Where Are MTV's Wrestling Society X Stars Now?

The 2000s were an interesting time for professional wrestling, particularly in the United States, as the demise of both WCW and ECW left a void in the business that various promotions attempted to fill. TNA Wrestling had established itself as the firm number two primarily because of its television deal with Spike TV. Ring of Honor would eventually get on to pay-per-view after years of establishing itself as the best pure wrestling company in the country, and other promotions like CZW, IWA-Mid South, and PWG would all go on to have their own spaces in the industry. Then there was Wrestling Society X.

Born out of the ashes of XPW in California, Wrestling Society X didn't last long for a variety of reasons, but the nine episodes that did air on MTV in 2007 have had more influence on the industry than you might think. The promotion is often cited as the prelude to brands like Lucha Underground, which popularized "cinematic wrestling" that would be a vital part of how wrestling was presented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meaning that you could make the argument that without WSX, he Undertaker's retirement match, the Broken Hardys, and the Firefly Funhouse might never have existed.

With all that said, the producers at MTV didn't want anything on the show that kids could replicate at home, which is something that is very difficult when it comes to wrestling. That led to matches having minimal or no psychology whatsoever, high spots at every turn, and everything being able to explode even if it wasn't flammable.

At its core, WSX was an attempt to bring back the connection between wrestling and music that was so important during the 1980s, but update it for a modern audience with the likes of Pusha T, Good Charlotte, and even Pitbull all stopping by The Bunker in Los Angeles, California. Those musicians got to see a wide variety of stars that ranged from former WWE Superstars, southern California staples, and independent standouts, but where did the roster end up after WSX was canceled? That's what we're going to answer today as we take a look at where the stars of Wrestling Society X are today.

The first man to ever step foot in a WSX ring was none other than Matt Sydal, who was accompanied by his "girlfriend" Lizzy Valentine. Sydal had already traveled around the world by the time he showed up in WSX, but mainly called Ring of Honor his home as he was a member of Generation Next alongside the likes of Roderick Strong and Alex Shelley. Sydal would go on to have a record of three wins and two losses in WSX, but this run would be pivotal to Sydal's career given what he did next.

A few years later, Sydal wound up in WWE as Evan Bourne and became one of the most popular high-flyers during the company's "PG Era." After leaving WWE in 2013, he would once again travel the world, while also returning to ROH, and despite being away from TV for nearly 18 months at the time of writing, he is part of All Elite Wrestling both as an in-ring talent and a backstage helper, and should be back soon after recovering from a serious foot injury.

The other half of the first-ever WSX match, Jack Evans knew Matt Sydal very well as he too was a member of Generation Next in Ring of Honor. By this point in his career, Evans was already seen as one of the best high-flyers in the world and was capable of performing moves that literally no one else in the business was able to, carving out a unique fanbase that would following him around the world. In WSX, he defeated Sydal in the first-ever match in the promotion's short history, and was booked as one of the biggest stars as he never lost a single match.

Despite being from Parkland, Washington, Evans has spent the majority of his career in Mexico working for AAA, with trips to Pro Wrestling NOAH, Lucha Underground, and PWG sprinkled in between. He was a day one member of the AEW roster back in 2019 but left at the end of his contract in 2022, and works sporadically in Mexico for various independent promotions after AAA was purchased by WWE in April 2025.

There was a point in the 2000s where if any upstart promotion in the United States needed a former WWE Superstar to help bring eyes to the product, Sean "X-Pac" Waltman was one of the first guys to receive a call. Waltman wrestled in WSX as 6-Pac and was heavily featured in the first few episodes, even competing in the match to determine the first-ever WSX Champion, which he lost due to being given a Tombstone Piledriver into an exploding casket (WSX loved anything that could explode).

Waltman was already a seasoned veteran by the time he wrestled for WSX, and would continue wrestling for many more years afterwards, eventually retiring in 2022 after making some cameos for GCW. Now a two-time WWE Hall of Famer as a member of both D-Generation X and the New World Order respectively, Waltman has made sporadic appearances since retiring from the ring, and mainly features on the convention circuit, meeting fans, taking pictures, and signing autographs.

Given that he is a former ECW World Heavyweight Champion, it was only natural to think that Justin Credible would have felt right at home in WSX, but his time with the promotion didn't stretch past the first episode as he was let go from his contract before the rest of the solitary season was taped at the end of 2006. However, Credible needs to be mentioned as he was a major part of the first-ever WSX Rumble, which main evented the inaugural episode, entering at number one and mixing it up with everyone who got involved.

Following a brief stint in WWE as part of the ECW revival, Credible has stayed active on the independent scene, but he has had his own personal struggles away from the ring that have led to him have stints in rehab and jail. However, Credible seems to be back on the straight and narrow, and after opening up about his life during a recent appearance on the "Eyes Up Here" podcast with his long-time friend Francine, he revealed that he still competes regularly on the weekends, and is starting a new job working at a Chili's restaurant in December 2025.

During one of Teddy Hart's first promos in WSX, he said "I have a reputation," and truer words have never been spoken in the history of wrestling. The oldest grandson of the legendary Stu Hart is one of the most controversial wrestlers of the 21st century, and is widely considered to be the best example of someone who had all the potential in the world, but couldn't get out of his own way.

Much like his good friend Jack Evans, Hart was positioned as one of the top stars in WSX, specifically the tag team division alongside "M-Dogg 20" Matt Cross as The Filth and The Fury. Had the show lasted longer than one season, Hart could have been the biggest name attached to the brand, but that wasn't the case after it was canceled; in the near 20 years since WSX closed its doors, Hart has been hired and fired by more promotions than we can list here, has had legal problems, and now primarily competes Real Canadian Wrestling based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Much like Sean Waltman, if an upstart promotion in the 2000s needed a recognizable face that could bring in new fans, Vampiro was always just a phone call away. Vampiro was the inaugural WSX Champion after being the man to put Waltman in the aforementioned exploding casket, and was also involved in the angle that got eventually got WSX canceled by MTV as his head momentarily got set on fire (ratings were also a factor).

Vampiro was also the booker in WSX, which would be a position that he would also hold in AAA, his full-time home for the majority of his career after WSX closed its doors. Over the years, Vampiro would be most closely associated with AAA, during various hiatuses he was an on-screen presence during all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and would even continue wrestling around the world. It was announced in 2024 that he would be embarking on a retirement tour in AAA as he looked to finally call time on his career, but despite that tour being the focal point of AAA's booking for 2024, his time in the ring hasn't finished and he still works at various Mexican independent shows to this day.

The man who set Vampiro's hair on fire, Ricky Banderas, used several books of flash paper instead of using one or two sheets to throw a fireball at the then-WSX Champion; it was ultimately the final straw for MTV as the show was canceled as a result of the angle. With that said, Banderas is a major part of the history of WSX as he was the second and final WSX Champion, defeating Vampiro thanks to another exploding coffin.

Banderas has gone by many names in his career. He had a short-lived reign in TNA as Judas Mesias where he feuded exclusively with Abyss. He wrestled as Gilbert El Boricua while working for CMLL in the 2010s, and was the mythical monster that was Mil Muertes in Lucha Underground. However, he best known for his work in AAA, who he still works for today as El Mesias, and was even responsible for exiling Alberto El Patron from the company over the summer. Outside of AAA, he manages to work for various Mexican independent promotions under a mixture of names he has had in the past.

As previously mentioned, Wrestling Society X was filmed in California, which allowed some of the local gems of the west coast independent scene to get their first taste of the national spotlight. Disco Machine, one of the founders of PWG, was one half of That 70s Team. Quicksilver portrayed El Hombre Blanco Enmascarado but retired a year later due to contracting MRSA. It also featured Scorpio Sky, whose character was the best athlete in history (of his high school).

Sky would walk to the ring with plaques celebrating his high school achievements in hand, signing autographs for people lucky enough to get close enough to him at ringside, but his record ended up being anything but stellar, as he finished his time with the promotion with just one win under his belt. Fortunately, life after WSX proved to be much more rewarding. His alliance with Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian as SoCal Uncensored not only led to a lot of success in Ring of Honor, but the group would become core members of the inaugural AEW roster in 2019. Sky would be the breakout star of the group as he would become one half of the first-ever AEW Tag Team Champions with Kazarian, but he would also have two reigns with the AEW TNT Championship. His momentum has slowed in recent years, but he is still featured on AEW and ROH TV as part of Sky Flight.

Wrestling out of Hollywood, Alabama, the Human Tornado isn't a name that fans who have just gotten into wrestling will recognize straight away, but if you go back an look at the history of companies like PWG, you will see Tornado's name pop up everywhere. He showed up in WSX with his most famous gimmick, that being a blaxploitation street pimp straight out of the 1970s who just so happened to be one of the quickest and naturally athletic wrestlers of the 2000s. In WSX, Tornado's only loss came at the hands of 6-Pac, and was even involved in the only time limit draw in the promotion's history when his match with Jack Evans was called by the watch.

Part of the reason why people who have only just gotten into wrestling don't know much about Tornado is due to the fact that he is partially retired. He did show up in XPW when that promotion resurfaced in 2022, he was a part of the Micro Mania Midget Wrestling tour as recently as 2024, and has made cameo appearances for GCW as well. However, if you really want proof that Tornado was someone who could have been a much bigger star than what he ended up being, go and watch his performance as El Snowflake in the 2006 movie "Nacho Libre" starring Jack Black.

At some point in the 1960s, acclaimed professional wrestler Matt Classic went into a coma that would last for 40 years. He would wake up in 2006 and immediately wanted to get back in the ring, but no promotion would take a chance on him except Wrestling Society X. When he got in the ring, Classic would wrestle what most people would call a throwback style, but in his mind, that was just how wrestling was supposed to be done. Only the eager WSX fans got to see Classic in action as his matches aired exclusively on "WSXtra," and his inability to change with the times meant that he didn't pick up a single win.

Though he wasn't actually from the mid-20th century, Matt Classic was actually played by someone who most wrestling fans know very well by a different name; Colt Cabana. The Chicago native is known the world over as one of the greatest journeymen in the history of wrestling, and has wrestled for nearly every promotion you could possibly think of. He still pops up on independent shows around the world in between his full-time position in AEW, where he usually sticks to working in dark matches, but has transitioned into the role of a producer and coach over the past two years.

Rounding out the list with two of the greatest junior heavyweights of the 21st century, and two of the only true international exports that WSX had on their roster. Dragon Gate was a promotion making a lot of waves online by the mid-2000s, but after the stars of the roster changed the way American fans watched wrestling with their trip to Ring of Honor in the spring of 2006, everyone wanted a piece of Dragon Gate, and WSX were fortunate enough to get access to Yoshino and Horiguchi.

Their WSX run wasn't particularly noteworthy outside of the fact that they won the main event of the final episode of the solitary season, which sadly never made it to air, where they defeated The Filth and The Fury in an Exploding Steel Cage match. However, it's what both men did afterwards that cemented them as two of the most influential wrestlers of their generation.

In both Japan and the wider wrestling world, Masato Yoshino was regarded as the fastest wrestler in the world before he retired in 2021 and is one of the most decorated wrestlers in the history of Dragon Gate, holding a total of 27 championships, including the company's top prize, the Open The Dream Gate Championship, on four occasions. As for his partner, Genki Horiguchi is also one of the most decorated wrestlers in Dragon Gate history, and while he hasn't held the company's top prize, he has been one-third of the Open The Triangle Gate Champions 13 times. With that said, he still has time to win the Open The Dream Gate Championship as he is still wrestling for Dragon Gate at the time of writing, albeit in a veteran-like role.

If there was one highlight of WSX that wasn't centered around explosions, it was that the tag team division had real promise. Every duo involved had their own gimmick that set themselves apart from the rest, whether that be the Trailer Park Boyz, That 70s Team, Keepin' It Gangsta, The Filth and The Fury, everyone stood out with their own characters, as did D.I.F.H. (Do It For Her), with Jimmy Jacobs being the emotional one of the team.

Jacobs would play off his already established character he had in places like Ring of Honor, and while he wasn't able to cut promos drenched in other people's blood, he still had enough time to flirt with girls at ringside and add them on MySpace. In the years since WSX, Jacobs became a mainstay in ROH before taking a writing job in WWE, which came to an end when he made an appearance on an episode of "Being The Elite" where he joined in on the Bullet Club's invasion of "WWE Raw." Jacobs would go on to work in various backstage roles for companies like TNA and AEW, and has remained active in the ring for the likes of ROH (now owned by AEW President Tony Khan), and Revolution Championship Wrestling in Indiana.

The other half of D.I.F.H. and by far the biggest success story to ever come out of Wrestling Society X was Tyler Black. When WSX was being taped, Black had only been a professional wrestler for two years, but every promoter that booked him knew that there was something special about the young man from Iowa, and they were right.

Shortly after Black taped all of his matches for WSX, he made his debut for PWG, and then less than a year later he made his debut for Ring of Honor alongside Jimmy Jacobs, and his stock soared from there. He went on to win both the PWG and ROH World Tag Team Championships with Jacobs before winning the ROH World Championship in 2010, and his work for ROH caught the eye of WWE, and Black would sign a developmental contract by the end of 2010. In the 15 years since signing that developmental contract, Tyler Black has been fully transformed into Seth Rollins, a multiple-time WWE World Champion, one of the most decorated performers of his era.