Sean Waltman talks about being a barometer for new talent coming into the WWE in the mid-90s.
During the mid-90s, the WWE was in its New Generation era. Names like Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, end the British Bulldog for all establishing a more athletic style as the norm at the top of the card instead of the Hulk Hogan main events of the 1980s.
Another name helping further along the New Generation was Sean Waltman. Then known as the 1-2-3 Kid, Waltman would occasionally be used as a barometer for incoming talent that had been recently hired by WWE in order to see what their ceiling was.
Speaking with Sean Ross Sapp, Waltman explained that he was never used for tryout matches to see if anybody would actually be hired and that was okay with him because he would not want that kind of pressure.
"Not like to that extent ‘cause honestly, I wouldn’t want that pressure,” said Waltman. "‘Hey, yeah, you’re the guy that fucking thumbs down the so-and-so and they didn’t get a job.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, geez.’ I appreciate them having that much faith in me, but that’s not the kind of pressure I want to have on me. I don’t want to be known as the guy to cause people not to get a job,” he continued
Waltman explained that he would be used to test someone's timing and ability in an effort to gauge where they were in terms of in-ring prowess and where they could go. Shane Douglas, who had his first match as Dean Douglas with Sean Waltman in 1995 is perhaps the most noteworthy example of Waltman’s role as a barometer in WWE.
“I just knew I didn’t have chemistry and the match wasn’t good. I never thought about this as their tryout match. I was just trying to go out there and have a good match,” he said. “The thing is, Sean, I always [had good matches] with everybody. I never tanked it in there with anybody. It was important to me to have a good match.”
However, Sean Waltman was a star in WWE and as such, he was often spotlighted in many enhancement matches during his first tenure. One of those occurred in 1994 when he wrestled Chris Hamrick. In the middle of the match, Waltman shot Hamrick off the ropes and kicked his leg causing Hamrick to fly all the way through the middle rope and to the outside of the ring.
Reflecting on that match, Sean Waltman says he laughed when Hamrick explained that he wanted to take that bump for him. The former X-Pac also recalled experimenting in the match and finishing it with a Stretch Muffler submission hold, uncommon for him at any point in his career.
“I’m like, ‘Okay.’ I kind of laughed. I was like, ‘Yeah? Really? You serious? Okay.’ ‘Cause I did crazy shit, too, that seems crazy to other people. I’m like, ‘Okay, man. If you say you’ve done it a bunch of times.’ ‘Cause I also don’t want to be the guy where the guy goes out there and he gets hurt working with me, too, right? Man, you see that a lot right, in GIFs or whatever. That match, he gave me a really good match. Not just that one spot. I did some kind of cool shit in there that I didn’t remember doing. I hit an exploder suplex. Nobody even called it an exploder suplex at the time. Stretch muffler for the finish on the guy,” Waltman recalled.
Now, Waltman has returned to the ring for another run. You can read more about that here.
