Shawn “X-Pac” Waltman was a part The two biggest stables of the Attitude Era, the nWo and: D-Generation X. In later years, Waltman struggled with substance abuse. During a performance at Mark Calaway’s “Six Feet Under” podcast, Waltman opened up about the low points of that battle.
“It culminated in me being in Mexico. After I left (WWE), I ended up in Mexico and worked in AAA for four years,” he recalled. “I got into a big fight with my girlfriend. We lived in a penthouse apartment and there was a roof garden. I went into the roof garden and found a garden hose and I hung from the roof of the building.”
Waltman began to cry as he recalled the story, thanking his ex-girlfriend for saving his life and adding that he was put into a coma due to the loss of oxygen because doctors thought he was brain dead. “I was in a coma for three days. I get out of there, tied up on a table, and I’m freaking out. I was like, ‘What the hell is going on here?'” he later recalled. He was then told what had happened, which made his memory worse, and he was later met in Mexico by Kevin Nash, who flew him to Houston, Texas, where he was booked into a place called the Menninger Clinic.
‘I dread to think who entered that room after me.’ what did they find in that room then?
Recovery was not easy for Waltmanand during his time at the Menninger Clinic, he remembers being in terrible shape. “My eyes were solid red, I looked like Satan because all the blood vessels were flying,” he recalls, noting that he had to wear sunglasses because no one wanted to look into his eyes.
According to Waltman, Menninger’s clinic only offers a three-month stay, and while she spent a lot of time there, she practically begged them to keep her there longer. They failed and he had to return to Mexico to the very apartment where he had tried to take his own life.
“My daughter, by the way, she was gone, and I was there, alone, in this apartment, where I was hanging from the roof,” he recalls, adding that it led him to come out again. “By the way, I was also a big meta-head. And so that’s one of the worst things you can do.” Waltman noted that before he started using drugs again, he was called to work with TNA, which resulted in him leaving everything behind in Mexico and never returning. “I’m afraid to think about who entered that room after me, what they found in that room.”
“My eyes were red, I looked like a devil”
The WWE Hall of Famer noted that the episode he was referring to took place nearly twenty years ago. She then returned to Los Angeles, where TV host Maria Menounos and her husband took her in and helped her rebuild her life.
Waltman also said he was punishing himself for the pain he had caused his wife and children when he left them, and later admitted he felt a lot of shame and believed he deserved to be in hell. However, the treatment helped him break free. “I finally felt like I paid in full,” he added. Waltman noted that he has even stopped drinking, but today uses cannabis to cope with his pain, although he insists that his relationship with it is not the same as with drugs.
“I feel like this is the best version of me that has ever been on this Earth,” Waltman admitted after sharing her story. “And the big reward for all of this, besides reconnecting with my kids and having a grandchild, my four-year-old grandchild, is my marriage. I have the happiest marriage.”
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
If you or someone you know needs help with addiction, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Six Feet under The Undertaker” and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
