Sean Waltman On Originally Not Wanting To Face Shane McMahon At WrestleMania, AJ Styles' WWE Run
On episode 311 of The Steve Austin Show, Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman spoke with 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin about a number of topics including Waltman's advice to the NXT locker room, whether Attitude Era stars would have made it in today's WWE, not wanting to face Shane McMahon at WWE WrestleMania 15, and his impressions of AJ Styles' WWE run.
When asked what advice he would give to the NXT roster, Waltman said that he would tell the young performers to be different.
"When we're talking about in the ring, don't be the guy that is just like everybody else with the tackle, drop down, leap frog, what they call the 'international spot'. Like, I'm so sick of seeing stuff like that. I like to see guys doing different things out there."
According to Waltman, the vast majority of Attitude Era performers would not have made it to WWE nowadays, given WWE's stringent medical requirements.
"I'm telling you, I think 75% of us wouldn't even have been able to work in WWE today because we couldn't even pass the physical [examination] because this or that being wrong with us for years. I really think that. I think that a lot of guys wouldn't have. It's tough to pass that physical."
Waltman admitted that he did not want to work with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 15, but thought better of it in retrospect.
"Vince [McMahon] asked me to work with Shane at 'Mania and I was like, at first, 'oh man, I want to wrestle a wrestler at WrestleMania!' Like, I'm such a knucklehead back then and so stubborn and I want everything to be my way, my idea, everything like that I didn't understand Vince is asking me to have a match with his son at WrestleMania. Yeah, and he was great. He was great. We had 27 minutes, man. And I beat the living tar out of him!"
Although Waltman would like to see more fire from Styles if he is going to remain a babyface, the former 'Lightning Kid' spoke favorably of Styles' WWE run so far and his feud with Chris Jericho.
"I mean, they've had a little bit of time to heat that thing up and you could see the turn coming a mile away, but that's a good thing to me." Waltman continued, "I'm just saying it's not a bad thing to be predictable sometimes."
Also, Waltman predicted that Styles and Jericho will "kill it" in their WrestleMania 32 bout.
"I'm pretty sure they'll get some time, especially this year's 'Mania. I think some guys are going to get a chance to go out there, and, you know, 'hey, here's the ball and let's, like, see how far you can carry it down the field.'" Waltman added, "I worked with both of them and I know that their styles are the type that [with] their chemistry, they'll mesh just fine."
In addition to these topics, Waltman spoke on why he had no eyebrows on the packaging of his first WWE action figure, what morale was like in the New Generation Era locker room, and more. Click here to check out the show. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Steve Austin Show