Sid Eudy (aka Sid Vicious & Sycho Sid): His Secret Story

In an era where big men were quite common, professional wrestler Sid Eudy—who went by the names of Lord Humongous, Sid Vicious, Sid Justice, and Sycho Sid—managed to stand out. Immense in stature, he also had the personality to match! Discover the secret story of his life, career, and the untimely death of this former 2x WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Sid Eudy: Early Life and Athletic Beginnings

For most of his wrestling career, Sid Eudy reigned supreme in the main event scene. To have as much success as he did, one would think that it must take a lot of passion and desire to drive him to such great heights, and that would be correct.

The twist is that the passion and desire weren’t directed at professional wrestling itself; it was simply all about money for Sid. That’s what drove him, according to what he once shared with host Sean Mooney in a podcast appearance on the now-inactive Prime Time With Sean Mooney podcast. During this interview, Sid made many bold claims, along with insightful behind-the-curtain details on his life in the business and those with whom he shared a locker room.

Sid Vicious: The Journey to Pro Wrestling

Before discussing details about his wrestling career, Sid Eudy talked about his life before wrestling.

"I was brought up here in Arkansas," Sid explained. "I was working on a farm and was actually a farmer. This is back in the day when farming was really good. I was studying to become a pilot. I was gonna be a crop duster at this farm I worked for, the people had like over 100,000 acres, they were a big, big farm."

Sid was hugely into sports and talked about his sporting background.

"Memphis had started a franchise, the USFL football league, we all remember that. And there was a team here in Memphis called the Memphis Showboats. Well, I had tried out for that, got cut on the very last cut, and I was considering going to a scholarship offer to Arkansas State to try to get a couple of years of experience under my belt because I hadn’t played football since high school."

Sid Eudy’s Sporting Background and the Path to Wrestling

It wasn’t only football that Sid Eudy revered in the sporting world.

"I played it all, baseball, basketball, football. That’s something, you know, when I look back on it, I really was a really good baseball player, a pretty good football player too, you know, I was a running back on offense and defensive end on defense. If I would’ve grown into myself at those two sports, I could have really excelled in them."

Sid was gifted with huge size, and he put in the hard work on top of that to add a muscular frame, but it wasn’t always that way growing up.

Sean Mooney asked the question, "Were you a late bloomer?"

"The thing is, and this generally happens to all tall people, both my children too and I told my oldest son this, he’s a really great athlete, I said, ‘Frank, you’re gonna be a late bloomer just like I was.’ And I’ll never forget, I was that skinny kid that couldn’t jump and then just got to a point where I just all of a sudden started dominating in everything! You know, I could dunk, I could outrun anybody, and it wasn’t that I was that big at the time, it’s just I was starting to put on some muscle," Sid said.

Sid continued, "And I tell kids this all the time that have a tough time with sports… It’s not any fun until you’re winning, and once I started winning and dominating, it became a lot of fun. And baseball, of course, was my number one sport, and I’m not kidding, I literally would cry if it got rained out; it affected me that bad. We didn’t have many rainouts, but if we did, it really affected me."

Sid Vicious: Getting a Start in Wrestling

Sid Eudy sure did have a lot of passion for other sports for someone who didn’t have a passion for the professional wrestling industry. Pro wrestling was just something that never even crossed his mind. However, with a bit of help, he was introduced to becoming a professional wrestler by bumping into some big names in the wrestling industry inside a gym back in Memphis.

"I was in the gym where I met Randy Savage, who was working the Memphis territory at the time. All the guys were in there, Hillbilly Jim, whose name then was Harley Davidson, Lanny Poffo was there.

"The whole Memphis territory worked out pretty much at the same gym I worked out at, and so they started saying, ‘Man, you ever thought about professional wrestling?’ I said, ‘Man, to be honest with you, I haven’t seen professional wrestling since I was in like the fourth grade.’

"I remember the match. It was Jackie Fargo. He was bleeding so badly, and I was really in tears because I thought the guy was hurt. So I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll try this.’

"My wife was pregnant, and it sounded like I could get into that, making money a little bit faster, and that’s exactly how it happened. I don’t have the story like a lot of guys do. I never had the love for the business; it was really just to make money," Sid admitted.

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Sid Eudy’s Early Wrestling Career: From Lord Humungous to Sid Vicious

Sid Eudy spent the first couple of years finding his feet in the business in Continental Championship Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and a brief time in World Class Championship Wrestling before being signed by WCW in 1989. Only half a year into his WCW career, Sid knew he was destined for greatness.

"After the first six months in WCW, I knew that I was going to be where I was today. I don’t know what you know about me, but I don’t know as many people in this business that stayed on top as long as I did."

At this point in the interview, Sid was very comfortable flexing his muscles figuratively (probably literally, too) as he told Sean Mooney how he truly felt about himself.

"This is the deal. I don’t have to pat myself on the back to you or anybody. I’m the hardest worker that I’ve ever met in my life, and anybody that’s ever traveled with me like Bob Holly, Billy Gunn, or any of these guys that worked out with me or traveled the road, no one ever worked harder than me."

Sid continued, "I was through with my first workout and back to my second breakfast when everybody else was just getting up, and I was going to my second workout, and that’s how I was as a kid too. I thrived to be the best, and I did everything it took to do that.

"It’s in my genes. My father was an overachiever. He was a pilot; he’s the one who taught me to fly. I think everyone in my family was overachievers. That just runs in my family."

And Sid wasn’t just referring to how hard he worked during his career. He also had a very strong opinion about the present version of himself.

"I get up at 3:30 in the morning; this is no joke. Everybody knows that. I’m in the gym at quarter to five, I’m home, and I’m at work at quarter to seven on my tractor, you know, nobody’s ahead of me ever, and I can say that honestly."

Sid Eudy’s Regrets: The WCW and WWF Contract Dispute

Not many people in this world were more comfortable in their own skin than Sid Eudy, AKA Sid Vicious. With that said, it would take a lot to make him regret any decision he’s ever made, but Sean Mooney’s podcast continued to deliver the goods as Sid explained his one and only regret during his career, which had to do with a WCW/WWF contract dispute.

In 1991, Sid had the choice to sign a contract with WWF or WCW. Dusty Rhodes was coming in to be the booker for WCW at the time, and he wanted Sid to be a big-time attraction. He asked Sid to get a new deal signed with WCW before receiving a main event push that would catapult him to stardom.

Dusty said, "We’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do that, you’re going to be everything, Sid. Now you go and sign a contract, so I know you’re going to be here."

Sid explained, "Now, at the time, I’m only making $250,000 a year, but that’s good money. Nobody else is making that kind of money there except for a handful of people. We came to an agreement, and they offered me $500,000."

During the negotiations, Sid noted that WCW was open to him calling Vince McMahon. He fancied himself to take Hulk Hogan’s spot in the company, so the opportunity to call Vince McMahon was a good one to him. Sid rang WWF Headquarters and got ahold of Vince. Sid was on a plane and met with him all in the same afternoon.

"[Vince] sits down and says, ‘Well, Sid, we don’t give guaranteed money, but here’s the magic wand. You tell me what you want,’ and I said, ‘I want Hogan’s spot,’" Sid remembered Vince responding with, "It’s yours."

"I wondered what kind of money are we were talking about, and he talked about merchandising and what WrestleMania would bring and things like that. He said what WrestleMania would bring is the same that I would make in a year at WCW. He suggested that, but he didn’t say for sure."

Sid Eudy’s First Wrestling Regret

At first, Sid Eudy decided to take the guaranteed money that WCW offered, but regretfully, he was swayed by Vince’s last pitch, which caused him to change his mind. This ended up being his only regret.

"By the time I got home, WCW had gotten wind of this somehow, and now they’ve offered me $750,000, guaranteed," Sid said. "So I thought, ‘**** Vince McMahon, I’m signing that thing tomorrow morning.’ So, this is probably the biggest mistake of my life. I’m leaving, the phone rings, and it’s Vince McMahon.

"He said, ‘Are you going to sign that [WCW] contract?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I am. I didn’t call because I didn’t want to put you in the middle and play that middle game. I didn’t think it was fair.

"Mr. McMahon, this is more money than I can ever dream of, and I’m going to sign the deal.’

"He says, ‘Sid. You’re never going to get this opportunity again.’ So, I made my mind up to ******* take that chance [and joined the then-WWF instead]. And it was a big mistake. I never made that kind of money in WWF.

"I made $150,000 for WrestleMania. I made good money, though I don’t think I made $750,000. Still, it was a big mistake when I look back on it. It was the only real mistake I made in the business."

Taking Hulk Hogan’s spot meant filling some big shoes. WWF thought it would be best to do a passing of the torch-style segment. Following this, Sid wanted out of WWF. Sid detailed what this segment was.

"This was their version of Hogan passing the torch — he did the posedown with me, which is the stupidest ******* thing I’ve ever heard in my ******* life! And if you think that’s a big deal, you’re as stupid as the rest of them. I was pissed from that moment on, and I didn’t wanna be there anymore."

Sid Vicious joined WWF to take the Hulk Hogan spot. He was involved in a segment where Hogan would pass the torch in a segment by striking poses with one another. Sid was angry about this, and it became the catalyst to him leaving to go back to WCW after WrestleMania 8 in 1992.

"I Don’t Even Remember My First WrestleMania": Sid’s Secret Admission

Sid Eudy left following WrestleMania 8 in 1992, a decision Vince McMahon wasn’t pleased about.

Many wrestlers dream of headlining a WrestleMania, something Sid not only achieved at WrestleMania 8 but once again at WrestleMania 13. To Sid, this meant very little to him. He revealed a shocking fact that really truly displayed his lack of passion for the business.

"This is the deal, and I’m not exaggerating. I don’t even remember my first WrestleMania," Sid Vicious revealed.

"I didn’t realize it was WrestleMania. I’m not kidding ya. I didn’t look at a booking sheet. I didn’t care who I was working with; it was a business to me. I didn’t care if I won or lost; I just wanted to get paid. Someone said, ‘Didn’t you know you were main eventing WrestleMania?’ and I said, ‘No, was I?’"

Sid Vicious: The Return to WWF and Final Stint in WCW

Sid Eudy returned to WCW for a second stint following his WWF departure in 1992. He only lasted a handful of months before an infamous incident with Arn Anderson on a drunken night in England led to his release.

Although Vince did not like Sid personally, he still saw him as an asset to the company and welcomed him back in 1995.

Sid spent most of the year with the company until a serious neck injury sidelined him, resulting in his leaving again. Sid was not as dominant in his ’95 reign with the company, a year that Sid referred to as a time he spent on the whipping post.

Wrestling full-time was not something Sid ever envisioned upon leaving WWF after his neck injury. While recovering from the neck issue, Sid worked a new job as an advertising representative in Fresno, California.

He was still being paid by WWF thanks to an agreement he came up with upon returning to the company in early ’95, and with some luck. He told host Sean Mooney that WCW was conducted more like a business and that WWF was a mess regarding payments.

"At one time in the WWF, people didn’t get paid for a month at a time," Sid had to say.

"You might not get a check for three, four, five weeks at WWF at the time. I told JJ Dillon, and they knew that I was serious. I said, ‘This is the deal. If I don’t get at least a thousand dollars a week, I won’t return on the road.’ So they did that.

"When I took my time off for my neck thing, payroll forgot. Someone didn’t tell payroll to stop paying me, so for a year, they were sending me a thousand dollars a week! Now I got a job, you know, making about the same, so I was living a really good lifestyle."

When Sid got home one Saturday evening, his housekeeper told him a guy named Vince McMahon had called a large number of times. Sid thought Vince had found out about the whole money situation and wanted the money back!

"So I get home that Saturday, and my housekeeper says, ‘Man, some guy called Vince McMahon’s called at least fifty times today.’ I went, ‘Oh my god…’ thinking he wants his money back! I really thought that! I said [to the housekeeper], ‘Whatever it is, don’t answer the phone!’"

Sid continued, "So this is before caller ID, right? So I’m talking to somebody, and the phone beeps, and I’m thinking, ya know, I don’t know what I was ******* thinking, so I hit it, and it’s Vince. He goes, ‘Sid! Vince!’ I went, ‘Oh ****…’

"‘Yeah, Vince, how’s it going, buddy?’

"He goes, ‘Well listen, uh, I got a problem, I had to fire The Warrior again, and I need someone to take his place.’"

The conversation continued as such:

Sid Eudy: "Vince, I haven’t been on TV in a year! Can’t you think of someone else?"

Vince McMahon: "No, Sid, I need star power here."

Sid: "I was on the whipping post before that, surely you got somebody that has more star power than me."

Vince: "No, I need you!"

To Eudy’s relief, Vince didn’t want the money back. Vince had no idea about it, but returning to wrestling was an iffy idea for Sid and his boss in Fresno.

"The company that I was working for said to me, ‘You’re not going back to wrestling full time?’ I said, ‘No way! No way!’ So my boss in Fresno comes and rides with me to be sure that I’m not. I said, ‘No sir, I’m not going anywhere, I’m just doing this to help them out for a couple of shows.’"

Vince had other ideas. Vince really wanted Sid Vicious to return full-time, but Sid was strongly against it unless Vince would cater to certain conditions Sid had in mind. In trying to get Sid to return full-time, Sid talked Vince McMahon into creating history.

"So now Vince talks me into doing their pay-per-view [In Your House 9: International Incident] in Vancouver. It was me, Davey Boy, and Ahmed Johnson against- Somebody [actually was Sid, Shawn Michaels, and Ahmed Johnson against Vader, Owen Hart, and Davey Boy]… anyway, this is how it went. They pulled me into Vince’s office. Vince said, ‘Hey man, I need you to come back full time,’ and I said, ‘Vince, I’m not coming back full time.’

"Vince said, ‘How come?’

"I told him the truth. He didn’t know he was paying me the thousand dollars. Still, I said, ‘I thank you for the thousand dollars, but I’ve got a really great job, my family’s really happy, you do not give guaranteed money, you don’t like me, I’m gonna say the wrong thing to you which I always do, and you’re gonna put me in a dress, and I’m not going to be able to make any money, but now if you give me guaranteed money, I can wear a dress every night and be happy with it.’

The conversation continued:

Vince McMahon: "Are you holding me up?"

Sid Eudy: "No, I’m not holding you up. I’m just telling you what I need to come back."

Vince: "Well, let’s do this. We’ll give you a guarantee, but we’ll pay you night-to-night, and at the end of that year, whatever we don’t pay you, we’ll make up."

Sid: "No, that’s not a guarantee. I’m not interested."

As Sid started to walk out, Vince stopped him.

"Hold on, hold on, we’ll do it." Vince gave in.

Sid revealed he made history then and there.

"I was the first one ever to get guaranteed money, and I was the most hated! So if that doesn’t definitely define me as one of the greatest talents in this business because when Vince hates you, he hates you, right?  He hates me, without a doubt, because I left him after WrestleMania 8, so for him to come back to me and give me guaranteed money has to say that I’m one of the most powerful people in this business at that moment."

Sid Vicious would further his accolades, once again becoming a dominant asset to the company. He added two WWF Championship reigns to his credentials and another headliner at WrestleMania, this time against The Undertaker.

A few months after WrestleMania 13 in 1997, a neck injury reoccurred, requiring surgery, and that was the end of his time with the WWF.

Sid Vicious: Leaving WWE and Final Stint in WCW

He began his third and final stint with WCW in June 1999 and stayed with them until they folded. Sid attributed WCW’s demise to WWF versus WCW booking issues.

"WCW pretended that WWF was coming in and taking over. First, it started with Alundra Blayze. Then it went to Lex Luger, and then it went to Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. When you do that, it’s really simple. I saw it happen first-hand in Memphis at Smoky Mountain when they did that in-house feud.

"Both territories shut down after that. Because what happens, it’s simple, when you bring one territory into another existing territory, it turns everybody in that territory to a babyface because, as a fan, as a Memphis fan, you wanna see the Memphis people win. So when both territories go back to their existing territories, you’re left with nothing but babyfaces, and the business in those days was drawing money because of the heels. When WCW got done with that run, Vince was able to withstand that, and that’s what killed WCW."

Sid Eudy, aka Sid Vicious & Sycho Sid (1959-2024)

Sid Eudy, known for his towering presence and unmatched intensity in the ring as Lord Humongous, Sid Justice, Sid Vicious, and Sycho Sid, passed away on August 26th, 2024, at the age of 63 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

His son, Gunnar, shared the heartbreaking news in a Facebook post, stating, "I am deeply saddened to share that my father, Sid Eudy, has passed away after battling cancer for several years. He was a man of strength, kindness, and love, and his presence will be greatly missed. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we grieve this loss."

Sid’s legacy is complex, filled with moments of triumph, controversy, and unforgettable performances. For someone who once admitted to having very little passion for the business, he sure did have one hell of a career.

These stories may also interest you:

• Sid Vicious and the 1992 Hercules Hernandez No-Sell Incident
• Sid Vicious and the Infamous Squeegee Incident
• How WWE Treated 13 Former NWA Champions

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