History
Sean Waltman had made his name on the Midwest indy circuit as the Lightning Kid. Often paired with Jerry Lynn, the two had torn up the scene during a feud that had even carried into the Global Wrestling Federation, where both had held the GWF Light Heavyweight title.
In 1993, Waltman headed north to the WWF. Waltman’s career was not off to a good start, as it appeared that he was headed directly for Jobber to the Stars status. He didn’t even have a set name. Every week he was introduced differently – the Lightning Kid one week and the Kamikaze Kid the next.
Things were about to change.
On the May 17, 1993 episode of Raw, the Kid was set to take on former Intercontinental champion Razor Ramon. Needless to say, Ramon had a decided height and weight advantage. The Kid’s advantage was his speed.
As might be expected, the Kid spent most of the match getting thrown around by Ramon. Suddenly, the Kid dodged Ramon as he was getting charged in the corner. The Kid then climbed the ropes and came off, pulling Ramon into a bridge for his first victory. The Kid didn’t waste any time celebrating as he cleared out of the ring before Ramon figured out what had happened.
Needless to say, Ramon was furious. In an interview the next week with Vince McMahon, he offered the Kid $2500 for a rematch. The Kid refused.
The next week Razor upped the offer to $5000. Again, the Kid (now being billed as the 1-2-3 Kid) turned him down.
Razor went on to face Tony Roy. With Randy Savage leading a 1-2-3 chant, it looked like Roy was going to get a quick upset over the distracted Ramon. Ramon destroyed Roy as the crowd chanted “we want the Kid.â€Â
Razor had another interview on the following Raw. He assured Vince McMahon that he was going to face the Kid again on the next week’s show because he knew the Kid would take the $7500 he was now putting up.
The next week Razor had had enough. He made another appeal to the “Stickman†– this time for $10,000.
Later in the show, Vince got the Kid on the phone. The Kid, who was in Osaka, finally agreed. The next week he would face Ramon with the $10,000 on the line.
The Kid came out for the match the next week acting a bit uncertain. Although the Kid got off to a good start, Razor finally reversed the momentum and began dominating the Kid. Razor finally had the Kid ready for the Razor’s Edge but instead threw him out of the ring. Razor ripped up the protective mats and prepared to hit the Kid with the Edge on the concrete. The Kid got away and headed back into the ring. A missed dive then sent the Kid outside onto the concrete. Razor pitched him back into the ring and missed another charge into the corner. The Kid came off the top like in the first match, but this time the bridge only got a 2. The Kid then grabbed Razor’s bag of money and took off. He ran out of the building, hopped into a waiting car, and sped off as Razor watched from the sidewalk.
Afterward, Vince caught up with Razor for an interview. Razor told the Kid that he could run, but he couldn’t hide.
And that was the end of the angle. Razor was feuding with Ted DiBiase as well, and the angle worked into the feud where DiBiase made fun of Razor losing to the Kid until he did as well.
It’s amazing that a short five week angle could launch a career. In one match the Lightning Kid went from a jobber to a legitimate star.
The losing streak is usually a dangerous gimmick to work with. It can seriously damage the wrestler’s credibility (such as when Christian would throw tantrums after losing matches in late 2001) as well as the wrestler he beats to break the streak (like when Barry Horowitz defeated Chris Candido).
Overall, however, this time it worked. The Kid was able to transition to a gimmick where he was the underdog against other, larger, WWF superstars, and Razor’s threats of revenge (and not losing the rematch) kept him strong.
It is also ironic that the Kid was made by Razor’s willingness to put him over. The irony is the fact that Razor (and the other members of the so-called Kliq – Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, HHH, and Waltman himself) has become so well-known for refusing to put others over. This reputation, however, was recently disputed by Hall in an interview where he discussed how sometimes he would use his WCW creative control to force the WCW bookers to let him put others over. He specifically mentions an incident where he told the bookers he would either lose to Ric Flair via figure-four or he would not wrestle the match at all.
Razor Ramon jumped to WCW in 1996. Under his given name of Scott Hall, he was the first member of the New World Order, and the first shot in their invasion of WCW. Hall was released from WCW in 2000. He then headed to ECW for a short stay before he went to New Japan, where he would spend two years. 2002 saw him return to the US (and the NWO) as they invaded the WWF. Hall was released later that year and headed to TNA. He still makes sporadic TNA appearances today, although his current home appears to be Carlos Colon’s WWC.
The Kid also jumped to WCW in 1996. Now known as Syxx, he joined real-life friends Hall and Kevin Nash in the New World Order. Syxx was released from WCW late in 1997 after suffering an injury and returned to the WWF the following March as X-Pac, a new member of D-Generation X. He was released in 2002 and promptly headed to TNA under his real name of Sean Waltman. He left in November of that year after Vince Russo was hired. Waltman spent the next few years in and out of TNA until 2006 when he signed with MTV’s Wrestling Society X. After the WSX shut down, Waltman headed to Mexico’s AAA promotion where he remains today.
