Eric Bischoff Says Sean Waltman Deserves More Credit for DX’s Success Than He’ll Ever Get

Eric Bischoff says Sean Waltman was a big reason DX took off so quickly in WWF. On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Conrad Thompson looked back at Waltman’s match with Chris Jericho at Halloween Havoc 1996, when Waltman was still finding his footing as Syxx in the nWo. Bischoff said Waltman leaving the nWo gave DX instant credibility, praised how well he understands match psychology, and said he hopes Waltman ends up at NXT or training talent. When Thompson pointed out that Waltman was trained by Boris and Joe Malenko, Bischoff tied it back to Dean Malenko’s work in WCW’s cruiserweight division. You can check out his comments below:

On Waltman In 1996:

“I don’t think I saw it yet. I was just noticing in a couple of those shots that Sean was out there doing that gimmick he used to do as the 1-2-3 Kid, and even prior as the Lightning Kid. He did a lot of that martial arts stuff. And if you go back and watch Sean when we really got him into the nWo storyline, he didn’t really do a lot of that. He’d throw a move out here and there. His kicks were really pretty awesome, but he didn’t do the whole Karate Kid, Hollywood karate stuff. At least if he did, he didn’t do it very often. So I don’t think Sean had found his groove quite yet, just guessing based on what I saw there in some of the stills.”

On Why Waltman Deserves Credit For DX’s Success:

“Yes and no. I think the only reason that Sean Waltman made any difference at all in DX — and quite frankly, I think it was largely responsible for the immediate success of DX — is because it represented the first time anybody significant, a current active member of the hottest story in professional wrestling at that time, maybe of all time, decided to jump ship. That was big news. That gave DX instant credibility when they showed up that they would not have had, had Sean Waltman not jumped ship, or had I not fired him. That’s a fact. I’ve said it before; it’s not the first time I’ve said it. Sean Waltman deserves way more credit for the success of DX than he will ever get, ever. Because from a psychological point of view, for the audience, that was a holy s*** moment in its own way.

“Did Sean get a lot of mic time? No, because he wasn’t really that great on the mic. But was he always instrumental in the important things that were going on with the nWo? He was cool by association, and then he’d have his own moments that were pretty damn cool for his character. But he evolved into that prior to DX, and I think just carried it with him. Scott and Kevin brought him in. They made him a part of it. They forced him to be a character that was a visible part of the nWo, not necessarily because of mic time, but he was there with Hulk and Dennis Rodman and Kevin Nash and Scott Hall and everybody else that interacted with the nWo. He was right there, and it served him very well. He’s a very talented guy. Underrated. He doesn’t get nearly enough credit.”

On Waltman’s Understanding of Psychology:

“When I say underrated, this is another example, and I didn’t even realize this until probably the last few years. I see Sean once or twice a year, and we always make a point to spend some time together catching up. Inevitably, we’re talking about wrestling, and when you hear Sean lay out the psychology of a match — not laying out the moves, the moves are important. But when you hear Sean talk about psychology, whether it’s a character and how to get a character over or establish a character, or you really listen to him laying out the psychology of a match, he really gets it, far more than a lot of people that I thought should know a lot more than they really do. He really gets psychology.

“I don’t know where he picked it up. I don’t know a lot about his training and his career prior to really going to WWE, other than a little bit in Minneapolis. He did a shot with Verne, and there was another promoter in Minneapolis that he worked for. And then he ended up in WWE, then WCW, and back in WWE. I don’t know who influenced him, but whoever it was, Sean has picked up a lot of really valuable psychology. I hope he ends up doing something at NXT or training somebody, because he has a lot to share.”

On Learning Waltman Was Trained By the Malenko Family:

“Doesn’t that just sum up everything that we talked about on this show? We talked so much about Dean and why he was so important, and I think a lot of that is because those matches mattered. Yes, there were a lot of high spots, but there was psychology in those matches as well. That’s what differentiates those matches from that era. We’re talking about the cruiserweights in ’96, ’97, whatever it was. There was psychology in those matches in addition to a lot of the high spots. Sometimes the psychology might not have been as evident as others, but it certainly was in the match with Dean and Rey. I guarantee it. I haven’t seen the match since it happened, but I would guarantee there was great psychology in that match, because that’s what Dean brought to the table in spades. And evidently, it was part of the Malenko philosophy of training professional wrestlers, to teach them why you do what you do, when you do what you do.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.