Интервю с X-Pac

[parcaleste]

It was only a few years ago when Sean Waltman, known to pro wrestling fans as the 1-2-3 Kid and X-Pac, reached rock bottom emotionally. The former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar attempted suicide in his hotel apartment in Mexico City:

“I was in Mexico for three years. When I was there, things got really bad,” recalls Waltman. “I got in a heated argument that turned into physicality with my girlfriend [Alicia Webb]. I ended up striking her back. I always told myself that I would die before I would hit a woman. So when I did that, I was overcome with guilt and shame. I had no tools to handle it. The only thing I could think of was take a whole bottle of Valium or what was left of the bottle. It was probably around 400 milligrams of Valium.

“I hung myself from the roof of my apartment. It was the darkest moment of my life, or one of them, to get me to do that. It was a lot of build up that I didn’t know how to deal with.”

Webb, known to wrestling fans as Ryan Shamrock or Symphony, found Waltman.

“I was dead,” said Waltman. “She got me down, which I don’t know how she did it. She is like superwoman. I swear. She did CPR and all that. She kept me alive for 45 minutes until the ambulance arrived. Then I was really on life support for three days.

“Kevin Nash was there the next day. As soon as I got out of the hospital, he was there. I went to a place to the Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas. I stayed four months.”

The Menninger Clinic is a leading psychiatric hospital for treatment, research and education. Waltman got some much needed insight on himself as a person through soul searching.

“It was fantastic,” said Waltman. “I learned so much about myself. I’m still a mess. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just I have the tools to deal with it now.

“You learn about yourself and why you have these issues. Sometimes it’s not what you think. I was sexually abused as a child. I thought it stemmed from that. That was just part of it. There were other issues. Abandonment issues of my own, which I passed down to my own children. I’m currently working on rebuilding that relationship. It’s pretty #$%^ing bad when you try to take your own life.”

With this period behind him, Waltman is in the next progression of his life. The often controversial figure can be heard frequently on the airwaves of The Cowhead Show. The Cowhead Show is a radio program hosted by Mike "Cowhead" Calta and broadcast live Monday through Friday on WHPT in Tampa.

Waltman also launched his own show on Cowhead TV, and radio is a passion the wrestler is happy to pursue. He refers to those fans who call in as his co-hosts.

“I was first exposed to talk radio when I did Bubba the Love Sponge out here in Tampa when I was working for WWE,” said Waltman. “It was so much fun. I fell in love with it, only after doing Bubba. The other radio interviews I had done in the past were, ‘Hey everybody, come out to such and such town.’ It was just real boring.

“Once I got a taste of that [with Bubba] I was in love with it ever since.”

Waltman began work on the other projects after his release from Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis C around the same time. Certain athletic commissions with similar boxing or mixed martial arts guidelines wouldn’t allow him to wrestle.

“I’ve always been able to wrestle,” said Waltman. “I contracted Hepatitis C somehow, and that’s the main reason I’m not with TNA. At least publically, that is their reason. I can wrestle. There just can’t be any blood involved. People can’t be cutting their heads or things of that nature, just have to be mindful. There are guys who have had and still do have the same thing. They just choose not to be open like I am.”

Would he return to TNA?

“I would work for TNA strictly for the money,” said Waltman. “Then try to last as long as I could before I go %$#$ing crazy because their writing sucks so bad. I was on my show, and somebody was talking about it. I told them they dip their pen in $%^& before they write their shows. I have a relationship that is deeper than wrestling in WWE. Honestly, TNA it would strictly be for the paycheck. I really don’t feel any emotional equity with those people at this point.”

As a wrestling fan, he knows TNA has a talented roster.

“For them not to be able to pull more comparable to Vince [McMahon] than what they’re doing, come on, man,” said Waltman. “That can only speak for their writing, and possibly one of the other reasons is they are trying to compete with a $#%^ing soundstage at Universal Studios.

“I think Spike TV, the network, has pressured them into taking iMPACT! on the road to live venues, which I think is great. It could be one of the things that helps them come out of this funk a little bit better.

“That and they have to get rid of Vince Russo as head writer. I like Vince Russo the person. I love him as a human being. Supposedly to my face, he likes me, too, but they don’t want me there because I’m always saying something sucks when it’s the #$%^. They would rather bury their head in the sand than do something correct or listen to somebody else’s input. Everyone is so defensive there. To me, I don’t care whose idea it is. If it’s a good idea, then lets do it. I don’t care who gets credit for it…”

The outspoken wrestler thinks guys like Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan are in many ways scapegoats when it comes to criticism.

“What the $%^& are they supposed to do?, “said Waltman. “On the surface they are coming in as partners. If they were partners, they would have gotten Vince Russo out of writing the TV and have more of an impact on the show. That is my opinion.”

On the flipside, the former member of the new World order and Degeneration X notices WWE’s Nexus.

“It compares to the nWo than DX,” said Waltman. “There would be no DX, if it wasn’t for the nWo, in my opinion. It closely resembles the nWo stuff with the mob mentality and the simple looking logo on the shirt. It’s kind of like let’s make it look less like nWo while copying it completely.

“I like Wade Barrett a lot. I think he has tons of potential. Just to put a guy like that, who is unproven or have any emotional equity with the fans as heel or babyface, it’s hard. It was an effective angle, and they are still getting mileage from it.

“They had to resort to that as a result of having a shallow roster. The people bought into it to a certain extent, but there was never a revelation that was a bigger mastermind until the CM Punk thing. That’s better to me, and I see it going in a different direction. I’m not sure if I like it much with all the initiation stuff and guys getting beaten up in the ring. I never liked that. In real life, especially in a street gang, who would do that? Nobody.

“I hated it in the nWo. They only did it in WWE really. They didn’t really do it much when we were in WCW. We didn’t beat our own guys up. It’s retarded. Sorry. Now they have this Mason Ryan guy. I hated that. That’s the writers.”

Waltman remains on the pulse of today’s business watching the shows and visiting WWE’s developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling in Tampa.

“I go to FCW quite often actually. I go there to help the guys,” said Waltman. “There are a lot of guys who ask me for help. There are also guys there who I recommended. A guy by the name of Alex Koslov, he is great.

“I jumped his #$@. I said, ‘Man, do your $%^&. Get yourself over. You’re falling into place like the rest of the guys.’ I know he was better than that. Guys are walking on eggshells there. Nobody wants to do something they weren’t told to do.

“You do it, and then if they tell you not to, then you don’t do it. It’s better to say I’m sorry than ask for permission. I go down there and help those guys. It’s not a money thing. It’s not I want to get a job thing…It’s more along the lines of doing my duty. These guys are the sons and daughters of guys who taught me…”

Waltman has built lifelong friendships in the business. One is Shawn Michaels, who will be inducted into the 2011 class of the WWE Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

“It’s not too soon for this to happen because it was bound to happen,” said Waltman. “I don’t know the too soon part, but I do know nobody deserves it more than Shawn.”

If Michaels and WWE want him to attend, he will attend.

“That day is not about the Kliq. It’s about Shawn Michaels and everyone he wants there,” said Waltman. “If he wants me there, I’ll be there. [As for who will induct him], I’m going to go with Triple H. That’s just what I’m guessing right now.”

Fans will be looking for another member of the popular group of friends on that memorable night - Scott Hall. Much like Waltman, Hall has been battling his share of demons.

“Scott is a different person than I am, personality wise. Just like Shawn is, Kevin and Hunter [HHH] are,” said Waltman. “When I was at my worst drug wise, nobody could do anything about it but me. I want to be there for Scott. Kevin wants to be there for Scott. We need him to do his part, or we just get sucked dry emotionally.

“I love Scott Hall. He is my brother. I wish for him, more than anything, for some sort of serenity and peace of mind. #$%^ wrestling with Razor Ramon, the nWo, the 1-2-3 Kid, X Pac. It’s wrestling. There is more to life, believe it or not. I want to be in wrestling all my life, but it can‘t be the be all and end all because when it’s gone, you have nothing.”

Fans can meet Sean Waltman when he attends the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view watch party 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30 at the Mardis Gras Casino in (South Florida) Hallandale. The event is free for those who purchase beverages and food.

*South Florida holds a special place for Waltman.

“We were in West Palm Beach doing TV in January 1995 right after the Royal Rumble,” remembers Waltman. “I was riding with Bret Hart. We were still using beepers back then. We didn’t have cell phones. So I pulled over off Alligator Alley and was told I had a little girl.”

Scott Fishman

Edited January 26, 2011 by parcaleste