Bob’s Opinion On: Sid Vicious
I’ve come to realize that there is a huge mixed reaction when it come to Sid Vicious. The man, the ruler of the wrestling business from the late 80’s to 2001. Some people hate him and other people love him. I’m one of the people who actually liked Sid Vicious.
My first exposure to Sid was when he came to the World Wrestling Federation in 1995. However, I really got into the Sid character when he returned to WCW back in 1999 for his feud with Goldberg. Sid attacking all the wrestlers and ruining matches got annoying fairly quickly, but Sid was entertaining in his role. But, let’s backtrack, shall we?
I believe Sid’s brief run in the WWF in late ’91 to April of ’92 is the best run of his career. He came in as a babyface, turned heel on Hogan in February, and main evented WrestleMania VIII in a cluster of a match. But, the buildup to the match with Hogan was done so well that I didn’t even mind it. Sid destroying jobbers and having them being stretchered out was great stuff and made Sid look like a complete and utter monster to me.
Sid’s career is filled with what if’s and what could have been. Sid left the WWF because of an apparent drug issue. Sid had a few matches with the Undertaker overseas at the time, but was also supposed to wrestle the Ultimate Warrior. While neither man was a great wrestler, a match between the two of them would have been interesting.
Those what if’s continued in 1993 when Sid returned to World Championship Wrestling for six months. Sid was a top heel with Vader and competed in matches with Sting and Bulldog during his time there. Sid was going to be the WCW World Heavyweight Champion at Starrcade, but left due to money issues.
Sid didn’t really have a great idea of being a businessman. Or, I guess if it’s all about money then Sid is a smart guy. He missed out on a money making feud with Warrior and being the top babyface in WCW. Though, I’d imagine that Sid being the top guy in WCW wouldn’t last long with Hogan arriving in the company.
I do feel like Sid was poorly used in his second run with the World Wrestling Federation. At first his heel turn on Michaels on the RAW after WrestleMania XI sparked a big fire on the character, but after injuring Michaels he went on to have just awful matches with WWF World Champion Diesel. I always thought it was incredible how the Sid/Michaels feud was basically forgotten about and settled on a RAW in about nine minutes of action.
When Sid came back to the WWF again in the summer of ’96 he got some of the biggest pops in his career. He had a really good match with Michaels at Survivor Series but didn’t have a long reign. His match with Taker for the championship at WM 13 wasn’t all that memorable nor did it have any real meaning behind it, right?
Sid’s entertainment quality really came from his interview and persona instead of his ability to wrestle in the ring. When I was younger I was interested in the monster and he was oddly able to sell me into watching him wrestle. Sid always had a cult following and I was a follower of Sid. The master and the ruler of the world.
What are your opinions on Sid Vicious? Share them below!
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Bob Colling Jr. View All
34-year-old currently living in Syracuse, New York. Long-time fan of the New York Mets, Chicago Bulls, and Minnesota Vikings. An avid fan of professional wrestling and write reviews/articles on the product. Usually focusing on old-school wrestling.
I really preferred Sid’s WWF work over his WCW stuff. I just felt as though Sid was meant to be a WWF-Brand guy and really belonged there. I enjoyed his early nineties (‘Maina VIII) work, as well as his return to the company in the mid-late nineties. He just felt like he could pick up anybody he wanted and throw them into the fifth row ringside. He has that unpredictably and anger to him too, which made him come off as even more dangerous. What if’s and Sid’s career do go hand-in-hand though unfortunately, but what we got was good enough to interest me!
Agreed. Sid has to be one of the biggest potential “What If” characters ever, right behind Ultimate Warrior (who was all over the place I know, but never with a story that lasted for more than 5 minutes). So sad, to think about what might have been. Good writing and booking would/could have turned Sid into a character that made Stone Cold SA look like a 2 bit punk.