In the week since Sid Vicious sadly passed away at the age of 63 from cancer, fans, promotions, and professional wrestlers the world over have taken to social media to complement the former WWE Champion, recalling what he was like in the ring and behind the curtain.

One such performer is his fellow WCW locker room member Booker T, who shared the ring with Vicious seven times for the promotion and spent far more days hanging out in the locker room, on the road, and in the proverbial trenches, going from town to town in the pursuit of greatness. Discussing Vicious' run in WCW and his legacy as a big man on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T celebrated his in-ring abilities, as no one got it done like Sid.

“Sid actually was the dude that got me and my brother our break. Phone call came to the Global Wrestling Federation and the Sportatorium, and pretty much the rest is history. Sid Vicious brought me and my brother in. He said, ‘Hey, I'm-a get you guys in. I'm-a get you in.' Probably about six months later me and my brother was in WCW. Not just in WCW, we were staying at Sid Vicious's apartment. The Park Apartments, right there in Marietta, Georgia. And he didn't have to do that, I mean Sid didn't have to do that. But he went out on a limb just for my brother and me and actually gave us a springboard right off the bat,” Booker T explained via 411 Mania.

“First pay-per-view, I was in the main event with Sid Vicious right here in Houston, Texas, all because of Sid, man. Sid made sure me and my brother got that spot. Two rookies, man, two greenhorns, in the main event, in a pay-per-view that that was being debuted. Came out of the mind of Dusty Rhodes. And man, what a time. I've been thinking about that all day today man, ever since I heard. I got a phone call actually, and got the news. And all day I've been just going back in time and going back to the early 90s, man. It was such a freaking ride. Sid Vicious is the one that kicked that ride off. I'm just glad I got you to see Sid — I don't know, maybe six months a year to a year ago. And I'm just glad I got a chance to tell Sid Vicious, ‘Thank you.' I swear to God, that's what I told Sid. Man, I give him all the praise for getting me and my brother in and doing what he did for us, man. I just told him I just want to thank him for everything personally in his face, you know, to his face. I wanted to thank him for everything that he did for me and my brother. And I'm just glad I got a chance to do that. I'm just so glad I got a chance to do that… Sid was a monster, man. He really was. He was a monster. He was a guy that looked prehistoric. His shoulders were so big, his traps was like massive. And he had that big head to go along. Long legs, you know, he just was a giant man. He was a true giant.”

While few fans will remember Vicious as one of the best technical wrestlers of all time or the sort of dynamic force who compelled fans on the mic and in the ring, he was truly one of the top giants of his era, with fans young and old marveling at his athletic gifts. As Booker noted, he will be missed.

Rob Van Dam has his own great Sid Vicious story

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While Rob Van Dam doesn't have the same history with Vicious as some of his big rivals like Sting, he did actually share the ring with the two-time WWE Champion as a jobber for WWE early in his wrestling career when he was going by the very funny moniker Matt Burn.

Discussing what it was like to work a two-versus-one handicap match against Vicious – then known as Sid Justice – just before he truly blew up on the national stage on WSI, “The Whole F'n Show” put over his pal for being a professional, noting that he was handed a little more than a hot dog and a handshake for doing the job.

“After the match, Sid came up to me and said, ‘Hey, brother. I really appreciate what you did in there, you know, with doing the job for me as you guys did. I know it's not cool necessarily getting beat like that, but what you did helped me out, and you brought me from here up to here. That's where I want to be because I want to wrestle Hulk Hogan. I really appreciate what you did,' and he gave me 20 bucks. He said, ‘I know this ain't much, but hopefully it'll help get you down the road a little bit.' Scott Casey also told me that he did the same to him. I can't remember another wrestler tipping me like that ever in my career. I mean, that was just amazing and super cool.”

Whoa, big-time WWE stars were giving out tips back in the early 1990s? Or maybe Sid was just a good guy who wanted to help out the little guys on their way up after such a meteoric rise to the top of the industry because he looked like, well, Sid Vicious? Either way, good on “The Man Who Rules the World” for doing what he thought was right even when no one was looking, as his peers still think of those acts of kindness some 20 years later.