ShareThisFor one more time, Lance Evers hopes to take pro wrestling by storm.
Evers -- a/k/a Lance Storm -- is making his most high-profile appearance since last performing for World Wrestling Entertainment in 2005. He will work Friday and Saturday night in Toronto for Ring of Honor.
Asked why he was returning after a five-year hiatus from full-time action, Evers joked that "the weird thing is, I don't even know." Evers said the encouragement of friends and family along with the chance to see former co-workers Bret Hart and Ric Flair -- who will be signing autographs on the Friday and Saturday shows, respectively -- convinced him to take the ROH dates.
"I had no intention of wrestling whatsoever," Evers said Wednesday during a telephone interview. "Ring of Honor called and asked if I would. I have a soft spot for them. I love the guys in the company and they've always been good to me. I'll probably have fun, so I decided, 'Why not?' "
Evers wasn't having much fun in WWE, leaving the ring in 2004 after a 15-year career. He was only 35 when retiring to become a trainer at WWE developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).
"I have no regrets in doing so," Evers said. "There were a lot of different factors involved, the first being that I was having lower-back issues that the doctors never managed to pinpoint and were just getting worse. Creatively, I was completely unsatisfied and felt my talent was being wasted. And my wife was pretty much at the end of her rope as far as me being on the road full time. I was ready to step down."
Evers' final WWE match came in June 2005 on the "Hardcore Homecoming" pay-per-view. Fittingly, the bout was against WWE superstar Chris Jericho. The two are close friends who broke into the business together in 1990 at a training school in Calgary, Alberta.
Evers never enjoyed the same level of success as Jericho, largely because his intense, humorless character and interview style didn't always click with fans conditioned to a comedy-oriented product. Evers, though, carved an impressive niche with his strong technical style and heel persona. Between 2001 and 2004, Evers held WWE's "Intercontinental" belt and enjoyed four tag-team-title reigns with three different partners (William Regal, Jay "Christian" Reso and Val Venis).
"My goals were probably different than everyone else's," said Evers, who also had successful stints in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling before his WWE run. "I didn't have a goal to win titles and be a world champion. When I first got in, I thought this would be a job I would enjoy and hope to make a decent living at. I accomplished more than I thought I would."
Evers isn't done making an impact on the industry. After a year working in OVW, Evers left to start the Storm Wrestling Academy training school in Calgary. He provides analysis of today's product on his Web site (stormwrestling.com). Evers also has worked about a dozen matches for smaller companies -- including ROH -- since his WWE departure.
Evers remains in solid physical condition from the hands-on work he does with his grappling students. But at age 40, Evers said his ROH appearances this weekend aren't a sign that he is planning a comeback.
"I'm really looking at this more as a one-time thing," Evers said. "At this point, we have good enrollment at the school and we have fun. The fact I get in the ring so often is why I don't miss wrestling."
For more information, visit www.rohwrestling.com.
(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro-wrestling column for Scripps Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv(at)aol.com or follow him via Twitter at http://twitter.com/alexmarvez.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
