The Single File #19
Posted: 08/24/01

Hey hey hey, I still haven't received a tape of Summerslam, plus every bit of saved data from my copy of No Mercy got scrubbed out somehow, and I'm much too depressed to start over now. So with a little (unwelcome) free time, I may as well squeeze out a SF.

Our match this week comes from the Great White North of Canada (1), as Chris Jericho tackles Lance Storm in a ladder match. I was going to do this a few weeks back, but it looked like we were going to get a Storm/Jericho match at Summerslam, so I figured I'd hold out and compare the matches. Then, whoops, we got Jericho/Rhyno and Storm/Edge instead. So here's the match, without any real relevance to the present.

Chris Jericho [c] vs. Lance Storm [Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling, American Heavyweight Title Ladder Match]
When: 2/4/94? (2)
Where: Victoria Park Community Association (3), Calgary [pause] Alberta, CA

Backstory: Well, everyone knows that Jericho and Storm used to team together as the Thrillseekers. Our announcers (the hideous Doug and Ed) inform us that they have since broken up, due to Jericho being such a jerk and claiming he carried the team (yeah, just like the Rockers). And Jericho does break out the heel act all through the match (taunting the fans, whining, cocky posing-years before he ever did it in WCW). So yes, that makes Lance the virtuous babyface here, which is just plain weird. Anyhoo, Jericho won the title from Steve Rivers on January 7th, and now Lance is looking for revenge and some gold. I should point out that Jericho has Johnny Smith (4) in his corner, while Lance has this little blond ponytail on the back of his crewcut. It looks soooooo lame.

The Match: Jericho jaws with some fans and then gets in Storm's face. Jericho with a shove, Lance retaliates with the same. Jericho tries a punch, Storm blocks, and counters with three of his own. Storm whips Jericho into the corner and immediately follows with a running clothesline, then repeats the sequence 2 more times. Jericho crumples to the outside and confers with Johnny Smith. "That hurt! He hurt me!" Jericho whines to the ref. 

"Let's go Lance, let's go," chants the crowd, to the Lionheart's dismay. Jericho stomps his foot, and we cut to a crowd shot. We go back to action to see Lance hit a dropkick that nearly knocks Jericho out of the ring (he manages to catch the middle rope with his foot). So Lance kicks the foot away and Jericho tumbles to the floor again. Jericho gets on the stick and complains that Storm has already cheated thrice in 5 minutes, and ought to be fined and suspended. 

Jericho gets in the ring for another try, and finds success when he charges and catches Lance off guard with a boot to the gut. He tosses Lance into the corner and hits some loud chops. He whips Storm to the opposite corner and tries a Stinger Splash, but Storm dodges and Jericho (again) tumbles to the floor. Jericho gets back on the apron, so Storm gets a running start and baseball slides beneath Jericho's legs, lands on the floor, turns around, and trips Jericho so he lands face first on the apron. Storm lays in a chop and dumps Jericho back in the ring, then goes to fetch the ladder. Storm puts the ladder in the ring, but then gets distracted by Johnny Smith on the outside. While Storm is dealing with Smith, Jericho has taken the ladder and started to climb. Storm finally realizes what's happening, so he dashes to the ring and yanks Jericho off the ladder at the last second. 

Storm lays in some chops and forearm shots, then grabs the ladder and slams it into Jericho's chest. Storm then rams the ladder into Jericho's stomach, then sets it up in the corner. Storm then grabs Jericho in a fireman's carry position, and dumps him facefirst onto the ladder in the corner. Storm slams the ladder into Jericho's back and sets it up in an attempt to grab the belt. But Jericho manages to get to his feet, climb the ladder, get his head between Storm's legs, and gives him an Electric Chair Drop off the ladder.

Jericho on the downed Storm to make sure he's okay. Play-by-play man Ed (sounding like a robot with a stick up its ass): "Did-you-see-that?"

Storm tries to get to his feet, so Jericho basically throws the ladder and nails him in the back. Jericho picks up Storm and gives him a facebuster onto the ladder. Jericho puts a foot on Storm's chest and does the Tarzan yell while pounding his chest. Jericho sets up the ladder in a corner and lays in some kicks to Storm (who's in the opposite corner). Jericho tries a cross corner whip, but Storm manages to reverses and sends Jericho flipping into the ladder. Jericho bails to the outside again, but Storm follows him and the two start exchanging chops on the floor. Storm gets the better of the exchange, so Jericho starts running away…and runs all the way to the back. Storm does the smart thing and goes to the ring to try and get the belt. He climbs the ladder and juuuust about grabs the title, but Jericho runs back from the rear and yanks Storm off at the last second. 

Jericho folds up the ladder and jabs it into Lance's ribs a few times. Storm gets to his feet, but Jericho suplexes the ladder on top of him, knocking him to the mat again. Storm gets to his feet and tries to fight back, but Jericho nails a kneelift to put a stop to the comeback. Jericho grabs the ladder again and nails Storm with a brutal shot to the jaw. Jericho steps on the ladder, which happens to be across Lance's throat, then adds a stomp for good measure. Jericho grabs Storm and nails a DDT, then does some posing for the fans, who respond with a "faggot" chant. Jericho grabs the ladder and heads to the second rope, then leaps off and drives the ladder into Storm's back. Jericho lays in some heelish kicks, then grabs the ladder and heads to the second rope again. He leaps off, but this time Storm dropkicks the ladder right in Jericho's face. Storm follows up with some kicks, then grabs the ladder and runs it right into Jericho's back. Lance then sets up the ladder under the belt, then grabs Jericho and hits a vertical suplex.

With Jericho out of the way, Lance starts climbing the ladder. But Jericho manages to get to the apron and climb to the top, then jumps off. I think Jericho meant to yank Storm off the ladder in mid-air, but he misses and slams into the ladder. The ladder gets literally yanked out from beneath Storm, and he takes a nasty fall and lands on his left knee. Jericho lays in some stomps onto the prone Storm, then folds up the ladder and places it in the corner. Storm charges at Jericho, but the future Y2J allez-oops Storm over his head, sending Lance face-first into the ladder. Jericho rams Lance into the ladder, then backs off and charges, but Lance grabs the ladder and smacks the charging Jericho with it. Storm slams the ladder on top of Jericho a few times, then sets it up underneath the title again. He starts to climb, but Jericho pushes the ladder out from under him again, and Lance plummets to the mat again. 

Lance does manage to get to his feet, only to be met with a spinkick from Jericho. Jericho picks up Storm and slams him on the ladder, then hits the Lionsault. Jericho heads to the apron, grabs the ladder, and starts climbing the ropes. But Storm gets to his feet and clotheslines the ladder, knocking Jericho off the top and tying him up in the ropes. Storm starts climbing the ladder, and Jericho's foot is caught in the ropes (5). Jericho screams for help, and Johnny Smith manages to free his compadre. Jericho lunges and knocks the ladder over again, and Lance takes another sick fall on top of the ladder. The ladder now looks like someone took a sledgehammer to it. Jericho picks up Storm and slams him onto the ladder again. Jericho heads to the top rope and tries a diving headbutt, but Storm moves and Jericho slams into the ladder. Storm DDTs Jericho on the ladder, then sets up the ladder so Jericho is pinned underneath it. Lance climbs the ladder one more time, and this time grabs the title before falling off the ladder for the fourth time in the match (16:35).

Jericho throws a hissy fit after the match, while Lance celebrates. Ed promises an interview, but the camera mercifully cuts away before we have to hear Ed talk anymore.. 

Match was certainly good, even if it didn't feature any wild spots (when you're in a building with a low ceiling, you can't exactly go around doing moonsaults off the top of the ladder). Actually, the match itself followed a very basic story: brutalize your opponent so they can't stop you from getting the belt. Like I always say, it just makes more sense to hit a guy in the head with a ladder than to do a twisting somersault split-legged moonsault off of it. What the match lacked in flash, it made up for in hurtiness (especially from Lance "Bumpmeister" Storm). Throw in some entertaining Jericho heel work (6) and comically bad commentary and you've got a fun match and an interesting historical footnote. 

Fallout: Jericho and Storm have followed eerily similar career paths, both working in SMW, then WAR, then ECW, then WCW, then the WWF. Interestingly, Lance always seemed one step behind Jericho in jumping from fed to fed. Anyway, they're both in the WWF for now, although I wouldn't look for a Thrillseekers reunion anytime soon. But hey, there could always be another ladder match.

And that's that. I'll be back in a week or so with the big 2-0. Be there or don't.

Joe Gagne
bwo@telegram.infi.net

Endnotes:
(1) Normally I'd insert a snide joke about Canada about now, but I just don't have it in me. Maybe next time.
(2) Okay, here's the deal. I found this match at the end of a Lance Storm comp tape, with no real explanation of when it was from. On his website, Chris Jericho lists losing the Rocky Mountain Wrestling Canadian Mid-Heavyweight Title to Storm on 2/4/94. But, the announcers call this title the American Heavyweight title, and there's no mention of a ladder match on Jericho's website. I would have thought this match took place in 1995, which would have been after Storm and Jericho teamed together as the Thrillseekers in SMW. Honestly, I don't know when this match is from.
(3) It sounds vaguely impressive, but it's just your basic Elks Lodge or what have you.
(4) Smith has been a mainstay in All-Japan Pro Wrestling, is actually one of the more talented foreign wrestlers in the fed in recent memory.
(5) Just like the Wrestlemania X ladder match finish-maybe this did take place in '95.
(6) Feel free to put me in the camp that feels a Jericho heel turn is needed. That and a new offense.

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