10 Reasons 1997 Was The Weirdest Year In Wrestling History
8. Half of WrestleMania’s Main Event Was Sid
From CM Punk to Ric Flair, there are a host of superstars who likely should have headlined the Granddaddy of them All, but unfortunately, circumstances, timing, or politics eluded them.
Meanwhile, Sid has headlined the dang thing twice; the last of them being at ‘Mania 13 against the Undertaker.
Not to lay too much into Sid, a frequent easy target for wrestling fans on the internet, but needless to say, he wasn’t very good, and the fact that he found himself in two WrestleMania main events against the likes of Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker speaks more to his physique and height than his actual wrestling ability.
Of course, Vince McMahon favoring bodies over talent isn’t noteworthy. What’s strange about Sid main-eventing WrestleMania 13 – going in as the WWF champion, no less – is that by that point a year prior, he wasn’t even in the company. After returning in 1995 to work a dud of a program with then-champion Kevin Nash, Sid grew weary of the backstage politics that ultimately stifled his push, and he quit later in the year. After months away from wrestling, however, Vince convinced him to come back for some house shows after the Ultimate Warrior left the WWF for the third and final time. Surprisingly, however, Sid was incredibly over with the crowd, and just like that, he was thrust back into a prominent role in the company.
With his momentum, he captured the WWF championship from Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1996. While he would drop it back to Shawn at the Royal Rumble in San Antonio, he would defeat Bret Hart on an episode of RAW in February, and hold onto the title until WrestleMania, where he would ultimately lose to the Undertaker, at which point, Sid would see the end of his WWF prominence.
Whether good or bad, one can’t deny that Sid’s brief run at the top was strange.