ROH: And Beyond?

February 27, 2006

Since I announced that I would be stepping back in the ring to Challenge Bryan Danielson for the ROH World Title (provided he still holds it) April 1st in Chicago. I have been swamped by e-mails asking, “Is this a return to full-time competition or simply a one time only match?” The truth is, it isn’t either.

I am not going back to full-time competition (I doubt I ever will) despite the fact that I am training like I am. Storm Wrestling Academy^tm is still my primary focus. It is my full time job and where I will be spending the majority of my time. This does not however, mean I don’t have some time available to take other bookings of interest.

The match with Bryan Danielson robs me of my career-ending match with Jericho, so with that off the books, there is nothing stopping me from pursuing other bookings. Like I said above, mind you, they will have to be bookings of interest. So I guess that leads to the question, what might I find interesting enough to accept a booking.

There are a lot of factors and scheduling is a big part of it unfortunately. I have a 2 month break in my Storm Wrestling Academytm schedule, from April 1st- June 1st which opens up the possibility of me working during that time. Also since Storm Wrestling Academy^tm runs mainly Monday to Friday, short weekend bookings become a possibility.

Scheduling aside there still needs to be something that grabs my attention. I mentioned in my recent ROH Straight Shooting DVD Interview (available at www.ROHWrestling.com ) that I no longer had interest in doing “work for hire”. Meaning that I didn’t want to wrestle just for the money or because it was my job and that if I ever came back it would be to do matches I wanted to do because I would enjoy them or that it would enable me to accomplish something I’ve always wanted to accomplish.

This was a lot of the appeal to challenging Bryan Danielson April 1st. I like Bryan’s style and think it will be an awesome match, Chicago has always been one of the greatest Cities to wrestle in (amazing fans), and I’ve never held a companies World Title. Those three things plus the amazingly convenient timetable made it worth giving up my last match with Jericho.

There are a few other matches out there that would appeal to me. There is a hand full of guys I’ve never had the chance to work, that I would like to. Guys like Chris Benoit (still hoping for this one somehow), Shawn Michaels, Samoa Joe, and AJ Styles. There are also those who were always my favourites to be in the ring with that I would jump at the chance to work with again. I’d love to work with MNM, Fit Finlay, Jerry Lynn, Tommy Dreamer, or even Christian Cage again (Another World Title Shot wouldn’t Hurt).

I could also see reforming a couple of my old tag teams again. I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of so many great ones. A Thrill Seeker reunion would be cool, reforming with William Regal would be a blast, we always had fun together, and of course likely my best known Tag Team, and perhaps my favourite, an Impact Players reunion would be of great interest.

Truth be told, I’ve even talked to Justin about this one, and he too is interested in it. He even mentioned how great it would be to have one more Impact Players run with Tag Team Gold (We never lost the ECW Tag Team Titles at the end of my run there). He even mentioned that 1PW in England is holding a Tournament to Crown new Tag Team Champions the end of May. Interestingly enough that is still during my Storm Wrestling Academytm hiatus; perhaps I need to make a few calls?

Keep your eyes open; who knows where you will see me next.

Lance Storm