Why TNA Backstage Producer Lance Storm 'Harps On Everyone' About Making This Mistake

With an in-ring career that spanned more than 25 years and plenty of time coaching and working behind the scenes of several promotions, Lance Storm has seen just about everything there is to see in the wrestling business. If he had his way, he'd see far less of one element of contemporary wrestling that seems to drive him nuts more than anything else. Appearing on "Insight With Chris Van Vliet," Storm leaned into sloppy pin attempts as something there's just no place for, and he says the faux pas is far less prominent in TNA thanks to his efforts.

"My biggest pet peeve," Storm explained, "is what I consider just terrible, sh***y covers on pins. Now, there's a lot fewer of them in TNA because I've been harping on talent since day one." Before detailing what makes a pin less than it could be, Storm pointed out what he sees as the origin of a lazy trend, and it all started with a Vince McMahon nuance in WWE.

"Vince became obsessed with, 'You gotta hook the leg!'" Storm recalled, noting that it became a trend from there since most of the wrestling landscape watches WWE's product. "Nine out of 10 pins today, the person goes towards the guy's hips and grabs the leg and then rolls his back onto they guy's stomach and the guy making the pin is staring at the ceiling with no weight above the dude's or female's sternum and it's like, 'You're not holding the shoulders down. It's a terrible visual.'"

Conversely, to give a good example, Storm says he goes straight to the top of the WWE women's division, where "Mami" routinely leaves no doubt as to who is in control as she wraps up her victories. "The one that I usually go and I do a quick Google search [to show]," he said, "and it's a part of why she got over but look at the way Rhea Ripley pins people. You know she won. And you know that she's the boss. She's in charge. She won this match."

While "hooking the leg" is a time-tested maneuver in wrestling when attempting to secure the win, it's not everything in terms of what makes for a good pin, according to Storm. In fact, the visual element at the end of a match may be far more important. "Pin the shoulders," instructs Storm. "You can reach back and get the leg. And then the other thing that I harp on people is when you're covering the shoulders chest to chest with your head up, we can see your face." If, ultimately, the pin is putting the final bow on what was hopefully an all-around solid match, Storm says the victor should be placed front and center. The exaggerated pin, then, with the winner arched backwards and staring at the ceiling takes away from that.

"Associate that feeling [of winning] with his face," Storm said. "not the top of his head as he's looking at the rafters. I used to joke with all my students in class, it's like, 'You're looking at the ceiling. The only person who can see you is Sting and he ain't up there.'"

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.