Sean “X-Pac” Waltman reflects on the nWo’s indelible impact, reunion run and more
Sean “X-Pac” Waltman shares his memories of the New World Order, its lasting legacy, D-Generation X’s most recent reunion, and more.
Of the elite few individuals who can lay claim to being a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman is among them.
The iconic competitor first entered the hallowed Hall of Fame in 2019 as part of D-Generation X with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The New Age Outlaws, and Chyna. Only a year later was he inducted again as a member of the New World Order alongside Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall.
Waltman will play a pivotal role in looking back at the legacy of the latter faction on the Season 3 premiere of A&E’s Biography: WWE Legends this Sunday, February 19.
The timing couldn’t be better coming off his most recent WWE TV appearance on the 30th-anniversary edition of Raw, where he took part in a DX reunion and interacted with Imperium.
The former 1-2-3 Kid called it a “ton of fun” and a “blast,” noting that it was even more fun putting it together behind the scenes.
The segment was unique in that DX put over Imperium as a threat instead of stealing the spotlight from them, as has been the case with many DX and nWo reunions in the past.
“That’s how we should be doing it when we show up, you know? Coming in like that and leaving the next,” Waltman told Daily DDT. “Coming in to help lift up the talent, you know? Instead of leaving them all laying for a little bit of personal glory.”
Waltman admitted to being equally synonymous with both factions but that both left their mark on wrestling history in their own ways.
The nWo, in particular, turned the wrestling world on its head when it came together in the summer of 1996 thanks to Hogan’s shocking heel turn and the group’s immediate domination of WCW. It wasn’t long before the angle fizzled out, but their initial impact was unlike anything else the business had seen before.
“Something like the nWo I think could be done today with the right people and the right circumstances,” he said. “To duplicate it, it’s like somebody asking me, ‘Could you do DX today?’ I don’t know if that’s really where we’re headed. But it’s nice to look back fondly at all that stuff, though.”
There have been many factions across countless promotions that have attempted to repeat the nWo blueprint and subsequent success, but only Bullet Club has arguably come the closest to capturing that same magic.
The nWo taking off the way it did allowed X-Pac’s return to WWE one night removed from WrestleMania 14 in 1998 to feel like a much bigger deal than it would have been otherwise. He went on to have more singles success in the years that followed than he did during his run as The 1-2-3 Kid.
“My impact coming back [to WWE] and joining DX wouldn’t have been a tenth of how big it was without the nWo,” Waltman said. “Let’s be honest. Syxx from the nWo has way more impact joining DX than 1-2-3 Kid.”
An injury kept X-Pac out of action for a substantial amount of time in the early 2000s, but he returned in time for the nWo’s 2002 WWE debut. Hogan and Hall were already gone from the group following WrestleMania 18, but X-Pac put what remained of the band back together with himself, Nash, Big Show, Booker T, and Shawn Michaels.
Within a matter of months, the faction fizzled out and was quickly disbanded. Waltman says it was “good” on its own, but that there were many factors that contributed to its demise.
“I think if you don’t compare it to the original nWo run, I think it was good,” he said. “There’s no way of not comparing it because of the original nWo kicking all that off… they ran through anyone and everyone for quite a while to get the heat they had and build up that much steam and it just wasn’t going to happen in WWE. We weren’t running through everyone. It was just different.
“That was great for me and I had a nice little main event run,” he continued. “My last matches were on top around then, so I’m grateful for it. I know it’s not in the light of that original nWo run, though, and I totally get it.”
Scott Hall, one of nWo’s founding fathers, unfortunately passed in March 2022, before the nWo episode of Biography: WWE Legends could be completed. Waltman explained that it was done in his honor and that there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t have The Bad Guy on his mind.
“We all miss Scott, man. He’s our best friend. We knew how brilliant Scott was when he was here, but now that he’s gone, thinking back and thinking about the guy, he was almost in a league of his own. Very few in his league as far as his brilliance. I miss him a lot and think about him every day.”
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