Lance Storm Gives WWE Status Update, Talks Possible AEW Role

Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Lance Storm was on today's episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast where he discussed his current status with WWE with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman. Storm was part of the furloughs WWE made during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he gave an update on his status with WWE.

"Well, I was, again, they want to say furloughed, but with my visa and my contract, because I had to have different paperwork to enable me to get the work visa, they had to terminate my contract to not pay me. So I was straight up released," Storm revealed. "You can't do it the same way because again, really the only difference between furloughed and fired is they don't actually file the paperwork to terminate you and then they hope to bring you back, and I was told that basically, you're furloughed or whatever.

"We hope to bring you back at some point, but I had a different contract. To enable a visa, they have to terminate the contract to not continue to pay me, so they did, which is why I was able to do the cameo on AEW Dynamite for the Jericho 30-year anniversary celebration. I got to send in a video for that. So I'm really in a position where I've got a lot of things I could be doing and want to be doing, but to do them, I have to cross to the US, and as of right now, there is still a closed border.

"There is some legal loopholing you can do if you're willing to bend the rules and ignore quarantines, but that's not something I'm willing to do. So until the border situation improves, I sit home and do a weekly podcast on the Wrestling Observer and watch 'Corner Gas' animated Monday nights on CTV comedy."

Before joining WWE as a producer, Storm closed down his Storm Wresting Academy. Hausman asked Storm if the school will remain closed now that he is no longer with WWE.

"Well, the school is closed because I closed it," Storm stated. "I'm done with it. That was a major undertaking, and it ran its course. And it was a situation–I was looking to shut it down, and I reached out to see what my employment options were because I wanted to shut it down. And WWE made me a pretty quick offer to go, and I jumped at it. And it was going great, until March of this year when everything hit the fan so to speak."

With Storm having made a brief cameo in AEW, he was asked if he would be interested in signing with AEW. Storm noted again that the closed border is a big obstacle for him working for any company.

"I'm interested in working anywhere and will entertain anyone that gives me a decent offer, but again, I've gotta wait for the damn border to open up," Storm said. "So I'm waiting to see what happens on November 3rd and then waiting to see what happens moving forward on that and see if the U.S. can get their stuff together and get this border opened up."

Storm is also excited about his upcoming guest role on the hit Canadian animated series "Corner Gas". WWE Hall of Famers Bret Hart and Trish Stratus will also voice characters as part of the episode, including Bret voicing Lance's nemesis "The Bad Mechanic". Storm talked about the creator of the series, Brent Butt, and how the show has a history of wrestling influences.

"Brent Butt is his real name, but Brent LeRoy is the character in the show, and I joke about it. It's good that they don't make me stretch too much for my character," Storm stated. "I think both Seinfeld and Brent are in that boat too where it's easier to just play yourself.

"He was smart enough not to portray himself as a big Lance Storm fan, but he certainly knew who I was," Storm revealed. "He grew up in Saskatchewan, so he would have grown up on Stampede Wrestling. So he's probably a bigger Bret Hart fan to be honest, but I got to know him a bit. So he got the idea for the podcasting deal. I talked to him not a fair bit but occasionally, and he had been doing 'The Butt Pod', the Brent Butt podcast.

"And I was talking to him trying to coordinate getting on and doing that with him, which may have been what sparked the idea in the first place. It's a really big deal for me. There's wrestling references in the original series. So he was obviously a wrestling fan growing up in Canada as all prairie boys would be big fans of Stampede Wrestling."

Lance Storm voices Lance Fury as part of Canada's hit animated series Corner Gas on the upcoming episode "Sound And Fury". The episode debuts on Monday October 26th on CTV Comedy Channel in Canada. The episode will air in the US at a future date that is TBA.

Lance's full interview aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.