X-Pac opens today’s show by discussing UFC’s television broadcast rights. It has been rumoured that ESPN and FOX are both interested in UFC’s programming and both companies are actually considering partnering up to make an offer for the programming. X-Pac wonders how this deal would effect UFC’s Fight Pass streaming service, noting that Fight Pass definitely isn’t up to par when you compare it to a streaming service such as the WWE Network.
X-Pac notes that House of Hardcore, Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling worked together to put off a show on WrestleMania weekend. This show turned out to be a tremendous success, and now we’ll see a Lucha Underground and House of Hardcore match on Impact’s upcoming PPV.
Apparently Tommy Dreamer was even backstage at the recent Impact/Lucha Underground event helping out behind the scenes, and X-Pac says that’s just the type of guy Dreamer is. He points out that Dreamer doesn’t have to do that type of thing but he’s a great guy, and if people get along and like each other it’s pretty amazing what can be accomplished.
X-Pac says he’s fully supportive of all these other promotions and he loves to see everyone making money in the business. Impact’s ratings have been very good lately and he says he’s very happy for Scott D’Amore and Don Callis, who took the reigns at Impact a few months ago and have been doing great work there.
X-Pac speaks about WWE’s Superstar Shakeup. He likes the new pairing of Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, and he notes that McIntyre looked to be in tremendous shape. Initially he wondered if there was any former connection between Ziggler and McIntyre, but even if there’s not he doesn’t think that matters. He likes this pairing either way.
X-Pac liked Samoa Joe’s vicious promo on Smackdown which was directed at Roman Reigns, but he notes that this promo didn’t do anything for Reigns. He adds that with dual-branded PPVs perhaps WWE wants to continue to build the rivalry between Joe and Reigns, but he doesn’t think this was the good way to execute it.
Ember Moon made her main roster debut recently as well and it looks like she’ll be placed right into a prominent position in RAW’s women’s division. Apparently Moon struggled when she first arrived at the Performance Centre and X-Pac notes that he can picture Moon getting overlooked there at first. She continued to work and improve and soon garnered the attention of NXT officials, and now she’s made it all the way to the main roster and he’s happy for her.
X-Pac welcomes George Napolitano to the show to discuss the passing of WWE legend and Hall of Famer, Bruno Sammartino. X-Pac admits that it took him a while to realize just how impressive Sammartino’s career was, but as he spent more time in the business he began to understand the impact Sammartino had on the wrestling world.
He notes that Sammartino’s kicks and punches were unbelievable, and the fire he showed during his comebacks was something to behold. Napolitano mentions that Sammartino’s lengthy 7-year Title reign came to an end basically because he was tired and needed a break. He notes that Sammartino was always in shape, and even had great matches with guys like Randy Savage as his career was coming to an end.
Napolitano mentions that Sammartino’s issues with WWE over the years stemmed from the way the business was changing. He didn’t like the fact that the business was moving away from the traditional wrestling that he knew and loved, and he took a stand against it. Eventually he came back but then there were financial issues between him and Vince McMahon Sr., and this turned him away from WWE again.
X-Pac says that he was so happy when Sammartino reconciled with WWE a few years ago and accepted an invitation into the WWE Hall of Fame. He informs that there was a lot of speculation at the time that if Sammartino didn’t accept the invitation, D-Generation X would have been inducted into the Hall of Fame instead that year.
X-Pac mentions that he was lucky enough to meet Sammartino and have a few different discussions with him over the years. X-Pac says Sammartino was always very nice to him, when he really didn’t need to be.
X-Pac welcomes former NXT Superstars, Ryan Nemeth and Judas Draven to the show to discuss their upcoming indie show. They inform that they’ll be putting off a show in California on May 9th in support of Dogs Without Borders, a group dedicated to getting medical help and homes for stray dogs. They point out that this group does great work for dogs, and they urge everyone to adopt from their local shelters.
That sums up today’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!
