X-Pac opens today’s show by speaking about the passing of his wife of many years, and the mother of his children. He points out that Terry lost her battle with mental illness and addiction, adding that she was dealing with a lot of pain even when he first met her. He says he loves her and then takes a commercial break before discussing the wrestling news.
X-Pac comments on Brie Bella’s accidental kick to Liv Morgan on RAW this week. He says “shit happens”, but notes that this is a good opportunity to train the referees on what to do in these situations, and those talks are probably happening internally in WWE right now in his opinion.
Liv managed to kick out at two when Brie covered her, but X-Pac points out that someone on Liv’s team should have been in there making the save regardless. He notes that talents seem hesitant to go against the script or to react on the fly nowadays, which is too bad.
It was announced recently that Abyss will be the next inductee into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame. X-Pac thinks this was a great decision, adding that Abyss has been a flag bearer for that company for years. He also points out that Abyss’ work as Joseph Park has been tremendous as well.
X-Pac welcomes Road Warrior Animal to the show.
Animal talks about attending X-Pac’s bachelor party many years ago. He says that was a top 3 night in his life, adding that he never laughed so hard or so often as he did that night. X-Pac says he got in so much trouble with his wife over that because unbeknownst to them they planned his bachelor party on her birthday.
Animal discusses working with Stan Hansen, who was apparently nearly blind in the ring. Animal says Hansen couldn’t see a thing and he recalls Hansen cracking Hawk in the head one night, knocking him out. Animal says Hansen and Jim Duggan were two of the blindest people he ever worked with.
X-Pac asks Animal which territory he enjoyed working in the most. He says that he always enjoyed working for the NWA, and Japan was always fun for him as well. He notes that everyone in Japan was always very respectful and there was never any headaches when it came to doing business there.
Animal points out that some guys have a hard time staying in their lanes in the wrestling business, even though there’s only a very small amount of performers who ever reach the top tier. The top tier features guys like The Rock, Hogan, Andre, then there’s guys like Triple H and Sting in the next tier. He says that for a period of time in WCW Sting seemed to think he was the Hogan of WCW. He notes that there’s an argument to be made that Triple H is in the top tier due to his great business mind, and everything he’s done for the business.
Animal talks about his famous shoulder pads. He calls them the worst and best thing at the same time. He notes that fans love them because he lets them put them on and take pictures, but it’s really the biggest rib on himself because he has to unscrew every spike and package it all up when he travels. He has to check a bag every time he travels, even if it’s just for one night, because fans love them.
Animal points out that the last time he was on television was in 2012 for RAW 1000. He admits to wondering if he still had “it”, but he was blown away by the reaction he received at ALL IN when his music hit. He loved that show because “those guys did it right”. They combined the old era with the new, and that’s very important in the wrestling business.
He feels like the business is currently lacking improvisation and reacting in the moment. He notices that a lot with Roman Reigns. A lot of the stuff Reigns is scripted to say are things he’d never say in real life. Animal thinks fans are far more entertained when performers are reacting and cutting promos with dialogue that they’re comfortable with.
Animal notes that WWE has never really been a tag team company. Vince McMahon has made his money with singles stars and that’s completely understandable. He points out that The Road Warriors were one of the few tag teams that could main event in WWE when Hogan couldn’t make certain events. He calls Hogan the man, adding that Hogan put the business on the map back in those days.
Animal and X-Pac talk about why there were rarely multiple-performer main events back in the day. X-Pac points out that McMahon didn’t like using factions or 6-man tags in main events because he’d rather only pay two guys. Animal also points out that he and Hawk were only making 0.5% on their merchandise sales. They were told everyone was making the same percentage but they knew that wasn’t right. X-Pac notes that some guys were making 15-25%.
Animal informs that his son recently retired from the NFL. He made good money during his football career, so even though he enjoys the business there’s no need for him to pursue a wrestling career.
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!
