Tuesday, July 8, 2014

This Week in Sid History: Sid-dependence Day!



After a bit of a hiatus I am back with a new edition for This Week in Sid History.

For this edition, we go back 15 years to July 5, 1999. It was the day after Independence Day, and which happened to fall on a Monday for an episode of Nitro. It was a big show because WCW held it at the Georgia Dome. More than 25,000 people were on hand to watch Sid Vicious fight Kevin Nash in the main event for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. With that said, let us take a trip back in time and celebrate the founding of this great country by talking about a match featuring our hero. On this particular evening, Sid was joined by Team Madness, a.k.a. the "Macho Man" Randy Savage, as well as his associates Madusa and Miss Madness. Not present at the time was Gorgeous George, who was kidnapped by Kevin Nash or something. Because this was the main event of a WCW Nitro show at the Georgia Dome, it meant everyone had the honor of listening to Michael Buffer introduce the combatants.

Sid entered the Georgia Dome wearing the WCW World title. HOWEVER, Sid wasn’t the World Champion; that honor belonged to Mr. Nash. Amazingly, someone dared to try and take out Sid with an inflatable beach volleyball or something. Thankfully, our hero was okay and made it to ringside safely. I hope the perpetrator was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Soon, Nash walked out and just as he appeared. The broadcast cut to the crowd where there was a giant paper cut-out of Big Sexy. As Nash approached ringside, Savage freaked out and had to be held back by Sid, a true friend indeed. Nash grabbed a mic and told Savage and the rest of Team Madness to beat it and leave the ring. He wanted Sid 1-on-1. Sid got Savage to leave.

By the way, it wasn’t a Nitro show unless the crowd chanted for Goldberg... WHICH THEY DID. But this circumstance was different as it was the first Nitro show at the Georgia Dome since the infamous Finger Poke of Doom. Those who paid money in hopes of seeing Goldberg... well, they were probably disappointed. As a side note, this Nitro broadcast would be the last time WCW held a show in the Georgia Dome. Three months later, the WWF started doing shows there and it continued a few more times. The Georgia Dome hosted that Miz-main evented Wrestlemania in 2011.

The match started and the two men went back-and-forth briefly. Nash got the upper hand and knocked Sid out of the ring. While Sid was re-gaining his composure, Savage ran out from the back and attacked Nash. Sid got back in the ring, but Nash had thwarted Savage’s attack and then sidewalk slammed Sid. Nash successfully stopped the double team (WHO BOOKED THIS!?).

With Sid out of the way, Nash worked over Savage, running into him in the corner. He tried once more on the diagonal corner, but Savage pulled in the referee, knocking him out in the process. Nash sidewalk slammed Savage and soon got booted in the face by Sid. Sid went to pick up Nash, but immediately got low-blown. WHERE WAS THE REF!? But wait, the crowd rose and looked toward the entrance way. Was it Goldberg? Hulk Hogan? Ric Flair!? Nope! It was Sting.

Yes folks, Sting came out to save Nash from Sid and Savage. But wait, Sting blindsided Nash. It was a set-up!? SWERVE? All of the sudden, it was all three guys against one Nash. HOW WOULD NASH OVERCOME THE ODDS? Sid picked up Nash, which allowed Savage to grab the belt and clobber him. All three men stood over Nash. But wait, another wrestler entered the ring. IT WAS... STING! That must have been the real Sting, you guys. The REAL Sting got in and cleaned house, knocking both Sid and Savage out of the ring. Real Sting met face-to-face with Fake Sting and knocked him out of the ring.

Real Sting then went to help up Nash, who immediately rose up and powerbombed him. The nerve! During the last minute of the in-ring action, fans pelted the ring with garbage in true WCW style. Nash grabbed his title, which was conveniently in the ring, and left. As he walked to the back, Nash grabbed a mic and said the following to Savage:

“[Gorgeous George]’s in my dressing room, what’s left of her.”

This was troubling. I thought Nash was supposed to be the good guy. THERE WAS NO NEED TO HARM HER! Savage and Sid (casually for Sid) walked away from the ring and head to the back. This was the last point in time that we saw Sid. Sting also got up and walked backstage. However, the referee, who was knocked down in like the second minute of the match, was still out cold. Somebody should’ve checked on that poor guy. He could have been seriously hurt. WHERE WERE YOU, DOUG DILLINGER?

As a quick prologue for this article, it is important to note that this episode was the (in)famous “Send for the Man” moment with Savage.