WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000 Picture this for a second. You are staring up 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.179 at an absolute mountain of a man. Right. We are 00:00:05.179 --> 00:00:09.240 talking 6 feet 9 inches tall, nipping the scales 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:13.960 at 317 pounds. A literal giant. And when the 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.120 arena announcer calls his name, he isn't billed 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:19.800 from New York or Los Angeles or parts unknown. 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:23.469 No, he's not. He is billed as being from... wherever 00:00:23.469 --> 00:00:26.010 he damn well pleases. It is quite the introduction, 00:00:26.170 --> 00:00:29.550 isn't it? It really is. It just immediately sets 00:00:29.550 --> 00:00:31.289 a tone. It tells you everything you need to know 00:00:31.289 --> 00:00:34.350 about the sheer, intimidating physical presence 00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:36.590 of the man we're looking at today. Welcome to 00:00:36.590 --> 00:00:39.390 today's Deep Dive. We are exploring the life, 00:00:39.450 --> 00:00:41.890 the massive career, and the incredibly complex 00:00:41.890 --> 00:00:45.469 legacy of Sidney Raymond Yudy. Yeah. You likely 00:00:45.469 --> 00:00:47.950 know him better by his famous ring names. Sid 00:00:47.950 --> 00:00:52.280 Vicious. Sid Justice or Psycho Sid. Exactly. 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:54.340 We've got a comprehensive stack of biographical 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:56.899 material to go through today, charting his entire 00:00:56.899 --> 00:00:59.320 journey through the wild, unpredictable world 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:01.579 of professional wrestling. And it is a wild ride. 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:05.400 OK, let's unpack this because we aren't just 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:08.099 doing a standard chronological career recap here. 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:10.700 That's not what we do. So what is the real mission 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:13.609 for us today? Well. The goal for you, the listener, 00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:17.329 is to use Sid's life as a lens to explore something 00:01:17.329 --> 00:01:19.950 much deeper about entertainment itself. Right. 00:01:20.010 --> 00:01:23.010 This deep dive is a fascinating look at the blurred 00:01:23.010 --> 00:01:26.989 lines between fiction and reality. It's an uncompromising 00:01:26.989 --> 00:01:29.730 examination of the immense physical and mental 00:01:29.730 --> 00:01:32.329 toll that the performance business demands. And 00:01:32.329 --> 00:01:34.329 ultimately, I mean, it is an incredible story 00:01:34.329 --> 00:01:37.030 of human willpower. Yeah. When you look at Sid's 00:01:37.030 --> 00:01:40.409 life, you see the extreme heights of superstardom 00:01:40.409 --> 00:01:43.640 and the devastating, life -altering lows of an 00:01:43.640 --> 00:01:46.019 industry that asks for literally everything a 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:48.000 performer has to give. They really do give everything. 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:50.500 Let's start with the making of that monster and 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:53.560 how he inadvertently became this massive anti 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:56.239 -hero for an entire generation. Okay. Looking 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:59.260 back at his origins, Sin debuted in 1982. He 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:01.439 was trained by Tojo Yamamoto, and he actually 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:03.859 took the name Sid Vicious straight from the bass 00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:05.739 player of the punk rock band The Sex Pistols. 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:09.139 Which is just such a gritty, chaotic origin for 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:11.840 our wrestling persona. It really is. And we have 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:13.800 to highlight his signature move right out of 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.219 the gate. The powerbomb. Oh, the powerbomb. He 00:02:17.219 --> 00:02:19.580 would hoist these massive athletes into the air, 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:22.439 pause for a second, and drive them straight down 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:26.080 onto the mat. It was just a devastating car crash 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:28.419 of a maneuver. What's fascinating here is how 00:02:28.419 --> 00:02:32.219 the audience reacted to that sheer violent dominance 00:02:32.219 --> 00:02:35.139 over time. Because, you know, Sid was largely... 00:02:35.449 --> 00:02:37.990 positioned by promoters as the intimidating, 00:02:38.250 --> 00:02:41.129 unstable villain of the story. The bad guy. Right, 00:02:41.169 --> 00:02:43.629 the bad guy. But a really unique psychological 00:02:43.629 --> 00:02:45.930 shift started to happen with the crowds in the 00:02:45.930 --> 00:02:49.030 1990s. The audience began actively rebelling 00:02:49.030 --> 00:02:51.409 against the established script. That's why. They 00:02:51.409 --> 00:02:53.889 started cheering wildly for Sid over the squeaky 00:02:53.889 --> 00:02:55.889 clean traditional heroes that the promotions 00:02:55.889 --> 00:02:57.710 were trying to push. I was reading about that 00:02:57.710 --> 00:03:00.050 crowd rebellion, and there are two specific moments 00:03:00.050 --> 00:03:01.789 that highlight this perfectly. Let's hear them. 00:03:01.990 --> 00:03:05.460 First, you have the 1992 Royal Rumble. Sid makes 00:03:05.460 --> 00:03:07.979 it to the final four and he actually eliminates 00:03:07.979 --> 00:03:11.340 the ultimate quintessential hero of that era, 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:13.599 Hulk Hogan. The biggest good guy on the planet 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:16.719 at the time. Exactly. On paper, the crowd should 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:19.879 be furious. But Hogan, who is now eliminated 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.080 and standing on the outside of the ring, acts 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:25.900 like a total f***. sore loser. He grabs Sid's 00:03:25.900 --> 00:03:28.500 arm and pulls him over the top rope so Ric Flair 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:30.599 can win the whole thing. And the crowd actually 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:32.939 takes Sid's side. Which is a complete inversion 00:03:32.939 --> 00:03:35.479 of what the promoters likely intended. Total 00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:37.520 backfire. Yeah, the audience was supposed to 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.060 be furious that Sid eliminated the hero, but 00:03:40.060 --> 00:03:42.840 instead they were cheering for Sid and loudly 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:46.879 booing Hogan. Booing Hulk Hogan in 1992. It's 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.099 crazy. And this wasn't an isolated incident at 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:52.180 all. If we trace this phenomenon forward to the 00:03:52.180 --> 00:03:55.599 1996 survival The dynamic is even more extreme. 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:58.300 Oh, this match. Yeah. Sid is wrestling Shawn 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:01.159 Michaels for the WWF Championship. Michaels has 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:04.539 his elderly manager, Jose Lothario, at ringside. 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:07.520 Right. During the match, Sid literally grabs 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:09.979 a camera from a ringside operator and brutally 00:04:09.979 --> 00:04:12.960 assaults this elderly manager, hitting Lothario 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.300 right in the chest with it. He assaults an old 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:17.279 man with a heavy piece of broadcasting equipment. 00:04:17.420 --> 00:04:20.199 Yes. And the crowd goes completely wild for it. 00:04:20.259 --> 00:04:22.660 They are cheering for Sid to win the championship, 00:04:23.019 --> 00:04:26.040 actively booing the actual hero, Shawn Michaels. 00:04:26.300 --> 00:04:28.620 It's unbelievable. Sid then hits Michaels with 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:31.459 the camera, hits the powerbomb, and wins the 00:04:31.459 --> 00:04:34.199 belt to a massive deafening pop from the audience. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:37.540 Why was the audience suddenly so hungry for that 00:04:37.540 --> 00:04:40.319 level of chaos? Well, if we connect this to the 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:43.319 bigger picture, it highlights a significant shift 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:45.300 in audience. and psychology during that specific 00:04:45.300 --> 00:04:48.759 era of entertainment. Viewers were growing profoundly 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.519 tired of traditional, predictable narratives. 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:54.480 They didn't want the smiling protagonist who 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.300 told them to say their prayers and do the right 00:04:56.300 --> 00:04:58.920 thing anymore. They were over it. Exactly. They 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:02.420 were starting to crave unpredictable, edgy anti 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:05.600 -heroes. They wanted the massive, intense guy 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.879 who did whatever he wanted, wherever he damn 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:10.800 well pleased. That phrase again. Right. Sid was 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:13.060 at the very forefront of that cultural sh**. 00:05:12.970 --> 00:05:15.129 shift, capturing that dark energy perfectly, 00:05:15.329 --> 00:05:17.329 even if it happened organically, rather than 00:05:17.329 --> 00:05:19.970 by a writer's deliberate design. Okay, here's 00:05:19.970 --> 00:05:22.089 where it gets really interesting, though. Because 00:05:22.089 --> 00:05:26.350 that line between the script and reality didn't 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:29.870 just blur for the fans in the arena. It profoundly 00:05:29.870 --> 00:05:33.860 blurred for Sid himself. It certainly did. He 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:36.600 was intensely protective of his character, sometimes 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:38.819 to his own professional detriment. For example, 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:43.620 in 1992, Sid abruptly quits the WWF. Just walks 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:46.699 away. Literally walks away from the biggest company 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:50.779 in the world. And the reason. Management booked 00:05:50.779 --> 00:05:53.259 a match. where his opponent, the Ultimate Warrior, 00:05:53.540 --> 00:05:55.399 was going to kick out of his finishing move, 00:05:55.579 --> 00:05:58.199 the Powerbomb. Right. Wait, he walked away from 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:00.139 the biggest promotion on Earth just because someone's 00:06:00.139 --> 00:06:01.620 going to kick out of his move? I mean, isn't 00:06:01.620 --> 00:06:03.720 that a massive overreaction? It might sound like 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:05.680 a minor creative disagreement to an outsider, 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:07.740 but you have to understand the underlying economics 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:10.439 of a finishing move in that industry. The economics 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:13.180 of a fake wrestling move? Yes, because your finisher 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:15.620 is your entire livelihood. It is the absolute 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:18.079 source of your character's credibility and aura. 00:06:18.459 --> 00:06:21.220 Okay, I guess it's a bit like a major... Hollywood 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:23.720 actor quitting a blockbuster superhero movie 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:25.819 halfway through production because the director 00:06:25.819 --> 00:06:28.259 decided to completely nerve their character's 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:31.779 superpower. Precisely. To Sid, if the power bomb 00:06:31.779 --> 00:06:35.000 doesn't unequivocally finish the match, it renders 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:38.120 his entire terrifying persona useless. It makes 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:41.069 him look weak. Right. He felt his character was 00:06:41.069 --> 00:06:43.670 being fundamentally undermined, and he was willing 00:06:43.670 --> 00:06:46.250 to walk away from massive paychecks to protect 00:06:46.250 --> 00:06:49.290 that illusion. That intense protectiveness over 00:06:49.290 --> 00:06:51.329 his character wasn't just reserved for the writer's 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:54.209 room either. It bled into his real -life interactions, 00:06:54.569 --> 00:06:57.310 sometimes with near -fatal consequences. This 00:06:57.310 --> 00:06:59.810 is a dark chapter. I was reading about the Blackburn, 00:06:59.930 --> 00:07:03.689 England tour in October of 1993, and things got 00:07:03.689 --> 00:07:06.110 incredibly out of hand at a hotel bar. What actually 00:07:06.110 --> 00:07:08.240 happened there? This is one of the most shocking 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.680 real -life events detailed in his biography. 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:13.759 During this WCW tour, the talent was gathered 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:16.639 at a hotel bar. Sid makes some highly disparaging 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:19.019 remarks about the wrestler Ric Flair, while another 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:21.439 legendary wrestler, Marty Lund, who the world 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.699 knows as Arn Anderson, Exactly. Arne Anderson 00:07:24.699 --> 00:07:27.060 happens to be one of Flair's closest friends. 00:07:27.220 --> 00:07:30.420 So the two get into a massive heated argument. 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:33.740 Over the comments. Yes. And it escalates to the 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:37.040 point where Arne throws a beer in Sid's face 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:40.660 and threatens him with a broken glass mug. Hotel 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:43.279 security steps in at that point. They send everyone 00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:45.139 to their respective rooms. You would think that 00:07:45.139 --> 00:07:47.019 would be the end of it. Just a typical testosterone 00:07:47.019 --> 00:07:50.019 fueled. Bar scuffle? You would think so, but 00:07:50.019 --> 00:07:52.279 the tension had already escalated far past a 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:54.519 simple argument. Right. The violence of their 00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:57.180 profession spilled directly into the hotel hallway. 00:07:57.779 --> 00:08:01.019 An enraged Sid leaves his room, goes down to 00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:02.879 Arne Anderson's room, and attacks him with a 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.980 broken off chair leg. Oh, man. And Arne Anderson 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:08.220 retaliates with a pair of scissors. The details 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:10.480 of the aftermath are terrifying. This wasn't 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:12.639 a scripted storyline. This was real life with 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:15.180 real blood. A lot of blood. Sid suffers four 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:17.660 stab wounds in the altercation. Arne Anderson 00:08:17.660 --> 00:08:21.019 is stabbed 20 times. 20 times. He loses a pint 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:22.759 and a half of blood right there in the hallway. 00:08:23.139 --> 00:08:26.420 The only reason it didn't end in a complete fatality 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:29.620 was because another wrestler, too cool, Scorpio, 00:08:29.699 --> 00:08:32.779 managed to step in. break up the fight and is 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:35.200 actually credited with saving Arne's life that 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:37.740 night. And this brings us directly to the real 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:40.779 world fallout of these blurred lines. The professional 00:08:40.779 --> 00:08:43.539 consequences were immediate and severe. I imagine 00:08:43.539 --> 00:08:47.700 so. Sid was fired by WCW right on the spot. But 00:08:47.700 --> 00:08:50.379 what is absolutely crucial to understand here 00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:53.440 is the timing of this incident. Why is the timing 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:55.759 so important? This fight happened just months 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.100 before the massive Starrcade pick review event 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:01.730 in December of 1993. Sid was the planned winner 00:09:01.730 --> 00:09:04.509 for that event. He was scheduled to win the WCW 00:09:04.509 --> 00:09:07.210 World Heavyweight Championship. Wow. He lost 00:09:07.210 --> 00:09:09.169 out on the biggest prize in the industry and 00:09:09.169 --> 00:09:11.570 the absolute pinnacle of his career at that time 00:09:11.570 --> 00:09:14.110 because the intense, volatile nature of his world 00:09:14.110 --> 00:09:16.509 couldn't be contained. It really makes you wonder 00:09:16.509 --> 00:09:18.990 how a person comes back from something that catastrophic, 00:09:19.289 --> 00:09:22.070 both personally and professionally. He does find 00:09:22.070 --> 00:09:24.950 his way back to the WWF in the mid -90s, which 00:09:24.950 --> 00:09:26.610 is when that Survivor Series match we talked 00:09:26.610 --> 00:09:29.009 about happened. But I want to fast forward to 00:09:29.009 --> 00:09:33.289 his eventual return to WCW in 1999 because he 00:09:33.289 --> 00:09:35.809 reinvents himself in a way that is just fascinating. 00:09:35.990 --> 00:09:38.370 The Millennium Man. Yes. He comes back as the 00:09:38.370 --> 00:09:41.789 Millennium Man. And this gimmick is incredible. 00:09:42.009 --> 00:09:44.870 He goes on this massive undefeated streak, but 00:09:44.870 --> 00:09:46.789 he does it without actually having scheduled 00:09:46.789 --> 00:09:48.809 matches. Right. He just shows up. He would just 00:09:48.809 --> 00:09:51.210 walk down to the ring during other people's matches, 00:09:51.389 --> 00:09:54.149 hit both competitors with the powerbomb, grab 00:09:54.149 --> 00:09:57.049 a microphone, and declare himself the winner. 00:09:57.450 --> 00:09:59.830 It's a brilliant piece of meta entertainment. 00:10:00.129 --> 00:10:02.710 It's hilarious. It perfectly captured that exact 00:10:02.710 --> 00:10:05.809 unpredictable anti -hero energy the crowd had 00:10:05.809 --> 00:10:08.649 come to love him for. He wasn't following the 00:10:08.649 --> 00:10:10.610 established rules of the promotion or the referee. 00:10:10.909 --> 00:10:13.809 He was just imposing his sheer physical will. 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:16.639 on the show itself the fans must have eaten that 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.399 up they did it was incredibly popular but this 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:22.139 later era of his career also leads us directly 00:10:22.139 --> 00:10:24.840 into one of the most tragic and physically devastating 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:27.220 chapters of his life yeah we need to slow the 00:10:27.220 --> 00:10:29.500 pace down here because this is where the story 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:33.580 takes a truly harrowing turn We are looking at 00:10:33.580 --> 00:10:37.940 January 2001, specifically the Sin pay -per -view 00:10:37.940 --> 00:10:41.179 event taking place in Indianapolis. Sid is competing 00:10:41.179 --> 00:10:43.700 in a four -corners match for the World Heavyweight 00:10:43.700 --> 00:10:46.200 Championship. But leading up to this specific 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:49.360 match, there was immense backstage pressure being 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:53.120 applied. By management? Yes. A WCW executive 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:56.340 named John Laurinaitis strongly felt that Sid 00:10:56.340 --> 00:10:58.759 needed to broaden his wrestling arsenal to keep 00:10:58.759 --> 00:11:01.700 the audience engaged. He pressured Sid into attempting 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:03.899 a high -flying aerial maneuver from the ropes. 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:06.200 Which makes absolutely no sense when you look 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.259 at him. Keep in mind, Sid is 317 pounds. Right. 00:11:09.379 --> 00:11:11.820 He has built his entire decades -long career 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:14.799 on being a grounded, power -based monster. The 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:16.899 biographical records point out that Sid heavily 00:11:16.899 --> 00:11:19.039 objected to this. He knew it was a bad idea. 00:11:19.179 --> 00:11:21.600 He explicitly expressed disbelief that a wrestler 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:23.580 of his shape and size should be doing high spots 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:26.159 off the turnbuckles. Why was management pushing 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.830 for this so hard? It comes down to the relentless 00:11:28.830 --> 00:11:32.379 demand for spectacle. In the hyper -competitive 00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:34.600 environment of wrestling at that time, management 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.320 was always looking for a new visual thrill, a 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:40.019 new way to shock the audience. Ratings over logic. 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:43.740 Exactly. They were prioritizing a momentary pop 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:46.860 from the crowd over the practical biomechanics 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:50.139 of their performers. You simply don't ask a 300 00:11:50.139 --> 00:11:52.919 -pound powerlifter to suddenly become an acrobat. 00:11:53.100 --> 00:11:56.139 No. The human body, especially a body carrying 00:11:56.139 --> 00:11:58.940 that much mass, is not engineered to absorb the 00:11:58.940 --> 00:12:01.000 impact of falling from that. height. And the 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.620 result of that pressure was catastrophic. Sid 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:06.320 jumps from the second turnbuckle attempting a 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.639 big boot maneuver but he lands incredibly awkwardly 00:12:09.639 --> 00:12:11.620 with all of his massive weight coming down on 00:12:11.620 --> 00:12:13.779 one single foot while he's kicking with the other. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:17.159 It is a profoundly gruesome injury. It is. The 00:12:17.159 --> 00:12:19.399 sheer force of his own body weight completely 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:22.840 snaps both his tibia and his fibula. One of the 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:25.100 bones violently breaks right through the skin. 00:12:25.240 --> 00:12:28.620 Oh, God. His foot rotates 90 degrees anticlockwise, 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:31.620 hanging there completely without his input. It 00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:34.340 was so visually graphic and disturbing that many 00:12:34.340 --> 00:12:37.139 television stations outright refused to ever 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:40.309 replay the footage. The aftermath of that single 00:12:40.309 --> 00:12:42.990 pressure jump is just grueling to read about. 00:12:43.269 --> 00:12:46.590 Sid required an immediate, massive two -hour 00:12:46.590 --> 00:12:48.549 surgery. Just to put the pieces back together. 00:12:48.809 --> 00:12:51.529 Yeah. The surgeons had to place a 17 -inch rod 00:12:51.529 --> 00:12:54.269 inside his leg just to stabilize the shattered 00:12:54.269 --> 00:12:57.190 bones. And then comes the immense psychological 00:12:57.190 --> 00:12:59.950 blow. The diagnosis. Right. A doctor looks this 00:12:59.950 --> 00:13:02.590 incredible lifelong athlete in the eye and delivers 00:13:02.590 --> 00:13:05.629 the diagnosis. He will never run again. For a 00:13:05.629 --> 00:13:08.269 man whose entire identity, livelihood and sense 00:13:08.269 --> 00:13:10.549 of self have been defined by his immense physical 00:13:10.549 --> 00:13:13.529 capability, a diagnosis like that is a profound 00:13:13.529 --> 00:13:15.710 trauma. It's devastating. It's essentially an 00:13:15.710 --> 00:13:18.629 erasure of who he is. But this is exactly where 00:13:18.629 --> 00:13:20.889 we see that overarching theme of human willpower 00:13:20.889 --> 00:13:23.990 emerge so strongly in his story. Sid is quoted 00:13:23.990 --> 00:13:26.490 responding to that grim medical reality by saying, 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:28.529 to me, running is more important than working 00:13:28.529 --> 00:13:30.919 out. He simply refused to accept that limitation. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.279 He did. He put himself through a full year of 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:36.980 incredibly painful, grueling rehabilitation, 00:13:37.220 --> 00:13:40.200 working out three to five days a week just to 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:42.759 reclaim his mobility. Step by step. He started 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:44.799 with a cane and he pushed himself until he could 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.789 walk unaided. And eventually, defying all the 00:13:47.789 --> 00:13:50.210 medical odds and the biomechanical reality of 00:13:50.210 --> 00:13:52.889 his massive frame, he was incredibly able to 00:13:52.889 --> 00:13:55.049 run again. It's amazing. That's an unbelievable 00:13:55.049 --> 00:13:57.629 testament to his sheer stubbornness and drive 00:13:57.629 --> 00:14:00.769 to reclaim his body. It really is. And synthesizing 00:14:00.769 --> 00:14:03.450 these contrasting aspects of his life really 00:14:03.450 --> 00:14:06.950 shows his deeply human side far beyond the chaotic 00:14:06.950 --> 00:14:09.309 character he portrayed on television. Yeah. You 00:14:09.309 --> 00:14:12.350 have this terrifying, violent on -screen persona, 00:14:12.590 --> 00:14:15.149 a guy who gets into literal scissor fights and 00:14:15.149 --> 00:14:17.049 hoes. hotel hallways and shatters his leg for 00:14:17.049 --> 00:14:18.850 the sake of entertainment. But then you look 00:14:18.850 --> 00:14:20.950 at the man outside the ring away from the cameras. 00:14:21.230 --> 00:14:23.710 The contrast is amazing. During his time away 00:14:23.710 --> 00:14:25.669 from the wrestling business between 1997 and 00:14:25.669 --> 00:14:28.830 1999, he was incredibly passionate about playing 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:31.370 softball. Just a normal hobby. Just a giant of 00:14:31.370 --> 00:14:34.230 a man playing a casual local game of softball. 00:14:34.750 --> 00:14:37.529 He also got heavily into over 50 bodybuilding 00:14:37.529 --> 00:14:40.080 later in life. maintaining that incredible discipline. 00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:42.740 Right. And then in 2012, he actually appeared 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:45.740 on the CBS reality show Big Brother 14. I remember 00:14:45.740 --> 00:14:48.460 that. If you grew up watching this terrifying 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:51.820 monster powerbomb people through the ring, it's 00:14:51.820 --> 00:14:54.240 completely surreal to tune into network reality 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:57.059 TV decades later and see him just acting like 00:14:57.059 --> 00:14:59.299 a proud, supportive dad there solely to support 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:01.679 his son Frank, who was a contestant on the show. 00:15:01.860 --> 00:15:04.240 It completely reframes how you look at him, doesn't 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.500 it? Totally. He wasn't just psycho Sid all the 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:09.200 time. He was a father, a passionate softball 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.700 player, a man trying to rebuild his body after 00:15:11.700 --> 00:15:14.940 a devastating trauma. Sadly, this brings us to 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:17.759 the final chapter. of our deep dive today. Sydney 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:21.120 Udy passed away on August 26, 2024 at the age 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:24.320 of 63 after a quiet battle with non -Hodgkin's 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.320 lymphoma. A huge loss. The wrestling world immediately 00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:29.899 recognized his massive impact on the industry. 00:15:30.059 --> 00:15:33.179 On WWE Raw that exact same night, There was a 00:15:33.179 --> 00:15:35.399 really touching, unscripted tribute. Yes, there 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:38.399 was. The wrestler, Damian Priest, right in the 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.559 middle of the ring, performed Sid's trademark 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:44.779 choke slam and powerbomb in his honor. It was 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:47.460 a very fitting, respectful tribute to a truly 00:15:47.460 --> 00:15:50.919 monumental figure in the business. If we summarize 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.940 the breadth of his career, Sid Yudy was a four 00:15:53.940 --> 00:15:56.789 -time world champion. holding the top championship 00:15:56.789 --> 00:16:00.389 title twice in the WWF and twice in WCW. That's 00:16:00.389 --> 00:16:03.389 a Hall of Fame resume. Absolutely. But his ultimate 00:16:03.389 --> 00:16:06.450 legacy is defined by so much more than just the 00:16:06.450 --> 00:16:08.509 intimidating character he portrayed or the gold 00:16:08.509 --> 00:16:11.250 belts he held. Right. It's defined by his incredible 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:13.710 resilience in the face of career -ending trauma 00:16:13.710 --> 00:16:16.330 and his unique ability to captivate audiences 00:16:16.330 --> 00:16:19.149 by being exactly what they didn't know they wanted 00:16:19.149 --> 00:16:21.350 at a time when the entire culture of entertainment 00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:23.690 was shifting. So what does this all mean for 00:16:23.690 --> 00:16:25.389 you as you listen to this? When you look at Sid's 00:16:25.389 --> 00:16:28.789 story, beyond the chaos and the spectacle, it's 00:16:28.789 --> 00:16:31.029 a massive source of inspiration. It really is. 00:16:31.169 --> 00:16:34.029 It reminds us to push back when people, whether 00:16:34.029 --> 00:16:36.009 it's a medical professional, a boss, or just 00:16:36.009 --> 00:16:38.289 society in general, tell us what our physical 00:16:38.289 --> 00:16:40.029 or mental limits are. Challenge those limits. 00:16:40.250 --> 00:16:42.710 Exactly. When someone authoritative says you'll 00:16:42.710 --> 00:16:45.090 never run again, Sid's life shows us that with 00:16:45.090 --> 00:16:48.440 enough grit... sheer willpower and a 17 -inch 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.240 titanium rod, you can prove them entirely wrong. 00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:53.840 Beautifully said. But before we wrap up today's 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:55.779 deep dive, there is one last piece of the puzzle 00:16:55.779 --> 00:16:57.799 we haven't touched on yet, and it's a heavy one. 00:16:57.879 --> 00:17:00.259 Yes, and it leaves us with a very complex final 00:17:00.259 --> 00:17:03.240 thought for you to mull over. Following that 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:06.880 horrific career -altering leg break at the Sin 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.619 pay -per -view, Sid actually filed a lawsuit 00:17:09.619 --> 00:17:11.640 against the Universal Wrestling Corporation, 00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:14.039 which was the holding company for the remains 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:18.019 of WCW. Right. In the suit, he legally claimed 00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:20.240 that he was forced to jump off the ropes against 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.640 his explicit objections. He knew his body couldn't 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:24.619 handle the physics of that fall. He verbally 00:17:24.619 --> 00:17:27.160 told him as much and management pressured him 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:28.839 to do it anyway for the sake of the broadcast. 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:32.119 Exactly. But ultimately, the judge ruled against 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:35.579 Sid finding in favor of the corporation. So I 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:38.019 want to leave you pondering this. In the world 00:17:38.019 --> 00:17:41.019 of extreme physical entertainment, where exactly 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:44.339 does the employer's liability end and the performer's 00:17:44.339 --> 00:17:46.680 personal risk begin? That's the big question. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:51.240 It is. When a massive 317 pound entertainer is 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:53.460 heavily pressured by executives into doing something 00:17:53.460 --> 00:17:56.220 they know their body cannot safely handle, who 00:17:56.220 --> 00:17:58.299 truly bears the responsibility for the fall? 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:01.460 It's a question with no easy answers, but one 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:04.160 that starkly defines the hidden human costs of 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:05.799 the spectacles we all love to watch.