This column/feature will be a chance to highlight some of the great moments in the career of one Psycho Sid or Sid Justice.
We start this first edition of This Week in Sid History with this moment:
December 17, 2000
It was on this date in 2000 that Sid Vicious lost to Scott Steiner in a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match.
This match was the main event for Starrcade, which at one point in time was considered WCW’s version of WrestleMania. In other words, yes, Sid Vicious and Scott Steiner were the headliners for WCW’s version of WrestleMania. But to be fair, Sid did main event Wrestlemania 13 versus the Undertaker and Wrestlemania 8 versus Hulk Hogan.
The final Starrcade in the history of WCW took place at the MCI Center (now known as the Verizon Center) in Washington D.C.
The Starrcade card featured such matches Mike Awesome vs. Bam Bam Bigelow in an ambulance match, Shane Douglas versus General Rection and Goldberg vs. Lex Luger.
Sid-Steiner was rated one of the higher matches on the card. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave the match two-and-a-half stars. Three other matches were ranked higher. Terry Funk’s Hardcore Title match versus Crowbar was two-and-three-quarters stars. Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash had a three-and-a-quarter star tag match against Meat Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo. The highest rated match was four stars - the three-way tag team ladder opening match, in which Shane Helms and Shannon Moore defeated Kaz Hayashi and Yun Yang and Evan Karagias and Jamie Knoble.
Being that this was a WCW Main Event, of course they would pay the money to have Michael Buffer announce the entrants. Since Buffer wore his patented tuxedo, he more likely than not was the best dressed person in the MCI Arena that night.
Sid was introduced first, given that he was the challenger for the title. For reasons I’ll never know (didn’t watch 2000 WCW), Sid wore long tights. But Sid did wear his vest, so I’ll let it go for this instance. As a side note, when Buffer introduced Sid, he described his weight as “three hundred twenty one and one half pounds.”
It was of course Steiner’s turn to make an entrance. He walked out to the arena wearing his big gold Heavyweight Championship title (the one that dates back to 1905 or whatever) with his entrance music composed entirely of blaring sirens. Steiner also had a corner person with him. It was none other than Midajah.
Midajah, known in real life as Melinda McCullum, was recruited by Terry Taylor and was part of the Power Plant program. According to her resume, she was also part of Battle Dome.
The commentary team for this pay-per-view was comprised of Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and (sigh) Mark Madden who played the role of heel commentator. Madden boasted, “Here comes the pinnacle of wrestling” about Steiner. I didn’t hear an audible sigh from the other two, so maybe somebody was using the cough button.
Hudson quickly noted as the bell rang that Sid never lost the title. It was in fact taken from him back in April, which coincided with the return of Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff.
“He’s the uncrowned champion. He’s going to crown Scott Steiner tonight at Starrcade,” Hudson said.
The match started and Steiner got Sid into a corner, attacking with punches and chops. Sid reversed, put Steiner in the corner, and threw a couple of punches at Steiner’s chest before climbing the turnbuckle and punching Steiner.
Steiner grabbed Sid and gave an inverted atomic drop, which had no effect on Sid. He leveled Steiner with a couple of clotheslines. Sid hit Steiner with a side slam and went for a pin attempt. There was barely a one count before Steiner rolled out of the ring to regain his composure.
After a few seconds out of the ring, Steiner got back in and immediately got into a test of strength battle with Sid. During the strength battle, Steiner, ever so friendly with the paying audience, took a couple of seconds to told fans ringside to sit down and shut up.
After one failed attempt, Sid reversed with a northern-lights suplex, attempted a pin and barely got a two-count. Sid took advantage with a leg drop, followed by a pin attempt for a two count, and then a big boot to the face. Steiner got up and is clotheslined over the top rope, onto the floor.
Sid got out of the ring to fetch Steiner. While Sid wasn’t looking, Midajah walked up behind Sid and hits him across the back with a lead pipe. Under normal circumstances, this would've been grounds for a disqualification. However the referee (Mark “Slick” Johnson), turned the other way right as Midajah was approaching Sid.
Steiner got a steel chair (with the Slick Johnson on the ring floor and presumably aware that one of the wrestlers in a match was using a steel chair for nefarious reasons) and hit Sid in the chest/stomach region and got him two more times around the head (wasn’t a full-blown chair shot).
Madden noted the referee could call for a disqualification, but said the ref realized it was a championship match.
Steiner chirped with some fans at ringside some more. “F*ck you,” Steiner yelled. Schiavone talked about how Steiner often had “unkind words” for the fans.
Steiner threw Sid back into the ring and worked to put him away. In the process though, Steiner taunted and wasted time, doing push ups and flexing his biceps.
“That’s why he’s the best wrestler in the world today, because he does it his way,” Madden said.
Steiner continued to work over Sid, eventually doing a belly-to-belly suplex. We got a quick shot of Midajah arguing with the fans and then back to the ring where Steiner got Sid in the Steiner Recliner.
Of course, Steiner didn’t have Sid in the right spot of the ring to get the submission win. It’s kind of hard to get that win when you’re right by the ropes. Sid grabbed the ropes and Johnson ordered Steiner to break the hold, but not before Steiner hit Sid in the back.
Steiner argued with the referee, suggesting Sid gave up. He abandoned the argument quickly and gave Sid a vertical suplex. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not Sid could be suplexed, well, watch the video.
Steiner got Sid back in the Steiner Recliner. Sid refused to give up and looked for crowd support to get him back in the match. As he started to get up and away from the Recliner, Midajah, ever persistent, climbed the top rope and jumped. Sid escaped from the move and Midajah landed on Steiner for a cross body.
Dazed, Steiner got up, and Sid latched onto his throat for the one-hand/one-arm/one-something chokeslam. Sid caught his breath briefly before covering Steiner for the pin, but he only got a two count.
Both men took their time getting up, but were able to get up before the referee’s ten count. Sid grabbed hold of Steiner and locked him in the cobra clutch. In a desperate move, Steiner punched Slick Johnson and knocked him out. Sid turned the cobra clutch into a slam and went for the cover right as Johnson rolled out of the ring.
Midajah got on the ring apron to distract Sid. Steiner used the opportunity to grab the conveniently placed lead pipe and whacked Sid across the back. He knocked down Sid once more with the pipe.
Charles Robinson, aka Litttle Naitch, who even in WCW was the back-up referee for instances when an official was incapacitated, ran into the ring right. Steiner yelled at Robinson about something and immediately scrambled to hook the leg for a pinfall. Sid kicked out at two. Steiner got mad at the ref.
But wait, Jeff Jarrett came out to save the day, yellow-shaded sunglasses and all with his nice guitar. Jarrett got on the ring apron with the guitar, while Steiner grabbed hold of Sid. No, not this way!
Jarrett swung, but Sid got out of the way. Steiner got waylaid by the guitar. Sid hooked the leg for a pin. One, two... but Jarrett grabbed Robinson and pulled him out of the ring. He charged to clothesline Robinson, but Robinson ducked, got back in the ring and counted, only getting a two count.
Sid got Steiner up, whipped him into the ropes, kicked him, and set up for a powerbomb. Steiner cut him off with low blow, not once, but twice, courtesy of a rear kick. Steiner gave him a T-bone suplex and went for the recliner once more. Sid eventually faded. Robinson called for the bell and Steiner retained his title.
“...He’s already one of the greatest world champions of all time,” Madden said.
Agree with Madden if you feel the need to, but what’s done is done. It took a bit of effort, but Steiner retained the belt and Sid didn’t get his defining Starrcade moment.
Sid would get a few more opportunities over that next month at a title shot, but an in-ring instance would change his career.
Card information courtesy of Pro Fight Database. Part two is linked below.
We start this first edition of This Week in Sid History with this moment:
December 17, 2000
It was on this date in 2000 that Sid Vicious lost to Scott Steiner in a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match.
This match was the main event for Starrcade, which at one point in time was considered WCW’s version of WrestleMania. In other words, yes, Sid Vicious and Scott Steiner were the headliners for WCW’s version of WrestleMania. But to be fair, Sid did main event Wrestlemania 13 versus the Undertaker and Wrestlemania 8 versus Hulk Hogan.
The final Starrcade in the history of WCW took place at the MCI Center (now known as the Verizon Center) in Washington D.C.
The Starrcade card featured such matches Mike Awesome vs. Bam Bam Bigelow in an ambulance match, Shane Douglas versus General Rection and Goldberg vs. Lex Luger.
Sid-Steiner was rated one of the higher matches on the card. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave the match two-and-a-half stars. Three other matches were ranked higher. Terry Funk’s Hardcore Title match versus Crowbar was two-and-three-quarters stars. Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash had a three-and-a-quarter star tag match against Meat Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo. The highest rated match was four stars - the three-way tag team ladder opening match, in which Shane Helms and Shannon Moore defeated Kaz Hayashi and Yun Yang and Evan Karagias and Jamie Knoble.
Being that this was a WCW Main Event, of course they would pay the money to have Michael Buffer announce the entrants. Since Buffer wore his patented tuxedo, he more likely than not was the best dressed person in the MCI Arena that night.
Sid was introduced first, given that he was the challenger for the title. For reasons I’ll never know (didn’t watch 2000 WCW), Sid wore long tights. But Sid did wear his vest, so I’ll let it go for this instance. As a side note, when Buffer introduced Sid, he described his weight as “three hundred twenty one and one half pounds.”
It was of course Steiner’s turn to make an entrance. He walked out to the arena wearing his big gold Heavyweight Championship title (the one that dates back to 1905 or whatever) with his entrance music composed entirely of blaring sirens. Steiner also had a corner person with him. It was none other than Midajah.
Midajah, known in real life as Melinda McCullum, was recruited by Terry Taylor and was part of the Power Plant program. According to her resume, she was also part of Battle Dome.
The commentary team for this pay-per-view was comprised of Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson and (sigh) Mark Madden who played the role of heel commentator. Madden boasted, “Here comes the pinnacle of wrestling” about Steiner. I didn’t hear an audible sigh from the other two, so maybe somebody was using the cough button.
Hudson quickly noted as the bell rang that Sid never lost the title. It was in fact taken from him back in April, which coincided with the return of Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff.
“He’s the uncrowned champion. He’s going to crown Scott Steiner tonight at Starrcade,” Hudson said.
The match started and Steiner got Sid into a corner, attacking with punches and chops. Sid reversed, put Steiner in the corner, and threw a couple of punches at Steiner’s chest before climbing the turnbuckle and punching Steiner.
Steiner grabbed Sid and gave an inverted atomic drop, which had no effect on Sid. He leveled Steiner with a couple of clotheslines. Sid hit Steiner with a side slam and went for a pin attempt. There was barely a one count before Steiner rolled out of the ring to regain his composure.
After a few seconds out of the ring, Steiner got back in and immediately got into a test of strength battle with Sid. During the strength battle, Steiner, ever so friendly with the paying audience, took a couple of seconds to told fans ringside to sit down and shut up.
After one failed attempt, Sid reversed with a northern-lights suplex, attempted a pin and barely got a two-count. Sid took advantage with a leg drop, followed by a pin attempt for a two count, and then a big boot to the face. Steiner got up and is clotheslined over the top rope, onto the floor.
Sid got out of the ring to fetch Steiner. While Sid wasn’t looking, Midajah walked up behind Sid and hits him across the back with a lead pipe. Under normal circumstances, this would've been grounds for a disqualification. However the referee (Mark “Slick” Johnson), turned the other way right as Midajah was approaching Sid.
Steiner got a steel chair (with the Slick Johnson on the ring floor and presumably aware that one of the wrestlers in a match was using a steel chair for nefarious reasons) and hit Sid in the chest/stomach region and got him two more times around the head (wasn’t a full-blown chair shot).
Madden noted the referee could call for a disqualification, but said the ref realized it was a championship match.
Steiner chirped with some fans at ringside some more. “F*ck you,” Steiner yelled. Schiavone talked about how Steiner often had “unkind words” for the fans.
Steiner threw Sid back into the ring and worked to put him away. In the process though, Steiner taunted and wasted time, doing push ups and flexing his biceps.
“That’s why he’s the best wrestler in the world today, because he does it his way,” Madden said.
Steiner continued to work over Sid, eventually doing a belly-to-belly suplex. We got a quick shot of Midajah arguing with the fans and then back to the ring where Steiner got Sid in the Steiner Recliner.
Of course, Steiner didn’t have Sid in the right spot of the ring to get the submission win. It’s kind of hard to get that win when you’re right by the ropes. Sid grabbed the ropes and Johnson ordered Steiner to break the hold, but not before Steiner hit Sid in the back.
Steiner argued with the referee, suggesting Sid gave up. He abandoned the argument quickly and gave Sid a vertical suplex. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not Sid could be suplexed, well, watch the video.
Steiner got Sid back in the Steiner Recliner. Sid refused to give up and looked for crowd support to get him back in the match. As he started to get up and away from the Recliner, Midajah, ever persistent, climbed the top rope and jumped. Sid escaped from the move and Midajah landed on Steiner for a cross body.
Dazed, Steiner got up, and Sid latched onto his throat for the one-hand/one-arm/one-something chokeslam. Sid caught his breath briefly before covering Steiner for the pin, but he only got a two count.
Both men took their time getting up, but were able to get up before the referee’s ten count. Sid grabbed hold of Steiner and locked him in the cobra clutch. In a desperate move, Steiner punched Slick Johnson and knocked him out. Sid turned the cobra clutch into a slam and went for the cover right as Johnson rolled out of the ring.
Midajah got on the ring apron to distract Sid. Steiner used the opportunity to grab the conveniently placed lead pipe and whacked Sid across the back. He knocked down Sid once more with the pipe.
Charles Robinson, aka Litttle Naitch, who even in WCW was the back-up referee for instances when an official was incapacitated, ran into the ring right. Steiner yelled at Robinson about something and immediately scrambled to hook the leg for a pinfall. Sid kicked out at two. Steiner got mad at the ref.
But wait, Jeff Jarrett came out to save the day, yellow-shaded sunglasses and all with his nice guitar. Jarrett got on the ring apron with the guitar, while Steiner grabbed hold of Sid. No, not this way!
Jarrett swung, but Sid got out of the way. Steiner got waylaid by the guitar. Sid hooked the leg for a pin. One, two... but Jarrett grabbed Robinson and pulled him out of the ring. He charged to clothesline Robinson, but Robinson ducked, got back in the ring and counted, only getting a two count.
Sid got Steiner up, whipped him into the ropes, kicked him, and set up for a powerbomb. Steiner cut him off with low blow, not once, but twice, courtesy of a rear kick. Steiner gave him a T-bone suplex and went for the recliner once more. Sid eventually faded. Robinson called for the bell and Steiner retained his title.
“...He’s already one of the greatest world champions of all time,” Madden said.
Agree with Madden if you feel the need to, but what’s done is done. It took a bit of effort, but Steiner retained the belt and Sid didn’t get his defining Starrcade moment.
Sid would get a few more opportunities over that next month at a title shot, but an in-ring instance would change his career.
Card information courtesy of Pro Fight Database. Part two is linked below.
