Dan Spivey and Sid Vicious seemed destined to become wrestling’s next great monster duo in 1989.
Standing nearly seven feet tall and weighing more than 300 pounds apiece, the aptly named Skyscrapers, managed by Teddy Long, were running roughshod over everyone in their path.
Well, almost everyone.
In a match filmed for WCW programming, the two giants faced Avalanch (as spelled on TV) and Mike Blackwell. Upon hitting the ring, Vicious and Spivey stormed their opponents, with Vicious quickly tossing the misspelled
disaster to the floor.
Meanwhile, Spivey handled Blackwell, hoisting him up and over with a belly-to-belly suplex.
But before Spivey could get to his feet, the brazen jobber was already up and looking to square off with both men.
Vicious looked at Spivey, clapped his hands, and wound up his arm, seemingly signaling for a clothesline. Sure enough, Spivey sent Blackwell into “Big” Sid for the clothesline. But Blackwell came charging in so awkwardly that he knocked Vicious on his butt.
Wrestling veteran Stevie Richards, reviewing the match on his podcast in 2024, seemed stunned by what was happening while noting how professionally the Skyscrapers handled it.
“They’re still working with him,” said an astonished Richards. “They’re not trying to hurt him.”
However, things continued to spiral.
Spivey picked Blackwell up again and tossed him over with a slam. Blackwell rolled over, as if he was just waking up, before getting right back up. A boot to the face slowed him down, but only for a moment.
Finally, the Skyscrapers hit their finisher, a double powerbomb. Blackwell began to sit up as Spivey went to cover him. While the referee counted the pin, Blackwell kept kicking his feet, still trying to get up.
And then came the cardinal sin.
Blackwell rose to his knees, then got to his feet after taking their finish. Having had enough, Spivey and Vicious tossed him to the floor and pummeled him with stiff punches.
“Kick his ass! Kick his ass!” Long shouted repeatedly as Vicious unloaded some deep shots to the body. Blackwell was clearly in pain as he raised his hands to defend himself.
But there was nothing he could do to stop what came next. Spivey reared back and threw a looping left hand that dropped Blackwell to a knee. The video, available on YouTube, cuts to black as announcer Jim Ross calls for a commercial break.
In a 2019 interview with The Hannibal TV, Spivey had no explanation for what went wrong before trailing off on how things ultimately ended for Blackwell.
“It got worse for the guy when he got backstage,” Spivey revealed. “I don’t know what he was trying to prove. He paid for it.”
Long provided more details during a 2023 interview with Wrestling Shoot Interviews. Long said Blackwell “thought he was hot stuff — so he come out, he wouldn’t selling nothing.”
Long said the moment was a surprise to Spivey and Vicious, who looked at each other in disbelief. As for what happened backstage, Long confirmed that his boys were far from finished with Blackwell.
“They just waited on him to come through the curtain, and they just got right on his ass again, started beating the shit out him,” Long said plainly.
Ultimately, the match didn’t hurt The Skyscrapers push. Instead, an injury to Vicious and Spivey’s departure from the company in early 1990 led to the team’s demise.
Spivey went on to have a successful career in Japan and returned briefly to WWE in 1995 as Waylon Mercy, a character that helped inspire the early incarnation of Bray Wyatt. Vicious, meanwhile, went on to become one of wrestling’s biggest stars, winning world championships in both WWE and WCW and eventually earning a place in the WWE Hall of Fame.
As for this match’s place in history, Richards believes it should serve as a teaching moment for aspiring wrestlers.
“This is absolutely Wrestling School 101,” Richards said. “Show this to a student and say, ‘Everything in this match, do not do.’”
