Review Of WWE Network “Table For 3” With Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman

The third episode of season two of Table For 3 is titled “The Kliq” as it brings three of the group’s members together. Those members are none other than Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Walkman, also known as Diesel, Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid/X-Pac. The Kliq was arguably the most influential group in wrestling history, not just for their work on TV, but their power backstage.

Let’s start with a recap of their 18 minute conversation over a meal, while wearing sunglasses indoors:

-Scott Hall kicks off the dialogue saying the Wolfpack is in the house. Waltman says it’s been so long since he’s seen them; I assume playing on how most of these start. Nash immediately says they were together the previous week in Dayton.

-Hall jumps right into the infamous Curtain Call at Madison Square Garden. He says X-Pac wasn’t involved in it that night and asks Nash how he felt after. They agree they thought they’d never step foot in The Garden again. Waltman says even when they were all in WCW he felt sure they would all be back in WWE. Hall says he didn’t think it would ever happen because he left with “sizzling heat.” Nash says Jim Ross told him about layoffs in WWF after they left because WCW was killing them and he says it was tough to hear because WWF was their home team.

-Waltman says he was talking with Eric Bischoff about the Attitude Era. He told him that WWF was still doing comic book characters while WCW emerged with the NWO. He told Bischoff that maybe it should be called the Monday Night Wars Era instead, because WCW was the catalyst. Nash agrees, saying both shows were so good they used to watch them monitor to monitor in the truck.

-Hall says that he and Nash both started out as lower mid carders in WCW. They both felt they had talent, but WCW had no clue what to do with them. Coming to a superior organization like WWF was eye opening. He says everyone got their swings at bat and you may hit a single, you may strike out, but you may also hit one out of the park. Going back to WCW as an established star, making guaranteed money and being given input changed everything. He says they were allowed to create something new. Hall and Nash say that the WCW veterans got sick of hearing them say how they “did things in New York.”

-Hall and Nash talk about their old characters as a picture of Master Blaster was shown on cue. Hall says this was in his “People’s Mustache” days which drew a laugh from Waltman. They mention that Oz and Diamond Studd both debuted on the same pay-per-view. Hall says he was initially jealous of the production Nash got as Oz, but he was lucky to have been paired up with DDP. They even showed an incredibly cringeworthy Oz promo. I don’t know how anyone allowed that on TV. Hall even impersonated the big eyes Nash made when he first took off the Oz mask. All Nash can say is that it was brutal.

-It seems every exchange starts with Hall, but he says people are always telling him they changed the business. He says it helped guys get guaranteed money and days off. But he comments that his personal demons that he struggled with for so many years may not have gotten so bad in WWE. He thinks with the family environment of the company, someone would have helped him sooner. Nash wonders what the butterfly effect would have been like if they had never left. Hall says there was so much talent, that they split between the companies and both places thrived because more talent got a chance to shine. He says despite the split the Kliq still ruled wrestling: Kliq North and Kliq South. Waltman joked that it was the plan all along, drawing laughs from Hall and Nash.

-The three tell a story about the first (and last) time Waltman got to drive on the road. They were in Minnesota and he went over black ice, sending the car into a spin as well as oncoming traffic. Nash pushed the wheel to take them completely off the road. They narrowly missed another car and hit a tree. Eventually Bam Bam Bigelow came to their rescue and drove them the rest of the way to the show. They say even if you don’t like one of the boys, you typically will help make sure they get to TV.

-At the mention of Bam Bam, Nash remembers a time he almost got them killed in Sacramento. He insulted a group of guys at a bar who waited for him outside. The group had no issue with Hall or Nash, but they said they couldn’t allow Bam Bam to get jumped because they knew his wife and kids. Also, he was splitting a rental car with them and they didn’t want to pick up his piece of it. That was funny. Also, they say Bam Bam ended up in a car with them because he picked them up when they wrecked, leading to the conclusion that Sean Waltman was the real reason they almost got killed with Bam Bam.

-It was inevitable and finally they turn to the angle between Razor and 1-2-3 Kid. Hall says he knew who Waltman was before he arrived in WWE and loved his work. Waltman says it seems Vince already knew he wanted him before he even had his tryout. They showed the classic clip of Kid’s moonsault securing his legendary upset victory over Razor and the shock it caused. They also showed the less talked about clip of Waltman hitting his head on the exposed floor after slipping from the top rope. He somehow collected himself enough to play out the planned finish of running out with the $10,000 that was on the line that night.

-Hall says that he felt like he was on triple seeker probation, worked his way up to double secret probation and then found himself being inducted into the Hall Of Fame. The whole Kliq was there and he says he was so happy to be welcomed back. The conversation shifts to their appearance at WrestleMania 31 during the Triple H vs. Sting match. They say how great it worked out that they all got to be there together and feed off of each other. Waltman says they were lucky they got to coast down to the ring and that he felt like a jackass when he ran down earlier in the match. Hall says they had to take their time because his entrance is most of his stuff.

-Nash mentions they were talking to AJ Styles and how he was overwhelmed like everyone else is for their first WrestleMania. He said he couldn’t wait until Tuesday, but they advised him to soak it all in.

-They talk about how the whole scale of WrestleMania has gotten so much bigger even though the concept is the same. They talk about being in a top spot on the biggest show and the extra responsibility that comes with it. Hall says Mr. Perfect told him Vince doesn’t sleep so he expects everyone to be able to handle everything. They talk about how Triple H is the same way, with the midnight workout photos on his Instagram. Waltman says he works out at 2:00am as well, but it’s because he’s waking up at 6:00pm. Hall and Nash laugh at that one as well.

-Hall tells his friends it is great to see them again and that they always see each other. He says that the whole “4 Life” thing was a shoot with them. In the final words, Waltman says, “It turned out to be.”

MY THOUGHTS

As a guy who was in my teens through most of the 1990’s, I have a strong affinity for The Kliq. We discussed the Four Horsemen two weeks ago, and these guys kind of were that for me. It wasn’t all of them obviously, but all three of these guys hold a special place in my own personal wrestling lore.

I remember like it was yesterday the Razor Ramon vignettes that aired in the weeks preceding his arrival. I remember like it was yesterday 1-2-3 Kid shocking the wrestling world with his win over The Bad Guy. I remember like it was yesterday Diesel protecting Shawn Michaels. I remember like it was yesterday Hall and Nash running roughshod over WCW. And I remember like it was yesterday X-Pac cutting his promo on Bischoff and Hogan on the Raw after WrestleMania 14.

I think what I love most about these guys now is the way they still talk and think about wrestling. I could listen to Scott Hall talk about the business, past, present or future for as long as he is willing to talk. I will listen to Waltman or Nash on any podcast or interview they ever do because they will talk about everything. They have seen so much and were a huge part of the tide change that took over pro wrestling in the late 1990’s.

As far as this episode is concerned, it is really great to see that these guys are still so close and that they still have so much fun together. I thought it was really cool that they said they had just been together only a week prior to taping this episode. Those guys ran wrestling for a while and there are signs that they are still shaping the talents of today. Perfect examples are the Bullet Club still doing the Wolfpack sign and the curtain call of the Four Horsewomen at NXT Brooklyn.

Hall said in the closing of his induction speech that bad times don’t last, but bad guys do. The same can be said of The Kliq. They changed the game and helped make it what it is today. No matter where they go or what they do, they will always be relevant in the world of pro wrestling. This was the first episode that I wished was a little longer and it was my favorite episode of the season so far.

Check out my other WWE Table for 3 reviews right here too.