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Team Canada (WCW)
Encyclopedia
Team Canada was a professional wrestling
stable, active in World Championship Wrestling
in 2000 and 2001. The team was composed of Canadian
and American
wrestlers who believed that Canada was superior to the United States of America.
, Canada
at New Blood Rising
on August 13, 2000, where the Canadian Lance Storm
was defending the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
in a match with Mike Awesome
. The match was refereed by the Canadian Jacques Rougeau
, who enabled Storm to defeat Awesome and retain his title by constantly changing the rules. Following the match, the semi-retired Canadian wrestler Bret Hart
came to the ring and hugged Storm and Rougeau.
On the August 14, 2000 episode of WCW Monday Nitro
in Kelowna, British Columbia
, Canada
, Storm was forced to face Awesome in another title defense. He managed to defeat Awesome following interference from Rougeau, Carl Oulette
(also a Canadian) and Elix Skipper
(who was billed as being a former Canadian Football League
player). Following the match, Storm announced that the four were to be collectively known as Team Canada.
At the time, Storm held three championships
- the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
and the WCW Hardcore Championship
. Storm had renamed the championships the "Canadian Heavyweight Championship", "100 Kilos and Under Championship", and "Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title", respectively, placing large stickers featuring the Canadian flag
on each title belt. Storm then gave the 100 Kilos and Under Championship to Skipper and the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title to Oulette to reward them for assisting him in his match with Mike Awesome
earlier that evening. Oulette lost his title to Norman Smiley
later that night, while Skipper retained his title until October 2, 2000, when he lost to Mike Sanders
. Storm continued to defend the Canadian Heavyweight Championship himself. Rougeau and Oulette left WCW soon thereafter, reducing the stable to Storm and Skipper.
Team Canada quickly began a feud
with the face
Misfits In Action
stable, with Storm and General Hugh G. Rection
, the leader of the Misfits, trading the Canadian Heavyweight Championship (which Rection renamed the "WCW United States Heavyweight Championship" as soon as he won it). Storm was assisted in a title defence on September 17, 2000 at Fall Brawl 2000 when the guest referee of a title match between Storm and Rection, the patriotic American Jim Duggan
, turned heel by helping Storm defeat Rection, thus joining Team Canada. Rection eventually won the title on October 29, 2000 by defeating Storm and Duggan in a handicap match. Storm, however, would win the title for a third time on November 13, 2000 when the American Major Gunns
defected from the Misfits and joined Team Canada by throwing a towel in on behalf of Rection, costing him a title defence against Storm.
Team Canada feuded with the Filthy Animals
throughout late 2000. On January 3, 2001, the American Mike Awesome joined Team Canada (Awesome was part of the original Team Canada stable in FMW
), in the process evicting Duggan from the stable. After Skipper and Gunns also left the stable, Storm and Awesome began challenging for the WCW World Tag Team Championship
. On the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro on March 26, 2001, Chuck Palumbo
and Sean O'Haire
defeated Storm and Awesome to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship. The stable disbanded immediately thereafter as WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation
(although Storm and Awesome continued to team upon joining the WWF).
1 For one night, on August 13, 2000, at New Blood Rising
.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
stable, active in World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
in 2000 and 2001. The team was composed of Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
wrestlers who believed that Canada was superior to the United States of America.
History
Team Canada came into existence in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
at New Blood Rising
New Blood Rising
New Blood Rising was a professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Championship Wrestling in 2000. It took place on August 13, 2000 from the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia.-Results:...
on August 13, 2000, where the Canadian Lance Storm
Lance Storm
Lance Timothy Evers known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling...
was defending the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship
WWE United States Championship
The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling championship, and is currently the secondary championship of the Raw brand....
in a match with Mike Awesome
Mike Awesome
Michael Lee Alfonso , better known by his ring name Mike Awesome, was an American professional wrestler best known in America for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and in World Wrestling Federation and also in Japan for his work with Frontier Martial-Arts...
. The match was refereed by the Canadian Jacques Rougeau
Jacques Rougeau
Jacques Rougeau Jr. is a retired French-Canadian professional wrestler from Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation under his own name, and as The Mountie. Rougeau has held fifteen championships during his career...
, who enabled Storm to defeat Awesome and retain his title by constantly changing the rules. Following the match, the semi-retired Canadian wrestler Bret Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...
came to the ring and hugged Storm and Rougeau.
On the August 14, 2000 episode of WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
in Kelowna, British Columbia
Kelowna, British Columbia
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Storm was forced to face Awesome in another title defense. He managed to defeat Awesome following interference from Rougeau, Carl Oulette
Carl Ouellet
Carl Joseph Yvon Ouellet is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. He has worked for, among other promotions, the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.-Beginnings:Carl Ouellet debuted in 1987...
(also a Canadian) and Elix Skipper
Elix Skipper
Elix Skipper is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, where he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time Cruiserweight Tag Team Champion, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a four-time NWA World Tag Team...
(who was billed as being a former Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
player). Following the match, Storm announced that the four were to be collectively known as Team Canada.
At the time, Storm held three championships
Championship (professional wrestling)
A Championship or "title" in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries...
- the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
WWE Cruiserweight Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs...
and the WCW Hardcore Championship
WCW Hardcore Championship
The World Championship Wrestling Hardcore Championship was a title in World Championship Wrestling. The title was defended in Hardcore matches, in which there were few rules and restrictions and weapons were allowed. Eventually, the rules were changed so that matches began in the backstage area...
. Storm had renamed the championships the "Canadian Heavyweight Championship", "100 Kilos and Under Championship", and "Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title", respectively, placing large stickers featuring the Canadian flag
Flag of Canada
The national flag of Canada, also known as the Maple Leaf, and , is a red flag with a white square in its centre, featuring a stylized 11-pointed red maple leaf. Its adoption in 1965 marked the first time a national flag had been officially adopted in Canada to replace the Union Flag...
on each title belt. Storm then gave the 100 Kilos and Under Championship to Skipper and the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title to Oulette to reward them for assisting him in his match with Mike Awesome
Mike Awesome
Michael Lee Alfonso , better known by his ring name Mike Awesome, was an American professional wrestler best known in America for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and in World Wrestling Federation and also in Japan for his work with Frontier Martial-Arts...
earlier that evening. Oulette lost his title to Norman Smiley
Norman Smiley
Norman Anthony Smiley is a British professional wrestler best known for his appearances in World Championship Wrestling...
later that night, while Skipper retained his title until October 2, 2000, when he lost to Mike Sanders
Mike Sanders (wrestler)
For the former National Basketball Association player, see Mike Sanders .Michael Edwin Neil Sanders is an American stand-up comedian and former professional wrestler...
. Storm continued to defend the Canadian Heavyweight Championship himself. Rougeau and Oulette left WCW soon thereafter, reducing the stable to Storm and Skipper.
Team Canada quickly began a feud
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
with the face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
Misfits In Action
Misfits In Action
The Misfits In Action were a stable in World Championship Wrestling They were originally formed in 2000 from a group of wrestlers that Vince Russo considered too lazy to get over...
stable, with Storm and General Hugh G. Rection
Bill DeMott
William Charles "Bill" DeMott II is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment as Hugh Morrus and Bill DeMott respectively and as Crash The Terminator in Extreme Championship Wrestling and Japan...
, the leader of the Misfits, trading the Canadian Heavyweight Championship (which Rection renamed the "WCW United States Heavyweight Championship" as soon as he won it). Storm was assisted in a title defence on September 17, 2000 at Fall Brawl 2000 when the guest referee of a title match between Storm and Rection, the patriotic American Jim Duggan
Jim Duggan
James Edward Duggan , better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment in the 1980s, when it was known as World Wrestling Federation , and World Championship Wrestling...
, turned heel by helping Storm defeat Rection, thus joining Team Canada. Rection eventually won the title on October 29, 2000 by defeating Storm and Duggan in a handicap match. Storm, however, would win the title for a third time on November 13, 2000 when the American Major Gunns
Tylene Buck
Tylene Buck is an American Pornographic actress & model and a former wrestler and valet under the name of Major Gunns.-Professional Wrestler:...
defected from the Misfits and joined Team Canada by throwing a towel in on behalf of Rection, costing him a title defence against Storm.
Team Canada feuded with the Filthy Animals
Filthy Animals
The Filthy Animals was a professional wrestling faction in World Championship Wrestling from 1999 until 2001.-Concept:The Filthy Animals was a group conceived after Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara were hired by WCW. The plan for the stable was to be WCW's version of the World Wrestling Federation's...
throughout late 2000. On January 3, 2001, the American Mike Awesome joined Team Canada (Awesome was part of the original Team Canada stable in FMW
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989 by Atsushi Onita that specialized in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their first show on October 6, 1989...
), in the process evicting Duggan from the stable. After Skipper and Gunns also left the stable, Storm and Awesome began challenging for the WCW World Tag Team Championship
WCW World Tag Team Championship
The World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
. On the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro on March 26, 2001, Chuck Palumbo
Chuck Palumbo
Charles "Chuck" Palumbo is an American professional wrestler, currently working for Nu-Wrestling Evolution . Palumbo is best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment...
and Sean O'Haire
Sean O'Haire
Sean Christopher Haire is an American mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Sean O'Haire.-World Championship Wrestling:...
defeated Storm and Awesome to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship. The stable disbanded immediately thereafter as WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(although Storm and Awesome continued to team upon joining the WWF).
Members
|
 Carl Ouellet Carl Joseph Yvon Ouellet is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. He has worked for, among other promotions, the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.-Beginnings:Carl Ouellet debuted in 1987... Jacques Rougeau Jacques Rougeau Jr. is a retired French-Canadian professional wrestler from Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation under his own name, and as The Mountie. Rougeau has held fifteen championships during his career... Elix Skipper Elix Skipper is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, where he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time Cruiserweight Tag Team Champion, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is a four-time NWA World Tag Team... Lance Storm Lance Timothy Evers known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling... |
1 For one night, on August 13, 2000, at New Blood Rising
New Blood Rising
New Blood Rising was a professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Championship Wrestling in 2000. It took place on August 13, 2000 from the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia.-Results:...
.
Championships
- World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
- WCW United States Heavyweight ChampionshipWWE United States ChampionshipThe WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling championship, and is currently the secondary championship of the Raw brand....
(3 times) – Lance Storm - WCW Hardcore ChampionshipWCW Hardcore ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Hardcore Championship was a title in World Championship Wrestling. The title was defended in Hardcore matches, in which there were few rules and restrictions and weapons were allowed. Eventually, the rules were changed so that matches began in the backstage area...
(2 times) – Lance Storm (1 time), Carl Oulette (1 time) - WCW Cruiserweight ChampionshipWWE Cruiserweight ChampionshipThe World Wrestling Entertainment Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and was originally a World Championship Wrestling title. It was challenged by cruiserweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs...
(2 times) – Lance Storm (1 time), Elix Skipper (1 time)
See also
- The Amazing French CanadiansThe QuebecersThe Quebecers were a heel professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation from mid-1993 to mid-1994 and again in 1998 that consisted of Jacques Rougeau and Pierre...
- The Hart FoundationThe Hart FoundationThe Hart Foundation referred to several teams or stables in the World Wrestling Federation , usually consisted of members or close friends of the Hart wrestling family from Canada....
- The Un-AmericansThe Un-AmericansThe Un-Americans were a professional wrestling stable in World Wrestling Entertainment who were active throughout mid-2002...