31 Days of Vince Russo "Special Matches" in 1999/2000 WCW - #8: Canadian Rules Match for the WCW U.S. Title (Lance Storm vs Mike Awesome) from the New Blood Rising PPV on August 13, 2000.
The 8th entry features Lance Storm vs Mike Awesome in the Canadian Rules Match from the New Blood Rising PPV on August 13, 2000.
The link to the video can be on the WWE Network here, starting at the 1:34:10 mark.
This match was rated as a DUD by Dave Meltzer, and was on the same PPV card as the Mud ROTC Match between Major Gunns vs. Stacy Keibler and the infamous Judy Bagwell on a Forklift Match. New Blood Rising took place in Vancouver, BC - in Lance Storm's home country.
How can you have a singles match between Lance Storm and Mike Awesome in the year 2000 and screw it up? Enter Vince Russo.
Lance Storm was a great technical wrestler in ECW and was one of the very few good things WCW had going for them during June to August 2018. Lance Storm debuted in WCW on June 17th, 2000 and had a mega-push from the very beginning. In less than two months, he won the US Title, Cruiserweight Title, and Hardcore Title making Storm a triple champion. While a triple champion, he also wrestled WCW World Champion Booker T on Nitro (with less than one hour build) for the World Title. If there was anything positive on Nitro during this time, it was probably due to Lance Storm.
Mike Awesome was a very good power heavyweight wrestler who flew like a cruiserweight. His matches against Masato Tanaka in FMW and ECW are legendary (their match at ECW One Night Stand 05 stole the show), and Awesome could live up to his last name with the right opponent and motivation. Awesome debuted in WCW on April 10, 2000 as the ECW Champion and was pushed with a "career killer" gimmick. Then, Vince Russo made him live that gimmick by changing Mike Awesome into the "Fat Chick Thriller" in July 2000, and then "That 70s Guy" in October.
Before I get into the match itself, here’s some brief context:
Lance Storm and Mike Awesome wrestled in the finals of the WCW United States Title Tournament on the July 18th episode of Nitro. Storm beats Awesome to win become the new United States Champion. On Thunder two days later, Storm renames the US Title the Canadian Heavyweight Title. Storm insults a fat woman during this which causes Mike Awesome to come down to the ring. Yes, the Fat Chick Thriller thing has officially begun.
On August 7th episode of Nitro, Lance Storm is facing Booker T for the WCW World Heavyweight Title. This should have easily been a PPV main event match between two of the rising stars of WCW. Instead, we get this match on free TV...with less than one hour of build...and the match wasn't even the main event (FYI, the main event for this Nitro was Kevin Nash and Sting vs The Steiner Brothers). To further illustrate how much of a joke WCW was at this time, Mike Awesome came down to be the guest commentator. Awesome was accompanied by a fat chick named Heidi and a platter full of ham sandwiches, cause that's what Russo thinks fat women do all day. Storm wins up losing the match.
In a flag match two days later on Thunder, Storm faces Awesome in a flag match. Awesome had this match won, but - SWERVE - Heidi betrays Mike Awesome and helps Lance Storm win the match. Heidi was a covert Canadian the whole time.
This takes us to the Canadian Rules Match for the US Title (Canadian Heavyweight Title) at New Blood Rising in Vancouver, (dramatic pause), British Columbia, Canada. What are the rules to a Canadian Rules Match? We'll find out during the match.
Now, onto the match itself.
Mike Awesome comes down the entrance ramp first and gets in the ring with no fat chicks by his side. Lance Storm's music played and he gets the Goldberg-style entrance from the locker room to the entrance ramp. Tony Schiavone says "Secret Service" is with Lance Storm as part of security, so I guess Lance Storm is the Prime Minister of Canada.
The Canadian fans cheer Storm as he enters the ring and grabs the mic. A "US Sucks" chant breaks out. Lance Storm cuts a good heel promo about the US and Canada including a line about the extra security he has due to fear of a terrorist act being committed on him (explaining the need for the "Secret Service", I guess). Lance Storm says that since this is a Canadian Championship Bout, he is invoking Rule 32B of the Canadian Rule Book and naming a special guest referee. The crowd pops at this announcement and chant "Bret" and "We Want Bret". They got Jacques Rougeau as the guest referee instead, and the crowd goes mild. The Canadian National Anthem plays...Mark Madden sings part of the first verse, Scott Hudson is trying to play it straight as a color commentator, Tony Schiavone looks like he's done with this shit.
Jacques Rougeau is at ringside as the match between Storm and Awesome begins. The match goes back and forth between the two wrestlers for the first few minutes. There was a botch from Awesome as he slipped on the top turnbuckle, but he recovered and delivered a clothesline to Lance Storm. At this point, this is a normal match, and the match (including the introduction and the Storm promo) is actually good as you would expect from two seasoned pros like Lance Storm and Mike Awesome. That's about to change.
At the 4-minute mark of this match, Mike Awesome hits a sit-down powerbomb on Lance Storm for a 3-count almost out of nowhere. It looks like Lance Storm got his shoulder up at 2.95, but the referee calls for the bell. The Canadian crowd is pissed and chanting "Bullshit" at this finish. Mike Awesome pins Lance Storm for a 3-count, and is the new United States Champion. Or so we thought...
Jacques Rougeau interrupts David Penzer (WCW Ring Announcer) and tells him something from the Canadian Rules Book (yes, there was an actual Canadian Rules Book that Rougeau has a physical copy of for this match). David then repeats Rougeau's instructions that according to Canadian Rules, "you must beat your opponent with a 5-count." The match continues.
Mike Awesome covers Lance Storm for "only a three count" as Schiavone says on commentary. Mike Awesome then applies a dragon sleeper to Lance Storm. The crowd is starting to clap for a comeback by Storm. As the clapping starts to become louder, Lance Storm taps out to the dragon sleeper. Now, Mike Awesome has submitted Lance Storm, and is the new United States Champion. Or so we thought...
Rougeau interrupts David Penzer and tells him something from the Canadian Rules Book again. David then repeats Rougeau's instructions that according to Canadian Rules, "in a Championship match in Canada, you cannot win via submission. Pinfall only." Therefore, the match continues.
Mike Awesome covers Lance Storm for "only" a four count. Awesome then hits a frogsplash from the top rope onto Lance Storm and scores a 5-count for the win. This is the third time in this match where Lance Storm has lost. Mike Awesome pins Lance Storm for a 5-count, and is the new United States Champion. Or so we thought...
Rougeau interrupts David Penzer and tells him something from the Canadian Rules Book...again. David then repeats Rougeau's instructions that according to Canadian Rules, "after a man is beaten by a five count, he has until the count of 10 to answer the bell or else the match continues."
The ref starts a 10-count on Lance Storm. Storm rolls out of the ring. Mike Awesome brings a table inside the ring. Eventually, Storm and Awesome are on the top rope. They both go through the table in the ring, and both are down. Rougeau then adds that the first man standing at the end of the ten-count is the winner. Rougeau gets in the ring and tells the referee he will count Mike Awesome and the ref will count Lance Storm. At the count of 7, the ref is looking at Lance Storm while Rougeau KO's Awesome who had just gotten to his feet. Awesome is lying on the ground as Storm gets to his feet just before the count of 10. Lance Storm wins this match and the Canadian fans cheer.
Scott Hudson hates the finish and says Awesome should hold all three of Storm's titles right now. One of these titles is the WCW Cruiserweight Title (i.e. the 100-kilos and Under Title) which has a weight limit of around 220-225 pounds. Awesome weighs around 290 pounds.
Bret Hart then comes to the ring with his music, gets in the ring, and embraces Lance Storm and Jacques Rougeau.
Previous entries:
Day 1: 11-15-1999 Nitro - House of Pain Match: Saturn/Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero/Konnan
Day 2: 11-8-1999 Nitro - Texas Tornado Ladder Match for the U.S. Title: Bret Hart vs Goldberg vs Scott Hall vs Sid Vicious
Day 3: 1-16-2000 Souled Out PPV - Catch-As-Catch-Can Match: Billy KIdman vs Dean Malenko
Day 4: 10-2-2000 Nitro - Tag Team Ladder Match for Disqo Duck: Rey Mysterio, Jr/Konnan vs Disqo/Alex Wright
Day 5: 8-16-2000 Thunder - Kamloops Street Fight: Gene Okerlund vs Mark Madden
Day 6: 7-9-2000 Bash at the Beach PPV - Graveyard Match: Vampiro vs The Demon
Day 7: 7-9-2000 Bash at the Beach PPV - Wedding Gown Match: Stacy Keibler vs. Daffney
Posted Dec 9, 2018, 1:33 AM UTC