X-Pac opens today’s show by apologizing for last week’s episode which he thought was too negative. He had just returned from WrestleMania and was tired and very sick. In hindsight he admits he probably shouldn’t have done the show at all, but he appreciates all the fans who stuck with the show regardless.
Impact Wrestling announced this week that they’ll be having a working relationship with Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling school and promotion based out of Houston. He thinks this is a big deal for all the students at Booker’s school, as wrestling students rarely get the chance to work with talent from a national wrestling promotion. He does admit that this is a little bit surprising given Booker’s ongoing working relationship with WWE.
X-Pac liked Viceland’s Dark Side of the Ring episode that focused on the life and death of Bruiser Brody, but he points out that the show didn’t really provide him with any new information. Everything that was said in that show X-Pac knew about as it was happening back in those days, when he was just starting his in-ring career.
He points out that a character and performer like Bruiser Brody couldn’t exist in the business today. Brody was known for taking liberties with certain performers and just “running through guys”, and that wouldn’t be allowed today. He understands that Brody’s reputation played a big part in him being as successful as he was, but he also doesn’t blame some of the performers who weren’t fans of Brody.
NXT’s War Raiders debuted in WWE this past week with a new name; The Viking Experience. This new name was met with significant backlash from fans and X-Pac understands the frustration of some fans. However, he notes that the name could have been so much worse.
He points out that as long as creative gives them compelling storylines and follows up on those storylines, these guys will be fine. A performer’s name isn’t everything, and that’s not a hill he’d die on if he was in War Raiders’ position. He had some interaction with those guys during the time he spent as a guest coach at the Performance Centre, and he’s a big fan of them.
He can recall working in WCW when Goldberg debuted, and prior to that debut Goldberg came up to him and said he was considering the name, “Hybrid”. X-Pac told him that “Goldberg” was his name, and it would be cool as long as he made it cool by working like a badass in the ring. That’s exactly what ended up happening.
X-Pac says he hated the name “1, 2, 3, Kid”. He wanted to be called, “The Kid” but WWE refused to allow the name change. He went from hating the name to accepting it. He also wasn’t in love with the name, “Syxx”, but he didn’t really hate it either.
X-Pac says he was able to sit back and watch some of the WrestleMania matches he missed this past week after recovering from his sickness. He thought Triple H did a terrific job in his match against Batista. He notes that Triple H has to be one of the best performers of all time when it comes to working with an opponent who’s nervous or uncomfortable, and he can speak from experience in that case.
X-Pac was a big fan of Lacey Evans’ work on RAW this past week. He didn’t think WWE made the right decision by putting her in the number one position at the Royal Rumble, but since then they’ve gotten back on track with her booking. Her debut at the Rumble put her in a bad spot and she had a couple of hiccups, but things are looking up now.
He does admit that he’s concerned about her Moonsault finishing move. He points out that it only takes one slip or fall and all the good things she’s done will get clouded by that one bad spot. He doesn’t think she needs to drop the move altogether, but she shouldn’t rely on it all the time. He thinks her “Women’s Right” punch could be a great finish.
X-Pac notes that he’ll be returning to the Performance Centre in June for a 2 week stay as guest coach and he’s really looking forward to that. He feels important when he works as a coach there, and he adds that it’s pretty special when he sees some of his pointers or recommendations make its way onto NXT programming.
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!
