Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsChris Jericho and Lance Storm were friends in real life long before they became opponents on screen. They met as young trainees in Calgary in 1990, teamed in their early careers, reunited as The Thrillseekers in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and later wrestled as rivals in Japan and WWE. Storm’s account makes the distinction clear: their changing roles in the ring did not erase a friendship that lasted through different promotions and career paths.
How Jericho and Storm first met
WWE’s historical accounts place their meeting in Calgary shortly before wrestling camp in 1990. The two quickly gravitated toward each other, and Storm’s first match was against Jericho in October of that year, according to WWE’s retrospective on Storm and official profile.
From partners to opponents
Early team and The Thrillseekers
WWE says the pair first teamed as Sudden Impact, turning heads on the Canadian independent circuit and touring Japan before splitting in 1992. They later reunited as The Thrillseekers in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. In WWE’s account, promoter Jim Cornette changed his plans for Storm after seeing Jericho’s highlight reel and asked Jericho to team with him.
Rivals in Japan
Storm’s first-person retrospective says that by late 1995 they were working in Japan’s WAR promotion and spent almost a year there as opponents rather than partners. That shift in their wrestling roles did not mean the friendship had ended: Storm describes the two as friends while their careers took separate paths. Storm’s 2011 retrospective recounts the changing relationship.
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How their friendship continued outside the ring
A specific example came in 2000, when Storm was working for WCW and Jericho was in WWE. Storm says Jericho contacted someone in the WCW office to arrange time off so Storm could attend Jericho’s wedding. It is a revealing detail because it shows their connection continuing despite working for different promotions.
In his retrospective, Storm summed up their WWE reunion this way: “So after 11 years of real life friendship, we both ended up in WWE, where we again had an on again off again career relationship.” He also wrote, “Not every story in wrestling is a tragic one.” Those are Storm’s descriptions of their friendship and professional history, not claims that every match between them carried a personal meaning.
Why they wrestled at WWE and ECW One Night Stand
After WWE acquired WCW in 2001, the pair’s careers crossed again in WWE. Storm says a tag match involving Jericho marked his first official WWE match, and that their relationship there included being both friends and enemies in their wrestling roles.
Their later singles match at ECW One Night Stand in 2005 was Storm’s final WWE match, according to his account. WWE described the event as a renewal of their rivalry. The official WWE match page documents Jericho versus Storm at the event. The match is best understood as another on-screen chapter in their wrestling history, not evidence of personal animosity.
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WWE still called them longtime friends in 2015
Their connection was still publicly recognized a decade after One Night Stand. For the 25th anniversary of Jericho’s debut in 2015, WWE reported that he flew Storm and other longtime friends to New York. Jericho told WWE: “It means a lot to have my friends here. What better way to celebrate tonight than with my oldest friends in the business?” WWE described Storm as one of those oldest friends in its anniversary retrospective.
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The relationship in one timeline
| Period | In the ring | Off-screen relationship |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | They met as Calgary trainees; Storm’s first match was against Jericho, according to WWE. | Storm dates their real-life friendship to this period. |
| Early careers | They teamed as Sudden Impact, then reunited as The Thrillseekers. | They were friends while building their careers, as Storm recalls. |
| Late 1995 | They worked as rivals in Japan’s WAR promotion for almost a year, according to Storm. | Storm describes their friendship as continuing through career changes. |
| 2000 | They worked for different promotions: Storm in WCW and Jericho in WWE. | Storm says Jericho helped arrange time off for him to attend Jericho’s wedding. |
| 2001–2005 | Their careers crossed again in WWE; they met in a singles match at ECW One Night Stand 2005. | Storm describes them as both friends and enemies in their WWE roles. |
| 2015 | WWE marked the 25th anniversary of Jericho’s debut. | WWE described Storm as one of Jericho’s oldest friends in the business. |
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