X-Pac 1,2,360 (Episode 37)
Guest: Shawn Stasiak
Date: May 17, 2017
Recap by: Christopher Gaspare
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Top Newsworthy Items
-X-Pac airs his lie detector test and passes
-Shawn Stasiak talks about his release and how Davey Boy Smith and Steve Blackman mistreated him
-Stasiak would like another run in WWE
Timestamps
00:00: Show introduction and X-Pac’s lie detector test
08:28: Sponsor Ad
8:59: Shawn Stasiak talks about his spirituality and synchronicity
28:32: Stasiak talks about breaking into the business
39:39: Stasiak talks about his release from WWE and how the locker room mistreated him
56:28: Stasiak talks about his father and growing up around wrestlers
1:08:33: Stasiak talks about his future and the possibility of wrestling in WWE again
1:23:29: Sponsor Ad
1:23:46: Show End
Show Highlights
Show introduction and X-Pac’s lie detector test
X-Pac updated everyone that he still hasn’t recovered his ring gear or “favorite” clothes from the police yet after weeks. He is still planning on taking a hair follicle test soon, but he has already taken a lie detector test by a third-party company, which was recorded and aired on the show. X-Pac answered a number of questions, but overall, he insisted the capsules he had were not methamphetamine and he did not possess methamphetamine on the day of the incident. The results showed he was telling the truth, and the tester said there was a zero percent chance he “could have been deceptive.”
Shawn Stasiak talks about his spirituality and synchronicity
Stasiak is now a chiropractor and motivational speaker in Dallas. The conversation started talking about spiritualism. Stasiak is “not religious,” but he still respects religions even though rituals “seem silly” to him. He considers himself more of a modern-day spiritualist. He said he realizes he gains more wisdom once he looks back at his life every five years. He is also a believer in synchronicity as well. He told a story about traveling with RVD, who is a spiritual person himself, to a show on Father’s Day weekend. He had “felt” his father’s spirit with him all weekend. On Saturday, he was eating with RVD at a restaurant and heard “Luckenbach, Texas” by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, one of his dad’s favorites, on the jukebox. The next day at the show, he was walking to the dressing room when an agent stopped Stasiak and said he was just talking to someone about his father, Stan, a former WWF World champion. He went into the locker room to find Curt Hennig and Scott Hall singing “Luckenbach, Texas.” X-Pac told his own story then about a similar incident. After Hennig’s death, he was in Minnesota. He was in an area that was Curt and Larry Hennig’s favorite place, and he heard “Working Man Blues” by Merle Haggard on the radio, which was one of Curt’s favorite artists. He went to a casino and ended up hearing the same song. At that point, a fan approached and was amazed because he was meeting X-Pac after having just run into Larry Hennig in the same casino. Stasiak said that he loves those stories because it gives a “natural high to connect to spiritual essence.”
Stasiak talks about breaking into the business
Stasiak’s father had recently died when he decided to give wrestling a try. He had created an anti-bullying character for kids around that time, so he sent in the VHS tape to WWF. Bruce Prichard called him in for a meeting. They tried him out, then sent him to Memphis to work with Jerry Lawler, then he quickly was called up to the main roster. It all “came fast,” he said. He thought the “Meat” gimmick was “stupid,” but he didn’t feel he had the “the leverage to say no.” He had no family left, which left him with an intense fear of “screwing up.” But he feels that he thought about that so much that in some ways it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. He became neurotic trying to fit in. After his career was over, he felt “haunted by his wrestling experience” and thought it was “a failure.” As time passed, he is proud of it as he rubbed shoulders with some of the greats like The Rock, Steve Austin, and Kevin Nash.
Stasiak talks about his release from WWE and how the locker room mistreated him
Stasiak said that he’s had a lifelong fascination with video cameras and audio recorders. He simply likes to document life. He did not understand how “taboo” it was in the wrestling business. He was driving with Davey Boy Smith and Steve Blackman from shows in Canada when they started to bicker in the car. He decided it would be funny to record the incident on his audio recorder. Later, Blackman saw him with the recorder in the airport and asked if he had recorded he and Davey Boy’s argument. Stasiak lied and said no. The next night at a Buffalo show, he was warming up when an agent got him and brought him to the locker room telling him there was trouble. All the boys in the locker room were looking at him when he entered, and he saw that they had went through his gym bag, found his recorder, and discovered he had recorded the conversation. That night after the show, Davey Boy and Blackman kicked him out of the car with his bags in the freezing cold of Buffalo. Other wrestlers passed in cars and laughed at him. X-Pac admitted he laughed and apologized for it because it wasn’t funny. Stasiak accepted the apology, and he said some fans finally gave him a ride. He was released due to the incident. He went to WCW for a year, then came back after the buy-out but felt WWF still didn’t have anything for him. He never got closure with Davey Boy Smith due to his death, but he did get closure and understanding with Steve Blackman, who he always respected and still does.
Stasiak talks about his father and growing up around wrestlers
Stasiak talked about what it was like since his father wrestled in the territory system. He would never stay in school for long because his father would move to a new territory, so he was always the new kid and, consequently, bullied often. He also told some stories about different wrestlers he met. His father would drink with Andre the Giant until five in the morning some nights and he would hear Andre laughing downstairs as he tried to sleep. He knew Roddy Piper, “Playboy” Buddy Rose, and Billy Jack Haynes. He also told a story about how a young Dwayne Johnson head-butted him backstage at a Portland show when they were children and how they didn’t piece together who the other was for a while when they were both on the WWF roster.
Stasiak talks about his future and the possibility of wrestling in WWE again
Lastly, Stasiak talked about the brand he is building that he hopes leaves others “elevated and inspired.” It’s a multiple platform approach that involves touring as a motivational speaker, a video series, and a YouTube channel. He also would like another run in WWE and explains the type of character he could play at this stage in his life. He showed Vince McMahon one of the videos and he liked it, but Vince wants younger talent. X-Pac asked if he would consider indy bookings, which Stasiak would if he could trust them.
Show End
X-Pac, Jimbo, and TK talked about the spirituality aspect of the Stasiak interview, and X-Pac hoped that people believe him now after passing the lie detector test.
Score and Review (5/10)
The interview with Stasiak was mostly focused although there were certainly detours and down times, mostly due to Stasiak’s loquacious nature and tendency to answer questions in a roundabout way. He comes off as a positive and mostly sincere figure although the motivational speaker in him makes him feel like he’s always selling the audience something even when he’s not. The story of his release from WWE was the most intriguing part of the interview overall. X-Pac steadily is improving weekly though as an interviewer and tries to get the best information and stories out of his subjects. The weekly news items segment was missing this week which cut down on the runtime and made the podcast seem more digestible.
About Chris
Chris Gaspare is a teacher from Maryland who has been watching wrestling since 1989 when he saw his first WCW Saturday Night episode and quickly rented as many NWA and WWF VHS tapes he could find in local stores. He also attended Tri-State Wrestling Alliance and early ECW shows in Philadelphia, which really kicked his fandom into high gear. He lapsed in the mid-2000s, but returned to the wrestling fold a few years ago.
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