Lance Storm understands that during certain eras it wasn’t easy to be loved as a Canadian in professional wrestling.
IMPACT Wrestling producer Lance Storm was a recent guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet. When asked about Canadian wrestlers always being portrayed as heels, Storm said it came down to WWE just not understanding them.
“Well, I think and only in the US and that’s something that you know, WWE, never understood. But it’s all about America’s always America’s the greatest place in the world,” Lance Storm said. And, you know, if you’ve actually been anywhere else, it’s not necessarily the truth, and I think any foreign person who touts their country as being good, gets heat in the US.
“And I say how WWE doesn’t realize it. But that, like, they assumed the Unamericans would be heels everywhere. Yeah. And I’m like, No, we’re gonna be baby faces everywhere but the US you don’t get this. And they didn’t understand that. My pro-Calgary thing would be a babyface in other parts of Canada. They’re like, Well, you’re not from New Brunswick.
“Why would they like you here? It’s like because Canada’s the world’s biggest small town. It’s like if you’re a Canadian that made it on the international scene. You’re our hometown boy. Doesn’t matter if you’re from Victoria, you know, Moosejaw, New Brunswick, or Ottawa. If you’re a Canadian that made it internationally. You’re our hometown boy; you just are. We’ll buy you a Tim’s; that’s the way it goes.”
When asked about some Canadian WWE Superstars not being announced from there following 9/11, Storm shouldered some of the blame for that one.
“Well, that was primarily again, I will say my fault,” Lance Storm revealed. “Well, it started when the Unamericans became a thing, which would have been 2002. Actually, you know, a little bit before that, because we were already the Unamericans at the anniversary of 9/11. So it was just not long after 9/11 that we were doing the Unamericans.
“And the office figured that the wrestling fans were too dumb to tell the difference between Test, Christian, and Lance Storm who are Canadians, and hate the US. And Chris Jericho and Edge who are Canadians don’t hate America. So they actually Edge was the only one I don’t think they changed.
“But Jericho was using his birthplace of Manhasset, New York, and Benoit was from Atlanta, and they were there just Vince didn’t think people could tell the difference and thought that while all Canadians would be heels now because test Christian and Lance Storm are evil people from Canada.”
More must-reads: