Storm: Wrestlemania title bout will be 'spectacular'

FORMER WCW and WWF star Lance Storm expects the WWE title match at Wrestlemania to be 'spectacular'. Canadian hero Storm broke into the business with Chris Jericho over twenty years ago after they both trained at the Hart Brothers wrestling school in Calgary. The pair went on to form a team called The Thrillseekers and perform all over the world. Storm, now semi-retired, runs a training school called Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary and was visited by Jericho before he returned to WWE in January. Jericho will challenge CM Punk for the WWE championship at Mania on April 1 and Storm reckons the match has all the makings of a possible classic encounter. Speaking exclusively to SunSport, the 42-year-old said: "I think Jericho and Punk are really going to knock people's socks off. "When Chris came up to Calgary to chip off the ring rust before his latest return, he knew at that point where it was going and he and I pitched ideas and threw stuff back and forth. "There's a good chance that there will be spots that will end up being in the match that I actually did with him in Calgary several months ago. It's well laid groundwork. "The fact that he has had this seed planted in his mind for several months, I'm expecting it to be quite spectacular. "He is someone who has a full grasp on the industry and is putting out when he feels is the best build and the best product. Not 'what can I best do for me'. "He really is a consummate pro and really knows the ins and outs of what makes a great match. "He's really, really spectacular and I expect this to be really standout." Busy with his training school and content not to undertake the gruelling travel schedule top wrestlers have to endure, Storm is happy to only occasionally strap on his wrestling boots. On Wrestlemania weekend, though, in Florida, he will be making a rare wrestling appearance in taking on Mike Bennett for top Indy promotion Ring of Honor. Bennett is the real-life boyfriend of stunning former WWE diva Maria Kanellis, who also accompanies her man for his matches in ROH. The match will take place at ROH's Showdown in the Sun iPPV, and Lance says that he is only accepting the bout because he rates Bennett highly. Storm said: "I'm very choosy about who I work with now. Since I wrapped up the full-time career I only work with people I'm interested in working with. "He's got a ton of talent. I think he stands out a little more in Ring of Honor in that he tends to work his own style and be a bit different than the other Ring of Honor guys. "Having Maria there is an interesting twist too, in that I was the first person who started training her when she got hired by WWE. It should be a lot of fun. "I'm not coming back to have a match that just blends into the card and doesn't stand out. "I plan on really putting in a huge effort and having a standout performance on that show despite how great the rest of the card is going to be." After calling time on his full-time in-ring career in 2004, Storm worked for OVW — WWE's former developmental territory in Ohio — where he helped to train several wrestlers who now adorn our screens on a weekly basis. One of the standouts of the group Storm tutored in OVW was Dolph Ziggler, who many have compared to legends such as Shawn Michaels and Curt Hennig and have tipped for the top in the future. Storm agrees that Ziggler could be a major star someday, but warns he must be careful not to damage himself along the way. He added: "Dolph was a quick learner right out of the gate. I pretty much had him from scratch. "I worked with him for almost a year in OVW and it wasn't too long after that he made his debut with the Spirit Squad. "You can just imagine how nervous he must have been with only about a year of training behind him and not a whole lot of experience. "He was in the ring with Triple H and Shawn Michaels doing a feud with DX. "I keep having to remind him to be careful, because when you are throwing around names like Shawn Michaels and Curt Hennig, you also have to remember that both of them had very bad backs that hampered their career. "I keep reminding him that while it's great to take amazing bumps, you don't have to do so on every single move."