By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Ring of Honor wrestler Chris Hero says he'll probably be nervous, but not worried before facing former WWE wrestler Lance Storm when Storm comes out of retirement for two matches against Hero this weekend in Toronto.

Hero says he expects Storm to be in great shape to prove to himself and the ROH audience that he can still wrestle at a high level despite being in retirement for two years.

"I know that he's been training really hard for this," Hero told Slam Wrestling in an interview. "He's always been a gym junkie and has always tried to be in the best shape possible, so I'm sure that he's put a lot of pressure on himself, especially in a singles match, to come in in incredible shape."

Hero says he'll be challenged to come up with new moves and new ideas for the matches against Storm. He says it's part of the ROH culture that encourages wrestlers to think, rather than simply react to what they're given to work with.

"The fact that we come up with ideas is (seen as) very important. This isn't WWE where we have writers script our promos for us," Hero said. "We're given an objective, and it's really up to us the route that we want to take the fans on. We have to be more proactive."

Hero says he grew as a wrestler during his recent tour of Japan for the NOAH promotion. Instead of being in the background in tag matches and six-man tag matches, Hero says he was slotted in high-profile singles matches against the likes of Go Shiozaki and Morishima.

Hero was also present when legendary wrestler Mitsuharu Misawa died in the ring last month. In a weird way, Hero says he preferred seeing the tragedy live rather than if he would have heard about if it from a distance.

"I think that it was easier to (cope) being there for it and grieving along with the other wrestlers and his friends and family, as opposed to doing it from afar," Hero said. "It was very surreal being there. I've never seen anything like that before in my life, never experienced anything like that. Being there in a foreign country made it even more disorienting."

FYI: Hero and Storm are scheduled for a tag match opposite each other on Friday night in Toronto and then a singles match against each other on Saturday night. Both ROH shows take place at Ted Reeve Arena. Friday's special guest is Bret Hart. Saturday's special guest is Ric Flair. Show information.

Link: Chris Hero interview with Bob Kapur at Slam Wrestling.

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