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Monday, August 26, 2024

Sidney Raymond Eudy has passed away! RIP



The name Sidney Raymond Eudy might not ring a bell to some but those who watched American professional wrestling in the 80's and 90's will never forget this man and to those who will know him by the in ring name which he's best known as I'm talking about the one and only "Sid Vicious", aka "Sycho Sid", "Sid Justice", his tenures in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling we're iconic for multiple reasons. Him prime really was during the WWF now known as WWE when he was am A level star for sometime and even had matches with icons like Hulk Hogan.

SID was a six-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship twice, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, and the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship twice. In addition to world title success, Eudy held the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship once, among other accolades. During his tenures with the WWF and WCW, Eudy headlined multiple pay-per-views for both organizations, main-eventing WrestleMania VIII and WrestleMania 13 in 1992 and 1997 respectively as well as Starrcade in 2000.

Also he entered wrestling after an encounter with Randy Macho Man Savage and his brother Lanny Poffo. After being trained by Tojo Yamamoto, SID made his debut as he teamed with Austin Idol and wrestled the team of Nick Bockwinkel and Jerry Lawler. He then adopted the masked wrestler persona known as Lord Humongous. He began his career in Continental Championship Wrestling (CCW) in 1987, under a mask and the name Lord Humungous. On Christmas Day 1987 he won the NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division), going on to be the final titleholder. Later he turned fan favorite after rekindling a (kayfabe) childhood friendship with Shane Douglas, resulting in the two forming a tag team and capturing the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship.

He also competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he challenged Tatsumi Fujinami for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship under the name Vicious Warrior, but was unable to win the title. SID then made a very brief stint in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), where he adopted one of his most notable ring names: Sid Vicious, which he took from the punk rock musician of the same name who played bass for the Sex Pistols. 


When he did return to WCW he came back as a challenger for Scott Steiner's WCW World Heavyweight Championship, but Sid failed to defeat Steiner in their title match at Starrcade. On January 14, 2001, at the Sin pay-per-view in Indianapolis at Conseco Fieldhouse (now Gainbridge Fieldhouse), Sid faced Steiner, Jeff Jarrett and Road Warrior Animal in a Four Corners match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, he suffered a near career-ending injury. WCW executive John Laurinaitis allegedly felt that SID needed to broaden his arsenal of wrestling moves and suggested that he try an aerial maneuver, despite his "unwillingness".


SID felt it unnecessary for a wrestler of his size and type to do high spots and did not feel comfortable doing them. During the match, Eudy suffered a leg fracture following his leap from the second turnbuckle in an attempted big boot on Steiner. This had him awkwardly landing with all his weight on one foot while kicking with the other, severely fracturing the leg on which he landed. SID broke his left leg in half, snapping both the tibia and fibula, with at least one of the bones breaking through the skin and rotating his foot without his input at 90 degrees anti-clockwise. The fracture was too graphic for many television stations to re-air, although it was shown on the following Nitro.


The injury put Sid out of action indefinitely, and he 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". A 17-inch (43 cm) rod was placed in his leg during the two-hour surgery. For a while, Eudy used a cane to walk. Sid later sued WCW, claiming that he was made to jump off the second rope against his objections. 

The injury forced a plot change in the SuperBrawl Revenge event. The main event was supposed to be Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page, and Sid against Scott Steiner, Jeff Jarrett, and Road Warrior Animal but was rewritten as Kevin Nash versus Scott Steiner...


I'd like to say he was a true legend and his time in the ring was one for the ages. Shame what happened to him with the leg injury but he will always be remembered. We extend our condolences to his family on the loss, and to fans of his world wide never forget the name SID VICIOUS!