[1993-08-16-WWF-Raw] 1-2-3 Kid vs Ted DiBiase

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Vince's hatred of pronouns is apparently not a new thing, as he has some really awkward sentences on commentary in this match because he refuses to use the word "he". Kind of a sloppy match, Kid seems to be having an off night, but this is a good addition to show how over the "1-2-3" gimmick was at this point, and how good a job they did building him up. IRS attacks Kid for the DQ until the Steiners make the save.

[flyonthewall2983]

Why is this in and their previous match from Wrestling Challenge isn't? From the sound of it, and after seeing it, it sounds like that was the better match. Dibiase getting bent all out of shape after losing was a great moment, with Razor teasing him.

[Loss]

I think I thought when going through matchlists that this was the upset match, not the Challenge match.

[Kevin Ridge]

Yeah, I wanted the upset match in full but we do get to see the finish from clip from highlights. And I think it was a finish that worked so perfectly with a super arrogant DiBiase trying to pin someone like 123 Kid by just lying back. This match was average but again DiBiase can't beat The Kid. Coming to the end of his in ring run in WWF.

[PeteF3]

Footage from Challenge when the Kid got a pin on DiBiase thanks to a timely distraction from Razor Ramon. Razor joins us by phone and hey Lex and the WWF powers-that-be: pay attention to how a bad guy (or the Bad Guy) can become a babyface and still retain some of that edge that appealed to the fans to begin with, because in about 30 seconds Razor puts on a clinic. Deliberate match with DiBiase methodically picking the Kid apart and only a couple of offensive moves from the Kid--one of which was blown though I couldn't tell who was at fault. IRS runs in to put a beatdown on the Kid until the Steiners make the save. Overlapping feuds!

 

Ted's great, and this is a perfectly acceptable TV match performance, but he's really starting to look dated in this Raw setting. Taking a break from the WWF seemed like the right move for him at the time (and hell, maybe injuring his neck and not being able to wrestle again was a blessing in disguise for him).

[soup23]

Not much to this and hopefully the challenge match is more fun. Ted and MOney Inc. as a whole do feel out of place in this changing WWF world and a holdover from an era that has passed them by. *3/4

[garretta]

There wasn't a whole lot to this as a match. I don't think Teddy was necessarily out of place here, and with a bit of time off to rest he might have been somewhat of a player again if he'd been able to wrestle when he returned. Certainly not to the level he'd been in the eighties, but he'd have still been respectable.

 

This seemed more like a setup to the cage match the following week between the Steiners and Money Inc. than the blowoff between Teddy and Waltman, what with Rotundo causing the DQ and Rick and Scotty making the save. I know Waltman was going to fight Rotundo at SummerSlam, but wouldn't pinning Teddy have been a better setup for that match? Maybe saving Teddy's last big singles loss for pay-per-view was Vince's way of showing appreciation for what Teddy had done for him over the years, but on the other hand, what would having him pinned here have hurt? He's leaving after SummerSlam anyway.

 

I liked Hall on the phone, especially saying that the reason he couldn't tell Vince what he'd told Waltman about how to beat Teddy was because Vince had a big mouth. I wonder if he ever took stuff like that personally. He shouldn't have, of course, but you can never tell with him.

 

Heenan was great with the lines about how he was glad that the match started right at nine o'clock because Waltman had to be in bed by 9:30, and also by saying that the crowd was chanting "1-2-3" as a way to practice their counting. The line of the match belonged to Vince, though, when he countered the latter by saying that three was all the higher one needs to count in the WWF, "and you should know, Mr. Heenan, considering how often you were pinned". Sometimes there's still a spark in Vince that reminds me of how good he used to be, but it's showing less and less often, particularly on pay-per-view when he needs it most.

 

I liked the clip of the Challenge ​match where Waltman pinned Teddy, and if we ever get to an errata nineties set, that match should definitely make it in full.