Team Canada was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

, active in

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

(WCW) in 2000 and 2001. The team was composed of

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

wrestlers who portrayed the character of people who believed that Canada was superior to the United States of America.

History

Team Canada came into existence in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada at

New Blood Rising New Blood Rising was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on August 13, 2000 from the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia. The name is a reference to the New ...

on August 13, 2000, where the Canadian Lance Storm was defending the

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship promoted by the American promotion WWE, currently defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE ...

in a match with

Mike Awesome Michael Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the American professional wrestling promotions Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestl ...

. The match was refereed by the Canadian

Jacques Rougeau Jacques Rougeau Jr. (born June 13, 1960) is a Canadian former professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s with the World Wrestling Federation. He began his career under his real name as half of the tag team The F ...

, 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 (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...

came to the ring and hugged Storm and Rougeau. On the August 14, 2000 episode of ''

WCW Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the Unite ...

'' in

Kelowna, British Columbia Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki ...

, Canada, Storm was forced to face Awesome in another title defense. He managed to defeat Awesome following interference from Rougeau,

Carl Ouellet Carl Joseph Yvon Ouellet (born December 30, 1967) is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, PCO (originally a contraction of his long-term former ring name Pierre Carl Ouellet, but now standing for Perfect Creation On ...

(also a Canadian) and

Elix Skipper Elix Skipper (born December 15, 1967) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, where he was a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Tag ...

(who was billed as being a former

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

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 World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

and the

WCW Hardcore Championship The World Championship Wrestling (WCW) 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 ...

. 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 The national flag of Canada (french: le Drapeau national du Canada), often simply referred to as the Canadian flag or, unofficially, as the Maple Leaf or ' (; ), consists of a red field with a white square at its centre in the ratio of , in ...

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

earlier that evening. Oulette lost his title to

Norman Smiley Norman Anthony Smiley (born February 28, 1965) is an English-American retired professional wrestler and vocalist specializing in Gregorian Chants. He is best known for his appearances with the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre fro ...

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 A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

with the

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

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 Fall Brawl (2000) was the eighth and final Fall Brawl professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The event took place on September 17, 2000 from the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. It would be ...

when the guest referee of a title match between Storm and Rection, the patriotic American

Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. His best-known character is that of an American patriot, which ...

, 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 The Filthy Animals were a professional wrestling faction in World Championship Wrestling from 1999 until 2001. Concept The plan for the stable was to be WCW's version of the World Wrestling Federation's D-Generation X.Guerrero, Eddie. ''Cheating ...

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 is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their ...

), 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 The WCW World Tag Team Championship (previously NWA (Mid-Atlantic) World Tag Team Championship) was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). ...

. On the final episode of ''WCW Monday Nitro'' on March 26, 2001,

Chuck Palumbo Charles Palumbo (born June 15, 1971) is an Italian-American television personality, motorcycle and automotive designer/fabricator, home designer/builder, and retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with professional w ...

and

Sean O'Haire Sean Christopher Haire (February 25, 1971 – September 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer, better known by his ring name Sean O'Haire. Haire was best known for his appearances with the professio ...

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, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(although Storm and Awesome continued to team upon joining the WWF).

Members

Championships

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – Lance Storm (1 time), Carl Oulette (1 time) :*

( 3 times) – Lance Storm :*

(

) – Lance Storm (1 time), Elix Skipper (1 time)

Notes

1 For one night, on August 13, 2000, at

References

External links