Standards & Practices – WCW, 1999-2000
History
Following the end of the West Hollywood Blondes by a nervous WCW, Lenny Lane and Lodi were left in a vacuum. They had been running with a successful gimmick only to see it cut out from under them just as they were gaining steam. Fortunately, Vince Russo had a problem.
You see, the network execs for TNT and TBS were a bit less… um… open-minded than the executives for USA’s WWF programming had been. Russo had watched idea after idea get refused by them and finally he’d decided enough was enough. Time for revenge.
On December 27th’s Nitro, Evan Karagias and Vampiro had just defeated David Flair and Crowbar (replacing the Maestro, who he’d attacked on the entrance ramp) after the rest of Three Count had interfered. After the match, Flair and Crowbar had run off Three Count. Suddenly we saw an incredible pair of legs, with Lenny and Lodi on either side of them. Yes, the legs belonged to Miss Hancock (Stacy Keibler), and Lenny and Lodi were now wearing suits and calling themselves Standards & Practices. They verbally attacked Flair and Crowbar for their “outlandish behavior” and threatened to remove them from the show. Flair and Crowbar attacked, and left both men lying.
The next week, Buzzkill and Mike Rotundo were taking on the Harris brothers when Lenny and Lodi reappeared. This time their target was Leia Meow, whose job as “manager” consisted of wearing a skimpy cheerleading outfit and jumping on a trampoline. Hey, it works for the Man Show. Anyway, they pushed her off the trampoline and covered her up with one of their suit jackets. That caused Kevin Sullivan and Rotundo to attack S&P, which also allowed the Harrises to drop Buzzkill and get the win.
It would be two weeks before we saw Standards and Practices again. They came out during a David Flair/Crowbar vs. Three Count match. They simply sat by the ring and took notes. After the match, they simply took their notes and left.
On the 24th, the fun started when David Flair, Crowbar, and Daffney ran off the entire announce team and took over their headsets just in time for a Fit Finlay/Brian Knobbs – Big Vito/Johnny the Bull (Stamboli) tag team match. Standards & Practices came out, then Lenny and Lodi headed to the back. Miss Hancock kept taking notes, although she was also fighting back a smile as David Flair danced on the announce table.
The same routine occurred on the next episode of Thunder. This time, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea (from here on out referred to as The Artist) and Kid Romeo’s match in the opening round of the cruiserweight title tournament was the subject of scrutiny. All three came out, then Lenny and Lodi headed to the back, leaving Miss Hancock to take notes at the announce table. Again, nothing else happened.
And that was that. Vince Russo was removed as head booker, and Lenny and Lodi were repackaged (again), this time as 2XS. You know, a tag team that actually wrestled.
Analysis
This was nothing more than Russo’s attempts to get back at the Time Warner execs for censoring him. He’d take another step with it by repackaging Ron and Don Harris as Creative Control – Gerald and Patrick (an obvious shot at the WWF’s Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson).
Fortunately Russo was removed and Lenny and Lodi were able to start wrestling again, although we still had Miss Hancock wandering in and out aimlessly. Of course, she soon started dancing on the announce table herself, so that can only be a good thing.
Where Are They Now?
Lenny Lane left WCW before the company closed and wound up appearing in TNA at their startup as part of the Rainbow Connection with Bruce (a renamed Allen Funk). His website can be found at http://www.lennylane.com .
Lodi also left WCW before the company’s close. He was signed to appear in TNA as well as Lenny, but was unable to due to having severe neck surgery. He has since returned to action on the independent scene. His website is http://www.lodirulz.com .
Stacy Keibler remains with the WWE on the Smackdown side of the brand extension.
Next Week
An in-depth look at TNA’s major acquisition.
