What do you think of when you think of professional wrestling in Canada?
Even if you don’t know anything about pro wrestling, chances are you’ll still provide the same answer as a seasoned wrestling fan. You also might give the same response as a former WWE intercontinental and tag team champion.
Former WWE, WCW, ECW superstar, Calgary, Alta., native, and Storm Wrestling Academy founder Lance Storm recently took some time to chat with Sportsnet about the state of pro wrestling in Canada, the future of the entertainment product in the Great White North, and his recent appearance at Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view event on April 28 in Toronto, Ont.
Sportsnet: Simple question (or is it): Who is the greatest Canadian wrestler ever?
Lance Storm: Well I don’t think it is a simple question. Everyone is going to say someone from their generation, but the instant answer that pops into my head is Bret Hart. I wasn’t a fan before the mid 1980s, so I wasn’t around for the bulk of the (wrestler’s like) Gene Kiniski’s.
I mean, is Rocky technically Canadian? (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s father was born in Nova Scotia). It’s tough to answer. How do you measure it? Who’s the biggest star? Who got the biggest push? Wrestling is a lot of things to a lot of people (and) what I like from wrestling, Bret Hart is a slam dunk for me.
SN: After Bret Hart, who best represented Canada in wrestling? (You can say yourself)
LS: (Laughs) I certainly wouldn’t put myself in there. I don’t think I ever reached the level of top main-event stardom. I think Edge and (Chris) Jericho deserve a pretty strong tip of the hat. They became world champions, the top, top guys in WWE, the top company in the world. I think they deserve a tip of the hat in the post-Bret Hart generation. I would go with those two, and perhaps moving forward, Kenny Omega, if he can get enough TV time.
SN:Kenny Omega is recognized by many wrestling purists as the best in the business right now. Is there a reason he’s not better recognized by more casual fans as one of the greatest athletes in this country?
LS: I think it’s just exposure on the North American front. I think it’ll be really interesting moving forward. When you’re comparing someone who’s worked in Japan, it’s so apples and oranges. We’re comparing Kenny’s half-a-dozen big pay-per-view matches a year (in Japan) beside watching Edge every week on television.
It’ll be interesting if AEW (All Elite Wrestling, where Omega is signed) gets a weekly television show, if Kenny measures up the same. I’m not saying he can’t, I’m saying I don’t know because it’s completely different.
SN: Is there a reason why guys like Edge, Jericho and Omega haven’t been portrayed like Bret Hart in the ‘Canadian Hero’ role?
LS: I think with Edge and Jericho I get associated with Canada more than they do (Storm was part of The Un-Americans tag team in WWE). But Edge was by design. There was the period of time post-Bret that they went out their way to de-emphasize that they were Canadian.
Jericho (raised in Winnipeg) was from Manhasset, N.Y. When Edge was tagging with (Hulk) Hogan, they went out their way to say he wasn’t Canadian. He’s fighting The Un-Americans alongside Hogan, the real American, so they didn’t want that confusion with Edge.
SN: Will there ever be an opportunity for another wrestler to carry the Canadian flag like Bret?
LS: When you’re an American based company, I don’t think they want that top guy to be touting, “I’m a foreigner. I’m not a red, white and blue American.” With Bret, they drove it home because they wanted him to be a heel and wanted someone else to be a top guy. That’s one reason that there hasn’t been a lot of foreign top guys. They’re concerned, in my opinion, that they don’t know if an American audience will embrace (a foreign world champion).
SN: Could a Canadian represent the country, the way Bret did, in another company?
LS: The home team is usually the baby face. In Calgary, you couldn’t have the Vegas (Golden Knights) as the crowd favourites. (In other companies), it’s interesting.
Maybe their fan base is more predominantly from other countries, in which case maybe that works, but most wrestling companies want that hometown guy, that home-country guy to be their hero.
SN: What stood out to you from Storm Wrestling Academy graduate and current WWE Superstar Tyler Breeze when you were training him?
LS: He was athletic and smooth right away. His movement in the ring, and he understood working, whereas many people think moves, they want to do moves and do spots. There’s really something more to that. It’s feeling the energy and having the ability to look like you’re really doing this.
That’s something he displayed right away. He just looked real and looked natural. When it’s comeback time, the energy’s got to be there, and he has that.
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SN: Are there any other Canadian wrestlers from SWA that fans should be on the lookout for?
LS: Chelsea Green is signed to (WWE developmental territory) NXT. You’ll see her in a few weeks (after recovering from a broken wrist) as a Canadian who’s doing well for herself. That’s a big person to keep an eye on. Taya Valkyrie. She’s certainly someone to watch. I mean, she’s the (current Impact Knockouts) champion. She’s wrestling at Rebellion (on Sunday).
SN: What’s the future of Canadian wrestling?
LS: I think it’s WWE. I don’t think a national Canadian promotion (would ever work) all that well, with the logistics of how spread out Canada is. I think the peak of the most successful Canadian wresters will be those that make it to WWE.
The (independent wrestling organizations) will also be building blocks of getting to WWE. I still believe that anyone that works in any (other) Canadian indie company, their goal is still going to be Raw and SmackDown. I think success in WWE is going to be the Canadian Dream of wrestlers. Since Raw and SmackDown are on Sportsnet 360, that’s the major show when you grow up in Canada.
Find classic Lance Storm matches from WWE, WCW, and ECW on the WWE Network.