Sean Waltman says that sometimes you need to learn from past mistakes, and that’s exactly the advice he has for today’s new generation of wrestlers.
WWE Hall of Famer Sean ‘X-Pac’ Waltman recently appeared on My Mom’s Basement with Robbie Fox and gave some sound advice to the next generation of up-and-coming athletes. Asked how he’d guide some of today’s wrestlers, Waltman said they shouldn’t follow in his footsteps and they should instead learn from his mistakes and carve their own paths.
“I would say to do the exact opposite of the shit that I did,” Waltman admitted. “I was so young, and to be all of a sudden in the WWF locker room with all of these big ol’ grown-ass f-cking men that are all badasses and most of them are all so much older than me and then they have this kid they gotta ‘raise’ in the locker room, right? It wasn’t their responsibility, but it was so important to me to fit in and be accepted so I did stupid shit. I didn’t have to do that, I really didn’t, and I would hope that — I think the substance stuff had a lot to do with it, I was getting messed up — but [I would tell them] just be you.
“Don’t worry about impressing people, and that sounds kind of cliché but it’s tough, it’s tough to navigate. It’s important to fit in. They say don’t do politics but you kind of have to. You don’t have to do dirty politics, but it’s really tough. It’s easier for me to tell guys about inside the ring stuff because for me it’s like, you gotta be different, you gotta stand out. For instance, nowadays, you don’t stand out for being great in the ring anymore because everyone’s great, the bar is set to minimum, you’re great in the ring. You gotta have other shit going. You can be a little bit less than great in the ring, but if you got other stuff going on that a lot of other guys these days are missing, that’ll make you a star.”
Waltman went on to name Las Vegas-based wrestler Jai Vidal as one of the performers that he’s been impressed with as of late.
Waltman is slated to make his in-ring return at GCW’s Welcome To Heartbreak event on February 25 where he’ll team with Joey Janela against Matt Cardona and Brian Myers.
Read More: Sean Waltman Discusses His In-Ring Return, Describes How He’s Healthy And ‘Clear-Headed’
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