The day Syxx was fired from WCW!

[jrcongine]

We always talk about the downfalls of WCW and/or NWO storyline. I never hear the point of the day Syxx/X-pac/Sean Waltman was fired. I know it may seem minor because he was never a main eventer but his firing in my humbel opinion really lead to the change from WCW to WWF if you think about it.

The nWo was cool. The outsiders, the wolf pac, even the whole group as a whole if you look at it, but the night after he was fired the outsiders squared off with hogan, hogan says he can't cut the mustard and huge line in the sand was drawn. The outsiders on one side and hogan/bishoff on the other. Not storyline wise but who was the group that you sided with, instead of the nwo as a whole. Outsiders were cool and hogan and bish were douchebags for the move. I've heard nash and hall were upset and wanted their releases and two of the top stars morale just said fuck it.

Waltman goes to WWF, he cuts one of the greatest promos ever imo and DX and the attitude era is given a huge momentum boost.

Lastly, everyone was going from wwf to wcw at this point for the money. I can't remember any big star before during the war that went from wcw to wwf. (maybe the radicals, but i don't think so) It showed that WWF was relevant and guys wanted to go back or to that company.


So turning point in the war or just a minor piece of history?

 

[GIMH]

I've definitely read it cited as a turning point in many places to be honest. Over the preceding years, top talent had gone from WWF to WCW. All of a sudden here was a guy going in the opposite direction. Whilst he was never a huge success, he was unbelievably over in DX, and his shoot promo on Hogan on his re-debut in WWF was indeed immense. That Raw was pivotal in the ratings switch, Raw might have won that night, not sure...

But anyway, yeah, it was a big moment in terms of symbolism

 

[stingerlegends]

I remember wondering why WCW let Syxx go, when he had had some good matches with them, but although I think it was a big move for DX, I'm not so sure it was pivotal for WWE as a whole. Jeff Jarrett went to WWE within the Monday Night Wars era, and he was a bigger mid-card name than Syxx, but he never had good storylines other than stealing Debra from Mongo, but the matches didn't reflect that.

WWE thrived more on turning WCW rejects into show-stealers, and those guys were hungry for it (HHH, SCSA, Foley, even Edge), so grabbing Syxx and Jarrett from WCW wasn't gonna change anything, they just were a good fit at the time.

 

[Upgrayedd]

I can't remember any big star before during the war that went from wcw to wwf

Big Show and Chris Jericho? Well mostly Big Show since he had in fact headlined and was a major part of WCW/nWo. Jericho was getting very over with the crowd as a heel before he signed with the WWF.

This move was big but not the big move that changed everything. "Stone Cold" becoming the biggest star in the business by that poitn is what changed. Even then WCW was still unbelievably popular when Goldberg became their "answer" for Austin but we all know how that turned out.

I wouldn't count Triple H and Edge as unhappy former WCW stars. None of them even made it to the midcard in WCW. Austin and Foley yes. But I just don't count Triple H and Edge. They didn't even really make it bit until the end of the Attitude Era. Triple H didn't begin really dominating until 2000 and Edge, Christian, Matt and Jeff Hardy all made it big at WrestleMania 17.

 

[jrcongine]

Xpac debuted in 98, not 99 like big show and jericho. So he was the first big move from wcw to wwf. Jarrett was in 97 but jarrett always jumped back and forth between companies and never made impact in anyform (but thats a whole new topic for another day)

 

[Upgrayedd]

Xpac debuted in 98, not 99 like big show and jericho. So he was the first big move from wcw to wwf. Jarrett was in 97 but jarrett always jumped back and forth between companies and never made impact in anyform (but thats a whole new topic for another day)

Oh ok. I didn't see the "before" part in your original post. Yes, Syxx/X-Pac was the first major wrestler to jump from WCW to the WWF. But I still don't think he really had that much of an affect on the "Monday Night War". It had a lot more to do with Austin becoming the biggest star in wrestling at that time.

 

[jrcongine]

Oh ok. I didn't see the "before" part in your original post. Yes, Syxx/X-Pac was the first major wrestler to jump from WCW to the WWF. But I still don't think he really had that much of an affect on the "Monday Night War". It had a lot more to do with Austin becoming the biggest star in wrestling at that time.

I think it had more of a effect towards the nwo and wcw downfall than the wwf uprise. The attitude era was more of a rebellion and way of more hardcore wrestling and storyline thats why it was popular, not just austin. WCW and NWO were looked as the cool place to be and when syxx came and said how shiittttty it was it changed a lot of views and dx picked up that momentum.

 

[mr.davidson]

The only reason nash and hall said they would quite because of his firing is because they have always baby sat waltman in the bussiness because he was there friend... I dont really think waltman should have even been in the NWO in the first place.

The simple fact is Hogan has a good nose for this bussiness and if he wanted waltman out, there must have been good reason for it.....

Waltman is less then a mid card player... and he only does good in the bussiness when his friends babysit him.... i.e hall and nash in WCW and HHH and Shawn in WWE

 

[jrcongine]

The only reason nash and hall said they would quite because of his firing is because they have always baby sat waltman in the bussiness because he was there friend... I dont really think waltman should have even been in the NWO in the first place.

The simple fact is Hogan has a good nose for this bussiness and if he wanted waltman out, there must have been good reason for it.....

Waltman is less then a mid card player... and he only does good in the bussiness when his friends babysit him.... i.e hall and nash in WCW and HHH and Shawn in WWE

this comlpletely has nothing to do with forum but that's your opinion and your intitled to it. If you wanted to use that excuse you can list a hundred if not thousands of guys who wouldn't have beeng all that "good" unless they had friends or family ties. I always liked waltmans work even way before the kliq days.

 

[ZAPX4V1]

The only reason nash and hall said they would quite because of his firing is because they have always baby sat waltman in the bussiness because he was there friend... I dont really think waltman should have even been in the NWO in the first place.

The simple fact is Hogan has a good nose for this bussiness and if he wanted waltman out, there must have been good reason for it.....

Waltman is less then a mid card player... and he only does good in the bussiness when his friends babysit him.... i.e hall and nash in WCW and HHH and Shawn in WWE

Waltman wasn't fired because of anything that he did..he was fired because Bischoff wanted to show Hall and Nash that he was the boss and wasn't going to put up with whatever they were doing. Waltman was actually hurt by his association with the Clique then and was just a victim of the backstage politics

 

[jmt225]

I think Sean Waltman is the most underrated wrestler in history, but I would never claim his departure from WCW had anything to do with why that company died. WCW had plenty of guys who could've filled Waltman's shoes, but they were too ******ed to ever give someone outside of guys like Hogan and Goldberg a serious push.

And really.. Waltman didn't do much for the WWF at the time, either. His first night there was a nice surprise, but it wasn't mind-blowing. He cut a good promo, but WWE never pushed him hard after that. In fact, the only significant thing Pac did his entire second stay was put over HHH, which actually was the beginning of Trips' run. But other than that... Pac did nothing for WWE. Due to personal problems I would assume, WWE just never had full faith in him to hand him the ball, which is a true shame because all around.... Waltman was one of the greatest workers in history. He could have as good of match as anyone who ever stepped through those ropes, and the guy knew how to connect with the crowd when he was a babyface, and knew how to get them to go nuts with hatred when he was a heel. People put "X-Pac Heat" as a way to diss someone, but the FACT of the matter is that Pac got heat because he was a fantastic fucking professional wrestler; not because he sucked, as a lot of morons on the internet would lead you to believe.

 

[Tenta]

You Know, I think when Jim Cornette was giving his weekly rants on all that he thought was wrong with wrestling, he had a rant in which he attacked the nWo. Namely, Hall, Nash, and Bischoff. And then he stumbled upon Syxx... And i believe this is his exact words.

"And then you got a guy... Syxx, 1-2-3 Kid, his name's Sean Waltman. Whatever you want to call him. As far as I'm concerned, the only reason he's employed is because the other guys think he's funny when he gets drunk and throws up on himself. He has the distinction, in case you haven't noticed, of being the only guy since this "wrestling war" got started, that was released from a valid contract from one company to go to the other side, which shows you how valuable he is."

That should tell you exactly how much Sean Waltman is viewed upon within the grand scheme of pro wrestling, and the Monday Night Wars. I'll agree with JMT225, and state that he was an underrated worker. However, he really didn't contribute much in total to the wrestling business. His most memorable moment is cutting a shoot promo on Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, something the aforementioned Cornette did merely a year earlier. Waltman was a good wrestler, but that's about it. He never could draw an audience to him unless he was backflipping onto Razor Ramon, and playing the role of the underdog that rarely wins. His biggest win was against Razor Ramon, and then after that, he won a cruiserweight title. Shouldn't that say it all about this man?

I may not agree to many times with Hulk Hogan on his views of talent... But Hulk truly was right when he said that Syxx "Couldn't cut the mustard".

 

[jrcongine]

you guys forget how over he was with his initial run with dx. He was the 2nd best draw in the most popular group, in the most popular company at the height of wrestlings success. Before the fans turned on him and started the whole xpac heat thing. He was easily top ten guy with wwe. That has to mean something. Jim cornette is a jealous, old school style, hates everything type of guy. His opinion doesn't matter to anyone under 25 and i fall into that category. I mean seriously i think the guy still lives in the nwa and awa days in his head.

I'm not saying he's the greatest wrestler ever and led to wwf's win of the war, but that moment was a big turn towards wwf winning.

 

[mr.davidson]

Cornette

Know alot about wrestling and what makes money... weather or not you are a good wrestler.... doesnt mean anything.... Its all about what draws money and Hogan and Cornette both know what draws money..... In the end as much as you like Xpac if he were any good he would still be in wrestling 2day..... And if he had any value Vince and Jeff would have picked him up all ready...

If he is under rated as you put it... its because there is a vaild reason...

But to say Cornette doesnt know anything about wrestling today ... is the wrong thing to say... unlike Xpac he still has a place in wrestling.... cause he knows how to draw money and a crowd

 

[ZAPX4V1]

Waltman could be in WWE or TNA right now if he wanted to, but he has been turning down their offers because he is happy in AAA

 

[Shocky]

It meant nothing. The WWE's wave of momentum was because of the exposure that Mike Tyson (coming off his suspension from Boxing and the Ear bite) brought. Without Mike Tyson's involvement, Wrestlemania 14 would have been slightly better then Wrestlemania 13. The WWE was struggling to gain momentum, and the introduction of Iron Mike, and Sports Center eating it up, is what got Austin more exposure, and the guy simply clicked with that type of crowd.

X-Pac, Syxx, whatever, has always been irrelevant to the business. As Jim Cornette always said, he only had a job so his buddies could watch him puke on hisself.