Sean Waltman On Why DX WWE Hall Of Fame Induction Was Nixed In 2013
Sean Waltman will be enshrined in the WWE Hall of Fame with the rest of Degeneration X this year, but when the legendary stable first started, Waltman was on the other side. Not on the other side of DX withing WWE, but on the other side as in WCW as Syxx-Pac.
Waltman discussed how he felt watching his friends in DX take off while he was playing for the competitor with WCW.
"No you're happy," Waltman told Wrestling Inc. on the WINCLY podcast last week. "Eric Bischoff wanted to destroy Vince in the ratings, but we wanted them to stay in the game. We wanted it to be neck-and-neck. We didn't want to skunk the other team and spike the football every single time."
DX is one of the greatest factions in wrestling history and could have been gone into the Hall of Fame five years ago. So why is 2019 the year that WWE is finally inducting them in?
"I don't know [laughs]," Waltman admitted. "New York, I'm thinking it's New York. The last time they talked about inducting us was I think the last time we did New York [WrestleMania 29 in 2013] and they ended up inducting Bruno [Sammartino]."
Perhaps WWE is building up the Hall of Fame card due to the fact that there's competition just down the road. Ring of Honor and New Japan will be putting on their G1 Supercard show over WrestleMania weekend and it will be held at Madison Square Garden.
"Sure," replied Waltman. "That has to be part of it and I don't blame them either."
The Honky Tonk Man was also announced for the Hall of Fame. Waltman weighed in on Honky also going in and why it took so long for the "greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time" to be inducted.
"They asked him several years ago and for whatever reason, he declined at the time," revealed Waltman. "But it's long overdue? I can sing every single word of Honky Tonk's theme song. He was great.
"He might not be that cruiserweight-style wrestler or a Bret Hart-type of wrestler, but I thought he was great. He was such an over-the-top character and it was a character on the peripheral of wrestling.
"I'm happy for him. He deserves it."
You can hear Sean's full WINCLY interview in the embedded player below. In it he also discusses how it feels to finally be going into the WWE Hall of Fame, who should induct DX, why Rick Rude isn't being included with the group, whether his son has plans to become a pro wrestler and more.
You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here.
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