SI.com’s Week in Wrestling is published every week and provides beneath-the-surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling.
Sean Waltman on WWE’s Royal Rumble: “I gave them a heads up I’d be ready if they wanted me. … I guess they weren’t interested”
In front of a sold-out crowd at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, Sean Waltman returned home.
Waltman made a surprise appearance two weeks ago during Game Changer Wrestling’s The WRLD on GCW show, coming to the aid of Joey Janela in his battle against Matt Cardona and Brian Myers. Stepping into the GCW ring marked the beginning of wrestling’s latest must-see comeback, where a healthy and clear-minded Waltman plans to turn the industry upside down in 2022.
“I did pretty well in this industry when I wasn’t clear-headed, so think of what I can do with a healthy mind and healthy body,” Waltman says. “I don’t know how many matches I have left in me, so I’m going to go out there and have some great f---ing matches.”
At the age of 49, Waltman will return to the ring at GCW’s Welcome to Heartbreak show on Feb. 25 in Los Angeles. Going by X-Pac, he will team with Janela against Cardona and Myers, looking to make a statement in wrestling’s hottest indie promotion.
“I want to go out on my terms,” says Waltman, who last wrestled in 2019. “My last matches, I was going through the greatest hits. It was all nostalgia. This is going to be different.”
An industry legend, Waltman spent his career redefining the pro wrestling realm with a rare blend of technical brilliance, unparalleled athleticism and a magnetic personality. He first appeared on television at the age of 19, wrestling on ESPN for the Global Wrestling Federation. The breakout for Waltman occurred two years later on the May 17, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw, when he defeated Razor Ramon in a watershed moment for WWE that illustrated anything was possible on Monday nights.
Waltman had a memorable run in WWE, then bolted for WCW, where he starred in the iconic New World Order. He returned to WWE at the height of the “Monday Night Wars” to join D-Generation X. While controversy has followed Waltman throughout his career, his legendary standing in the industry is undeniable, having revolutionized the WWE style along a plethora of successful stops throughout the industry.
With WWE in constant need of a jolt on Monday nights, the timing of Waltman’s return was fortuitous for a surprise entry in the Royal Rumble match. Seeing X-Pac at the Royal Rumble would have generated a genuine feel-good moment at Saturday’s pay-per-view, and he could have followed that up with a handful of matches on Raw against the likes of AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio and even Riddle.
Yet none of that came to fruition.
“As far as the Royal Rumble, I gave them a heads up I’d be ready if they wanted me,” Waltman says. “I wasn’t actively campaigning for it. I wasn’t going to do that. But I let them know, and I guess they weren’t interested.”
Now focused on GCW, Waltman is embarking on a comeback that allows him to go out on his terms. This is a luxury few performers are afforded, and it is an opportunity he is treasuring.
“I want to do it while I still can,” says Waltman, who has recovered from a lingering ACL issue, as well as come to peace with a complicated past. “I’ve worked on my body and got a lot of my health issues resolved. My right knee struggled for years, but it’s feeling great now. I’m motivated, I’m happy, and I’m hungry. This is holistic. It’s more than just having my body in good shape again. I’m clear-headed.
“This is a chance to play a few songs off the new album. There is a lot I want to prove to people that have believed in me for a long time.”
The past meets the present later this month in a GCW ring at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in L.A., as Waltman steps back into the most intimate environment he knows alongside a trio of talented wrestlers in Janela, Cardona and Myers.
“I tagged with Janela for a minute years ago in [Jersey Championship Wrestling], but I didn’t give a f--- about much back then, so this is a chance to do it right,” Waltman says. “I have so much respect for Janela’s creative thinking when it comes to wrestling. He’s a brilliant kid. He took a different path, and I’m excited to be around people like that.
“Cardona and Myers, they’re the perfect opponents, especially for my first match back. They’re consummate professionals. Cardona is really good at getting on my nerves, but that mother----- is amazing. He made himself the top guy in independent wrestling. He’s the most valuable guy on the indie scene right now, and he brought his following with him. But he also really knows how to be an ass----.”
When Waltman emerged at GCW’s Hammerstein show, he stepped into a ring full of debris that had been hurled at Cardona. It was an oasis of beer, soda and cups, a disastrous recipe for a returning talent looking to seamlessly reacquire his elite timing and pacing.
“That was like walking on a slip and slide,” Waltman says. “I had a hard time getting my footing before I threw that first kick. You never know, but I don’t think that will be an issue when I have my match in L.A.”
A long time ago, Waltman gave his soul to the wrestling business. He was defined entirely by his work in the ring, which was elite—and then struggled mightily when that changed. Now, traveling through his fourth decade in the wrestling industry, Waltman believes he can reintroduce himself by displaying how he has evolved.
“I’ve been on a high from Hammerstein, and people might laugh at that, but this is a real one,” Waltman says. “This is my chance. I can reconnect with fans from my career. They know how f---ed up I was and some of the f---ed-up sh-- I’ve done, and they know how much work I’ve put in to change.
“People can change, it’s just hard f---ing work. I want to reward those people with some of the best matches of my career.”
The (online) week in wrestling
- Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey would be a great WrestleMania main event, but would Lynch against Sasha Banks be even better?
- Cody Rhodes and Sammy Guevara worked an outstanding ladder match last week on Dynamite.
- How cool was it to see Danhausen on Dynamite?
- Big E has moved to the SmackDown roster. Though it could be a positive in the long term, I wish there were more of a reason that explained the move. Otherwise it further devalues the draft.
- Basketball legend Charles Barkley shared some praise on his podcast for Jon Moxley.
- Syuri successfully defended the Red Belt at last week’s Stardom show, but her opponent—22-year-old Mirai—was sensational in defeat.
- Daniel Garcia won last weekend’s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla “Battle of Los Angeles” tournament, best known as the PWG BOLA.
- For the first time since 2016, Brian Kendrick is working for a company outside of WWE—and he’s doing it in style with a match against Jon Moxley in AEW.
Wardlow is the key to the CM Punk–MJF match
MJF and CM Punk finally square off Wednesday night on Dynamite.
Following a three-month build, there is a lot at stake in this matchup. While this is a show, Punk is human. He heard the bevy of insults flung in his direction by MJF, and he would relish showing the world that he can still out-class one of wrestling’s rising stars. And this is extremely personal for MJF, who gets one shot in the spotlight against Punk (in Chicago, no less) to prove he is everything he claims to be—and more.
The moment will be fleeting, so both need to capitalize while they can. By the end of Dynamite, the spotlight shouldn’t be on either Punk or MJF. This moment belongs to Wardlow, who is ready to take a quantum leap and become AEW’s next babyface star.
Wardlow checks every box. He possesses size and can go in the ring, and the world is about to learn that he can also talk. When MJF pushes too far, perhaps tonight is the night that Wardlow will finally tear himself away from his grip.
The crowd would explode if Wardlow turns on MJF, then follows that up with a symphony of powerbombs on Shawn Spears. In the ensuing weeks, FTR’s Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler would bump and sell for Wardlow better than anyone else in the industry.
The story line with MJF and Punk has been very compelling since it started in November. But it is just the appetizer to the main course, which is Wardlow finally seizing his destiny in AEW.
Tweet of the Week
Not everyone wanted to be part of the Royal Rumble.
- Trans, Black, Indigenous Wrestler Nyla Rose Breaks Barriers in AEW
- Uneven ‘Royal Rumble’ Paves the Road to ‘WrestleMania’
- Becky Lynch Welcomes Ronda Rousey ‘With Open Arms’
- Ronda Rousey Returns to WWE at ‘Royal Rumble’
- WWE’s Roman Reigns Details His Recent Experience With COVID-19
Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.
