I’m going to look back and discuss some “what if” moments that would’ve changed the history of professional wrestling. Some of the “what ifs” may be rather obvious, but I hope for a few to be unexpected and create some kind of thought and interest. I hope you enjoy the series.
In August 1991, Vince McMahon signed Sid Vicious to a contract. Sid had previously competed in the NWA/WCW and was considered to be one of the future stars for that company. Sid would referee, yes, referee the main event at SummerSlam ’91 and have an alliance with Hulk Hogan. His babyface run didn’t last too long as he would develop a heel persona at the Royal Rumble in January ’92 and officially turn on Hogan at the next months Saturday Night Main Event by ditching him in a tag match against Ric Flair and the Undertaker.
Sid was only in the World Wrestling Federation for roughly seven months, and he was in the main event at WrestleMania VIII in April ’92. In an attempt to seemingly keep him strong, he lost to Hogan by disqualification. After the event, it was apparent that he was going to feud with the Ultimate Warrior but it was revealed that Sid had actually failed a drug test. He was let go from his contract and would not appear on WWF television for three years.
So, what if Sid hadn’t failed his drug test? What could we have seen?
Obviously, he would have had a lengthy feud with the Ultimate Warrior. I’m not sure if they would have dragged it all the way out to SummerSlam in August, but it’s possible. Yeah, the match wouldn’t have had been all that great, but it would’ve brought people out to the shows. I’m looking at the depth on the babyface side for the WWF at ’92, and there seems to be some decent opponents for Sid. After he feuds with Warrior, where would he go?
It’s actually rather difficult to book Sid at this point. The WWF was really directing their style towards their program around guys who could consistently deliver good matches. As we all know, Sid isn’t likely to produce a good match no matter who he wrestlers, especially so early into his career. I’d probably have Sid lose his feud against Warrior and end up in the under card for a little while. I just don’t see a feud with a guy like Bret Hart or the British Bulldog really being a draw. The same goes for Randy Savage and the WWF World Championship. That just doesn’t scream money to me. I do believe that Sid would be a fine heel on the under-card and the matches are more appealing to me.
There are three feuds that are interesting feuds to me. I believe the three top feuds to put Sid in for 1992 and most of 1993 would involve the Undertaker, Crush and the Big Bossman. Yes, I know that Bossman was gone from television in early ’93, so you can feed him to Sid in the summer of ’92. I suppose the character of law enforcement battling against destructive heel like Sid. That would probably be a fine match for SummerSlam, actually.
I think I would then turn to a new feud after that. I’m figuring that the next good feud to go to would be working with Crush. They would captain teams at Survivor Series, which could involve Bossman as well to have the stories come together. In order for the next feud to really become something important, Sid would need to dominate the match and probably eliminate everyone involved.
Sid’s next feud would be with the Undertaker. I’d have it be set up at the Royal Rumble and they could proceed to have a match at Mania IX. Now, I wouldn’t have Taker win it clean. I’d probably have him win by disqualification and have Sid take him out of action for several months with a post match attack. That would allow them to have another match at SummerSlam and Taker putting Sid away in the summer in a casket match.
That would take care of just about two years of Sid. Those are the main feuds that I would have him part of and it seems to be rather uneventful to me. I think it was a blessing in disguise that he failed the drug test and couldn’t compete for the company. He just didn’t fit in with the roster. What would you have done with Sid at this time? Is it completely different compared to mine? Feel free to share your thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
For some reason I don’t remember hearing or reading about him failing a drug test, but I’m not surprised by it either considering Warrior and Bulldog did too that year and were both gone before year’s end.
With Sid, you knew what you were getting; an intimidating, tall, monster of a man with a million dollar body who just looked like a main event star even though he was an average worker at best. But that’s the thing though. He got over despite his technical limitations because of his size, power, and look.
I think Sid was a good fit for the WWF even back then, it’s really ALL in how you book him. He works better as heel, and Sid knows and prefers this even though some promoters like Vince for example, wanted him to work as a babyface. Hell, according to Kevin Nash, when Sid was brought back in ’95 Vince planned on him making Sid the next Hulk Hogan, with the full marketing power of the WWF behind him. Sid said no and that he wanted to be a heel instead.
Anyhoo, as for how he’d be booked had he stayed, well, 1992 was the last good year for the WWF for awhile as they lost a lot of big names by the start of ’93, so someone like Sid would’ve been HIGHLY prized by Vince considering how much talent he lost. Warrior would’ve been a good feud back then, yeah. Maybe it does go all the way to Summerslam, but I still think Warrior fails his drug test and still holds up Vince for money like he did in real life, leading to either a screwy dq finish or something like that, with either both men still looking strong or Sid getting a clean win. Bossman’s a good suggestion, and so is the British Bulldog too. I mean they did feud in WCW in 1993, so why not here first? Other than a program with Bret, I’m not sure who else would’ve been a good fit for Sid for the remainder of 1992.
As for 1993? The pickens are even slimmer, especially with Flair leaving not too long after the Royal Rumble. I guess faces like Tatanka,1-2-3 Kid (Ok maybe not him…yet) Tito, and Crush? Wow, yeah, he did better in WCW around that same time period.
His other runs w/ the WWF were much better overall than his 1st run.