Editing Sean Waltman (section)

=== World Championship Wrestling (1996–1997) ===
{{See also|New World Order (professional wrestling)|l1=New World Order}}
On September 16, 1996, Waltman was shown sitting in the front row for a live episode of ''[[WCW Monday Nitro|Nitro]]''.<ref name="sep. 16">{{cite episode|series=WCW Monday Nitro|series-link=WCW Monday Nitro|network=[[TNT (U.S. TV network)|TNT]]|airdate=September 16, 1996|minutes=120}}</ref> Later that night, he used a remote control to release [[New World Order (professional wrestling)|New World Order]] (nWo) propaganda from the ceiling, revealing himself as the newest member of the recently formed faction.<ref name="sep. 16" /> He was called "Syxx", because he was the sixth member of the nWo, and six is the sum of numbers in "1–2–3 Kid".<ref name="WaltmanSpotlight"/> His first match with WCW was on September 23 when he defeated [[Jim Duggan]] on Nitro. In his first major angle, Syxx stole [[Eddie Guerrero]]'s [[WWE United States Championship|WCW United States Heavyweight Championship]] belt, leading to a [[ladder match]] for the title at [[Souled Out 1997|Souled Out]] in January 1997, which Syxx lost.<ref name="WaltmanSpotlight"/> The next month, at [[SuperBrawl VII]], Syxx pinned Dean Malenko for the [[WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1991–2007)|WCW Cruiserweight Championship]], after hitting him with the title belt, which he had grabbed from Guerrero at ringside.<ref name="WaltmanSpotlight"/><ref name=Cruiser>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/cruiser/|access-date=June 26, 2008|title=WWE Cruiserweight Championship official history|publisher=[[WWE]]}}</ref> In June 1997, he lost the championship to [[Chris Jericho]] at a [[webcast]] [[house show]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], minutes after successfully defending against [[Rey Mysterio|Rey Mysterio Jr.]]<ref name=SLAM/>

During a feud with [[Ric Flair]], and a loss to him at [[Road Wild 1997|Road Wild]] in August, Syxx disparagingly portrayed Flair as part of an nWo segment parodying his [[Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)|Four Horsemen]] group.<ref name="WaltmanSpotlight"/> This segment led to a [[WarGames match]] at [[Fall Brawl 1997|Fall Brawl]], where Syxx, [[Kevin Nash]], [[Buff Bagwell]] and [[Konnan]] defeated The Four Horsemen (Flair, [[Steve McMichael]], [[Chris Benoit]] and [[Curt Hennig]]) after Hennig betrayed the Horsemen and joined the nWo.<ref name="WaltmanSpotlight"/> In mid-1997, the nWo invoked [[Freebird Rule|"Wolfpac Rules"]], allowing Syxx to replace the injured Kevin Nash in defending the [[WCW World Tag Team Championship]] with Scott Hall.<ref name="Wolfpac Freebird">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wwe.com/classics/freebird-rule-photos|title=Teams that used 'Freebird Rule': photos|website=WWE}}</ref> On October 13, 1997, Hall and Syxx lost the title to [[The Steiner Brothers]] ([[Rick Steiner|Rick]] and [[Scott Steiner|Scott]]).<ref name="WaltmanSpotlight"/>

During October 1997, a neck injury sidelined Waltman from wrestling, but he continued to appear on television for several weeks after.<ref name=SLAM/> While later recuperating at home, he was fired via [[Federal Express]] by WCW President [[Eric Bischoff]]. Waltman claims this was a power play aimed at his friends Hall and Nash, whose backstage influence was felt as a threat.<ref name="WaltmanSpotlight"/> Bischoff later said Waltman was a competent performer when sober, but sober periods were "few and far between", and "in many ways, Sean was lucky to even have a job".<ref>Bischoff, Eric ''Controversy Creates Cash'', WWE Books, 2007 (p.276)</ref>