Sean Michael Waltman started his love for wrestling in his early teenage years when he would help set up rings when the big shows would come to town, taking it as a chance to meet the favorites he'd watched for so long. At age 15 he began hanging around with the wrestlers themselves, no longer just setting up their "stage". While holding backyard matches with friends was fun at first, he knew the only way he was ever going to be able to make it was to train at an actual school. Packing his bags and heading South, the Minneapolis native relocated to southern Florida and stayed with family while training at the famous Boris Malenko Wrestling School, under the guidance of greats Ric Flair and Scott Hall, with whom he quickly formed frienships. He toiled in various places before landing himself in GWF, where he gained national exposure on ESPN as the Lightning Kid. Though he had all the qualities of a major star, the Big Two repeatedly refused to accept his service, basing their reasons on appearances alone. Not only did the gangly youngster have a babyface, but at the time, he was barely over 200 pounds. Little did the two companies know that dynamite comes in small packages.
October of '93. Vince McMahon finally took a chance in signing the promising young star, more than likely intending to use him as fodder to put over the stars he had already built. In his first few weeks, his gimmick was, quite simply, a jobber who couldn't get a break. Every week he came out with a new name--the Dynamite Kid, the Cannonball Kid, etc. Eventually he shortended it to The Kid, until one Monday Night Raw when he scored what might have been one of the biggest upsets in WWF's history, when he obtained a win over main-event star, Razor Ramon (Scott Hall). The stunned Vince McMahon dubbed him The 1-2-3 Kid, the name stuck, and a new star is born.
The 1-2-3 Kid went on to team with Marty Janetty and Bob Holly, winning the Tag straps, but never really going anywhere in his career. At last he turned against Razor Ramon and joined the Million Dollar Corporation, basically thumbing his nose at those he felt failed to give him due credit from the start. This never really got anywhere either, and the only real action he gained was the famous Crybaby match against Razor Ramon, where he lost and was forced to wear a diaper and drink a bottle, which he still to this day cites as his most embarassing in-ring moment. At a Raw taping after that, he injured his neck for the first time, and was sidelined for quite some time. Upon returning, he discovered that his services were no longer wanted, and worked out an agreement to go to WCW with fellow kliq members and friends, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.
Part II
It was little known at the time, but "the Kid" had belonged to the Kliq since Scott had first introduced him to his friends, so he naturally went South shortly after his best friends did. Upon arriving in WCW, he was revealed as the sixth member of the NWO, thus being christened "Syxx". The real reason for this remains to be seen, though...Syxx for his placement, or a subtle reference? (1 plus 2 plus 3=6) But either reason, he went on to win the Cruiserweight belt, which he held for quite some time before finally losing it. He had a few successful feuds, mostly with Chris Jericho and real-life friend Ric Flair, but not much was different from his WWF days. It was not as obvious then, but WCW Guru Eric Bischoff strongly objected to Sean's antics, and the two were often on different ground (The banning of the crotch chop, the banning of the Bronco Buster, and Bischoff's almost refusal to let him have interview time because of his swearing habit.) Nontheless, Syxx continued to rise in ranks, but once again was struck dead after his peak.
In Halloween Havoc '97, a match saw Scott Hall pitted against WCW savior, Lex Luger, with Larry Zybysco as the special ref.. Near the end of the match, Syxx ran in to stop Larry from giving Luger the win, and when Larry grabbed his neck, not only could a career have been ended, but a young life could have been cut short. For the second time in his life, Syxx's neck had been broken, this time considerably worse than previously. He took months off to heal, this time without the use of painkillers, as they had led to many problems the first time. In January of '98, he had major surgery to remove two vertebrae in his neck, and shortly thereafter, received notice from Eric Bischoff via FedEx that he no longer had a job.
March 30, 1998. The day after Wrestlemania, and HHH is not happy with the way things went. HBK "dropped the ball", and he was determined to make DX a stronger, more cohesive unit than before. His first order of business was to introduce the former Kid, X-Pac. In a much talked about interview, the Kid went on a tirade aimed directly at Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan, letting off built-up frustrations of months prior. Though he was still recovering from surgery, he proved to be a key player in the newly formed D-Generation X, and when able to wrestle again, showed what a couple years' absence can do for a demeanor.
Sean currently lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two children, and when not wrestling, still loves to play around with the martial arts tapes, mostly to keep in shape and to keep from getting rusty in the moves.
Having successful feuds with Jeff Jarrett, D'Lo Brown, Shane McMahon, previously and even now real-life friend, HHH, the two-time European belt holder has proven that even a Kid can become a champion, both in and out of the ring.
