Bruce Prichard explains why there was never any real discussion about Ted DiBiase becoming WWF champion. In ‘80s and early ‘90s wrestling there was a clear line between babyfaces and heels or good guys and bad guys. In WWF in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s few were as good of a heel as The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase.
Ted DiBiase joined Vince McMahon Jr.’s WWF in 1987. He adopted the character of an extremely wealthy man who would use his money to gain victories by paying off opponents and to have his opponents “taken care” of. His heel tactics made him a very hated man by WWF fans, so in other words a great heel.
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Ted DiBiase was mostly a mid-card wrestler, but it was not uncommon to see him move up to challenge some of the top guys in the company. Despite being a go-to guy for WWF and getting a lot of heat, WWF never put the WWF Championship on him.
On a recent episode of Something To Wrestle with longtime WWF/WWE booker and producer Bruce Prichard, Prichard talked about why Ted DiBiase was never crowned as WWF champion. According to Prichard he was never considered to be champion because of how the WWF booked themselves at the time.
“No, DiBiase was never supposed to be champion, ever. I think people would have liked for Ted to have been champion … Teddy would have been a great champion. People looked at him as ‘Holy cow you know he would have been a departure from the traditional babyface champions that were the norm.’
“I think Teddy could’ve carried it and would’ve been a good champion but that was not something that was ever seriously considered because again you’re looking at a place that was a babyface territory that always had a babyface champion and was about building heroes. It was about building megastars and Ted was such a strong heel that he wouldn’t have fit at the time.”
Via Wrestling Inc.
Why Ted DiBiase Was Never Seriously Considered
Prichard does admit putting the WWF Championship on DiBiase was discussed backstage. However, it was never seriously considered by people backstage as far as planning a championship run for DiBiase.
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It should also be stated that DiBiase did have a WWF Championship run in a way. In 1988 he paid Andre the Giant to beat Hulk Hogan for him. Andre did and then gave the championship to DiBiase. Kayfabe WWF President Jack Tunney announced that giving a championship to someone doesn’t count because it was not won by pinfall or submission. Therefore the championship was considered vacant and DiBiase’s short championship run is not officially recognized by WWE.
Money Talks
Despite DiBiase not having the forethought to pay Tunney off so his championship could be officially recognized he still has a good list of accomplishments. He is a King of the Ring winner, a three-time WWF Tag Team champion and had a special championship for himself, the Million Dollar Championship. In 2010 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Prichard revealed that DiBiase wasn’t the only name which was discussed about being champion. However, the reason behind these other names not being given the WWF Championship is for a far different reason.
“Bam Bam Bigelow was considered at one point … We talked about Ahmed Johnson … God, he would be a great champion. Look at him! Unfortunately, the bell had to ring. Bam Bam just came in hot and then fizzled. After [the audience had] seen him, they’d seen him.”
Despite being looked at for being champion Bigelow and Johnson never really recovered once they left WWE. Bigelow did have a good run in ECW, but ECW wasn’t on the same level as WWF or even WCW at the time.
Wrestling is full of what if stories. What if this guy debuted 10 years later or earlier? Or what if this guy wrestled this guy in their primes? Now we have another one in what if DiBiase became WWF champion.
Do you think Ted DiBiase would have been a good WWF Champion? Do you think making a great heel a champion would have hurt WWF at the time? Would it have helped or hurt the company in the long term? Do you think Bam Bam Bigelow or Ahmed Johnson would have been good WWF champions? Let us know on social media who else from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s do you think should have had a WWF Championship run like perhaps Jake the Snake Roberts.
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Sources: Something To Wrestle, Wrestling Inc.
