Lance Storm

Lance Timothy Evers (born April 3, 1969), known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After retiring from full-time wrestling in 2005, he began running a professional wrestling school, the Storm Wrestling Academy, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
==Professional wrestling career==
===Early years (1990–1996)===
Lance Storm was trained by Ed Langley and Brad Young of the Hart Brothers Wrestling Camp at the Silver Dollar Action Centre in Calgary where he became friends with fellow student Chris Jericho. Jericho has stated that despite the name of the school, the only involvement any of the Hart brothers had in their training was a "thirty-minute cameo" by Keith Hart to collect the student's fees. Lance would later debut against Jericho in 1990 as Lance T. Storm. Early on, he mainly wrestled in Calgary but also spent time in Japan in Wrestle Association-R (WAR). Along with Jericho, Storm debuted in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) in 1994, forming a tag team known as The Thrillseekers. After Jericho was injured, Storm continued to compete in singles competition for a few months, even winning the SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship. He then left SMW and moved on to a Winnipeg-based West Four Wrestling Alliance, where he teamed once again with Jericho.
In 1995, he returned to WAR. He formed championship teams with Yuji Yasuraoka (with whom he held the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship numerous times), as well as forming a trio with Nobutaka Araya and Koki Kitahara, with whom he held the WAR World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.
===Extreme Championship Wrestling (1997–2000)===
In 1997, Storm joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). Early in his ECW career, he took part in a match against Rob Van Dam at Barely Legal where he was booed by the crowd for two visibly "weak" chair shots to Van Dam. He made a name for himself by becoming a heel and teaming with Chris Candido, as a junior member of Shane Douglas' The Triple Threat. The pair would go on to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship and held the title for over 200 days. Shortly after his team with Candido broke up and a feud between the two ensued, Storm introduced his valet Tammy Lynn Bytch, a parody of Candido's real life girlfriend Tammy Lynn Sytch, who appeared in ECW to side with Candido and feuded with Bytch.
Following his feud with Candido, Storm formed a tag team with his trainee Justin Credible, named the Impact Players. The stable joined Storm and his valet (now renamed Dawn Marie) with Credible and his manager Jason. They first feuded with Jerry Lynn and Sabu in singles matches and by late 1999, they had begun a violent feud with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. The team brutalized many singles stars during this period as well. The team earned two World Tag Team Championship reigns along the way. During this time, Storm also gained a position as a booker in ECW and had a hand in much of the product content on television and pay-per-view.
===World Championship Wrestling (2000–2001)===
After the company began to suffer financial hardships, Storm left ECW for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in order to support his family, 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 prominent stars, winning the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship, and the WCW Hardcore Championship in rapid succession, resulting in Storm becoming the first and only wrestler in WCW history to hold three titles simultaneously. As an affront to the fans, he renamed the titles to the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, 100 kg and Under Championship, and Saskatchewan Hardcore International Championship, respectively, complete with large stickers that covered the belts' faceplates. Storm also attempted to win the World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by champion Booker T on each occasion. Storm eventually awarded the Cruiserweight/100 kg and Hardcore Championship by presenting them to his Team Canada stablemates Elix Skipper and Carl Ouellet, respectively.
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 Championship, which Rection finally won and promptly renamed back to the United States Heavyweight Championship.
===World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (2001–2005)===
When WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2001, Storm's contract was kept and he became a WWF employee. Storm, portrayed as a serious, humorless heel, was in The Alliance and was the first WCW superstar to ever invade a WWF program, where he debuted on the May 28, 2001 episode of Raw. Storm received a modest push during the Invasion angle, as he would go on to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Albert on the July 23 episode of Raw. He lost the title a month later to Edge at SummerSlam on August 19.
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 (in storyline) along with the rest of the alliance roster by Vince McMahon. Storm eventually got his job back officially on the December 17, 2001 edition of Raw when he 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. During this angle, Storm and Christian won the Tag Team Championship on July 21 at Vengeance by defeating Hulk Hogan and Edge. They dropped the title to Kane and The Hurricane on the September 23, 2002 episode 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.
Storm continued teaming with 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 episode of Raw with help from Chief Morley, but they lost the title 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 episode 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 fourth tag team title reign. Storm and Morley successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship on an episode 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 episode 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 including one with Storm losing to newcomer Garrison Cade on June 16, 2003, thanks to Austin bringing out a pillow and blanket and snoring loudly into the microphone, and other distracting antics. Storm eventually found help from Goldust who helped improve Storm's charisma, which eventually turned Storm into a fan favorite and Storm started dancing. He soon rejoined Morley, who had also become a fan favorite and reverted to his Val Venis character. Their reformed team began entering the ring with very attractive women but this time their tag team never got a push.
Storm eventually turned into a heel once more by betraying the fans. This happened when he told them of how he was sick and tired of pleasing them with his dancing and how it was just a waste of his time on an episode of Raw following the 2004 Draft Lottery, only to be squashed by Rhyno immediately thereafter, thus turning Rhyno into a fan favorite once again. This would turn out to be Storm's last appearance on Raw.
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 on June 12, 2005, where he defeated his close friend and former tag team partner Chris Jericho with the help of Justin Credible.
===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 World Champion Bryan Danielson following a successful title defense against Rocky Romero. On April 1, 2006, at Better Than Our Best, Storm returned to Ring of Honor to face Danielson for the World Championship in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to the event, Storm commended 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 championship. ROH fans were appreciative of Storm's efforts and chanted "You've still got it" as a tribute.
May 26 and 27 saw Storm work for the United Kingdom-based wrestling promotion One Pro Wrestling (1PW). On May 26, he teamed with Andy Boy Simmonz, who substituted for Justin Credible due to Credible missing a flight, in a first round match of the Tag Team Championship tournament. Storm and Simmonz lost to eventual finalists A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels. The next night, Storm lost to Doug Williams in a singles match.
Storm has made rare indy appearances for Northern Ontario-based promotion Blood, Sweat & Ears. On December 3, 2006 in Mississauga, Ontario, he lost to Christian Cage and suffered a throat injury due to a stiff clothesline. On July 21, 2007, he defeated Christopher Daniels before defeating Robert Roode on August 11, 2007.
On July 3, 2009 it was announced that Storm would be coming out of retirement to perform at two Ring of Honor shows on July 24 and 25, Death Before Dishonor VII: Nights 1 and 2 respectively. On July 24, Storm and fellow Canadian Kevin Steen defeated Chris Hero and Davey Richards and on July 25, Storm was defeated by Hero in a one-on-one grudge match. Following the match, Storm cut an emotional promo, and later announced his belief that this would be his last match, saying "I shared this match with people who share my love and respect for this business, and I am now home being Lance Evers with the family I will share the rest of my life with. I still have my school, and I will always be a part of this business, but I truly believe I am now done as a performer. They say, never say never in this business, and because of that I won’t, but I think I left it all in the ring that night and I believe I wrote the final page in the 19-year long book that was the career of Lance Storm."
In November 2009, Lance Storm announced he had accepted the position as the head booker of the Prairie Wrestling Alliance, a promotion that operates out of Edmonton. PWA and the Storm Wrestling Academy had also begun working together very closely.
On April 3, 2010, Storm came out of retirement to wrestle his friend Bryan Alvarez at a Tulalip Championship Wrestling event. Storm was defeated in the match, which he wrestled under a mask as The Ideal Canadian. On March 19, 2011, Storm made a return to the ring at PWA's 10th anniversary show, teaming with Brother Devon in a tag team match, where they defeated Bully Ray and Dylan Knight. On August 27, 2011, Storm came out of retirement to work a short match with Tommy Dreamer. Storm returned to ROH again on March 30, 2012, for the Showdown in the Sun pay-per-view, losing to Mike Bennett when Maria Kanellis interfered. He wrestled Bennett again at the following ROH PPV, Border Wars, this time coming out victorious. At the June 29 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Bennett defeated Storm following interference from "Brutal" Bob and Maria in the final match of their trilogy.
On January 18, 2013, Storm worked for the Hart Legacy promotion in Calgary, taking part in a six-man tag team match, where Storm, Davey Boy Smith, Jr. and Lance Archer defeated Bobby Lashley, Chris Masters and Johnny Devine. On June 22, Storm worked for the House of Hardcore promotion, losing to its founder Tommy Dreamer in a main event singles match. On November 9, 2013, Storm and Sean Waltman were defeated by Dreamer and Terry Funk at House of Hardcore 3. On June 14, 2014, Storm faced Mike Bennett in a losing effort at House of Hardcore 6.
On December 15, 2013, Storm was defeated by Chris Hero at a Smash Wrestling event.
On April 2, 2016, Storm wrestled in his last and final match of his career, managed by Missy Hyatt and faced off against Matt Hardy, in which Storm lost.
===Impact Wrestling (2019)===
In March 2019, Storm revealed he was working with Impact Wrestling as a producer. He was also part of the Rebellion PPV where he was chosen to be the special guest referee for the World Championship match involving Johnny Impact and Brian Cage. The latter won the match and became the champion.
===Return to WWE (2019–2020)===
On November 2, 2019, Storm announced that he was returning to WWE to work as a producer. On February 7, 2020 episode of Friday Night SmackDown he appeared in a prerecorded video shown during "The Dirt Sheet".
Storm was released from the company on April 15, 2020, due to COVID-19 cutbacks.
==Wrestling facts==
*Finishing moves
:*Canadian Maple Leaf
:*Sharpshooter
*Signature moves
:*Superkick
:*Dropkick
:*Spinning Heel Kick
*Nicknames
:*"Tiger"
*Tag teams and stables
:*The Alliance
:*Impact Players
:*Team Canada
:*Thrillseekers - with Chris Jericho
:*Un-Americans
*Managers
:*Dawn Marie (ECW)
:*Ivory (WWF) (2001)
:*Jason (ECW)
:*Major Gunns (WCW)
*Wrestlers trained
*Theme music
:*“El Phantasmo And The Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama” by White Zombie (ECW, ROH)
:*“Thunderstruck” by AC/DC (ECW)
:*“Mr. Vain” by Culture Beat (CWA)
:*"Perfect Storm" by Jim Johnston (WWE)
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Catch Wrestling Association
**CWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Extreme Championship Wrestling
**ECW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Justin Credible (2), Chris Candido (1)
*Smoky Mountain Wrestling
**SMW Beat The Champ Television Championship (1 time)
*Wrestle Association-R
**WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Yuji Yasuraoka
**WAR World Six Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Nobutaka Araya & Koki Kitahara
*World Championship Wrestling
**WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
**WCW World Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
**WCW Hardcore Championship (1 time)
*World Wrestling Entertainment
**WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
**World Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Chief Morley (1), William Regal (2), Christian (1)
==External links==
* WWE.com Profile
* Profile
* Profile
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