"How great he could have been"- Jim Ross on Sid Vicious' WWE run
Jim Ross believes Sid Vicious did not last long in WWE due to his injury problems and lack of tolerance for the wrestling business.
Sid Vicious, also known as Sid Justice and Sycho Sid, had spells with WWE between 1991-1992 and 1995-1997. A two-time WWE Champion, he main-evented WrestleMania VIII against Hulk Hogan and WrestleMania 13 against The Undertaker.
Ross worked as a commentator and as part of WWE management in the 1990s and 2000s. Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer questioned whether Sid could have achieved more in his career:
“Sometimes I think Sid, his tolerance for the travel, and his tolerance for the business in general at times, were not his strong suit,” Ross said. “They were not his cup of tea. You wonder if Sid had been able to stay healthy and stay active consistently, how great he could have been and how much money he would have drawn, how much more money he would have drawn, if that would have been able to occur.”
Sid Vicious was one of the most successful wrestlers of the 1990s. He also had three spells with WCW, where he became a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion and one-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion.
Jim Ross on Sid Vicious’ WWE departure
Due to a neck injury, Sid Vicious left WWE in 1997 shortly after his WWE Championship loss to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 13.
Mick Foley, performing as Mankind, was due to feud with Sid around that period of time. However, as Jim Ross recalled, the rivalry did not happen due to Sid’s injury:
“Sid had some injury issues,” Ross said. “He had a lot of start and stops, start and stops, unfortunately, and I’m sure not all of them were his fault. Probably most of them weren’t. Hell, I don’t know, but we had to call some audibles. That’s the great thing about Mick - he was ready to go.”
Sid Vicious’ last WWE appearance came in 2012 as part of the RAW 1000 episode of RAW. Despite his impressive accomplishments, the 60-year-old has not yet been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Please credit Grilling JR and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.