Sean “X-Pac” Waltman recounts his early in-ring interactions with Shane McMahon.
While much of his WWE work was done in a non-wrestling capacity, Shane McMahon has racked up over 100 matches during his in-ring career, which began in late 1998. The following year, though, was when McMahon really revved up his in-ring reps. In his second WWE match ever, McMahon unseated X-Pac (albeit in a tag team match) to become the European Champion. The two later met again at WrestleMania 15, where McMahon successfully defended the title.
During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman recalled his early encounters with Shane McMahon. While Waltman was initially hesitant about working with McMahon, he eventually embraced the opportunity to collaborate with him in the ring.
“My match with Shane, that was his first. It wasn’t his first actual match, but it was his first [big] match. A lot of the things you saw up there in that match were his ideas. Vince asked me to work with him and I had these conditions.
“I’ve told this before, but, I was like, ‘I get to go over and he has to listen to me.’ So Shane came in with this whole list of ideas, and at first I was kind of standoffish about it,” Waltman said. “I brought it to Vince. I’m like, ‘Vince, look,’ and then Shane comes to me. Okay, whatever. Then I actually just sat down after he said that and read it and we ended up doing like three-fourths of it. They were all great ideas.”
“I told him before our match, I’m like, ‘Dude, if I don’t light you up, man, people are going to look at me [weird].’ He’s like, ‘No, bring it.’ Oh, yeah, he wanted to [light him up], and I did, too. I made him hit me hard. We had the weight belt, and I made him just tee off on me with it. He was great. He was great to work.”
Though McMahon was moreso shaped as an authority figure in WWE, Waltman commends him for his efforts in the ring. “It’s not like any other pro wrestler you’ll work with. It’s different, though. He’s got a different kind of energy, and the movement out there that’s just a little bit different. Everything comes off great, but he’s intense.”
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