X-Pac 1, 2, 360 Recap w/Glacier – Responding to Eric Bischoff, Terms of X-Pac’s WWE Deal, Development of ‘Glacier’ Character, More!

X-Pac opens today’s show by responding to Eric Bischoff’s words on his podcast from last week. He says he loves Bischoff, but he disputes some of the things that Bischoff said on that podcast. He notes that the events surrounding his firing from WCW were over 20 years ago, and sometimes people don’t remember things that well.

The “letter of intent” that Bischoff spoke about on that show was actually a deal memo, the terms of which were binding. He says he wanted a raise because he was performing at a high level and making $250,000/year when other people at his level were making $500,000/year. Bischoff had given Scott Hall and Kevin Nash a raise at that time and X-Pac thought he was due for a raise. He was also hardly ever home because even when he wasn’t performing he was on the road taking care of Scott Hall, who wasn’t doing well at one point.

Bischoff said he fired X-Pac when he backed out of the financial arrangement they had reached. X-Pac informs that Bischoff was correct in saying that WCW paid him the entire time he was out with a neck injury, which was a rarity for WCW back in those days. However, it was over a year before he and his legal team got WCW’s actual contract, during which time X-Pac was asking for a raise through his agent, Barry Bloom.

In addition, Bischoff said that X-Pac was fired because he tried to change the terms of the deal he and Bischoff had agreed upon, but X-Pac points out that his termination notice at that time said he was fired for not being able to perform, not because he backed out of any deal.

At the time X-Pac thought it was a “chickenshit” move for Bischoff to fire him via FedEx, but looking back now, he wonders how else Bischoff was supposed to do it. He could have flown X-Pac in and told him in person, but X-Pac says he really would have been pissed off then.

X-Pac says that he and Bischoff only settled their differences a few years ago. They rarely saw each other after X-Pac was fired from WCW, and even when Bischoff came to WWE years later X-Pac was gone by then. He notes that they worked together a bit in Impact and things were okay between them then. He adds that he really enjoys his time around Bischoff now.

X-Pac informs that WCW and WWE would try to play Hall, Nash, Shawn Michaels and the other Kliq members against one another from time to time but it never worked. They had an oath to ensure nobody ever became them and that’s why they were so strong as a group.

X-Pac is asked if he’s ever thought about what would have happened if he would have returned from injury and stayed with WCW. He says he doesn’t even want to think about it, because a lot of really cool things wouldn’t have happened if he would have stayed in WCW at that time.

He informs that the deal he ended up signing in WWE was $50,000 more than he was initially making in WCW. His downside guarantee was $300,000/year, but he made way more money than that. He even made over $1 Million some years due to merchandise sales and PPV revenues.

X-Pac welcomes former WCW Superstar, Glacier to the show.

Glacier informs that Dusty Rhodes was his childhood idol, and it was very cool for him to be Dusty’s right hand man when he started Turnbuckle Wrestling. He had a great relationship with Dusty, and that’s why Dusty’s children and widow allowed him to start the Dusty Rhodes Scholarship.

X-Pac points out that Glacier is such a good guy, and it’s tough to be a good guy in the wrestling business. Glacier admits that it’s definitely tough, and he sure had his ups and down. He gives DDP a lot of credit for helping him in WCW and they’ve remained friends to this day.

Glacier informs that he also had a great relationship with Lou Thesz. He asked for and received Thesz’s approval to work as the Glacier character because while some people liked it, others hated it, and it went against a lot of the traditional wrestling philosophies he knew. Thesz pointed out to him that the business had changed forever and it was never going to go back to the traditional style that he was accustomed to. Thesz urged him to accept the Glacier character and make some money.

He notes that the Glacier character was inspired by Mortal Kombat, which was huge at the time. Ted Turner was interested in that franchise and Bischoff wanted heavyweights to portray these kind of characters on WCW, but the performers also needed to be able to move like they were in a video game. Glacier thought they succeeded in that sense, and they broke new ground for big wrestlers doing agile things in the ring.

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!