WWE legend X-Pac recounts iconic night Scott Hall shocked the world and put him over as the 1-2-3 Kid

Yahoo

07-05-2025

On May 17, 32 years will have come and gone since two-time WWE Hall of Famer Sean Waltman — then known as "The Kid" — scored arguably the biggest upset in professional wrestling history. In his 1993 match against the late, great "Razor Ramon" Scott Hall, a 21-year-old Waltman shocked the wrestling world with a surprise quick pin of the established superstar, while in his "jobber" role.
Reflecting on the iconic moment on Wednesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," Waltman couldn't believe one of his career-best highlights had came so long ago.
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"Wow, 32 years — I'm just blown away," Waltman said. "I mean, I know we all talk about how fast time flies and everything, but it's just like that, man. It's all behind us.
"That's the most important moment in my entire career. There's not even a close second. Easily top three most important moments of my life, as far as I'm concerned."
The 52-year-old legend accumulated many more notable accomplishments throughout his in-ring career, most famously as part of the D-Generation X and New World Order factions. However, the win that turned him into the "1-2-3 Kid" before "X-Pac" is still as memorable as ever.
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Waltman remembered getting to the arena nice and early on the day of the fateful event, while the rest of the company's big stars, like Hall, had to take a red-eye flight overnight from WWE's previous show. WWE booker Pat Patterson met Waltman and Hall backstage to go over the match, and his plan was just to have Hall beat up Waltman before some sort of quick pin. Waltman suggested the moonsault into a pin — and that was that.
Waltman didn't even know Hall outside of a small connection through Curt Hennig, but the icon known then as "Razor Ramon" couldn't have been happier with the idea of putting over a scrawny youngster.
"I'm just so grateful to Scott," Waltman said. "You hate to say you take somebody for granted, especially one of your best friends, like a brother, but I did. His brilliance, and just — he's gone, and all of that's gone now. As far as I'm concerned, he was the smartest guy in the car of the five of us [in WWE's fabled The Kliq group]. Somebody might dispute that, but that's how I felt. He was just brilliant, man. Not too many people in his league when it comes to that.
"Scott got to be a point where he's a heel, and he's doing everything right, as far as he's not trying to be a babyface, but people just loved him. They were going to turn him [into a babyface] on their own, and Vince [McMahon] saw that and he wanted to solve that problem, if you want to call it a problem.
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"This was a great way to bring me in, introduce me, and turn Razor Ramon babyface," Waltman continued. "Thankfully, I did my part and took full advantage of that opportunity — because, let me just say this, usually back then, when they would introduce a new star, it would just be the same old thing, right? Some vignettes, then some squash matches on TV. Then it's like go out there and get over. This is what I got. That was my introduction. Unbelievable, man."
These days, Waltman's days of lacing the boots up for a match are likely behind him. However, he's not shy about giving the occasional rub in a fun spot when requested, as he did at the recent TNA Rebellion event with The Rascalz.
The small cameo was the only plan discussed for Waltman in TNA, so don't expect to see him popping up regularly.
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More importantly, though, Waltman has reached a good point in his life after battling drug addiction and substance abuse for countless years throughout his career. The WWE legend is proud to have conquered his demons.
"I couldn't ask for a better life," Waltman said. "A lot of people know I had a really rough patch in my life over probably a dozen or so [years ago]. I was just in a real dark place, and just constantly in the news for all the wrong reasons. So, I finally got it — finally got this thing figured out, it seems like.
"Life is great. I've been married for five years. Buster, my dog, my best friend, I take him hiking all the time. Life is great, man. My wrestling and personal life, business stuff, is balanced perfectly right now.
"Just like a lot of other people, you keep trying and keep falling down. People get tired of helping after they've tried and done their turn at helping you," Waltman continued. "I kind of almost ran out of all those people — and luckily, I just happened to be ready to do this. I have dear friends now. Maria Menounos and her husband Kevin Undergaro, they kind of took me into their world, got me set up with all the podcasting stuff, and just around all of their people, and it was exactly what I needed. And I was ready for the help, and I took full advantage of it."