Traditionally yours,
by The NWG on 2001-08-14

"X-Pac Sucks, X-Pac Sucks." We've all said it, we've all heard it. It's become a common chant for all of us. But what's happened to him? Why did he go from great as the 1-2-3 Kid, to bad as The Kid/Syxx/X-Pac, to pretty good again. I think there's one thing to blame. No, not injuries.

It's "The Clique."

Let's look back at the different stages of his career, part by part.

Early Career (1990-1995): Back around this time, he was a pretty good wrestler. He'd put on good matches, entertain the crowd, and generally not suck. Had a great aresenal of moves (high flying and ground), and since he was so small in a McMahon run federation, he knew that he had to do SOMETHING if he wanted to keep his job.

Clique Days (late 1995-2001): At this point, he fell in with "The Clique" (Nash/Hall/Shawn Michaels/Triple H). Since he was buddies with three of the biggest names in the federation at that time (before Hunter was over), he was able to basically do what he wanted. Vince didn't want to lose the big names, so he kept their little buddy around. With the added protection, X-Pac started "phoning in" his matches. Once Nash and Hall jumped to WCW, X-Pac was soon to follow and become Syxx. Again, he got even more annoying and egotistical, and was stuck in bad matches where there were tons of run ins, and got even lazier. When he jumped back to WWF, he was again protected by Shawn and Hunter, same thing happened again. He just kept doing the same things, and he kept his job. Then...

Now (after Triple H got injured-now): Triple H is injured. Shawn is MIA. Nash/Hall are collecting Time Warner checks. All of a sudden, X-Pac has *NOBODY* to help him out. Then they take away his stable, so he can't hide in the background. What's a man to do when his job is in danger?

He goes back to what brought him to the dance.

He may still be egotistical and stuff, but he's gone back to the old X-Pac we know and love. Now, we've got the high flying, mat talented, heel cheating X-Pac back. And I like it. He's put on some great matches with Helms, Tajiri, and the other light heavyweights over the past little while.

Will this X-Pac stay around? It depends. Maybe he'll try to prove to the crowd that "X-Pac Doesn't Suck". Maybe once Triple H comes back, he'll go back to his old tendancies. I sure hope not.

***

Continuing on stuff that does not suck. ASW does not suck. While I didn't get to see much of the undercard (since me and my buddy were making clips of it), I did get to see most of Manson's match and the main event. Manson's match was pretty good (even if he lost...poor Manson). But the 4 Way Dance?

It...ruled.

Mad Bomber, Kenny Lush, Kamakazie Kid and Strife all put on one heckuva match. I couldn't believe some of the moves I saw. Most impressive had to be Bomber using a reverse Texas Cloverleaf into a wheelbarrow suplex...unbeliveable move. It was an awsome match with a great finish (two pinfalls at once, one guy kicked out, the other didn't.) I just wanted to come on here and give out props to all four guys in the match (hopefully they read the site, or at least SOMEBODY [nudge nudge Manson] can point them to it).

On that one match alone, I may have to head down to Abbotsford for the next show (same four in a table match)...espically to tell them who I am (for the second straight show they've thought my buddy was "The NWG" ... it's ticking me off.)

So until next time, this has been The NWG...see ya next week.

[PS: Dan, sorry I wrote an article...but my buddy reported that Manson was gonna kick my arse. I wimped out. Oh well.]