He made his WCW debut on the April 14, 1997 episode of Monday Nitro by losing to the World Television Champion Ultimo Dragon.
He began to wear boots marked "LL", possibly due to his resemblance to Lex Luger in his early days despite his smaller size.
He made his pay-per-view debut at the 1998 Slamboree event as a participant in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the World Cruiserweight Championship.
In an upset victory, Lane defeated Rey Mysterio, Jr. on the August 19 episode of WCW Thunder in Lubbock, Texas, to win the World Cruiserweight Championship.
With the assistance of Lodi, he defended the title successfully including notably against Shaggy 2 Dope of the Insane Clown Posse over the next six weeks.
On the October 3 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Psychosis was announced as having defeated Lane for the World Cruiserweight Championship at an unspecified live event.
The Blondes were taken off television[1] in the same month following protests from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who threatened to organize a boycott of WCW, claiming that "the character of Lenny is presented with the intention to incite the crowd to the most base homophobic behavior" and "the audience's reaction [to Lenny Lane and Lodi being physically attacked by other wrestlers] gives permission to viewers to do harm to gay people in a very literal way.
In a drastic departure from their previous appearance, they wore designer suits, carried briefcases and were accompanied by a secretary, Miss Hancock.
Standards and Practices was supposedly an attempt to mock the conservative views of WCW management, and was not unlike the Right to Censor faction the WWF would have shortly afterwards due to complaints from the Parents Television Council over their programming.
He also appeared on The AWA Stars Tour wrestling in the upper Midwest with Jim Brunzell, Buck "Rock n' Roll" Zumhofe, Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissy, Mantaur, and others.
[1] Lane formed a short-lived tag team with Bruce known as The Rainbow Express and competed on the second-ever TNA pay-per-view on June 26.