X-Ceptional

If not for the grit and determination of the high-flying, hot-tempered X-Pac, the world may have been deprived of the superb
skills of the unparallelled cruiserweight division. By the late 1980s, the grappling game had found itself dominated by bloated
bodybuilders heavy on protein-laden charisma but anemic in actual wrestling skills. It was at the very apex of this muscle boom
that a slight 15-year-old Florida youngster decided to set his sights on the mat wars. Sean Waltman seemed to be no threat to
the likes of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. After all, the 6-foot hopeful looked more suited for the basketball court than
the squared circle.

His claims of a career in wrestling were met with disbelief. His closest friends and family members diplomatically tried to
convince him of other endeavors, while those with less tact simply laughed in his face. Regardless of their diplomacy (or lack
thereof), the unanimous opinion was that Sean Waltman was not going to make it as a professional wrestler.

It's been a long and arduous road for X-Pac - a journey which has seen him work the blood 'n' guts industrial towns of the
United States as well as faroff lands in an effort to acquire respect as a junior heavyweight. What makes it all the more amazing
is that the hotheaded youth actually began his climb to grappling's mountaintop while still in high school!

He was a wrestling fan almost from birth. While most children went to the circus or the amusement park, Sean attended live
arena matches. As the years progressed, he became friendly with the local promoters and wrestlers, eventually working as part
of the ring crew.

In 1988, the 15-year-old mat hopeful summoned his courage and approached Boris Malenko about enrolling in his wrestling
school. Over the course of the next year, the youth diligently trained, graduating with high honors. He made his debut against
Boris' son, Dean Malenko, another incredible junior heavyweight, who has since made a name for himself as a wrestling star in
the rings of ECW and WCW.

Sean spent the next year practicing his craft on the Suncoast Wrestling Federation circuit, and at 17 he packed his bags and
headed to Edina, Minnesota, the headquarters of "Professor" Eddie Sharkey and his fledgling Pro Wrestling America
promotion. Sharkey, one of the most respected light heavyweights of the 1960s, had earned a reputation as a trainer of future
champions. The graduates of his wrestling school reads like a Who's Who of pro wrestling. They include the Road Warriors,
"Ravishing" Rick Rude, Rick Steiner, Bob Backlund, Ken Patera, Chris Taylor, Jesse "The Body" Ventura, and the Warlord,
to name only a few. Sharkey's graduates were quickly snatched up by worldwide promoters always on the lookout for a
potential new box-office draw. If you had talent and were taken under the wing of "Maestro" Sharkey, there was a
more-than-likely chance that you were headed for the international main events. This fact was always on the mind of the astute
young Mr. Waltman.

After an intense audition, the 17-year-old was welcomed into the fold. Sharkey quickly put Sean through his paces in training
as well as in the ring on his PWA events. Sharkey chuckles whenever he recalls the initial reaction of the fans on seeing the
underweight youth enter the ring. With his baby-faced looks and reed-thin physique, the audience was bewildered. The catcalls
and jeers may have engulfed the arenas upon Waltman's arrival, but they were soon followed by stunned silence, then deafening
applause as the peerless "schoolboy" proved that he could do no wrong. With only a few PWA appearances to his credit, he
quickly became the most respected and beloved performer on the circuit.

Sharkey's latest discovery was garnering fave reviews in the underground fan press, and promoters far and wide became
interested in signing this new phenom. Unfortunately, the matchmakers' shortsighted beliefs that the fans will only accept 300
pounders in the main events was firmly etched in their minds. Sean was ahead of his time, but his youth, optimism, and
ceaseless enthusiasm helped weather the dry spell.

With the launch of Joe Pedicino's Global Wrestling Federation in the summer of 1991, the clouds began to lift. The promotion
had secured an agreement with ESPN to have their cable show aired an unprecedented five times per week so the league went
on a frantic talent search. Well-known international names Stan Hansen, Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, and "Wild" Bill Irwin were
all part of the GWF during its early days. Breaking with the tradition of showcasing heavyweights, Pedicino signed Waltman,
who was working in Minnesota under the name of the Lightning Kid. Realizing that the daily program needed to attract a
sports-minded audience, the lightweight "Kid" was given an opportunity to shine. Since it had been proven that the high flyers of
Japan and Mexico were ratings and arena draws in their native lands, Pedicino had a hunch that the lightweights would catch on
in the United States if they were properly promoted. He was correct.

A GWF light-heavyweight division was created and the Lightning Kid became an integral part of the championship storyline.
On July 13, 1991 in Dallas, Texas, the Lightning Kid defeated Jerry Lynn in the finals of a tournament to be crowned the
inaugural GWF World junior-heavyweight champion. The daily exposure was a tremendous boost to Sean's reputation, and the
wrestling public at large soon marveled at his spectacular aerial talents.

By the end of the year, Sean decided it was time to move on, returning to Minneapolis with the hopes that "Professor" Sharkey
could help promote him as an international junior-heavyweight wrestling star. His abilities had impressed many American
experts, but despite all his skills, the general consensus was that he was too small to make it in the heavyweight major leagues.

With Sharkey's help, the international promoters welcomed Waltman with open arms, as he quickly found regular work in
Japan's UWF and Mexico's EMLL promotions. The future of X-Pac on the American circuit remained a major question mark.
Like many other international stars, he could have made an extremely hefty living on foreign junkets, but his heart was still
yearning for major-league recognition in his native country.

In 1991, the wrestling world was spinning at a feverish pace and the powers that be had no need to expand into the realm of
the junior heavyweights. One year later the sport was turned upside down with a steroid scandal threatening to destroy the
immense popularity of the sport. The overinflated physiques which had become all the rage in wrestling were revealed to be
chemically enhanced by illegal drugs. Attendance figures dropped almost as quickly as the shrinking biceps, while ring
impresarios nervously pondered what to do next. The physiques that had become so commonplace quickly became a blaring
siren that wrongdoing was afoot. The emphasis was abruptly taken away from the freakish physiques and the spotlight began to
shine on such fine mat technicians as Bret and Owen Hart, Curt Hennig, Shawn Michaels, Ted DiBiase, and others of equal
achievement.

The focus on skill and technical ability broke the door wide open for Sean in 1993. Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing an
exaggerated 215 pounds at the age of 20, he was brought in for a series of audition matches. He worked a series of house
shows and TV "dark matches" (nontelevised bouts) under such names as the Kamikaze Kid and the Cannonball Kid until they
decided on simply calling him "The Kid." No matter what his name, the WWF was quite pleased with his ring ability as well as
the ebullient response of the fans.

In late spring of 1993, he "officially" made his WWF debut and initially lost many matches. To the fans he was perceived as
little more than just another sacrificial lamb to the superstars of the league. All this quickly changed when he was matched
against Razor Ramon during a national television taping. In one of the greatest upsets in the history of television wrestling,
Waltman survived a vicious beating at the hands of Ramon, and shocked everyone by pressing Razor Ramon for the fatal count
of three.

Within the span of three seconds, "The Kid" went from being a preliminary unknown to a bona fide contender and was quickly
renamed "The 1-2-3 Kid" in honor of his victory. One would be hard-pressed to recall any incident in recent WWF history
where a wrestler entered a TV match billed as a preliminary grappler only to pin his star opponent.

The victory over Ramon was soon proven not to be a fluke. He amassed a string of victories which culminated in two World
tag-team title reigns - one with Marty Jannetty and the other with Bob "Spark Plug" Holly.

He eventually left the WWF and made his mark in WCW in 1996 as a member of the New World Order. He was renamed
Syxx. (A witty play on his old 1-2-3 Kid ring name, 1+2+3=6/Syxx).

His tenacious ways have more than made up for his lack of girth. He's acquired many additional titles since those early
questionable days including the WCW World cruiserweight title and numerous WWF World tag-team and European
championship reigns. There will undoubtedly be many, many more honors to come for the x-ceptional X-Pac.

The origination of these articles

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