'The Young and the Restless' classic moment 1990: Victor Newman fires Jack Abbott

One of the most classic moments on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS was when Victor Newman unleashed his fury on Jack Abbott in 1990. There were situations before this where "the mustache" exhibited his dark side and there certainly have been a number of others since then. This specific situation set in motion a chain of events that can still be felt today. Eric Braeden who portrays Victor recently turned 80 and both he and his iconic character are still going strong.

On Wednesday's Y&R episode, Braden proved that he and his alter ego are like fine wine and only getting better with age as he frightened both Chelsea and Chloe in one subtle move. The women returned to Adam's dark penthouse and turned on the lights only to become rattled at the sight of Victor sitting in a chair waiting on them. He said that his son had given him a key to use in emergencies and Ms. Lawson soon found out that this indeed was a perilous situation.

Victor threatened Chelsea that if she did not admit to framing his son for poisoning Rey and said that if she did not he would take custody of her son Conner. Last week Victor stood over Ashton Locke who was having a heart attack, refusing to call for help until Locke first signed a contract giving Victor ownership of his company. This is not the first time the Newman patriarch's actions resulted in someone going into cardiac arrest. Let us take a trip down memory lane, 31 years ago and revisit one of Victor Newman's finer or rather more hideous moments.

John Abbott was the founder of Jabot Cosmetics which was said to have been founded in the 1960s. His son Jack was a trusted employee and his heir apparent. In 1990 Jack convinced his father to go public with Jabot by selling shares of the company on the stock market. Unfortunately, this backfired when Newman Enterprises, C.E.O. Victor Newman, a rival, bought enough shares to obtain the controlling interest in Jabot. This bold move stunned fans back in the day who thought it was crazy for Victor to gain control of Jabot just to crush Jack and ended up hurting his friend John in the process.

Victor's actions had dire consequences beginning with John Abbott becoming so distraught at losing his company he had a heart attack. Victor then fired Jack and replaced him with Brad Carlton who was married to John's daughter Ashley. Jack then exacted his revenge by marrying Victor's ex-wife Nikki Newman, before Victor could propose marriage to her for a second time. Victor retaliated by dangling Jabot in front of Jack ad making him an offer he could not refuse. He promised to give the cosmetics company back to Jack if he would divorce Nikki.

Jack had fallen in love with Nikki, but he accepted Victor's offer because he felt guilty about what happened to his father. Victor, however, always being one step ahead of any opponent utilized a loophole in the contract and voided the deal. Nikki was stunned to find out that Jack chose the family business over their marriage and decided to divorce him. She remained in her marriage, however, after finding out she was carrying Jack's child (which she later miscarried). Victor went on to marry Jack's sister Ashley and there has been nothing but drama ever since.

Although Victor and Jack have buried the hatchet at this point and are not openly declaring war on each other, there is still an undercurrent between the two men that probably will always be there. Fans had thought that when Victor retired from Newman Enterprises he might fade into the woodwork and for a number of months he basically just sat around at the ranch. Eric Braeden fans are elated that Victor is back and action and look forward to more cunning moves from the most powerful man in Genoa City. Stay tuned for updates from THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS spoilers related to what the Newman patriarch will be doing next.