X-Pac 1-2-360
Release Date: November 3, 2017
Recap by: Sean McGraw
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Top Newsworthy Items:
- X-Pac says the Lio Rush tweet got blown way out of proportion
- X-Pac wants to see Hideo Itami be more like “KENTA”
- X-Pac says Jericho probably isn’t concerned with any heat he’ll get from associating with other promotions
- X-Pac says that Daniel Bryan should be allowed to wrestle
Recap:
This week’s episode is another roundtable discussion with X-Pac, Jimbo, Denise Salcedo, Mark Donica, and TK Trinidad. This is the day after Halloween episode so Jimbo came dressed as X-Pac circa the 1997 Jakks Pacific “Bone Crusher” figure. He’s wearing a red bandana and X-Pac mentions that he tried to not wear the red bandana very much because of The Crips and The Bloods. He says that it was really hard to find black bandanas.
TK is dressed as the Syxx-Pac version of X-Pac and Jimbo brings up that Ringside Collectibles unveiled that version of X-Pac is getting its own figure. X-Pac jokingly gets excited and says “Finally!” Jimbo defends his position by saying that it’s cool because now every version of X-Pac has its own action figure. X-Pac mentions that while he was Syxx his gear was all a mish-mash of random old stuff that he wore because they didn’t have seamstress in WCW. So the Syxx action figure is just a mix-matched whatever he could get his hands on and it says “Thug.” X-Pac jokes and says, “Yeah someone did it before you Taz!” X-Pac then says Taz actually approached him saying he didn’t know that X-Pac did that. X-Pac says he didn’t mind and that anyone is welcome to anything that he’s not using anymore.
X-Pac implied he got the idea for “Thug” and “notorious” on his tights from gangsta rap culture. TK opines that cultural appropriation is fine, as long as you acknowledge where it’s coming from and follows that with “just don’t do blackface.” This leads to a discussion of the famous D-X parody of the Nation of Domination. X-Pac says he wasn’t forced to do it but did it under protest. He’s had people from both sides of the argument mention things to him. He still wishes he hadn’t done it almost.
The discussion transitions to X-Pac’s previous weekend. He had a great weekend as he got to spend time with his daughter and his son, both of whom he hadn’t seen in a while. He talks a little bit about his situation in regards to his kids saying “Just because I got my s**t together and I’m ready to be a dad again, doesn’t mean my kids are going to stop what they’re doing and, you know, just jump on board the happy express.”
Pac had an amazing time with his kids; it didn’t matter where he was going to be that weekend as long as his kids were there. His wrestling events and seminars went well and both had big turnouts. He’s going to keep doing them.
News:
Discussion on WWE Releasing Emma, Darren Young, and Summer Rae:
TK saw Darren Young the night before the release. he was representing WWE at the Clippers game. She wants to know if WWE gives a courtesy heads up or if the released talent finds out like everybody else. X-Pac has never gotten one. Every time he has left it was a mutual decision. He only ever got a letter firing him was from WCW. He doesn’t know how it works now.
TK reached out to Darren and he said that he was cool and everything was alright. X-Pac says he understands with the Summer Rae decision, but he would have given Darren Young an opportunity to come back after his injury and have some matches on TV. He won’t have a hard time getting work on the independent scene.
X-Pac is bummed out by the Emma release because he was rooting for her. There are a lot of girls that are more athletically gifted but he goes out there and works her butt off. TK says it feels like if she had the right storyline to push her, she would have gotten there, but she wasn’t afforded the opportunity. After her last match she seemed like she had a lot of potential. X-Pac says the things that seem like big road blocks in your life or career are most times opportunities in disguise.
The Lio Rush tweet was brought up. X-Pac says it wasn’t good, but it got blown WAY out of proportion. He didn’t realize when he tweeted that everyone had piled on. He quoted the tweet and said “Sad to see this” because he was one of the ones that put a word in for Lio. X-Pac says that people defending Lio’s tweet are wrong, but people that want Lio to be fired are even more wrong. People can’t judge whether Lio actually meant his apology or not, “How do you know what he means or doesn’t mean? We’re not in somebody else’s head!”
Dave says that social media is such a big part of the deal nowadays and this is a part learning process for Lio now. X-Pac agrees and says nobody in their right mind would think of getting rid of the guy over a tweet. Everyone that is piling on should stop and get a life. Jimbo brings up that now is a good time for him to make this mistake before he was in the middle of a big push and got punished in that way.
Denise brings up how it’s interesting that just last week they were having a drastically different conversation when it comes to Emma. She had such a good showing against Asuka, she wasn’t squashed. It was great because it seemed like Emma was finally being given an opportunity and then all of a sudden she’s released. It’s very heartbreaking because in terms of the future it’s more difficult for women to get work on the indies. Emma has the name which is great, but it’ll be a bit harder. She would like to see Emma in Impact, because she could do wonderful things.
Everyone speculates Summer Rae is done with wrestling and will be heading to Hollywood. Mark liked her in the BFFs in NXT and is sad we didn’t’ get a chance to see her on WWE TV again. X-Pac loved her as Fandango’s valet. Itt was good role for her, but he wasn’t a big fan of anything they did with her beyond that.
Jimbo wonders if Emma has to do the 90 day no-compete or if she could opt out. X-Pac says she should do the 90 days and take the money. Denise wonders if they knew she was going to be released during the booking of her against Asuka. If that’s the case, X-Pac wonders why they wouldn’t have Asuka run her the f over. He’s a little confused by that, but doesn’t think that Asuka not squashing Emma hurt anything.
Triple H will be heading to the UK to wrestle with The Shield:
X-Pac says that Hunter can go from not having a match for a year to hopping right in there. TK asks about ring rust with Triple H. X-Pac says they’ve been wrestling for so long that he (along with Triple H) doesn’t get ring rust.
Denise is glad they added Triple H to the card instead of just saying Roman isn’t going to be there. X-Pac said that wouldn’t have been a good idea. WWE knows when you have something like that happen, you want to make the people feel like they got something a little extra in return for investing in your product. X-Pac gives an example of a loop where he (playing the heel) was starting a singles run of matches with Razor Ramon (as a face). Scott had just given his notice and WWE pulled up an old failed drug test and took him off the loop. To make up for losing a top guy to feud with X-Pac they brought in Rowdy Roddy Piper. You want to bring in a replacement of equal or greater value. That’s why Triple H is replacing Roman Reigns.
TK asks, as an athlete, you always seem to have old injuries and soreness and if X-Pac feels that type of stuff every time he gets back into the ring? X-Pac jokes that yeah when his neck or something started bothering him that he would break his pinky to take his mind off of it. Everyone reacts in disbelief and X-Pac says he’s only kidding, but as far as that goes, the soreness you get from getting back into the ring is like an old friend. It’s actually comfortable.
Impact had releases of their own:
Rockstar Spud was released. Everyone seems to like his style. According to Pro-Wrestling Sheet he is possibly going to be going to 205 Live in WWE. X-Pac says it would be a great fit for all involved. Jimbo thinks Spud could be a guy that could go toe-to-toe with Enzo on the mic. TK says that talkers seem to be missing from 205 live. X-Pac hopes it will happen. He is a fan. Mark says he could be a missing piece of the puzzle for the possible WWE UK show. He could be good on commentary with Nigel McGuinness. They also bring up Spud’s show on the Fite Network and talk about it being a good YouTube like show similar to Xavier Woods’ creation of Up Up Down Down.
They transition to a discussion on video games and how big of an industry it has become. X-Pac says he must have missed the boat on the whole video game thing. TK brings up how people now competitively train for tournaments and the winner of the Madden Tournament won $250k at the last tournament. X-Pac loves the old NES games and loves Duck Hunt. He is really thinking about taking up gaming and wants to get a Twitch channel. He thinks maybe gaming could help with some of the cognitive issues he has due to his old injuries.
Mark then transitions to a 205 Live rumor they are going to be moving Hideo Itami up to 205 once they have something for him storyline wise. X-Pac hopes so. He wants to see the “KENTA” version of him – or as close as possible. X-Pac says when you have as bad an injury as Hideo had it can really mess with your head. He wants to see Hideo overcome it, because he knows that it was there. “It’s just such a crying shame to have a world-class talent like that not showing anywhere close to their full potential on such a huge stage.”
The Young Bucks have been added to “The List”
The Young Bucks have been added to Jericho’s cruise. Mark asks what Jericho’s status is with WWE at this point. Will he be in trouble because of the Bucks’ troubles with the WWE? X-Pac says he doesn’t think Jericho is concerned with any heat he’ll get from having them on the cruise. They bring up the Jimmy Jacobs firing with the Young Bucks selfie and X-Pac points out Chris Jericho is a little bit different than Jimmy Jacobs and that’s just the way it is.
The Young Bucks had a panel at Stan Lee’s Comic Con and it devolved into a fight with The Addiction and The Bucks hitting their signature moves. X-Pac doesn’t know what to say about that, but it’s pretty cool. Stan Lee put over The Bucks in a tweet awhile back. They talk about how much crossover there is between comic book fans and wrestling fans. Mark tells a story about meeting Virgil at a con and it was pretty funny.
Jimbo says wrestling is so hot right now and that’s a good reason why there was a panel. X-Pac says he stopped in two different Hot Topics and didn’t see any Bullet Club merchandise. (They weren’t in Duluth, Minnesota or Eden Prairie. I’ve seen them in my local Hot Topic in Wisconsin though so maybe they were just sold out or something. I think they are supposed to be in all stores nationwide.) Denise says people are going to be jumping all over this cruise now and Mark says that he thinks its building up to Jericho vs. Kenny Omega on the cruise due to their “Twitter war.”
Mark brings up how much he liked The Bullet Club’s Aladdin costumes at The Road to Power Struggle event. They also liked The New Day’s costumes and Drew Gulak dressing up as Sasha Banks. X-Pac didn’t know what to think about Akeem the African Dream back then. He was all about the more serious characters. X-Pac sees a picture of The New Days costumes and loves Kofi dressed as Brother Love. He jokingly says “THAT’s where Donald Trump got it from!”
Nikki Bella is making a comeback to WWE
Supposedly it’s going to be documented on Total Divas with the big angle being her making a play for Daniel Bryan’s job (since his contract is going to be expiring). They talk about the Bryan angle on Raw and about getting him off of TV. It may be a consequence of him being pretty vocal about not being able to get back into the ring.
X-Pac thinks people should be allowed to do what makes them happy. He’d hate to see anyone go and do anything that would cause more damage health wise, but we have our journeys and he has to take his wherever he takes it. TK mentions how much of a risk it is and X-Pac says the healthiest person is one bad bump away from being paralyzed for life. People adjust their styles as they age and their body wears. He hopes Daniel will take that into account when he steps back in the ring. It’s not for anyone else (except his immediate family) to say what he can or can’t do. Step back and let him make his own decision. Denise says that he shouldn’t go through life with regret. If he can do it, then he should.
They finish the conversation with all of their usual plugs and a short conversation on travel and Wendy Williams passing out. X-Pac can’t believe that the corset is back in fashion. Next week there will be a special guest that X-Pac will announce later this week on Twitter.
Rating 7.75/10
I enjoyed listening to this week’s episode. They didn’t have an interview again, which isn’t a big deal to me as I enjoy listening to conversations about wrestling. I appreciated that they got into a broader range of topics this week. I feel like a lot of the wrestling podcasts out there tend to focus a little too intently on WWE programming, so it was nice to hear them discuss non-WWE topics also. I also appreciated that they discussed the topics a little more in-depth this week as opposed to last week where they left me with a feeling like I needed to hear a little more. Overall, I really enjoy the format of this show where you have the “expert” and “fan” interactions in the discussion. Where this podcast really shines is when the roundtable can pick X-Pac’s brain on topics or if he offers anecdotes that people probably never would have heard of, like the Roddy Piper replacing Razor Ramon story. Overall, this week was an entertaining listen.
Time Stamps:
00:00 – 17:49 Intros and Short Weekend Recap
17:50 – 35:58 News Discussion
37:22 – 1:03:45 More News Discussion
1:03:46 – 1:06:58 Wrap up and plugs
About Sean:
Sean is a media professional from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sean’s earliest memory of wrestling is seeing Kane on WWF television in 1998. Sean watched primarily WWF in the Attitude Era and dropped off just before the initial brand split. Seeing recap promos of the Undertaker building up to Wrestlemania 20, he became hooked and has been an avid fan ever since. Sean’s wrestling preferences currently lean more towards NJPW/ROH/NXT but he remains a fan of it all. In his spare time Sean enjoys cooking, baking, and going to the gym. You can follow Sean via Twitter @stmcgraw and Instagram @stmcgraw09.
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