Letting go of Syxx

[relentless1]

was it a huge mistake for Bischoff to let go of Sean Waltman in 1998? I mean I know he wasn't an Austin or anything like that but he did give a much needed and perfectly timed boost to DX, also the Outsiders went from being productive and slightly destructive to outright not playing ball after Syxx was let go. How do you all think WCW would have done had they kept this guy, storyline wise and behind the scenes would WCW have benefitted by keeping Waltman around??

 

[Darkshadow1234]

Bischoff made the right decision to let xpac go. Xpac provided nothing to DX or NWO IMO. He was kinda of just there.
I was never a fan of xpac bc I find him boring. He is a mediocre wrestler, no charisma, and shitty on the mic.
Anyone could of took xpac place.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Bischoff made the right decision to let xpac go. Xpac provided nothing to DX or NWO IMO. He was kinda of just there.
I was never a fan of xpac bc I find him boring. He is a mediocre wrestler, no charisma, and shitty on the mic.
Anyone could of took xpac place.

I read somewhere that during the Kliq days Waltman would be the one to work matches with guys and determine if they could work or not. From what I read in Shawn Michaels book it was Shane Douglas' match with Waltman that destroyed Douglas backstage. Once the Kliq, who had Vince's ear, told Vince that Douglas didn't have what it takes it pretty much spelled the end of Douglas WWE career.

So with that Waltman was used to evaluate talent coming in.

As for his WCW firing wasn't it done so Bishoff to send a message to Hall and Nash to keep them in check? My understanding is that there was a clash of egos between Hogan and Hall/Nash, it's no secret Bishoff always put Hogan in the pedestal in the company so he used Waltman's to set an example and send a message to Hall/Nash.

Of course typical Bishoff that he would be selective in "sending a message" to the locker room just like when he punished Flair for doing things Hogan/Nash/Hall did.

Was it a mistake firing Waltman in WCW? Yes because Waltman was never a big name and a guy whose ceiling was always going to be a midcarder but once X-Pac because a huge start in the attitude era I am sure it made guys like The Giant, Jericho, Guerrero, and Benoit think about jumping ship to the WWE.

 

[King Patrick Star]

The majority of Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment fans will always see 1-2-3-6-X-Pac as the “5th Beatle”. If Scott Hall was in a better place and defeated his demons, then Waltman would have been the only member of the Clique to never become World Champion.

With that being said, I believe Syxx was an integral part of the Clique, the New World Order, and D-Generation X. As someone has said, when he left WCW, the New World Order’s key members, the original Wolfpac were going down, and at the same time, D-Generation X, who could have been fading away after WrestleMania XIV, suddenly had a resurgence of sorts, with the forming of the DX Army.

In my opinion, Sean is like Andre Iguodala. If you try to make him a Star, he won’t be able to pull it off. If you put him in the right team, he’ll be the Championship Series MVP.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

In my opinion, Sean is like Andre Iguodala. If you try to make him a Star, he won’t be able to pull it off. If you put him in the right team, he’ll be the Championship Series MVP.

WOW that is a damn good analogy. I think Sean Waltman is a very underrated talent, there was a reason he made it to the Kliq and it wasn't simply politics - all five of those guys were talented. X-Pac's return was a huge coup for WWE mostly because it happened at the perfect time, had it happened on any other night I doubt it would even have half the impact that it did.

As fate would have it though, Sean replaced Shawn and remained extremely over during the entire second (and third) run of DX, and spent many RAWs in the main event in good quality matches. He also spent many RAWs putting on great matches with cruiserweights and became a WWF light-heavyweight champion, so how can anyone say that WCW didn't make the mistake letting him go. You released a talented worker with the potential of being a player in your cruiserweight division, which definitely angered 2 of the top guys in the heavyweight division, and gave WWF the shot in the arm it needed to finally overtake you in the ratings. The firing of Waltman was definitely one of the first shots Bischoff would fire into his own foot that would lead to the demise of WCW.

 

[TDFG]

I wouldn't say it was a huge mistake. X-Pac didn't turn the ratings war in WWE's favour or went on to be a World Champ, but he did go on to have a good career.

The manner of his dismissal was wrong, the guy was recovering from a neck injury, and Bischoff decided to play politics.

 

[dsotm5150]

Sean Waltman in my opinion is a guy who made it due to his connections. Had it not been for Nash, Michaels and Hall taking a shining to him its doubtful he would be as memorable as he is. Fact of the matter is for the most part he is only remembered for being a part of the nWo and DX. He was only in WCW in the first place as a favor to Nash and Hall and because Bischoff thought it might help lure Michaels over, when it became apparent that wasn't going to happen Bischoff couldn't get rid of him quick enough.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I don't think Syxx was a great loss to WCW when he left as he didn't make too much of an impact there so it wasn't a mistake in that sense but I feel he was far more valuable to the WWE without bringing in Waltman after HBK left I don't think DX would have anywhere near the same success that they would have had without Waltman, But in the sense of WCW letting him go over to the competition was probably a mistake but I guess WCW wasn't to know what the WWE had planned and how well popular the new DX would become.

 

[Goldie]

Didn't Bischoff fire Waltman him to make a point to the disrputive Hall and Nash?

Either way it didn't hurt WCW- ... Xpac came into DX the day after Shawn Michaels stepped down from injury- so in theory the bigger star made way for him.
What made DX more robust and entertaining was Road Dogg and Billy joining in too- I always so Xpac as last in the DX pecking order.

XPac fitted in well in the WWE in the beginning- but his arrival coincided with the WWE boom by joining at the same time the Austin vs McMahon fued was taking off.
The company was heading for a boom period- and he was in the right place at the right time- though the shift in WWE popularity came from other factors

XPac was a midcard guy in the WWE- he never even won the IC title! and by 2001 he was getting booed out of the building because he never evolved his character and became stale and boring.

Don't get me wrong he wasn't a disaster or anything- he was what he was- a midcard guy with close friendships to big stars in the industry which gave him a pass into DX and the NWO when they were hot.

 

[Makaveli31]

The release of Sean Waltman in March of 1998 served two purposes.

1) He was the first "name" to go back to WWE from WCW. Before Waltman went back it was a one way street. WWF stars like Hogan, Savage, Hall and Nash going to WCW gave the appearance that WCW was on the same level or even
above the WWF. Waltman showing back up in the WWF (and acknowldeged his time in WCW which was taboo on WWF tv until that point) showed that McMahon was willing to engage WCW in the Monday Night War. You wondered "who was going fo defect next" in both companies.

It was huge in terms of shock value because 1) Waltman was
Buddies with Hall and Nash and it gave credibility to rampant internet rumors at the time Hall and Nash were going back to the WWF.

2) It marked a shift in DX. No longer were they going after McMahon and the Hart Foundation. The "clique link" gave DX full rein to go after WCW in all
out shoots such as going over to Nitro or openly shouting out Hall and Nash while insulting
Bischoff and Hogan. Long term. No. Waltman didnt
add much. He had a solid 1999 and 1999 as a mid-carder and was
Involved in some memorable feuds and angles
But it wasn't a HUGE mistake.

Bischoff actually wanted Waltman back. He did that just to piss
Off Hall and Nash. I would have loved to see Hall Nash and Waltman as the Wolfpac feud with Hogan Savage and Flair.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It shows the first major public "mistake" Eric made, everything had been going great guns until that point but he let his ego make a decision, as he had with Steve Austin. He might even have thought "whatever happens he's not gonna be another Stone Cold". Austin's firing doesn't really count because not even he could have known what would happen with his meteoric rise but it would never have happened with Hogan in WCW.

As someone said earlier the damage wasn't to his relationship with Hall and Nash even if he was sending a message, it was showing that not only guys who had jumped could return, but that WWE would hire guys from WCW if they were available.

There were a number of unhappy talents like Chris Jericho and Big Show who saw this as "the green light" and they started winding their contracts down, as Jericho famously said in his book he had to dodge Eric for 7 months but he had the plan and Waltman going back was a big part of letting him know it could happen for a "smaller guy".

As for Waltman himself, he was never an A-lister or even a B+ player but he was reliable in the ring, whatever his demons outside of it and helped give DX the shot in the arm it needed after Shawn's abrupt departure. As a 2nd in command to Hunter he was realistic, Hunter was "stepping up" and thus so was Waltman with the Outlaws and Chyna behind (ironic it ended up with Waltman behind Chyna but hey...) as his demons took hold his in ring career went south, X-Factor was the nadir of it, he was messed up beyond recognition by then and Hunter had stopped giving him "protection" from the shitty angles.

As soon as they hit the WCW event Eric probably knew he'd fucked up again and it was a common thread in his reign that he touches on in the new DVD. Whenever he let his ego get into the equation or out of control, mistakes were made that proved costly.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

As a minor smark at the time, hiring Syxx was a good reminder that the NWO are awful people and fully in control of what happened at WCW.

It's hard to remember what his firing did for me but I think it gave off the impression that NWO was not the "anything goes" faction they were pretending to be and reminded me as a viewer that NWO and Bischoff were just a part of WCW which was a business.

Not a big gain or loss either way but for the story the gain was a positive and the loss was a negative.

 

[nwocongo]

First off, I am and always have been a huge Waltman mark, from the Lightning Kid days on, so I won't even try to hide my bias.
I'm not going to pretend that this was because of Waltman, but right around the time he left WCW and reappeared for WWF, Raw overtook Nitro in ratings for the first time in months. When X Pac showed up, the the DX stuff got really hot and the feud between DX and the Nation heated up which more or less launched The Rock into the main event scene. Again not saying all or any of the credit goes to Waltman, he was just a midcard guy but he was great at what he did in the late 90's, and they can't all be main eventers, especially at his size at that time in the business.

I don't see what relevance him never winning the IC title has, the IC title still meant something up until about 2000 and even then, he was a cruiserweight essentially and the Attitude era was not wrasslin as we know it today where a guy Bryan or Punk's size is competing at the top of the card. His feud with D'Lo Brown over the Euro title showcased some excellent matches and in '97 up until Shane "retired" it in 99, I'd say the Euro title held about as much prestige as the IC title does today. Don't believe me, here are your first 5 European title reigns, British Bulldog, HBK, HHH, Owen Hart and HHH again.

You can argue that his relationship with The Kliq definitely furthered his career and gave him more slack for his shady antics when he was a drug addict but he broke into the business on his own merits period. He didn't go on Tough Enough or send his headshots to the office like some of the jabrons have the luxury of doing today and he didn't even know HBK or Scott Hall before his tryout. He paid his dues since he was 9 years old putting rings together and training non stop, something that is missing in a lot of today's reality tv tools posing as "superstars". He was busting his ass on the indy's before breaking in with Global and getting a wwf tryout. If you think he is mediocre in the ring you are kidding yourself or you think Hulk had a stellar leg drop. Watch any of his matches from Japan, his match with Hakushi from SummerSlam '95 or any matches with the Hart's. In WCW his matches with any of the cruiserweights we're always great, his feud with Malenko, Jericho, Guerrero.. I could go on and on about his work in WCW. There's a reason a 6 foot 170 pound stick boy got a deal with WWF and graduated from the rank of jobber, because he respected the business and worked his ass off to hone his craft and was one of the best in ring workers of the 90's, anyone he got in the ring with would tell you that. Along with HBk and the Hart's he helped pave the way for smaller competitors to get any respect from the WWF/E brass.

I will agree his X Pac gimmick got incredibly stale in the end of his 2nd WWE run and his career fizzled. It could have been the booking, lazy writing, complacency on his part or it could have been the meth... that's neither here nor there, his early career speaks for itself.

As for Bischoff firing him, as already stated that was nothing more than a power play to get Hall and Nash in line. It wasn't really a huge deal just showed what a petty douche Bischoff was. Bischoff was gifted a perfect storm of pro wrestling gold, Ted Turner's check book, Sullivan's and his incredible understanding of how to ge heat doing the booking, WWF in a dark period due to courtroom issues and the biggest stars and the hottest angle up to that point in wrestling. He lucked into this scenario not to mention lied his way into the company so it's not like Bischoff was some brilliant pro wrestling mind, let's not forget he fired Steve Austin via phone call a few years prior to this.