X-Pac Heat....I never got it (and other various musings)

[wendytorrancev1]

Hello all my lovies!! 

I hope everyone has a very happy, safe, and productive 4th of July weekend! 

I had a question about X-Pac. Why couldn't he ever live down his heat? LOL. 

Between the end of 1999 to the point where he came back with the NWO, he was booed, jeered, and heckled. 

I mean, I get it, he did Kane so, so very wrong. X-Pac was manipulative, cruel, and vindictive towards Kane the entire time. Then he TURNED AROUND and STOLE Kane's girl, cultimating in Tori being the third female and last person to join DX. He also would get cheap heat by attacking Tori during her matches before the two had spent Christmas weekend together. 

By 2000, X-Pac was strongly in heel territory and would assist Triple H's intoxication with power by doing everything in his power to have Trips retain the WWF Heavyweight championship. Towards mid-to-late Spring, we started seeing less and less of X-Pac, as he and Road Dogg (and Tori) were the only remaining members of DX, which meant they were a shell of their former selves, and once Tori was out of the picture (I think it was Bubba Ray who put her through a table), Road Dogg and X-Pac started getting into petty spats with each other. This is when things weren't looking so good for X-Pac. 

X-Pac went through getting into a fight with Road Dogg (who was his only friend and ally at that point), to his several unsuccessful attempts at capturing the European Championship from Al Snow, getting humiliated by Tori with her slapping him for failing to protect her from The Dudley Boyz, and then he spent the rest of the year jobbing to Chris Jericho. 

In 2001, X-Pac began gunning for the Intercontinental championship and lost out of that. That's when he teamed up with Justin Credible (I totally forgot how they linked up, I think they just showed up like that one day), with Albert joining shortly after to form X-Factor. This was a team that was DX-Lite (I think their colors were purple and black and they had a far worse theme song), only with X-Pac as the leader, instead of the sidekick (and I don't think he was the leader of his tag-team with Road Dogg as Road Dogg had more tag-team expertise). This was a long time coming for X-Pac, as he was looking for his time to shine; whatwith him being Triple H's lapdog (only to benefit Trips) for the better part of a year and Triple H giving him the cold shoulder when he lost the championship. 

Though X-Pac was an ineffective leader, the tag-team did show some minor success. All throughout, however, we, as an audience, always heard the "X-Pac sucks!" chants. I understand what he did to Kane was ridiculous and he was never going to live that down, but at this point, he was trying to break away from the "Young Degenerate" character, with minimal success. 

I remember being in attendance at Backlash 2001 with my then boyfriend. He started trying to start the "X-Pac sucks!" chant, but he abruptly stopped after I slapped him on the shoulder and gave him a death stare. 

Even when X-Pac was a face towards the end of 2001 when he was the Light-Heavyweight champion, he was still getting those chants. 

I mean, I see heat coming from all the vile actions he did to Kane, but were people really hanging onto that? I didn't mind X-Pac. Then again, I didn't too much care for The Rock, so I'm weird like that. 

As an aside, when I was going down memory lane, I remember leading up to Wrestlemania X7, Vince McMahon forced Debra to be The Rock's manager. I'm not sure how it works, but I didn't think someone can just force a manager on you. 

I have read that both Steve Austin and Dwayne Johnson were very "uncomfortable" with this storyline. I mean, it just doesn't make any sense. They were trying it, too. There was a tag team match with The Rock and Austin on the same team, and Debra was sitting there clapping for The Rock and making moon eyes at him, which caused Austin to reprimand her several times during the match and after the match. 

Why Debra? Were they trying to force down the whole Randy Savage/Miss Elizabeth thing? Debra is hardly Miss Elizabeth, and by that point, the most memorable things she had done was getting chokeslammed by Nicole Bass and being the Lieutenant Commissioner (which she was horrible at). 

It almost drops into the abysmally stupid angle that forced that asinine romance angle between The Rock and Trish Stratus. Check it out, Trish and The Rock were forced into a tag-team match during the Invasion storyline and Trish was backstage all nervous about the match. Then, The Rock just appears out of nowhere like the Candyman and tells her that he'll protect her and all of that. The two share a very awkward, robotic, and unpassionate kiss. PUH-LEEZE!!! 

I never understood why they had to have Austin and Debra's relationship written into the show when it should have been kept in the back. I suppose that the current product does that now with Triple H and Stephanie's relationship. However, at the time, the WWF never worked in The Kat and Lawler's relationship, although it was super obvious. 

My point being, that Austin and The Rock always worked alone and never needed anything from anyone. They were badasses who relied on just themselves (which also brings up the question on why The Rock opened up to Vince and trusted him, when just a year earlier, he turned on him). I'm just so glad they dropped that storyline. 

Anyway, I've gabbed on far enough. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!! Be safe and I love you all! 

[Feyrhausen]

I have always read that Austin wanted Debra on the road with him. She didnt want to just tag along so they made her an onscreen character. But Austin didnt want her taking bumps, or betraying him, or anything really so she was a just there character.

[tirtefaa]

As far as X-Pac goes, I just assumed it was always because he was never given a reason to be cheered. There were other wrestlers who were WWF guys who weren't cheered by default either, however I think the difference being was that X-Pac was relegated to shows like Heat. Also I thought the tag team of X-Factor could have been cool, but once they added Albert and made Pac the "leader", I thought it was stupid. Then Credible turned shortly thereafter when Pac and Albert mocked him for not having any gold. On a side note, Albert may be the worst Intercontinental champion ever, winning it probably his lowest point in his career.

With Debra, I thought this was provided as a red herring, but they never pushed it the way they should have. I too, thought it was supposed to be a Mega Powers ripoff.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

X-Pac was just really stale and played out by the time D-X disintegrated in the second half of 2000. You look around the roster and everyone who was getting consistent TV time in the midcard was talent new to the Fed like the Radicalz, Jericho, Tazz, The Dudleys, etc., or they were old talents with a metaphorical fresh coat of paint that was allowing them to ward off that staleness, like Edge & Christian, Too Cool, the APA, the Right to Censor members, etc.

All except for X-Pac, who was seemingly in a time warp, as almost nothing had changed from his 1998 self. Even as D-X was phased out, with Triple H shedding every aspect of D-X from his character, Billy Gunn dropping Mr. Ass to become The One, Road Dogg eschewing the Outlaws intro for rapping with the future R-Truth, and Chyna going from a silent enforcer to gender barrier-breaking Playboy playmate, he was still coming out to his D-X theme song and wearing the same green gear.

And then to make things worse, he spends the remainder of 2000 feuding with Jericho, who seemingly eviscerates him every week in promos about him being the same damn X-Pac everyone was sick of at this point. Before their final match of the year at No Mercy, Jericho spends an entire promo mocking his green tights, only for X-Pac to finally debut new gear, but the damage was done and you could even make jokes about Waltman sewing a new singlet in seconds because he couldn't be seen again wearing the color green.

The only other people that remained unchanged in 2000-2001 were guys like Bossman (who also had the term Bossman Heat coined around this time for the exact same reason), Viscera, Gangrel, and a couple others, but they were generally only seen on the C-shows by the end of 2000, whereas X-Pac was the stalest guy still seeing constant time on Raw and Smackdown.

[Andee9001]

I feel the problem with Pac came down to just how fast paced the Attitude Era really was. I mean that in a sense that mid card scene in 98 and 99 was so different compared to 00 and 01. 98/99 had X Pac, Shamrock, porn star Val Venis, Gunn, Road Dogg, D-Lo, Goldust, Jarrett and others. Once you get to 2000 the mid card scene had Angle, Jericho, Benoit, Eddie, Saturn, generic Val Venis and all the tag teams. You also had X-Pac doing the exact same thing as he was doing in 98 but as a dickhead heel. Same in 01.

He just never developed himself in any meaningful way. Heck he was pretty much doing the same since 96 when he joined the NWO. He needed some character developement and needed to change things. Guy was a really talented wrestler but in an era that was constantly changing he became ironically enough a relic.

[nickcave]

I think his character was just really stale and the attempts to freshen him up like you said with the X-Factor stable didn't help because it was a terrible stable with an awful theme song. Also this was around the time that Waltman's drug issues started catching up with him and I don't think his heart was completely in it

[Hit Girl]

I dispute that X Pac ever received X Pac heat.

[Ozman]

“X-Pac heat” is not real IMO. A lot of so called “smart marks” use that phrase to describe heels they personally dislike, and use the excuse of “X-Pac heat” as the reason why they dislike them.

[jason1980s]

I know Justin was a talent and Albert is well renowned as a trainer but it was a bad fit for X-Pac to be with them. He was usually pretty popular, well regarded as talented and was in some great storylines or feuds in the past while Justin was Aldo Montoya-perennial jobber with the jockstrap gimmick and Albert could be repackaged a million times and wasn't near as talented as most roster members, very boring. That team was just asking for fans to hate on X-Pac.

[repomark]

There is definitely a difference between people booing someone because they are invested in their antics and want to see the good guy pummel them, and booing because they don’t want to watch when they are on. This is what I always took from the term “x-Pac heat”, though I agree it seems harsh that it is something exclusively named after him even after all these years. He was very over at several points in his career, both as a heel and a babyface.

[msc]

The heel turn did him dirty. It made everything X-Pac fought for in 1999 pointless for the sake of a swerve. People really bought into the Kane and X-Pac team. Then he dumped Kane and nicked his girlfriend in a very dodgy angle too. And he never got his comeuppance, he just kept sneaking out.

DX 2000 pretty much did for him and Road Dogg who were both massively over in 1999 but dead in the water by mid-2000.

In 2001, they had him form X-Factor but then had Edge publicly bury him as a relic of the past on live TV.

Couple continually getting injured and his personal demons post-2000 and he never really had the chance to overcome that bad booking.

It used to be called Bossman Heat, but that shifted fairly quickly (before he died) because the real life Ray Traylor was almost universally seen as such a good guy that fans felt bad naming a "bad thing" after him. He used to be out there raising millions for kids charities before it became the go to thing. And then, after doing good deeds, he'd go out there and recite poetry about Big Show's daddy being dead!

[THE FVNKER]

I wish that term would go die somewhere. After watching him talk to Joanie on Opie and Anthony, and his subsequent shoot interviews and stuff.. the man definitely messed up a lot, but he's very self aware and seems like a legit good dude. His work is underrated and only makes me wish he could've enjoyed the current acceptance of smaller guys back in his prime. 1998 X Pac would be like, a tippy top guy nowadays.

[Jindrak Mark]

95% of the time the terms X-Pac heat or go away heat are just used to describe someone you personally dislike which isn't what it's supposed to be.

There are so many examples you could use but I'll go with the most recent one. Some people were saying Theory has go away heat last night but he's a heel, you're not supposed to like him. He was getting loud Theory sucks chants during his match. That sounds like he's getting the desired reaction. And if you feel like he's getting preferential treatment and shouldn't have been added to the match then that's exactly how you're supposed to feel too. That's literally the storyline. It would be go away heat if he was getting silence or if his segments on TV were losing viewers every week.

One of the best examples of actual go-away heat to me is Jeff Jarrett in TNA from 2003-06. Fans would chant drop the title to him. That's not playing along with the narrative and booing the heel. That's non-kayfabe saying we know you're the booker and are sick of you holding the title. It got to the point fans in the Impact Zone would turn their back on him when he came out too. And you know he wasn't drawing any big ratings or buyrates either. In fact, TNA's best business happened when Jarrett finally got out of the main event and they went with Angle/Joe.

[sungod2020]

Jul 3, 2022 13:51:35 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

95% of the time the terms X-Pac heat or go away heat are just used to describe someone you personally dislike which isn't what it's supposed to be.

There are so many examples you could use but I'll go with the most recent one. Some people were saying Theory has go away heat last night but he's a heel, you're not supposed to like him. He was getting loud Theory sucks chants during his match. That sounds like he's getting the desired reaction. And if you feel like he's getting preferential treatment and shouldn't have been added to the match then that's exactly how you're supposed to feel too. That's literally the storyline. It would be go away heat if he was getting silence or if his segments on TV were losing viewers every week.

One of the best examples of actual go-away heat to me is Jeff Jarrett in TNA from 2003-06. Fans would chant drop the title to him. That's not playing along with the narrative and booing the heel. That's non-kayfabe saying we know you're the booker and are sick of you holding the title. It got to the point fans in the Impact Zone would turn their back on him when he came out too. And you know he wasn't drawing any big ratings or buyrates either. In fact, TNA's best business happened when Jarrett finally got out of the main event and they went with Angle/Joe.

But if they're chanting "drop the belt," the commentators can put a spin on it saying they want him to lose the championship to a worthy opponent. The fact that Jarrett responded by throwing the belt in the air and catching it just angered the fans more. He had them playing into his hands. It was an unusual kind of chant though.

Personally, I believe this whole X-pac heat" thing was just a myth that got started by some journalist who had this "non-kayfabe" vendetta against X-pac and it caught on with the IWC. It's basically saying, I "legitimately" don't like this guy, so as a result the fans feel the same way.  How is chanting "X-pac Sucks" any different than when they chanted "{insert random heel} sucks?" Kayfabe hate the guy/legit hate him, all the boos sound the same.

That being said, I do feel X-pac was doing a damn good job as a heel when he turned on Kane after trying to mentor him. The stealing his girlfriend really brought a whole new level of scumbaggery to the former DX member and the fans responded accordingly. I do feel after his feud with Kane and later Chris Jericho wrapped up he was rather directionless and true, X-factor didn't set the World on fire, so I guess in that sense, he was stale since he couldn't move on from 1998(and Edge even made fun of him for that), but you know, maybe that was his way of getting heat. If you're giving a heel positive accolades such as "cool" or "bad-ass" then they're not doing their job. Booing regardless of why is not suppose to be an enjoyable feeling.

Also, other than the IWC's opinion about him during that time, was there any data that fans changed the channel every time X-pac was on in 2001/2? With Baron Corbin's GM run you can make a case since he was featured on the entire show, but what about X-pac, where the term originated? Might as well call it "Corbin Heat" since the numbers reflect the boos he got. You can also call it "Jinder Heat" since fans left in droves when he became WWE champion. 

I don't think this mythical "go away" heat exists, and if it does, I can think of others it *may* apply to more than the two-time Hall of Famer.

[Lizuka #BLM]

I really need to just stop entering threads about X-Pac heat because there are always people who completely nonsensically insist it doesn't exist and it always irritates me.

[wendytorrancev1]

Jul 3, 2022 15:40:47 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

I really need to just stop entering threads about X-Pac heat because there are always people who completely nonsensically insist it doesn't exist and it always irritates me.

I did not mean to upset you with this post. I was simply confused on what I read "X-Pac Heat" was, as I never bought into it. I never had a problem with X-Pac/Sean Waltman as he seems like a legitimately good guy from the "shoot" interviews that I have heard him in. I just thought he was done extremely dirty after his heel turn on Kane and the subsequent seduction of Kane's girl, Tori. X-Pac/Sean was/is extremely talented and the WWF did some serious ridiculous booking with him post Judgment Day 2000. 

My intent was not to upset you, and for that, I sincerely apologize. 

[EvenBaldobombHasAJob]

If people are legit changing the channel or tuning out because they hate you as a performer, yeah it absolutely f***ing exists.

That said I don't think it should be called X-Pac heat anymore because hes far from the most notable example of it.

[A Platypus Rave]

Jul 3, 2022 19:04:06 GMT -5 EvenBaldobombHasAJob said:

If people are legit changing the channel or tuning out because they hate you as a performer, yeah it absolutely f***ing exists.

That said I don't think it should be called X-Pac heat anymore because hes far from the most notable example of it.

It's kinda named after him (unfortunately) because he was likely the first example most people noticed it happening too... also the most like popular just due to the time he was around.

But yeah it absolutely exists, usually it's when people try to claim "They're being a good heel cause you don't want to see them!" or "they're getting boos which is their job!" when... no... that's not their job.

A heel's job is not to get booed. A heel's job is to get you to want to see them get their ass kicked by the face... that is ultimately the point.

X-pac absolutely had it is that everyone on the WWF during the Invasion was face... EXCEPT for him.

[EvenBaldobombHasAJob]

Jul 3, 2022 19:18:35 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Jul 3, 2022 19:04:06 GMT -5 EvenBaldobombHasAJob said:

If people are legit changing the channel or tuning out because they hate you as a performer, yeah it absolutely f***ing exists.

That said I don't think it should be called X-Pac heat anymore because hes far from the most notable example of it.

It's kinda named after him (unfortunately) because he was likely the first example most people noticed it happening too... also the most like popular just due to the time he was around.

But yeah it absolutely exists, usually it's when people try to claim "They're being a good heel cause you don't want to see them!" or "they're getting boos which is their job!" when... no... that's not their job.

A heel's job is not to get booed. A heel's job is to get you to want to see them get their ass kicked by the face... that is ultimately the point.

X-pac absolutely had it is that everyone on the WWF during the Invasion was face... EXCEPT for him.

I think it's easier for people to brush off if it's happening to a heel. When it happens to a Babyface (for example Roman Reigns) it's just way more obvious.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

DX reuniting toward the end of 1999 was a mistake, I think.

It made X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn all look like Triple H's lackeys, made even worse by the fact that he betrayed them so publicly earlier in the year.