what do you think of this huge push, since Hardy used to be "only" a contender for Tag or IC Titles?
A: I think one title shot does not a Huge Push make. I’m very happy he is being elevated but it will have to continue long after the Rumble to constitute a huge push in my books.

Q: You've mentioned being an MMA fan in several of your columns, so I'm wondering what your opinion is about this. UFC has become to MMA what WWE is to wrestling--they're by far the biggest and most powerful group in the world and will probably never be knocked off their perch. In your mind, which other MMA group stands the best chance of the becoming the "Mixed Martial Art’s TNA", for lack of a better way to say it?
A: The group that I like in that MMA, “TNA” number 2 spot is Bodog Fight, although I would consider them more of an ROH alternative rather than TNA. Bodog Fight has a distinct and marketable name, which I think, gives it a good identity, much like Ring of Honor. I also think it’s product is comparable to what I see and like about ROH. While Bodog doesn’t have the huge established names like Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture they have a bunch of really great fighter that bust their ass and produce some really good fights. Bodog doesn’t have the same production and hype as UFC but often has an, as good or even better product.

Keep the questions coming,
Lance Storm