Lance Storm Recalls Infamous 'Boring' Gimmick In WWE, Vince McMahon's Involvement
While many wrestling fans who saw Lance Storm in companies like ECW, WCW, and WWE will remember him for his technical ability in the ring, others will remember him for being "boring." His famous, "If I could be serious for a minute" catchphrase became forever linked to him who was all about the action in the squared circle and less about the sport entertainment aspect of the world he was a part of.
Vince McMahon eventually granted him the "boring" gimmick in 2002, and during a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on his "Insight" podcast, Storm explained how it went from fans not wanting to see rest holds to being his own character.
"Vince pulled me into the office with him and said, 'We're trying to get more crowd interaction. Everyone chants 'you suck' at Kurt [Angle], no one thinks he actually sucks it's just something for them to say, we want to see this as that.'" Storm said.
He explained that he played up his boring character at house shows by reading the dictionary definition of the word to show why he wasn't what people thought he was, before wrestling a serious, hard-hitting match. The gimmick began to get over, according to Storm, until he spoke to McMahon. "It was working, but as soon as I told Vince it was working, they changed it. Then again, part of me thinks they were trying to see if I would say no to something."
The former WWE Superstar eventually got shackled to a gimmick where his only trait was he had large genitalia, mainly because McMahon thought it was funny. However, Storm never saw the funny side and since it was booked so poorly according to Storm, it fizzled out and no one remembers it.
Please credit 'Insight' when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.