Reimagined: Chris Candido in the WWF
“What if” is a statement so commonly used in the wrestling fandom that it’s almost impossible not to hear it within any five-minute conversation with a hardened wrestling fan. So much of wrestling history could easily be triggered by a long-lasting butterfly effect with any bit of change that it drives the minds of wrestling fans and wrestlers crazy with possibilities. That is the core origin of our Reimagined series and how simple missed opportunities could change the career trajectories of so many different talents.
When a young Chris Candido and his high school girlfriend Tammy Sytch were spotted working down in Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling, it would only be a matter of time before they made it to the big leagues. Despite Candido’s more diminutive stature, he was able to do just about anything a future superstar was capable of. The only part of his game that may have been slightly lacking was his promo abilities, but with the beautiful and charismatic Tammy Sytch by his side, the two were a duo begging for the spotlight. While Candido and Sytch’s WWF careers would eventually veer far away from what either likely expected, much to do with a certain “Kliq” at the time. But what could have been? Join us as we ponder what could have been with The Bodydonnas if they weren’t saddled with such a horrible gimmick.
Reimagined
We pick up our Reimagining on the RAW after WrestleMania 11 in 1995. While a young Matt Hardy before superstardom waits in the ring, the sultry Tammy Lynn, as she will be known, appears from behind the curtain to introduce her leading man, a man so good he doesn’t need a side gig in the era of occupational wrestlers, Chris Candido, who storms to the ring with a purpose. After a decisive technical teardown of his opponent, Candido heads up to the top rope and finishes the match by hitting the New Jersey Jam flying leg drop. Following the pinfall, Candido and Tammy pose together as she berates the crowd for not being as good as Candido.
Over the following weeks, Candido continues to tear through the competition on both RAW and the syndicated Superstars (yes, that was still a thing in 1995) before a backstage vignette is shown on the May 8th, 1995 episode of RAW with Tammy and Chris confronting WWF President Gorilla Monsoon, demanding a match against some real competition that coming Sunday for the first In Your House PPV. Monsoon, impressed with the racking up of wins by Candido, grants him a match against Bob Holly, which will also serve as a King Of The Ring Qualifying Match.
Following the first match on the very first In Your House, a banger featuring Hakushi and Bret Hart (seriously, go watch it if you haven’t before), Chris and Tammy make their entrance and Tammy takes to the mic and cuts a promo saying, that the two of them are the future of this industry and after Candido runs over the racecar driver, they will be putting their focus on becoming the next WWF King Of The Ring. Fittingly, Candido flattens Holly in a quick squash match, readying himself to go to the next level.
Following the other qualifying matches over the weeks, with Chris and Tammy usually watching and scoping out their competition, the brackets are set, and we will see Candido square off against Shawn Michaels in the quarter-finals.
At the King Of The Ring PPV, much like it happened in reality, Shawn Michaels once again puts on a banger of a match, but instead of Kama, he is facing off against the much quicker and more technical Candido. And again, like in our reality, the match goes the distance, in this case, to a 15-minute draw. Both men roll out of the ring following the announcement of the draw, neither looking too happy. This allows neither man to look bad for not continuing in the tournament while allowing the simmering feud between the two to continue.
Despite neither man winning, when it is announced that Shawn Michaels will be receiving an Intercontinental Title match against the champion Jeff Jarrett at the next In Your House PPV (again, a match you should seek out if you haven’t seen), both Chris and Tammy become incensed, feeling they are being overlooked. After confronting Monsoon about this injustice, they are placed into a Number One Contender’s match at the same show against a former IC Champion, Razor Ramon. In the weeks leading up to the show, all four men involved in the two matches seem to be constantly running across one another, culminating in a tag team match on the go-home RAW, pitting Jarrett and Candido against Razor and HBK. As expected in a match of the sort and the era, it ends in a schnozz with everything breaking down and all four men going at it with one another.
At the In Your House PPV, the show kicks off with the Intercontinental Title match, and again as in reality, Shawn Michaels walks away with the title. But this would not be the only time Michaels would be seen in the night. Following a back-and-forth match between Ramon and Candido that sees Razor using his strength and size against Candido’s speed and technical prowess, Razor seems to have the win in hand going for the Razor’s Edge, which brings Tammy to the apron to interject herself in the proceedings. With the referee distracted, Razor makes his way over to Tammy and goes to grab her for a lip-lock (remember, this was Vince McMahon booking in the 90s) while Candido slips to the outside to grab a steel chair. Before he can slam Razor in the back with the foreign weapon, the new IC Champion runs down and delivers a devastating Sweet Chin Music to Candido, laying him out as easy pickings for Razor. As expected, Razor picks up the pinfall, seemingly setting up a WrestleMania X rematch for the next month’s SummerSlam.
The next night on RAW, while Shawn Michaels has a celebration for his new Intercontinental Championship run, he makes the official challenge for Razor to face him in a Ladder Match at SummerSlam to recreate the magic they made a year and a half prior. Razor makes his way to the ring to make the match official with a friendly handshake seeing as both men are now babyfaces.
Always the spoilers of fun that they are, Chris and Tammy make their way out to complain about the way they were treated the night prior and demand that they be included in the match, as Candido proclaims he also has Ladder Match experience from his days in Smoky Mountain Wrestling before coming to the WWF. This also brings out Jeff Jarrett, who proclaims he is the rightful Number One Contender as he still has his contractually obligated rematch.
As the carnage unfolds, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon says that before any match is official for SummerSlam, he needs to consider all four men’s points of view before announcing an official match, which he will do the following week. Still, as he wants to see all four men in action tonight, Razor and Shawn will face off, as will Jarrett and Candido. Razor walks away with the win, as does Candido, leading to all four men awaiting Monsoon’s announcement the following week.
As RAW kicks off the next week, the show begins with Tammy Sytch dressed provocatively (it was 1995 before the Attitude Era, so nothing too promiscuous), attempting to make her way into Gorilla Monsoon’s office but to no avail.
Later in the night, Gorilla is interviewed in the ring by Vince McMahon and asks all four men to please come out for his official announcement regarding the match at SummerSlam. All four men, along with Sytch, come to the stage as Gorilla announces that for the first time in WWF history, the Intercontinental Championship will be decided in a multi-man ladder match, with all four men vying for the Championship. This leads to shock and awe from a crowd that has never seen anything of the sort and also leads to all four men attacking one another. During the melee, Sytch, unfortunately, gets caught in between Michaels and Jarrett and takes a kick in the face, laying her out. Candido immediately rushes to her aide as the show goes off the air.
The next week, while Michaels is being interviewed in the ring about the upcoming match and the attack on Tammy, Chris Candido appears via satellite from their home in New Jersey. He announces that due to the kick, Tammy requires extensive dental surgery (which will not be handled by Dr. Isaac Yankem) and will be unable to be at his side at SummerSlam. Still, he is now dedicating his win and upcoming Intercontinental Championship reign to his fallen girlfriend.
Once SummerSlam comes, all four men make history by being a part of the first Ladder Match in WWF history to feature more than two competitors, and whoever wins will be left up in the air as this is the end of our Reimagining for today. Still, it leaves us with Chris Candido and, through extension, Tammy Sytch in a much better position than they were granted with the Bodydonnas gimmick. It also adds a much-needed dose of excitement to a stalled midcard scene at the time. One could imagine a decent run with the IC Title would be suitable for Candido as Michaels moved up to the top of the card come 1996.
But of course, this is just one way it could have been done. What would you have done had you been the WWF Booker in the horrific year that was 1995? Sound off in the comments and on our social media with your ideas and who else you would be interested in seeing a Reimagining of!
