10 Most Criminally Underrated Wrestlers In History
8. Sean Waltman
Much like Jannetty, X-Pac has become the victim of unfortunate shorthand.
By early 2001, the product was so white hot that everybody in the WWF was over - everybody with the exception of X-Pac. Sean Waltman was still portraying the frat boy degenerate schtick under a different, derivative guise. Even Edge poked fun at his perceived inability to get with the times. "1998 called, and they're sick and tired of you." The phenomenon became known as "X-Pac heat," because he was the one act on the unmissable show to receive an adverse reaction.
X-Pac had been rendered redundant and stale by the WWF's ridiculously expansive and fresh midcard, but lost amid the criticism is that Waltman had developed his act to remain relevant for years prior to his stagnation. A man of his rake-thin proportions had no business making it in the first place, but did so as a result of his natural and empathetic babyface fire. When the 1-2-3 Kid bit reached its expiration date, Waltman reinvented himself as Syxx in WCW - a cockier real-life extension of the backstage brat he was.
His act did grow old, but not before he blazed a quiet trail.
Exhibit A: Waltman's under-appreciated diversity is best demonstrated in his thrilling and believable challenge of Bret Hart's WWF Title on the July 1, 1994 RAW. The Kid veered across the face/heel divide in an energenetic, high-brow page-turner.