WWE Hall Of Famer Sean “X-Pac” Waltman took to his podcast, “X-Pac 12360,” to talk about several professional wrestling topics alongside his guest, Rob Van Dam. Waltman offered his thoughts on CM Punk apparently returning to professional wrestling recently, RVD commented on wrestlers taking chair shots to the head, Vince McMahon giving him advice about being safe in the ring, and more.
Here are the highlights:
Sean Waltman on CM Punk apparently returning to professional wrestling recently:
‘I’m never coming back to wrestling.’ I mean he said that over and over again. History tells me that eventually he will return to wrestling… A lot of people in entertainment that mean it just as much as he does eventually come back…. Trust me he will be back, I promise you at some point CM Punk will be back involved in wrestling. And no one should go like ‘ oh see we told you’ cause it’s his life.
And at the time he means it, when he said ‘I am never coming back’ he means it. It’s just that history shows that everyone who meant it too comes back. I can honestly see him showing up in AEW. That could be like this huge surprise that they’re waiting to drop with the announcement of a TV deal.
RVD on wrestlers taking chair shots to the head:
So I have mixed feelings about that, cause one, it’s an art form. And for me I’ve always appreciated being able to express myself as an artist. I feel that they should know-young guys getting in the business, if they know that hitting their heads is dangerous and could lead to stuff and they choose to do it anyway I wouldn’t necessarily agree with their choices but at the same time I don’t think that I would necessarily hate them for it or try to ban them if they want to take shots to the head.
It seems unnecessary now but I mean I don’t wanna stop…I mean I don’t even want to wrestle {laughs} But when I do, I better give it all I’ve got you know, because that’s the worker that I am. The moves that I am gonna do are still gonna be dangerous, they are still gonna be moves that people in the crowd wouldn’t be able to survive, otherwise what’s the point? But I do believe it’s smart to learn to protect the health and I don’t know exactly where the lines are drawn on responsibility.
Vince McMahon giving RVD advice about being safe in the ring:
By the way I just wanna say this you know, in the movie, in my documentary “Headstrong”, it’s important for me to get some points out. That I don’t blame any wrestling promotion, nobody ever made me do anything that I wasn’t stupid enough to wanna do on my own.
But I do want to say that when I first came to WWE, one time I was walking up the ramp, to go through gorilla, and Vince was standing there after my match and he said to me, ‘Rob, when you’re taking those chair shots, you put your hands up.’ and I was like, ‘Nah Vince, that’s for the other guys, I am a lot tougher than the other guys.’ he said ‘ no you listen to me, you put your hands up.’ and I said, ‘Yeah, but that’s the way I do it. I mean I’ve been doing it this way for years’, he said ‘ Rob, listen I am your father telling you, put your hands up.’
And then it really got through to me, I was like well this is the boss, he’s the guy that’s paying me, why else am I here? And he’s telling me he’s paying me to put my hands up. So I was like, ‘alright.’
RVD on taking bumps and the difference between a wrestler and normal person:
It’s gonna happen sometime when you take a bump, I think the thing is to be educated, and be aware of it. Honestly, I am not for nurturing the world up, and making it super soft and taking it away from what it is, I think pro wrestlers should be the toughest guys in society that are out there taking that abuse. Normal people; you bump into somebody’s bumper in the parking lot, they get whiplash, they’re out of work for 6 weeks, they got a neck brace.
How many car crashes do we go through in one night? You know what I mean? I don’t think pro wrestlers should be treated like normal people because we’re not and that’s the whole draw of watching wrestling. We’re a bunch of freaks that are in there.Some guys are 300 pounds of muscle, other guys are doing 4 flips, whatever, but that’s the entertainment part of it. They’re not just normal people, although they look more and more normal as the smaller guys are overpopulating the business {laughs}.
Related: Silas Young Hints That CM Punk Possibly Returned To Pro Wrestling This Weekend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2RWhL9jDPs
