Sean Waltman was on Wrestling Observer Live tonight talking about Wrestling Society X, and it lead to Bryan and Dave opening the show by talking about the importance of getting a TV deal.
WSX's pilot will air on Friday, before the Tuesday debut show, whose ratings MTV is most concerned with. They're talking about Bigelow now, and the deal is he went to sleep and just never woke up. There's no official cause of death yet, and Dave talks about how often wrestlers die at a young age. Dave says that he heard from someone who saw him about a month ago that Bam Bam looked great, and then talks about how no one was doing the things he was doing at his size. Memphis was the first major territory he ever worked, and Jerry Jarrett hired him due to his unique look, and after just a few matches, Lawler made him look like the greatest thing ever in a match, and made Bigelow into an overnight sensation.
Then he left, went to Dallas, was completely unimpressive due to being programmed with the wrong guys. New Japan loved him since no big men did what he could do in the ring, and then Dave talks about being friends with Bigelow, and he states that Heyman wrote stories about Bigelow being the next big deal in wrestling and basically acted as Bigelow's publicity agent. Heyman did the publicity for Studio 54 when he was 19, and Bigelow worked there thanks to Heyman and Joel Watts and Dave were stunned after seeing him do a flying headbutt off the top. Bill then asked "Who'd he beat?", which leads Bryan to ask why that mattered, and Dave says that back then, it was a sign of how skilled you were. Bryan uses Kennedy as an example of how badly it can be done, since they had him beat six former world champions by fluke, and if he'd done it decively, it wouldn't be a big problem.
Bryan then says that Batista needs to get away from the tour with Rebecca, because he's becoming her on the mic, as evidenced by his commentary. Bryan asks Dave what he thinks the ratings for WSX will be, and Dave guesses 0.7, while Bryan guesses a 0.5.
Now they're going into the firings, and Dave says it's an example of how poor WWE's organization is, since they used to make sure that the fired guys jobbed before leaving, and that the last thing they had Tatanka do was pin a guy, and that they didn't know until Friday that they were going to can him, and with Terkay, they did stuff with him on ECW. They never would've done that back in the old days according to WWE. Bryan says that what WWE should've done was at least jobbed them out before leaving and written them off TV. Dave says that the company is doing fine fincancially, and they didn't fire guys because they're under financial duress.
Bryan says that he looks at some of the guys who were canned, like the Bashams, and that the company did nothing with them, and yet they could have something with him, like they did with Umaga. Bryan then says that they fired these men to make way for more bad, unexperienced tag teams like Deuce and Domino who may never be ready. Dave says that he hears all the time in WWE that they don't have experienced hands in the ring, and then they have them in guys like the Bashams and then fire them because creative has nothing for them.
They continue the list of firings with Jazz and Rodney Mack and the Taylors, CW Anderson, the Shane Twins, David Heath (signed for ECW and then never used), DeMott, whose firing didn't surprise Bryan since he had so many enemies. Dave was surprised because the company had always backed him up. Seth Skyfire's firing didn't surprise Dave.
Now they're talking about the IFL on MyNetwork TV, and it'll be starting in the summer and they'll air two hour shows, and might end up being the SmackDown of the network. Waltman joins the show, and sounds out of it. He's asked how it'll be different, and then he just says that it's done really differently in every way, and that he was there when they were editing it, and they edited 8 shows at once. It'll be put through a filter so it'll look graiiny and different. The post-production is going to be a huge part of the show according to Waltman, and Dave asks him who he was impressed with on the tapings. He says that Teddy Hart blew him away, and was surprised that he nailed most of the stuff he tried. He also praised Joey Ryan, Colt Cabana, and That '70s Team.
Sean's three year old kid is crying in the background, which stops the show. Bryan asks him if Sean has given Teddy any advice, or if it's pointless to tell him this advice. Sean says that he gives him advice, and that it's his duty to give advice to the younger guys just like the older guys gave it to him when he broke in. Dave asks what the goal for the company is, and Dave asks if there are house show and DVD plans, and Waltman says that stuff is in the works, but that he won't spill the beans on all of it. He specifically mentions doing overseas touring, and Dave asks him who the show is aimed at, and Waltman says that they're aiming for an audience that normally doesn't watch wrestling. Dave asks how it's different from WWE and TNA, and Waltman says that Teddy Hart shocking someone with a live wire and someone being thrown into wet cement which you won't see anywhere, and that if MTV didn't want him answering these questions, they shouldn't have scheduled the interview.
Dave asks what the deal was with taping, and Sean says that they taped 10 shows, and that the pilot was done back in Feb., with nine being done later. Waltman says that he likes everyone on the roster, even Vampiro, who he's disagreed with in the past, and Dave says this is a big deal for him since he's never been a big star in the States, and Sean says that he's busting his ass to make it work. Bryan asks about the Human Tornado, and Sean says he loves him and works a match with him on one of the shows. Waltman calls Kevin Kleinrock a unique guy, and that he's a great guy to work for. Dave asks if it's true that Sean had some problems conceptually with them, and he did, but they put up with him and bent over backwards for him because he felt so passionately about it, despite it working against them because they had to deliver stuff so quickly to MTV and they didn't want much deviation from the format.
ave asks if there's a problem with blood, and Bryan says that since they've got exploding coffin matches, he doubts that blood will be a problem. Sean says that they've got some restrictions due to people recreating Jackass stuff, and despite that, he doesn't think that the average viewer will be bothered by it. Dave asks about the amount of wrestling content on the show, and then the show goes to a break. Sean says that it's very wrestling-heavy, and there's still time for backstage stuff and other vignettes. He says that some shows will have three matches on it, which amazes Sean, and Dave says that TNA has three matches in an hour and they total 8 minutes. Sean says that his title match went 12 minutes, and they'll probably show all of it, and it'll be a very high flying-oriented show, and that he's toned down his flying since these younger guys are doing such insane stuff.
The show is back from break, and there will be internet and Amp'd mobile stuff on the group as well as the MTV one. Waltman hopes there's crossover with other MTV shows, and doubts that he's the only one who mentioned it to them. He'll probably be doing Stern, and then Dave asks how he felt about the Surreal Life, and Sean says that they edited a lot of stuff that made him look bad, but he blames himself for his actions. Sean says that he just does a few indy dates here and there, but would like to get busier since he's healthier. He's then asked if he was ever asked to join DX, and he says that there was some discussion, but honestly doesn't think he could work there due to the schedule, and admits that his days there are done.
WSX will be on MTV and MTV2, then Dave asks Sean about his thoughts on Bigelow. He says that he had a lot of fun with him, went hunting with him, and won the tag titles with a match involving him, and says that they always got along even if Bigelow wasn't fond of his friends. Dave says that Sean's gone through a lot in his life and career, and he asks if there's something that pro wrestling can do that could curtail the many problems faced by wrestlers. Sean says that a lot of things have been done, but that you won't see the results for a number of years, until guys stop dying young. He says that the new stuff will help prevent guys from having problems, and that some guys just won't get away from their problems. Then he talks about Hennig and says that they were friends and that he thought that Hennig and some of his other friends were basically superhuman, and that guys today will just go play games instead of going into bars and getting plastered.
Sean says that he hasn't worked in WWE in 4 years so he isn't sure about the climate there now. Dave then asks about TNA and Sean says that he doesn't watch it anymore, but he's rooting for them since it's another place to work, and that he's unhappy with how they're wasting Ron Killings, and thinks it sucks what they're doing with him. He also knocks them for just loaning Konnan money for his hip problems, which draws agreement from Dave. Bryan asks him about his thoughts on VKM since both TNA and WWE had groups doing guys that they really shouldn't be doing at their age, and Waltman says that he isn't a fan of VKM either. He knocks "whoever's writing there now" due to the wrestlers having so little input on their work. Dave asks for Sean's thoughts on TNA bashing WWE, and Sean says he isn't sure, and says that he thinks they're just doing it to empower their employees, and knows that some guys in the company don't like it, and he doesn't like it at all.
Dave asks him about Biscoff, leaving WCW, and then doing the DX invades WCW thing, and if he felt angry at WCW or if he was just following orders. Sean says he didn't hate them for firing them, but did want to shove his firing up their asses. Dave says that it seemed like Sean was a pawn, and Sean agrees, and Sean talks about Bischoff's book, and debunks Eric's statement that he held them up for money, and he says that he didn't do that, just that he wanted more money, and that he kept working on a broken neck to avoid losing his spot. Eric just got pissed due to Kevin and Scott doing off-color stuff, and then fired him to retalitate since he couldn't go after them. Sean says that he was happy when they fired him because he was tired of working there and was looking for ways to leave, but does praise them for paying 100% of his salary and paying his doctor's bills even after he signed with Vince. He says that he was thankful they fired him because he came into the WWF and had the best run of his career after WCW canned him.
Sean says that he's been reading the Observer since he was a kid, and Bryan says that he was 9 when the Observer came out, and then Sean tells a story of him and Dave in Japan where Waltman was so young that he still hadn't grown facial hair. They went to Japan for Lynn-Waltman, and they got to work with a bunch of Mexican guys there. Bryan asks how big Porky was when he was there, and Sean says that he was about 280-300, and Bryan says that now he's about 400 pounds, and Dave says that it's amazing that Porky can still go despite his age and size. Sean says it's sad that people only remember him for his SD run, and Dave asks how his last trip to Mexico was, and Sean says that his last trip there was cool - he was working for RXLL and did a light tube match with Vampiro and got thrown into exploding stuff for the match. He did one show with AAA, and then stayed there for a month, and he saw Pena and that he only saw him once, and then never saw him again right around the time he died. Sean says that things are done differently there, and Dave says that there's tons of insanity there as well. Bryan asks him to compare working in Mexico to working in Puerto Rico, and he says that he dug Mexico, and that he can lay his matches out just fine in Mexico and work his regular match, and that guys had to work at adjusting to him, but now they have to work to adjust to him. A caller asks Sean what restrictions he has on his deal, but the caller's phone dies. A new caller asks if he's played the new SvR game, and Sean says that he hasn't played it since he isn't on it and isn't into games. He then asks if he'll return to DX, and Sean says that he's almost 100% sure that won't happen, but says that he would consider it if he wasn't signed to WSX, he might consider it, but that he's very happy with it, and won't walk out on it since he's grateful for it. He wants to make up for his screwups with TNA, and this deal came along at the right time for him, and that Keinrock was working for a long time to get the deal with MTV.
The caller asks why he can't use X-Pac on WSX, and he says that it's because WWE gave him permission to use X-Pac on indies, but not on TV, but he has permission to use 6-Pac anywhere according to them. Another caller asks if he'd really like to be in WWE, and Sean says that reality has set in and he doesn't want to be in WWE, as he's got a good gig with WSX, and is grateful that they're grateful to have him. He feels valuable to WSX, and the caller asks what other big names are there, and he names Vampiro as the only other 'name' guy, and Sean feels that fans are going to take to the new guys quickly.
Sean was stunned to find out about the Friday night showing of WSX, as was Bryan, and Dave says that he didn't know about it until this morning, and then he e-mailed people with WSX who gave him confirmation. Dave asks him who he sees carrying the business, and Sean says that at one time he thought Randy Orton would be the guy, but doubts it, but also says that he hasn't seen him in a few months, so Dave tells him that the stuff with Edge is helping him a lot.
Dave says that Hunter's injury was kind of a blessing in disguise since it heated up Shawn and Randy, and then fans will be eager to see HHH again in 8 months. Dave says that the crowds have been hotter since the injury, and Dave thinks part of it's due to people knowing it's a real injury, and part of Rated RKO's heat being huge now due to it, while Waltman calls Orton the master of the reverse chinlock. Sean calls Joe amazing, and feels that he'll be a guy to carry wrestling into the next generation, and feels that Bobby Roode is really talented and could go far. Dave says that he's a good worker, but is missing something. Now it's time for the final break of the show.
There's one last caller, and he asks whatever happened to Scott Hall, and Sean says that Hall, Nash, and Pac recently did a Times Square signing with Jakks Pacific, and it was the first time all three were together for years. Hall might be making a comeback and is getting in shape again, and Waltman plugs WSX. Bryan asks him if he's done flying, and he says that he isn't, but just picks and chooses stuff now, since the stuff he does that was considered a big deal back in th day isn't a big deal now, but he's glad to see folks still give him a pleasant reaction for it. He mainly wants to limit bumps, since those hurt more than the flying does. Sean says he's a bit of a mark for himself, just like Teddy is, and he says that if a guy isn't a fan of himself, why should anyone else be? Dave says that all of the great ones are, and that if they weren't, they weren't be where they are.