Young And The Restless: Victor Newman’s Wildest Moments

Published on April 26, 2021. Updated February 10, 2022

Since Eric Braeden has been wowing and unsettling daytime audiences for over 40 years now, we thought it was high time we celebrate the Moustache with some of Victor Newman’s wildest moments! Although his role was originally conceived to be temporary, with Braeden signing a measly three-month contract, Victor Newman was determined to leave an impression on Genoa City — and that, he has!

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12. The First Kidnapping

In his first major storyline, Victor became convinced that his wife Julia was expecting a child with her photographer friend, Michael Scott. His solution? Imprison Michael in a bomb shelter on Newman Ranch. When Julia tried to help her friend-with-benefits escape, Victor intercepted and the scuffle resulted in the loss of Julia’s baby. Once the dust had settled, the baby was indeed Victor’s and his marriage was over. You’d think that error in judgement might lead Victor to address his temperament, but that was only the beginning.
©Brian Lowe/jpistudios.com

11. Left Jab, Right Cross

When Victor isn’t in a suit or leather jacket, he’s usually boxing. The recreational sport has helped him defend himself against many enemies over the years, but it’s also enabled him to pick a few fights. One memorable round of fisticuffs occurred when a prison thug was bullying Nicholas Newman, who was wrongly imprisoned at the time. Paying his way into the prison’s laundry facility, Victor surprise-attacked the thug and beat him within an inch of his life. When you’re the CEO of Newman Enterprises, you can do those things!
© John Paschal/JPI

10. Time-Out In Kansas

One thing the prominent tycoon had never been fickle about was power — until he abandoned his family and business to live on a farm in Kansas. After a car-jacking in the flyover state, Victor rescued a local named Hope Adams and became something of a ranch-hand at the farmhouse. Naturally, a romance blossomed. He returned to Genoa City not when word reached him that he was presumed deceased by his family, but when he discovered that Hope was set to marry her childhood friend. It’s all about you, Victor!
© Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

9. V Is For Vasectomy

A vasectomy usually signals an end to the prospect of having children, but not in Victor’s case! Once he’d committed to the operation — making a hot commodity of the frozen sperm he’d vouchsafed in a sperm bank — Nikki, Ashley and Diane engaged in a cunning battle of wits to attain it. In the end, it was Ashley who gave birth to Victor’s third child — and Abby wouldn’t be the last little bundle! To this day, fans speculate just how many times he’s had a vasectomy reversed and then… re-reversed.
© John Paschal/JPI

8. Victor’s Depression

Victor endured some particularly dark days in 2008. After a car crash led to the passing of his wife Sabrina, Victor took off to Mexico in search of Walter Palin, the man responsible for his mourning. Although Victor planned to kill the mobster, an accident at sea took care of him, leaving Victor adrift in a bout of depression. Once again MIA, he shunned family and responsibilities. Eventually found in Paris, Victor was consoled by longtime love Ashley.
©Pierre Guibert/Visual Press/jpistudios.com

7. He Only Has Eyes For Nikki

Nobody has caught Victor’s heart the way Nikki Reed did over thirty years ago. It’s arguable that nobody has forgiven Victor as many times as Nikki, either! Despite their rollercoaster of ups and downs, Victor and Nikki are the standard to which every other soap opera super-couple aspires to. They’re untouchable!

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6. Victor Married His Daughter-in-law

Forever the ladies man, Victor Newman has lived a whirlwind of marriages, flings and affairs. At the heights of his romantic life, he’s considered super-couple royalty as one half of “Niktor” with Nikki Newman. On the other end of that spectrum, however, Victor also has the dubious honor of being in one of the strangest marriages daytime television has ever conceived: his romance with daughter-in-law, Sharon. The two had always maintained a boundary-filled, paternal relationship until, rather suddenly, they were lovers. Although fans debate the legitimacy of the short-lived relationship to this day, it proved that even in his 70s, Victor Newman could shock everyone.
©Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

5. Victor’s Amnesia

Not even Y&R’s leading man can avoid the clutches of a major soap opera trope like amnesia. After falling off of a horse, Victor fled Genoa City, took up the name “Christian” and worked at the docks of Los Angeles. His Newman-esque ambitions didn’t exactly make him a popular employee, as several coworkers wanted him to perish in a dock explosion. Again, he was presumed dead and again, he returned.
©sean smith/jpistudios.com

4. A Different Kind Of Foe

It’s easy to get carried away by some of Victor’s scheming ways, but let’s not ignore that time Victor was unconditionally carefree, altruistic and loving. Granted, he was suffering from a brain injury. When the Black Knight emerged from a carjacking wrestle with a new appreciation for life, his family and colleagues couldn’t help but marvel at his generous, vivacious spirit. Alas, the subsequent blackouts and hallucinations led to Victor being diagnosed with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. This storyline resolved with Victor having Gamma Knife radiosurgery, which radically improved his condition. This was good news in the real world, as Eric Braeden worked in collaboration with the Epilepsy Foundation to raise awareness about the condition. The news wasn’t so great for Genoa City, mind you, as Victor became his old self again.
©Aaron Montgomery/jpistudios.com

3. The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree

In recent years, Victor’s greatest opponent has been his youngest son, Adam. Truly a match for his father’s devious ways, the Kansas-raised Newman has committed multiple crimes, faked his own death, had reconstructive surgery and taken on false identities. The elder Newman might be proud of Adam’s ingenuity, if not for the fact that Adam has used that resourcefulness to try and take his father out! Recently, Adam methodically tampered with Victor’s medication, nearly killing him.
© Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

2. Victor Resorts To Old Tricks

Our penultimate anecdote in this celebration of Victor Newman serves as a bookend for, yes, another kidnapping — particularly, when Victor arranged for Jack to be abducted and replaced by an Abbott look-alike from a Peruvian prison! In cahoots with Victor, “Jack” (whose real name is Marco) let Newman Enterprises take control of Jabot Cosmetics and got comfortable in Jack’s life. Only after Marco began acting on his own devilish impulses did Victor regret his scheme and eventually take action to have Marco returned to Peru.
©sean smith/jpistudios.com

1. Victor Does Time

In a deserving twist, Victor Newman was convicted for his part in the Marco/Jack crimes, after his entire family testified against him. It was an overdue storyline that settled a lot of bad karma Victor had been collecting for years. Although he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and soon-after stabbed by a fellow inmate, the Moustache devised an intricate plan to have his sentence reduced to two years of community service. It’s just another perk of being Victor Newman and, morally right or wrong, viewers wouldn’t want it any other way!
©Aaron Montgomery/JPI