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Courtesy: http://www.MondayNightMayhem.com
Lance Storm Discusses Becoming The Next Stage Of His Career In Being A Booker (And Why He Sees Triple H Being The Next Person To Step Up In That Aspect), Returning To The Squared Circle For ROH This Summer (And If We Have Seen His Last Match), Why There’s “No Downside” In Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff Coming Into TNA (And How Because Of Vince Russo & TNA’s Booking, He Has Lost Sleep At Night Recently), Why He Has Been Disappointed In CM Punk’s “Downgrade” On SmackDown & How William Regal Can Be Utilized More By The WWE, & Why Chris Hero Should Be The Next Ring Of Honor Talent To Head To World Wrestling Entertainment
Former WWE Intercontinental Champion, former four-time WWE World Tag Team Champion, & former three-time ECW World Tag Team Champion, Lance Storm, was the special guest on this week’s live edition (11/16/09) of Monday Night Mayhem (presented by ReelWrestling.com), hosted by The Big Mosh & “The Chairman Of The Board” Todd Vincent. You can feel The Mayhem live & in streaming audio every Monday night (at 8PM ET/7PM CT), exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.ITunes.com, www.AudioWrestling.com, www.Facebook.com/MondayNightMayhem, & www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem).
Lance’s return Mayhem appearance (as part of the “MNM Fall Tour ’09”) is now available for free in Windows Streaming Media, or via The Mayhem’s official Podcast on ITunes:
Lance Storm/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Streaming Audio): http://www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/111609.wax?
Lance Storm/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Podcast on ITunes): http://www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/nov09/111609.mp3
Here are some of the highlights of Lance’s exclusive interview, provided by The Mayhem’s co-hosts: John “The Big Mosh” Masiulionis & “The Chairman Of The Board” Todd Vincent:
Lance was welcomed back to The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network by The Big Mosh & Todd Vincent, his first MNM appearance since the summer of 2005. Indeed a lot has happened in Lance’s career since that point, as well as the wrestling industry as a whole. One of the shining moments that Storm has experienced since retiring from full-time active in-ring competition is having the opportunity to work with Ring Of Honor several times (including his two most recent appearances in Toronto this past summer for “Death Before Dishonor VII”). “It was really satisfying for sure. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Ring Of Honor. For all intensive purposes, it’s the same vision of wrestling that I have, in that is still treats it like a sport, and guys still go out there, work hard, & try to bring credibility to it. It’s not so much a comedy-variety show…It’s actually a wrestling company that produces wrestling matches. I really love the product…They have such a great roster of guys…The whole locker room has been tremendous.” Some Ring Of Honor most-passionate & outspoken fans have been worried that the company may be in trouble after the recent losses of former ROH World Champions, “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness. Lance wholeheartedly believes that ROH can not only stay afloat into 2010 & beyond, but that new talents will indeed have the chance to shine with the recent departures. “I think it keeps Ring Of Honor fresh too if they lose a couple of top guys, it not only allows but forces guys to step up, and there’s a lot of guys there that want that opportunity.” Storm also added that ROH talents such as Chris Hero, Tyler Black, Austin Aries, & Kenny King will have the chance to benefit the most, as they have all impressed him very much in his time within/following Ring Of Honor, but that Ring Of Honor’s most-vital asset going forward could very well be Jim Cornette. Mayhem Nation, be sure to check out t he long-awaited return of “The Louisville Slugger” himself for his first trip to the MNM squared circle since the summer of 2005, as Jim Cornette joins “Your Home Of Wrestling Radio” for “A Very Mayhem Thanksgiving” this Monday night, November 23rd!
The 23rd-annual Survivor Series Pay-Per-View is this Sunday night from The Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and three of WWE’s most-talented performers who will be showcasing their talents in front of a worldwide stage in “our nation’s capital,” just as they have this entire year, will be Chris Jericho, Christian, & William Regal…three of Lance’s former tag team partners during his career. Many ECW fans of old have appreciated Christian & Regal “carrying the extreme torch” in 2009, and people have also taken notice of Y2J continuing to create another phenomenal chapter in his storied career…this time teaming up with The Big Show as the WWE Unified World Tag Team Champions. Has the pushes of these three superstars surprised Lance, despite some of the same storylines we have seen this past year, along with the debut of new stars (such as Legacy, Kofi Kingston, & Jack Swagger) on RAW, ECW, & SmackDown? “Those three I’m huge fans of. I think William Regal could be even more utilized than he is right now. To me, uniqueness is paramount. William Regal’s style is unique. I don’t think there is anybody on the planet that can match his aggressiveness, his facial expressions, his promo abilities…I think he’s phenomenal. There is nobody above Christian’s league in my opinion. Jericho has been unstoppable since he’s turned heel. The biggest think I have been disappointed in lately has been the downgrade of CM Punk. To me, it was one of the best new things they had going. I thought him on top gave SmackDown a freshness. I was enjoying his character…the relative newness of Punk as a heel. SmackDown has been my preferred show to watch because there are so many young guys on there that are so great.”
Lance is taking everything he has learned throughout his career (both in & out of the ring), and is entering the latest chapter of his career: his new role as booker in the Prairie Wrestling Alliance (in Alberta, Canada). To find out more information on how you can see Lance’s shows & the talents from the Storm Wrestling Academy, log onto www.StormWrestling.com. As Storm gears up to take the next step, “The Chairman Of The Board” asked Lance where he feels the next great bookers of the business will be coming from. “The problem is the industry isn’t even looking for bookers. I hate the term ‘writer,’ I hate the term ‘storyline.’ And I think that the more people we have running the industry or the creative direction that didn’t have wrestling background I think is bad. I think the next person who will probably step up & actually be a booker is Hunter (Triple H) once he retires. I have great hopes that once he retires & steps out of the ring, he will be an even bigger asset, because is a little bit more old-school I think. Anytime I had conversations with him or watched him (as far as his work), he seems to have a similar view on the business as I did: that still, at the end of the day, there needs to be some serious wrestling involved. He’s been involved in some good angles that I think were largely directly by him. He obviously is someone that is going to end up in power, and can be very good at it. I think that the WWE could be/should be looking at perhaps finding people that worked in the business that had good minds (Tommy Dreamer) & giving them a developmental contract, where they go to Florida & book there (have two or three people down there/brainstorming & working on booking skills), so they have people to replace the people they have got now when the time comes. I think that is one of the biggest things th at is going to be missing…The more we have writers & people growing up on the ‘Crash TV’/30-second skits of RAW & iMPACT, the less really-sound understanding minds that really understand the business (Paul Heyman/Jim Cornette) will be hard to come by.”
“Your Home Of Wrestling Radio” has taken the time this month to look back at one of the most-memorable Pay-Per-View’s in professional wrestling history, the 1999 ECW November To Remember PPV (which took place at The Burt Flickinger Center in The Mayhem’s hometown of Buffalo, NY). Storm teamed up with his Impact Player tag team partner, Justin Credible, along with Rhino against Raven, Tommy Dreamer, & The Sandman in the night’s main event. This Pay-Per-View also featured the Taz’s last match in ECW prior to leaving for the WWE, the next chapter in Mike Awesome & Masato Tanaka’s legendary feud, & New Jack’s infamous dive from the top of the basketball hoop. Mosh asked Lance for his memories of working that event, when The Impact Players were two of the top dogs leading the wrestling world. “It’s funny…I never looked that far ahead…I always treated it like a job. Every match I went out there, I just tried to do the best I could. Every promo I had to cut, I made it as good as possible. I always lived in the moment, and didn’t look at the impact of this or the significance of that…I always stayed focused on doing things well.” Lance added that his focus was not on taking Taz’s place and/or his spot, but delivering for the fans during that night at The Flickinger Center. On looking back at his memories from Buffalo: ” Every minute backstage was fun in ECW, and Buffalo was one of our favorite cities, because it was one of our nicer buildings. We had legitimate lockers with showers & access to a weight room downstairs. Everybody loved working Buffalo. The only downside to it was Paul loved the building too so he would almost never leave. We always did our promos & backstage stuff after the show, so (for a TV taping in Buffalo) we’d be there until 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, because Paul would be doing all of his post-show promos & stuff (including those with Dawn Marie).” And what he got from the spirit & drive of ECW: “It was great. The drive & the hard work…to me, that’s how I always was. Paul & I shared a similar passion, which is I why I think we loved working together so much. Anything that people might have complained about the time in ECW, none of that even compared to the joy being around a group of people that just wanted to work hard & make what they did mean something. Everyone was just so driven to the same goal making this little engine succeed….the little engine that could. It was such a rewarding time, because you really felt you were a part of something & you were making progress. Because it was ‘The Island of Misfit Toys,’ it really was everyone’s chance to show that hard work mattered, and it’s gotta rest on a bit of a legend that will live forever that taking pride in your work & busting your ass can pay off.”
The talk of the wrestling world over the past month has been WWE Hall Of Famer & former WWE/WCW Champion, “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan signing with TNA Wrestling…with Hogan’s rumored debut taking place in early January after the Christmas & New Year’s holidays. As many of Lance’s long-time fans know, he has been very opinionated about the TNA product has a whole from the beginning of the company…And Storm’s passion was truly felt on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network this week: “To me, there’s almost no downside to Hogan & Bischoff coming in from my I find standpoint, because Vince Russo’s booking so frustrating that I can’t watch the show. As TNA stands right now, I don’t watch it. I haven’t watched it in about four months. The booking gets me so frustrated that I can’t sleep at night, and as ridiculous as this sounds, I had to quit watching it for the benefit of my health. As silly as it sounds, my wife has all but said that, I would literally, because I would be so frustrated at the contradictions in the booking, that there’d be like two or three nights after I watched the show I couldn’t sleep, because I was just so angry at the waste of such amazing talent.”
More is contained in this exclusive & revealing interview with the one & only Lance Storm, including his candid thoughts/comments on what bothered Lance the most about the WWE calling their Tuesday night program “ECW” at first, which WWE superstars & TNA performers he sees as being “ones to watch” for 2010, why he is hoping that Eric Bischoff can have a huge impact & influence on TNA’s Creative Team in the ahead ahead (to give the company a better on-air focus on the talent & storylines), why he classifies Paul Heyman as “the world’s greatest motivator,” his experience of working with Chris Hero leading into what could have been his final in-ring match (and how he was not originally intended to work with Chris, how it ended up coming together, why he believes the WWE “would be crazy” to not consider signing Hero, & why Chris is better-suited for World Wrestling Entertainment than TNA Wrestling), as well as one of the funniest stories you will ever year from the original ECW that actually happened (in how Lance relied on one fan sitting ringside at the ’99 November To Remember PPV for time cues during the main event of the night). One of the best-technical wrestlers in the modern era & one of the most-outspoken superstars of all-time stepped back into the MNM squared circle, so get ready to be serious for several minutes. Check out what is definitely required reading for any wrestling fan, Lance’s online commentaries, as part of his official website (located at www.StormWrestling.com).
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