Well that's a problem. What you just did was cut off the spark supply to the rest of the ignition system and of course you're not going to get spark from that end of the wire because the distributor doesn't produce spark. (It's called a distributor for a reason)
You're still getting spark. It's just all contained in the coil's middle terminal. (Which is NOT good for it. Tip: if you want to disable the ignition system to prevent the car from starting, ground the center lead or disconnect the wire going to the negative terminal of the coil.)
If you're getting spark when you disconnect the middle wire on the distributor leading to the coil and ground it (assuming you have a spark tester in place. Or just put the wire close but not touching ground you'll get spark if it's working) then the coil side of the system is fine.
From what you told me, just connect the wire and see if the car starts. If it doesn't and you're confident that the field delivery is fine. then the problem is either in the dizzy(distributor), plugs, or plug wires.