Bruce Prichard Discusses Sean Waltman's Role In WCW's NWO & WWE's DX Factions

If a pictorial dictionary had the term "wrestling stable" in it, Sean Waltman would be a fitting choice. Besides his run as The 1-2-3 Kid, where WWE featured him as a singles superstar, Waltman perennially rode with a band of stablemates through the course of his 20-plus-year career, linking up with nearly half-a-dozen factions across various promotions. Among the most prominent ones — nWo and D-Generation X, the two factions that got him inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on two separate occasions. 

On a recent episode of "Something to Wrestling with," Bruce Prichard reflected on Waltman's career and the exact character trait that made him a perfect fit for wrestling factions. First, Prichard pointed to Waltman's WWE return the night after WrestleMania 14, where he and The New Age Outlaws joined D-Generation X to fill the void left by the injured Shawn Michaels. In what can be described as "a shoot," Waltman laid into the likes of Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, and WCW, saying that his friends "were being held hostage" in WCW and wanted to return to WWE, too. 

Prichard highlighted the importance of Waltman's promo at the height of the Monday Night Wars. "It's historic, from the point-of-view of somebody else coming from the other side [WCW] — and this was the turning point. This is where people were going, 'You wanna play big boy? Let's play.' And, we started to play."

Later that night, Waltman would help New Age Outlaws capture the WWE Tag Team Championship to officially join DX. Subsequently, WWE closed the gap with WCW in the Monday Night Wars, and it wasn't long until Vince McMahon's promotion surged ahead in the ratings battle. Reflecting on the same, Prichard credited Waltman for "being an important ingredient" in the second coming of DX, but disagreed with Eric Bischoff's recent comments that X-Pac was "the shot in the arm" that WWE needed to beat WCW in the ratings.

"I think it was timing and just the overall combination," Prichard said. "It wasn't any one person. I think we would have done just the same [ratings] without him. I think having him definitely added big time to DX and to the product, but I don't know if that [Waltman's WWE return] was the turning point. I think it was the way we handled it, the invasions we did — in a non-traditional way that DX was presented in and the things they did."

As for Waltman's run with nWo — as Syxx Pac — Waltman once again credited Waltman for adding value to a faction but downplayed his importance to its fabric. "To me, the nWo was The Outsiders and Hulk [Hogan]," Prichard stressed. "Everybody else was just ... too many additions and too much gaga. I mean, everybody else. So, if the nWo remained those guys [Hogan, Nash, and Hall] maybe with Bischoff, then blow that up — but when you're blowing up less significant talent, it just keeps meaning less.

Similarly, Prichard suggested that the three-person DX of Chyna, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H was superior to the later iteration involving Waltman.

"When the group you love in DX changes so many times, it means less. Every time, you change it, it means less."