Problem: Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler. He wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now called WWE) under the ring names 1-2-3 Kid and X-Pac intermittently between 1993 and 2002, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Syxx, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as Syxx-Pac and Sean Waltman. He is currently signed with WWE working in their Legends program. Waltman has won a dozen championships between WWE, WCW, and TNA; the majority were cruiserweight and tag team titles.

On September 16, 1996, Waltman was shown sitting in the front row for a live episode of Nitro. Later that night, he stood and used a remote control to release New World Order (nWo) propaganda from the ceiling, revealing himself as the newest member of the recently formed faction. 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".  In his first major angle, Syxx stole Eddie Guerrero's WCW United States Heavyweight Championship belt, leading to a ladder match for the title at Souled Out in January 1997, which Syxx lost. The next month, at SuperBrawl VII, Syxx pinned Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, after hitting him with the title belt, which he had grabbed from Guerrero at ringside. 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, Jr.  During a feud with Ric Flair, and a loss to him at Road Wild in August, Syxx disparagingly portrayed Flair as part of an nWo segment parodying his Four Horsemen group. This segment led to a WarGames match at 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. In mid-1997, the nWo invoked "Wolfpac Rules", allowing Syxx to replace the injured Kevin Nash in defending the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Scott Hall. On October 13, 1997, Hall and Syxx lost the title to The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott).  In October, a neck injury sidelined Waltman from wrestling, but he continued to appear on TV for several weeks after. 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. 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".

What was Waltman's career like in 1996?

Answer with quotes: September 16, 1996, Waltman was shown sitting in the front row for a live episode of Nitro.


Problem: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 1550 - 24 June 1604) was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron of the arts, and noted by his contemporaries as a lyric poet and court playwright, but his reckless and volatile temperament precluded him from attaining any courtly or governmental responsibility and contributed to the dissipation of his estate. Since the 1920s he has been among the most popular alternative candidates proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works.

On 12 April 1571, de Vere attained his majority and took his seat in the House of Lords. Great expectations attended his coming of age; Sir George Buck recalled predictions that 'he was much more like ... to acquire a new erldome then to wast & lose an old erldom', a prophecy that was never fulfilled.  Although formal certification of his freedom from Burghley's control was deferred until May 1572, de Vere was finally granted the income of PS666 which his father had intended him to have earlier, but properties set aside to pay his father's debts would not come his way for another decade. During his minority as the Queen's ward, one third of his estate had already reverted to the Crown, much of which Elizabeth had long since settled on Robert Dudley. Elizabeth demanded a further payment of PS3,000 for overseeing the wardship and a further PS4,000 for suing his livery. De Vere pledged double the amount if he failed to pay when it fell due, effectively risking a total obligation of PS21,000.  By 1571, de Vere was a court favourite of Elizabeth's. In May, he participated in the three-day tilt, tourney and barrier, where although he did not win he was given chief honours in celebration of the attainment of his majority, his prowess winning admiring comments from spectators. In August, de Vere attended Paul de Foix, who had come to England to negotiate a marriage between Elizabeth and the Duke of Anjou, the future King Henry III of France. His published poetry dates from this period and, along with Edward Dyer he was one of the first courtiers to introduce vernacular verse to the court.

Did he gain power in his country?

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Problem: James Anthony Traficant Jr. (May 8, 1941 - September 27, 2014) was a Democratic, and later independent, politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio. He represented the 17th Congressional District, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley. He was expelled from the House after being convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and houseboat in Washington, D.C.

In the House, Traficant was known for his flamboyant and eccentric style. He often dressed poorly, with narrow neckties (then out of style), wide-lapel sport-coats and an occasional denim suit. He also sported an unkempt pompadour, which he jokingly claimed he cut with a weed whacker (it was revealed, after his conviction, that he wore a toupee). His trademark closing lines while addressing the House were "Beam me up..." and "I yield back the fact..." His website featured a picture of him swinging a two-by-four with the words "Bangin' away in D.C."  While in Congress, Traficant was a supporter of immigration reduction, and a strong opponent of illegal immigration. In the controversy surrounding the defeat of Congressman Bob Dornan (R-CA) by Democrat Loretta Sanchez, Traficant was the only Democratic member of Congress who advocated a new election, due to Dornan's allegations of voting in that race by undocumented immigrants (the allegations went unproven, and a new election was not held).  Traficant's major legislative accomplishment in the House was the adoption of some of his proposals to constrain enforcement activities by the Internal Revenue Service against delinquent taxpayers.  After the Republicans took control of the House in 1995, Traficant tended to vote more often with the Republicans than with his own party. On the issue of abortion, Traficant voted with the position of the National Right to Life Committee 95% of the time in the 105th Congress, and 100% of the time in the 106th and 107th Congresses. However, he voted against all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton. After he voted for Republican Dennis Hastert for Speaker of the House in 2001, the Democrats stripped him of his seniority and refused to give him any committee assignments. Because the Republicans did not assign him to any committees either, Traficant became the first member of the House of Representatives in over a century--outside the top leadership--to lack a single committee assignment.

When did he serve?

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