Lucha Underground's Willie Mack recently appeared on Sean Waltman’s "X-Pac 1, 2, 360" podcast. You can watch the interview in the video above and here are some submitted highlights….
Sean recalls meeting Willie when he was a high school student:
You kind of had the ‘I’m a badass’ [attitude]. You were projecting that, and I’m thinking to myself, man I hope nothing happens here and this kid doesn’t get too lippy with me, because I’d have a hell of a time trying to do something with this guy. I don’t need some fourteen year old kid kicking my ass, making it on TMZ…[Then] when I saw Willie at WSX it had been a few years and I wasn’t surprised at all. I just had a big smile on my face and I said, I knew I’d see you eventually.
Willie was surprised Sean remembered him at WSX:
It was awesome because you know, this fool a superstar and everything, been on TV, been around the countries everywhere else, and he remembered me from a few years back and it’s awesome.
Sean reveals his public response to Willie’s WWE release caught the company’s attention:
Back when all this happened I was pretty upset, man. I’m not going to lie, dude. I shed a tear when I found that out…It really upset me. So I kind of said some things on Twitter, and [William] Regal came to me and just said, hey, come on, man. We really wanted that guy. You’re making us sound like we’re this or that. So I know they really dig you, Willie. I know they think you’re great and hopefully one day, well not hopefully, it will happen if you choose for it to happen.
Willie adds:
Another thing about the release I hated, people thought it was because they said, oh he smoked weed. I haven’t smoked weed in about six years. What you talking about?! I’m the cleanest, healthiest, fat dude that you’ve ever seen.
Willie describes his tragic and unconventional childhood:
I was born like an 80s baby, which is basically our mom did drugs and they had you in the womb and it passed on to me. A few months later I got caught in a fire because my mama was high on some stuff and she was trying to cook something and burned up the house. My hand caught fire and a part of my leg. My bigger sister, who was way older, kicked in the door and got us out. I ended up in foster care with a person named Ira Richardson. She took care of me. She was a family friend, and she raised me as her own. Then like all I had was really wrestling to look up to.
Willie knew what he wanted to do at age fourteen after a visit to wrestling school:
I’m going to wait until I’m eighteen and graduate from high school and I get my diploma, and I’m going to be right back here in four years. Sure enough, I graduated on a Wednesday, training was on a Thursday. It was June 20, 2005 when I graduated. Then the next day I showed up–bought me some wrestling shoes, some knee pads and something to work out in, and started training.
You can download the podcast on iTunes at this link.
