Sid Eudy
| Sid Eudy | |
|---|---|
| 106pA(A(A | |
| Born | July 4, 1960 West Memphis, Arkansas  |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Lord Humongous The Vicious Warrior Sid Vicious Sid Justice Sycho Sid Sid |
| Billed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | [undue weight? – discuss][1] |
| Billed from | West Memphis, Arkansas[1] "Wherever He Darn Well Pleases" |
| Trained by | Tojo Yamamoto |
| Debut | 1987 |
Sidney Ray Eudy (born July 4, 1960) is an American professional wrestler, most commonly known as Sid Vicious, but is also well-known as Sid Justice and Sycho Sid. Eudy is a four-time former World Heavyweight Champion, with two reigns each in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. Born in West Memphis, Arkansas, he grew up with 4 brothers and one sister. Times were tough for the family and Sid got a job working as a laborer for a lumbering company. His boss a former high school wrestler talked with Sid and saw that he was really interested in wrestling. The interest grew and he worked at becoming a professional entertainer until his big break in 1989 with WCW.
Career
Early career
Sid Eudy entered the wrestling industry after an encounter with Randy Savage and his brother Lanny Poffo. Eudy was trained by Tojo Yamamoto. In his debut match, Eudy teamed with Austin Idol and wrestled the team of Nick Bockwinkel and Jerry Lawler. Most of his early career was spent as the masked wrestler known as Lord Humongous.[1] He competed mainly on the Memphis, Tennessee, and Georgia wrestling circuits where he captured several regional titles. He also competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he challenged Tatsumi Fujinami for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship under the name Vicious Warrior, but failed. A very brief stint in WCCW saw him wrestle as Sid Vicious, taking his name from the punk rock musician, who played bass for the Sex Pistols.[1]
World Championship Wrestling (1989-1991)
In 1989,[1] Eudy signed with WCW and wrestled as Sid Vicious. Originally slated as a singles wrestler, Eudy was paired with Danny Spivey to form The Skyscrapers.[1] Managed by Teddy Long, The Skyscrapers feuded with the Steiner Brothers and the Road Warriors. During this time, he incorporated the Powerbomb as his finishing move, popularizing it with audiences in North America. The team was short-lived; Eudy was replaced by Mean Mark Callous after suffering a broken rib and a punctured lung. Following his recovery, Eudy returned as a member of Ric Flair's Four Horsemen,[1] and he was billed by the ring announcers as being from "wherever he darn well pleases". As one of the Horsemen, Eudy feuded with Paul Orndorff and The Junkyard Dog. He unsuccessfully battled WCW Champion Sting for the title with his biggest chance coming at 1990 Halloween Havoc, where a fake Sting (Barry Windham) in collusion with Sid, let Sid pin him in a "switcheroo" in order for Sid to win the belt. They were thwarted when the real Sting came out and beat Sid. Despite being offered a multi-year, guaranteed contract and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, Eudy left the company for the World Wrestling Federation.
World Wrestling Federation (1991-1992)
Under the Sid Justice moniker, Eudy had a nine-month run with the company. Originally a face, Eudy was the WWF's special enforcer for the 1991 SummerSlam "Match Made In Hell" main event as a way to have him on screen as he worked through a biceps injury.
Sid subsequently participated in short squash matches to get his character over as dominant and tough. His first big feud was with top heels Jake "The Snake" Roberts and The Undertaker, when he saved Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth from an attack by Roberts and Undertaker at their wedding reception. He was also aligned on-screen with Hulk Hogan.
However, Justice turned heel and feuded with Hogan following events that took place at the 1992 Royal Rumble, with the two facing off in the latter of the two main events of WrestleMania VIII.[1] Some sources indicate that Sid kicked out of Hogan's leg drop finisher because the planned interference from Papa Shango was accidentally late, meaning Sid had to kick out to preserve the intended DQ finish involving Shango and the Ultimate Warrior.
Exact details of Eudy's immediate departure are equally unclear. In a later interview, Eudy stated he was negotiating with WCW to return because of his unhappiness with the environment of the WWF. However, Vince McMahon made it financially worth it to remain with the company.[2] The WWF claimed at the time that prior to WrestleMania VIII, Eudy was discovered to be cheating on a drug test and left the company in order to avoid suspension.[3] Eudy later admitted to using the drugs in a shoot interview, but claimed it was an "open secret" and that his failed test came after WrestleMania and was just an excuse.[4]
World Championship Wrestling (1993)
After spending less than a year with the WWF, Eudy returned to WCW in 1993 and teamed with Vader to form the "Masters of the Powerbomb". The two feuded with Sting and Davey Boy Smith.
Two months away from winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, after a show in Blackburn, Lancashire during a tour in the United Kingdom, Eudy was involved in a hotel bar scuffle with Arn Anderson. All the guys were sitting round a table and the discussion topic popped up about what was wrong with WCW and how could they go about improving the show. Sid being outspoken said maybe some of the old guys like Ric Flair should get out the way for the newer talent.
With that, Arn Anderson threw beer in his face and both men stormed to their hotel rooms. Somewhere in the corridor Arn broke a bottle and encouraged Sid to come get some. Sid went to his room to find a weapon and could only find a chair. He came back and knocked on Arn's door calling for the fight. Arn opened it and lunged at him with some scissors cutting his stomach. Sid pushed him to the floor, took the scissors, and began stabbing Arn all about his body.
Both were rushed to the hospital and survived the incident; Anderson suffered stab wounds to the face, chest, arms, stomach, and back. Sid was released from WCW after several wrestlers threatened to walk out because of him. Sid has apologized to Anderson for what happened and the two are now on speaking terms.
Back to Memphis (1994-1995)
Eudy spent 1994 at his hometown promotion, the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, feuding with old rival Jerry Lawler. In mid-1994 he won the USWA Championship by forfeit when Lawler, who had been attacked and injured by Eudy earlier in the card, could not appear for the scheduled match. In the feud that followed, Lawler was able to defeat Eudy in non-title matches, but Eudy was able to save his belt in the title bouts through screwjobs (mainly from outside interference by his ally at the time, Spellbinder). In January 1995, Lawler was able to win the USWA championship back when Spellbinder's interference backfired.
World Wrestling Federation (1995-1997)
Sid returned to the WWF prior to WrestleMania XI as Shawn Michaels' bodyguard.[1] On the RAW after WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels offered to give Sid "the night off" for a coming rematch after accusing Sid of costing him the WWF title against the champion Diesel at WrestleMania. In turn, Sid powerbombed Michaels several times, only for Michaels to be saved by Diesel, thus turning Shawn face. This incident was notorious as the fans in the RAW audience were legitimately cheering Sid's attack on Michaels (something that would repeat itself a year and a half later when the two feuded over the WWF Championship). [citation needed] As a result, all replays of Sid's powerbombs on Michaels were edited so that the cheers were drowned out with boos (or canned heat). Sid's powerbombs put Michaels out of action (in reality, giving Michaels time to recuperate from back injuries suffered prior to the powerbombs). He was later renamed Sycho Sid due to his erratic and bizarre behavior that seemed to border on insanity. He then continued to feud with Diesel over the course of many months,[1] wrestling for the WWF Title at two of the next three pay per view events.
After the attack on Michaels, Sid aligned himself with Ted DiBiase and his Million Dollar Corporation. Sid teamed with members of this stable and continued to feud with Shawn & Diesel (and Bam Bam Bigelow, who recently was fired from the Million Dollar Corporation) throughout 1995.
Sid disappeared from the WWF after failing to capture the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Smokin' Gunns in early 1996 along with the 1-2-3 Kid. He was later brought back as a face in July of that year to team with Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson against Vader, Owen Hart, and The British Bulldog. He was a replacement for the Ultimate Warrior in various tag and 6-man matches.
Sid went on to win the WWF Championship from Shawn Michaels at the 1996 Survivor Series at Madison Square Garden.[1] the MSG crowd audibly cheered for Sid over Michaels in the face vs face match. Sid lost the title back to Shawn at the 1997 Royal Rumble. Sid regained the gold on RAW in February by defeating Bret Hart,[1] after interference from Steve Austin.
Sid went on to lose the title to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 13.[1] This was Sid's last appearance in the WWF until June of that year when he returned to setup a King of the Ring tag match. After this, Sid's WWF career was done as the WWF apparently had nothing left for him.
The POB, Power Pro, and KAW in Memphis (1998-1999)
In October 1998, Sid came back to the local Memphis circuit when he began a three week run on Randy Hales' PowerPro Wrestling. Sid had created his own alliance (The Pride of Brotherhood or "POB) by recruiting and training local bodybuilders and powerlifters from the Memphis area for wrestling. They included Ken Giddens, Jeff Droke, Kevin Fertig (Kevin Thorn), Mike Ashmore, and Ron Reagan. In 1999, the POB moved to the Memphis federation, Kick Ass Wrestling, and spent time there until Sid returned to WCW. The POB continued on for in the Mid-South area for two more years before disbanding.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1999)
Sid appeared in ECW from January 1999 to May 1999 and feuded with the Dudley Boyz, John Kronus, Skull Von Krush, and Justin Credible. He left ECW due to the monetary problems plaguing the promotion.
World Championship Wrestling (1999-2001)
After spending some time in ECW, Eudy returned to WCW in 1999 where he feuded with Kevin Nash, Goldberg, and Scott Steiner. WCW began nicknaming Sid "The Millennium Man", shortly after Chris Jericho's "Millennium Man" gimmick debuted in the WWF. WCW even released a home video highlighting Sid's return to WCW called Sid Vicious: Millennium Man, but on the original print the word "millennium" was misspelled. Upon returning to the WCW, Sid Vicious was dubbed as undefeated, having a winning streak much like Goldberg had previously. Goldberg was the one to ultimately end his streak. Strangely enough, he was dubbed "undefeated" even though he had lost many times during his stays with WCW in previous years.
After the "Millennium Man" gimmick ran dry, Sid became a face and started to contend for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship; he was placed in a match at Souled Out 2000 in January to fill the suddenly-vacant title after Bret Hart was forced to relinquish the title due to a concussion. He would go on to lose the match and the title to Chris Benoit, but Benoit was on his way to WWF at the time and the title was vacated the next night on Nitro.
The next week (January 24, 2000), Sid was presented with a challenge by Nash, who had become commissioner of WCW (kayfabe). If he could beat Don & Ron Harris in a match on Nitro that night, he would face Nash for the championship that night. Sid completed his first task and defeated Nash in the main event to win his first WCW world championship. Two nights later on Thunder, Nash stripped Sid of the championship due to him not beating the legal Harris brother in the match on Nitro. A rematch between Sid and Nash was set up, and just like he had on Nitro, Sid defeated Nash and became champion again.
On March 19, 2000, Sid faced Jeff Jarrett in a defense of his title. He won thanks in part to help from a returning Hulk Hogan, which set up a match for the following night's Nitro pitting Sid and Hogan vs. Jarrett and Scott Steiner. During the course of the match, Sid turned heel and attacked Hogan, due to his being incensed that the fans were chanting Hogan's name. He chokeslammed Hogan and forced the referee to count Hogan pinned (the official result was a no contest). This apparently might have been to set up a match for the upcoming Spring Stampede in April. However, shortly after this, WCW began its New Blood angle, and Sid (along with all the other WCW titleholders at the time) was stripped of his championship. He did not play a large role in the angle that followed, and he vanished for several months.
He returned late in the year as the challenger to Scott Steiner's WCW Championship. Though failing to capture the championship at Starrcade, he managed to earn himself another shot at the title for the following year.
Leg break in the ring
Eudy was scheduled to face Steiner once again at the main event at Sin 2001.[1] Prior to the match, members of WCW management allegedly felt that Eudy needed to broaden his arsenal of wrestling moves and supposedly suggested that he try an aerial maneuver, despite his "unwillingness." During the match, Eudy consequently suffered a leg fracture when it snapped following his leap from the middle turnbuckle in an attempted big boot. The fracture, caught on video, was too graphic for many TV stations to air.[5] Eudy broke his left leg in half, snapping both the tibia and fibula, with at least one of the bones breaking through the skin.[5]
After the injury, Sid pondered retiring from wrestling for good. "I had about a year left on my contract, and I was thinking back then prior to hurting my leg what was I going to do as far as wrapping up my career. The only thing I really wanted to do was ideally go out in a big pay per view, like a WrestleMania or something like that main event, leave like that, and not come back again. It would really be the retirement match."[6]
A 17-inch (43 cm) rod was placed in his leg during the two-hour surgery. For a while he used a cane to walk. Sid later sued WCW claiming that he was made to jump off the middle rope against his objections.[6]
The injury forced a plot change in the 2001 SuperBrawl Revenge event. The main event was supposed to be Nash, Dallas Page, and Sid against Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett, and Road Warrior Animal but was rewritten to Kevin Nash vs. Scott Steiner.
Return to wrestling
During his rehabilitation, Eudy made several appearances as World Wrestling All-Stars commissioner during their 2002 Australian tour, though at the beginning of WWA's Sydney show, it was announced that Eudy would not be featured due to a broken arm. On June 5, 2004, Eudy returned to active wrestling with the Canadian-based Internet Wrestling Syndicate. Appearing as Pierre Carl Ouellet's mystery partner, Eudy competed and won a ten team battle royal. He continues to wrestle on the independent circuit, staying known as a durable competitor despite the infamous leg break.
Memphis Wrestling
Sid came to Memphis Wrestling on July 14, 2007, starting a feud with Jerry Lawler, and serving as "Hollywood" Jimmy Blainlock's enforcer.
Plans to return to WWE
Sid Eudy has stated in an August 4 interview with the Ottawa Sun, he wishes to make one last run in WWE. He claims his return would be "the biggest comeback in sports history".[7]
Sid also wrestled a match in Ottawa at SuperEx: When Legends Collide on August 24 against Johnny Devine. Sid got the biggest ovation of the night and he defeated Johnny with a chokeslam onto a steel chair and then a powerbomb.
Also on September 5 he was a guest on the Psychopathic Records' online radio station WFUCKOFF! during "The Main Event" with Violent J and Corporal Robinson. During this segment Sid mentioned once again that he was working on getting involved with the WWE again. He also let it slip that he was going to be at JCW's Evansville Invasion, on October 6, 2007 in Evansville, Indiana.
Personal life
Eudy is married to Sabrina Paige and they have two sons together, Frank and Gunnar.[8]
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
- Powerbomb[1]
- Chokeslam[1]
- Vicious Crossface (Arm trap crossface)
- Sid Twister (Spinning overhead gutwrench slam)
- Standing cobra clutch slam
- Big boot
- Managers
- Oliver Humperdink
- Ole Anderson
- Ted DiBiase
- Sylvia Fuller
- Gary Hart
- Judge Jeff Jones
- Theodore Long
- Colonel Rob Parker
- Harvey Wippleman
- Nicknames
- The Master and Ruler of the World
- Millennium Man
Championships and accomplishments
- NWA Northeast Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- PWI Comeback of the Year award in 1996
- PWI ranked him # 122 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
- Most Overrated Wrestler award in 1993
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Sid's Alumni Profile". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ Brandon Truitt (May 31, 2003). "Sid Vicious Shoot Interview". TheSmartMarks.com. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ "Sid Vicious FAQ". WrestleView. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ Shoot interview with Sid Vicious (DVD). RF Video.
- ^ a b Mike Mooneyham (January 21, 2001). "Third Time Charm For Bischoff?". The Wrestling Gospel. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ a b Jeff Kohl (May 3, 2001). "Sid Vicious considering retirement". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
- ^ Tim Baines (August 4, 2007). "Sid Vicious returns to the ring". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
- ^ [Stated in an issue of WCW Magazine]