X-Pac 1, 2, 360 Recap w/ Drew Gulak – Working Death Matches, Is WWE Ready for Hulk Hogan’s Return? 205 Live’s Changes Under Triple H, More!

X-Pac opens today’s show speaking about Hillbilly Jim’s Hall of Fame 2018 announcement. He says that he can still remember Hillbilly Jim sitting in the audience and jumping into action to help Hulk Hogan one night, and that got him over huge right away. His WWE career was probably only four or five years, but he made a huge impact and X-Pac congratulates him on a much-deserved Hall of Fame induction.

X-Pac points out that the only person he can think of to induct Hillbilly Jim is Hulk Hogan, so he wonders if WWE is ready to embrace Hogan’s return to the company. He thinks the majority of WWE’s audience has forgiven Hogan – at least the ones who are willing to do so.

X-Pac comments on the recent error during an Eddie Edwards and Sami Callahan match on IMPACT, which resulted in Callahan legitimately striking Edwards in the head with a baseball bat. He admits that Callahan’s actions on Twitter regarding the event might not have come off great, but Callahan is a great dude and he obviously didn’t mean to do this, so people shouldn’t be so quick to attack him.

He points out that this spot caused a lot of damage, and it didn’t even look very good. He’s not really sure what Callahan and Edwards were trying to do with this spot because if someone was really angry at you they’d try to hit you with a bat, not a chair that’s placed on top of you. He thought this was a poorly planned spot altogether.

He adds that sometimes as a performer you think through a spot in your head and it sounds like a great idea, but it simply doesn’t translate when executed live. He thinks this spot is a great example of that, and he doesn’t think people should be dragging Callahan over the coals for his error in this case.

X-Pac informs that he’s been approached to be a part of the podcast convention that will accompany the “All In” event that is being planned by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks. He also predicts that this event, which will take place in Chicago on September 1st, is going to result in a sell out which would be a huge accomplishment for Rhodes and The Young Bucks.

X-Pac welcomes Drew Gulak to the show.

Gulak informs that he once worked for CZW, which is widely known for its Death Matches. He points out that he was involved in a couple of Death matches, but for the most part he didn’t feel pressured to work a high-flying, “car crash” style. He worked a mat-based, traditional style because that’s the way he learned the business.

Gulak went on to work for Chikara Pro Wrestling, where performers often execute a “slow-mo spot” where the action in the ring goes in slow motion for a period of time. The first time X-Pac worked there he wasn’t so thrilled with that spot because it went against everything he was ever taught in the business, but the second time around he was fully on board with it and was able to have fun with it.

X-Pac asks Gulak about his character on 205 Live. Gulak admits that his character is 100% him. When it comes to promos, most of the scripts are written for him, but he and the other performers are given the creative freedom to make it more natural when they deliver it in a promo. He points out that he tries to do his best with the scripts he’s handed, rather than complaining and demanding changes.

With regards to 205 Live, Gulak thinks the show is only going to continue to get better. He points out that the show is only a year old, and up until a couple of weeks ago it was ran by Vince McMahon. Triple H has taken over recently, and Gulak has noticed a couple of differences in the show’s format. Mainly, he’s noticed that matches are longer.

That sums up this week’s episode of X-Pac 1, 2, 360. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!