Team Canada (WCW)
- The term Team Canada can also refer to any of a number of sports teams that are on the Canadian National Team.
Team Canada is a heel stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Earlier incarnations have appeared in WCW and the WWF (now WWE). The team has been comprised of Canadian wrestlers or American wrestlers who (in storylines) believe in Canada's superiority to the United States.
World Championship Wrestling
Team Canada was first formed by Lance Storm in WCW. The first member he recruited was former CFL player "Primetime" Elix Skipper. The faction expanded to include Americans Major Gunns and Jim Duggan, who were formerly allied with Team Canada rivals the Misfits in Action. American Mike Awesome was a later addition to faction, after having feuded with the stable. Canadian wrestlers Jacques Rougeau, Bret Hart and Carl Oulette have all been loosely affiliated with the group.
Lance Storm won the United States Heavyweight Title, World Cruiserweight Title and WCW Hardcore Championship in rapid succession. He renamed the titles to the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, 100 Kilos and Under Championship, and Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title, respectively. Each one came complete with large Canadian stickers that covered the faceplates of the belts.
Team Canada feuded with General Rection's stable, the MIA, for several months. In particular, Storm and Rection feuded with each other over Storm's "Canadian" Heavyweight Title, which Rection finally won from him and promptly renamed back to the U.S. Heavyweight Title.
World Wrestling Entertainment
In June 2002, Lance Storm would re-form Team Canada in World Wrestling Entertainment, when Storm complained that the WWE had been discriminating against Canadians for years, using the Montreal Screwjob as an example. Christian and Test would all come to be affiliated with the group. The group formed when they assaulted Rikishi backstage. The group was not called Team Canada once in the WWE, and was only referred to as the Un-Americans. Where both WCW &TNA incarnations of the group waved a Canadian flag, the Un-Americans instead waved the American flag, but it was upside down. Chris Jericho was seen with the group a few times during their formation, and he even jumped from the SmackDown roster to the Raw roster on the same episode of Raw as the Un-Americans. However, he was never officially named in the group, as doing so would make Jericho appear to be the leader of the group, as he was the biggest star of the 4.
Later British born William Regal would join them. On the September 30, 2002 edition of RAW every member of The Un-Americans lost in their tag team matches. The group would then separate later in the night and pair off into tag teams Storm/Regal and Christian/Chris Jericho, whilst Test branched off into singles competition.
As the Un-Americans, Storm and Christian would capture the WWE Tag Team Titles.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
X-Cup Tournaments
In 2004, wrestling promoter and personality "Coach" Scott D'Amore brought together fellow Canadians to form his own incarnation of Team Canada in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) for the 2004 America's X Cup tournament.
The original team was composed of Teddy Hart as team captain, with Jack Evans, Johnny Devine, and Petey Williams as his teammates. When the World's X Cup was announced, the team was revamped to add power to the speed and agility in the previous incarnation of the team. Petey Williams would replace Teddy as team captain, Johnny Devine would remain on the team, and Eric Young and Bobby Roode would be added to the team. The team made it to the Ultimate X finals, but lost to Team USA (Jerry Lynn, Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper).
Post X-Cup
They stayed together in TNA afterward, and went on to win the tag team titles twice. Member Petey Williams also won the TNA X Division Championship. They all use the same theme music (an acoustic O Canada, begun with a riff of the first line on acoustic guitar), and typically bring a Canadian flag with them, attached to a hockey stick.
Team Canada hosts the Canadian version of the TNA website (see External Links), and shirts for Team Canada have the TNA logo on the front with the A covered up with a maple leaf with "Eh!" on it.
In March 2005, Team Canada added A-1 Alastair Ralphs to replace the injured Johnny Devine. A-1 was used as a "power house" member.
Recent Involvements
In September 2005, Team Canada aligned with Planet Jarrett, with Scott D'Amore using a match at his Border City Wrestling promotion to help Jeff Jarrett win back the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on September 15. The plot was exposed on the October 1 episode of TNA iMPACT! Team Canada's alignment was solidified when they appeared--dressed in black with black hockey sticks--at Planet Jarrett's "funeral" for the careers of Team 3D on the October 15 iMPACT! episode.
At Genesis on November 13, when Christian Cage premiered in TNA, Scott D'Amore offered him a Team Canada t-shirt to signify membership in that stable. At the end of the night, when Team Canada attacked Team 3D with Jeff Jarrett, Cage came out. Under the coat he wore, he revealed to D'Amore's delight that he was wearing the Team Canada shirt. He hugged D'Amore. He then gave D'Amore the Unprettier, making his choice not to join Team Canada or Planet Jarrett clear.
They feuded with 3Live Kru throughout 2005. They fought 3LK (afterwards dubbed 4Live Kru after the induction of Kip James) for the last time at Turning Point on December 11, where Konnan split from the group and hit Kip James with a chair, allowing Team Canada to win.
Team Canada has been in a lengthy feud against Team 3D, which lately has seen them beating down Team 3D in Six-Sides of Steel, and laying Canadian Flags over their faces. Team Canada also helped America's Most Wanted on numerous occasions. Team Canada is set to face Team 3D at Lockdown in an Anthem Match.
Team Canada will take part in the TNA 2006 World X Cup Tournament. Bobby Roode & A-1 stepped aside as non-X Division atheletes, leaving Petey Williams, Eric Young, the returning Johnny Devine and the debuting Tyson Dux as Team Canada's X-Cup squad.
Current members
- Scott D'Amore (Coach)
- Petey Williams (Captain)
- Bobby Roode
- Eric Young
- A-1 (Alastair Ralphs)
- Johnny Devine
- Tyson Dux