Ted Dibiase runs the gauntlet

[ohtani's jacket]

vs. Jake Roberts

 

Ted Dibiase vs. Jake Roberts, MSG 4/24/89

 

This was much slower than the other Dibiase matches I've watched. The first third basically consisted of Ted trying to avoid both Damian and the DDT. Eventually, Virgil was able to distract Roberts long enough for Dibiase to take over and he had the longest heel control segment I've seen from him thus far. His work here was quite methodical, but Robert's selling was excellent and Ted had a good mix of killer looking elbows and showboating in front of the crowd. The Million Dollar Dream made its gauntlet debut here. Does anybody remember when Ted started using it as a finisher, because it wasn't so much as teased in the Savage/Hogan matches. There were a couple of teased comebacks from Jake, including a really cool armdrag/hiptoss reversal, and by the time he made it back onto offence I was so into the match that I was ready to see him hit the DDT. The finish was a nice piece of business as Jake got the win without hitting the DDT on Dibiase and got Virgil and Damian in the ring together without draping the snake over him. It was a satisfying result without paying out the two things the fans wanted to see and left plenty in the tank for the remainder of the feud. It definitely had me wanting to watch the rest of the feud so I'm calling this a good match.

 

vs. Bret Hart

 

Ted Dibiase vs. Bret Hart, 12/31/91

 

I got the time frame wrong for this as we skip ahead a bit to '91, but nevermind. This match was full of bullshit, but despite the bullshit I still liked it. Bret's side headlock where he did nothing at all for what seemed like an eternity was ridiculous and Sherri ringing the bell was unneccesary, but in between all that were the kind of quick sequences that marked their mini-match at Survivor Series '90. The finishing stretch, in particular, was exciting and when a finishing stretch is exciting you generally forget about how crappy the lead-up was (at least momentarily.) Sherri showed a lot of tit and ass and legs and everything worked within the WWF setting. Not a great match, but a more than decent spectacle.

 

vs. Big Bossman

 

Ted Dibiase vs. The Big Bossman, 8/8/90

 

The best thing about this was hearing Dibiase's theme music followed by Bossman's. Bossman tried to put over that he was out for justice, but this was boring.

 

vs. Dusty Rhodes

 

Ted Dibiase vs. Dusty Rhodes, 10/19/90

 

Dusty had ditched the black and yellow polkadots at this point and looked how Dusty usually looked. That was slightly disappointing as I wanted to see the American Dream version of WWF Dusty Rhodes. I have great memories of my parents staying up with me to watch wrestling until Dusty had been on just to see his act with Sapphire. I always thought it was impressive how Rhodes got that gimmick over, but apparently in the modern world of WWE "shoot" DVDs claims the idea was his own. Anyway, this was about as boring as any Dusty Rhodes match at the time.

 

vs. Virgil

 

Ted Dibiase vs. Virgil, 11/11/91

 

I could have easily chosen their SummerSlam match here as it's one of my all-time favourite WWF matches, but instead I went with the match where Ted wins back the Million Dollar Belt, which is a kick ass match in itself apart from the stupid Repo Man/El Matador crap at the end. The Ted/Virgil dynamic was outstanding and Ted's number one feud in the WWF, IMO. This was good.

[soup23]

Dibiase vs. Michaels 4/24/90

 

Cross referencing this from yearbook thread as it is still fresh and I know my opinion hasn't changed in a month. Currently have it below my top 100 of the year and didn't think it was very good at all. Michaels looked far better in other matches on the set taking punishment.

 

Really wished the time allotted for this and Tito/Perfect would have been switched. Lord Alfred says he has never seen Shawn wrestle in singles which means he doesn't watch wrestling challenge. We also get Gorilla ragging on Joey Morella for his shoddy officiating. Match was good but I thought some of Dibiases offense and work on top was boring. Match actually ends in double dq instead of the double countout that is originally announced by the ring announcer.

[soup23]

06/25/88 Savage vs DiBiase (MSG - Cage)

 

Really good match. Dibiase mixed in all his signature spots logically throughout the match and cut offs done for the escapes was really well done. Hot start and satisfying finish also were well done. I particularly liked the desperate nature of both men when Savage got tied up in the ropes. Dibiase's bumping was good like usual. Only negative of this match could be that it was too much "your turn, my turn" as there were a lot of momentum shifts packed into a 12 minute match. Still the match did feel like a war and did an effective job of conveying a concise story within 12 minutes. Very good performance turned in by both men.

[blueminister]

I always thought it was impressive how Rhodes got that gimmick over, but apparently in the modern world of WWE "shoot" DVDs claims the idea was his own.

No, Dusty's pretty consistent about it being a weird Vince idea that he was committed to making work.

[soup23]

Dibiase vs. Hercules Boston Garden 11/5/88

 

Prematch, Dibiase calls Hercules his slave. This gets Herc to come out and he is a house of fire to begin. He is also thwarting off Virgil and 3 matches in, Virgil has been completely neutralized by all opponents. Dibiase is able to catch Herc coming into the ring with a fist drop and goes on the the offensive. He does more high-impact moves than in the Hogan match with a belly to back suplex and elbow from the middle rope to a standing Herc. Still though there is not a sustained strategy on Dibiase's part and his control segment consists on him doing a move and then doing a distraction spot whether its arguing with the referee, the fans, or slapping Hercules while he is down. Dibiase misses a move off the ropes and Herc makes his comeback. I actual enjoyed the payback spot of Herc slapping Dibiase when he was down. Ref bump occurs. Virgil is finally able to do something well for Dibiase coming off the top with a fist drop and Dibiase pins him for the win. Post match they beat down Herc but he runs them off with the chain. I was not expect a lot from a match with Hercules but again was amazed at the lack of strategy utilized with Dibiase on top. He never focused on any area here and it certainly never felt like Hercules was in danger during the segment because of how nonchalant Dibiase was acting taking his time between holds.

[ohtani's jacket]

I always thought it was impressive how Rhodes got that gimmick over, but apparently in the modern world of WWE "shoot" DVDs claims the idea was his own.

No, Dusty's pretty consistent about it being a weird Vince idea that he was committed to making work.

 

I had a poke around and he seems rather inconsistent about the subject. He had some radio interview about 10 years ago where he claims he and Patterson came up with the gimmick, while at other times he regards it as a test or even a rib.

[ohtani's jacket]

vs. Legion of Doom

 

Legion of Doom vs. Money Inc, SummerSlam '92 8/29/92

 

I don't know if these teams had another match that was taped, but I don't really care because this sucked. The only match I couldn't finish for the gauntlet.

 

vs. The Natural Disasters

 

The Natural Disasters vs. Money Inc, 10/13/92

 

This was the wrong match to watch as it was pretty much a set-up for the Nasty Boys to turn on Jimmy Hart and have Money Inc take the belts off the Natural Disasters. They even managed to have the Headshrinkers & Afa get involved even though the match was only seven minutes long. Amid all the bullshit there were some fun spots. If you're into fat boy wrestlers then the Natural Disasters are a dream come true. I was kind of surprised that the Earthquake jobbed to the Million Dollar Dream. Was this the beginning of a de-push?

 

vs. The Nasty Boys

 

The Nasty Boys vs. Money Inc, 12/15/92

 

This was pretty good for a straight up, non gimmick Nasties match. One thing that's impressed me about WWF Ted is that even though he started out at the top and slid down the card, outwardly and performance-wise it seems like he embraced every role he was given. Money Inc could have been pretty forgettable (IRS' one liners were fucking awful), but they were a hard working team and put out a string of decent TV matches. You're not going to get 25 minute epic, Southern style face-in-peril matches, but you will get a lot of fun bumping and fast paced rope work. In a way, I actually think that's Ted's signature WWF work.

 

vs. The Steiners

 

Steiners vs. Money Inc, 4/5/93

 

German fan favourite. This was probably Money Inc's best match-up from a workrate perspective. I'd rather watch a number of the Steiners' other match-ups in WCW, New Japan and even against the Beverly Brothers or some team like that, but still these teams worked well together.

 

vs. 1-2-3 Kid

 

Ted Dibiase vs. 1-2-3 Kid, Monday Night RAW 8/16/93

 

This was a RAW rematch after the Kid had humiliated Dibiase on the Wrestling Challenge. Had the potential to be a good Dibiase performance along the lines of his matches with Dustin and Virgil but never got going.

 

vs. Razor Ramon

 

Ted Dibiase vs. Razor Ramon, SummerSlam '93 8/30/93

 

Ted's final WWF match. Thanks for the memories. In many ways this was Ted's stock WWF match. He didn't get regular 25 minute main event opportunities. I think it's fair to say that he was a midcard act and had a midcard schtick. A 12-15 minute match structure that gutted out the middle control segment and worked best when he was bumping and selling for his opponents. For a guy who had such great execution and some really cool offence, I was surprised by how little he worked on top. This was fine for what it was, but basically Ted doing the job on his way out.

 

The 90s stuff killed my enthusiasm for this. I think if I do a second go through I'll stick to the singles matches and maybe check out a few more Money Inc tags.

[FLIK]

I would suggest throwing 1-2-3 Kid in there right before Razor Ramon. I'd also add Bret Hart. They never feuded, but they had three available matches between 1989 and 1991 (that I'm aware of).

Their 89 match finished pretty high on the original DVDVR best of 80's WWF set too.

[JerryvonKramer]

Yeah, the Odessa match is the Bret match I'd go to first.

 

The Million Dollar Dream made its gauntlet debut here. Does anybody remember when Ted started using it as a finisher, because it wasn't so much as teased in the Savage/Hogan matches.

Again going on memory, I think he does the dream in that Hogan match from the Hulk VHS. I remember that match having a reasonably long control segment from Ted culminating in the dream. The Wrestlemania 9 match has a similar control segment, again ending in the dream on Hogan. I was surprised by the description of the Hogan match above, because in both those matches Hogan sold for Ted (didn't give him anything at Summerslam 88 though).

 

Good job on this though OJ, I will get on this soon myself. My wife has a few days off work and we've just started watching Dexter so wrestling has had to take a backseat for a while.

 

I will also make an effort to dig up and watch different matches.

 

Chad - I think I agree with you about the general point that his offense isn't all that focused. BUT if you look at his signature spots -- the suplex (or belly-to-back suplex), the piledriver. the back breaker, the scoop power slam -- they all hit the back and upper neck area as a setup to the Million Dollar Dream. Don't think I've EVER seen Ted work a bodypart in the WWF, but his moveset is nonetheless focused and consistent in a macro or 'big picture' sort of way.

[soup23]

Chad - I think I agree with you about the general point that his offense isn't all that focused. BUT if you look at his signature spots -- the suplex (or belly-to-back suplex), the piledriver. the back breaker, the scoop power slam -- they all hit the back and upper neck area as a setup to the Million Dollar Dream. Don't think I've EVER seen Ted work a bodypart in the WWF, but his moveset is nonetheless focused and consistent in a macro or 'big picture' sort of way.

 

Would have no problem with those moves being a set up to the million dollar dream, but in both the Herc and Hogan matches, he has not even teased going for the million dollar dream.

 

Does anyone have a clear answer on when he started debuting that?

[Loss]

That we're having to debate if they were setup moves is another example of WWF announcers not doing their job to get over the wrestling moves and holds, but that's another topic.

[soup23]

Well the announcing has been a disaster on both of those Dibiase matches I didn't like at all. The first one had Billy Graham kissing Hogan's ass constantly about how he has never looked this good even with Dibiase was on top. The Second one vs. Herc in Boston seemed to have about 4 people in the booth including Tronguard, Lord Al, and vince and they step all over each other throughout the match.

[JerryvonKramer]

Here's a Superstars match from April 1988 against a jobber:

 

He uses the Dream there. Vince and Jesse keep calling him a "master technician".

 

When he does the hold, Vince said "what is that?! ... I believe he said he was going to show us something new, that's the Million Dollar Dream!"

 

I'd be surprised if that isn't the debut of it.

[ohtani's jacket]

Changed tack here a bit and watched the MSG leg of Savage vs. Dibiase.

 

Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase, MSG 4/25/88

Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase, MSG 5/27/88

Randy Savage vs. Ted Dibiase, cage match, MSG 6/25/88

 

Individually, these matches aren't that great but taken together as a three match swing the accumulative effect is that you pretty much get everything you want out of the Savage/Dibiase feud. It's not as good a feud as Tito vs. Savage or Savage/Steamboat, but it's not terribly far behind. I liked it more than Hogan/Savage to name another of Savage's major 80s feuds.

 

What's frustrating about WWF houseshows from this era isn't that you don't get a proper finish (it's understandable that they want people to come back the following month to see their hero inch closer to his goal); what's frustrating is that they cut short the finishing stretches of most matches. I honestly think if the match times had been slightly longer and there had been more drawn out and dramatic finishing stretches it wouldn't have mattered what finish they used, the matches would have felt a lot more complete. As it is, you can't really rely on any one match to get a complete picture of Dibiase/Savage. You have to watch all three to get the satisfaction that you might ordinarily get from watching a great match from another promotion because of the aborted payoffs in each "chapter" leading up to the cage match. It's a bit like watching the TV build from other promotions as opposed to say the big arena matches of Lawler/Dundee and other workers.

 

The 4/25 match is Savage's first title defence as champion and has quite a hot beginning. Ted's selling is good and he worked well with Savage, but my impression was that it was Randy's qualities as a performer that carried the feud. The 5/27 match sees Ted get a seemingly legit busted nose, which adds a bit of ruggedness to Ted's control work, and the cage match is well known so I don't really need to describe it. I wouldn't personally peg any of their matches at four stars because I don't think they had that one complete, self-contained classic that goes 20 minutes plus and has the kind of dramatic narrative you expect from this kind of wrestling. However, I haven't seen a bad match out of them yet (on the houseshow circuit) and Ted has looked good in all of the matches although below Savage. So I think this feud is a major plus on his WWF resume.

 

The Jake/Dibiase MSG leg, however...

 

Jake Roberts vs. Ted Dibiase, MSG 11/25/89

Jake Roberts vs. Ted Dibiase, no DQ, MSG 12/28/89

Jake Roberts vs. Ted Dibiase, MSG 1/20/90

 

These were exactly the type of boring matches I expected Ted Dibiase and Jake Roberts to have before I started this project. I don't know whether the earlier match I saw was an anomaly or some kind of novely factor, but these matches after Roberts came back from his surgery were so bad I almost fell asleep about a half a dozen times. Both guys control segments suck, the matches generally go 20 minutes without making you want to watch a 20 minute wrestling match and Jake doesn't sell as well as he did in the match I said was good. The idea is basically that Jake gets the DDT on Virgil in the first match (as well as draping Damian on him), the DDT on Dibiase in the second and a Million Dollar Belt title shot in the third. The progression makes sense, but the matches are pointless. The no DQ match is ridiculous. Why work the same boring match you worked the month before if there aren't any DQs and you can brawl. You hate each other's guts, it's a grudge match, the guy nearly put you out of wrestling, stop fucking around lying in holds. The Million Dollar Belt shot is a beat beyond what people wanted to see as well. Once he got the DDT on Dibiase that's it. I was really disappointed in these because like said with the earlier match from '89 it left me wanting to watch the rest of the feud. Should have known better.

[ohtani's jacket]

Chad - I think I agree with you about the general point that his offense isn't all that focused. BUT if you look at his signature spots -- the suplex (or belly-to-back suplex), the piledriver. the back breaker, the scoop power slam -- they all hit the back and upper neck area as a setup to the Million Dollar Dream. Don't think I've EVER seen Ted work a bodypart in the WWF, but his moveset is nonetheless focused and consistent in a macro or 'big picture' sort of way.

Ted doesn't use a lot of the same signature spots in each match. I've only seen him do the piledriver once so far and there are plenty of matches where he doesn't so much as attempt the Million Dollar Dream. Half the time he's not on offence long enough to run through all of his signature spots and a lot of the time he's dropping elbows, driving knees into opponent, doing his fist drop or choking his man. He's constantly being put over as a technical wrestler on commentary, particularly by Monsoon, and I'm adamant that it was supposed to be part of his gimmick, but when you watch his matches he tends to be more of a Ric Flair bump and stooge kind of guy, which I guess you could more or less describe as a typical late 80s WWF heel.

[JerryvonKramer]

Is that the cage match where the idiot fan jump onto the cage? I think the final blow off to the feud (not including Summerslam 88) with a proper finish comes on July 31st on the Wrestlefet 88 show from Milwaukee. I believe we see both a Million Dollar Dream AND a clean pin in that match.

 

To avoid being tiresome, when I come to watch some Ted, I will watch a different set of matches:

 

Ted DiBiase v. Lanny Poffo (challenge 9/13/87 )

Ted DiBiase v. The Junkyard Dog (WWF TV 9/18/87 )

Ted DiBiase v. Ivan Putski (msg 11/24/87 )

 

This is very early MDM, with the green suit and the very blonde hair. I want to look at how Ted worked on the receiving end of a monster push against a range of opponents.

 

Ted DiBiase v. Don Muraco (SNME 4/30/88 )

Ted DiBiase v. Jim Brunzell (some time in 88)

Ted DiBiase v. Koko Ware (Primetime 12-4-88)

 

Will watch these to assess his offense against "lesser" opponents.

 

Ted DiBiase v. Blue Blazer (SNME - 3/11/89)

 

Remember it being good. A look at him right at the start of a new phase of his career as an upper midcarder rather than a main eventer.

 

Ted DiBiase v. Bret Hart (WWF TV 4/89)

 

The much-talked about Odessa match.

 

Ted DiBiase v. Dustin Rhodes (10 minute challenge match. WWF TV 11/5/90)

 

Because I've gone on about it.

 

Ted DiBiase vs. Texas Tornado (1/18/91)

 

Never seen it, would have to be a carry job to be any good. Can compare directly with what Hennig did against the same opponent.

 

Ted Dibiase vs. Pat Armstrong (WWF TV 4/1/91)

 

Ted at the start of a re-push of sorts with Sherri as his new manager.

 

Ted Dibiase vs. Greg Valentine (Primetime 12/9/91)

 

TOTAL curiosity. WTF!

 

Ted DiBiase v. Kerry Von Erich (WWF/ SWS show at the Tokyo Dome - 12/12/91)

 

Comparison with first Kerry match.

 

Money Inc v. Koko B. Ware & Owen Hart (Primetime 7/20/92)

 

See how he works with Koko and Owen compared to 88-89 matches.

 

Money Inc. v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Sgt. Slaughter (some time in 92)

 

Would be interested to see this if I can find it. Slaughter was still ok, Ted and Duggan faced each other many times.

 

Money Inc v. The Beverly Brothers (RAW 4/19/93)

 

Interest's sake.

 

My focus will be on Ted's offense, which has dictated some of my choices here. We all know he can bump and sell.

[Matt D]

The Nasty Boys vs. Money Inc, 12/15/92

 

This was pretty good for a straight up, non gimmick Nasties match. One thing that's impressed me about WWF Ted is that even though he started out at the top and slid down the card, outwardly and performance-wise it seems like he embraced every role he was given. Money Inc could have been pretty forgettable (IRS' one liners were fucking awful), but they were a hard working team and put out a string of decent TV matches. You're not going to get 25 minute epic, Southern style face-in-peril matches, but you will get a lot of fun bumping and fast paced rope work. In a way, I actually think that's Ted's signature WWF work.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xajkga_mo...=1#.UPQUqOTBFyI

 

Is that the Nasty Boys match you saw? Is it just me or are tags now gone from Dailymotion (as in hashtags, metadata)? That makes it almost impossible to tell what match you're watching. Very annoying.

 

That's the Nasty Boys vs Money Inc match i quite like (though Saggs is weirdly lethargic at points, as if he's injured maybe). Really though, it's Irwin that stands out.

[ohtani's jacket]

That's the one.

 

Finding stuff on Dailymotion has become a pain in the arse but most of this stuff is gone from youtube.

[soup23]

If Dibiase did have the dream in his aresenal by April 88, then it is really inexcusible for him to not use it or tease it in the Hogan and Hercules matches. In the Hogan match, Dibiase never seemed like a threat because of the lack of stuff he did. In the Hercules match, Dibiase again gave hercules way too much and didn't look like the guy who was just in the main event at Wrestlemania.

[Matt D]

Could he even successfully slap the Dream on Herc? I see Dibiase as a guy who would use it to bully smaller wrestlers.

[WingedEagle]

If Dibiase did have the dream in his aresenal by April 88, then it is really inexcusible for him to not use it or tease it in the Hogan and Hercules matches. In the Hogan match, Dibiase never seemed like a threat because of the lack of stuff he did. In the Hercules match, Dibiase again gave hercules way too much and didn't look like the guy who was just in the main event at Wrestlemania.

Didn't he use it on Savage at Mania before Hogan stepped in with the chair?

[JerryvonKramer]

He does it in the Wrestlefest match against Savage for sure. A lot of the Savage matches have the finish cut short by bullshit as OJ was saying. Since Dailymotion and Youtube are so hard to navigate these days, I can't for the life of me find the Hogan match from that VHS. I've found one from 87 where Ted steals a Countout win against Hulk and another one from 88, but neither of them are the one I have in mind. It would help if cocks didn't upload their video game versions of wrestlers in matches. I will have to consult my Colesium video guide when I get home later to check the date.

[Ricky Jackson]

If Dibiase did have the dream in his aresenal by April 88, then it is really inexcusible for him to not use it or tease it in the Hogan and Hercules matches. In the Hogan match, Dibiase never seemed like a threat because of the lack of stuff he did. In the Hercules match, Dibiase again gave hercules way too much and didn't look like the guy who was just in the main event at Wrestlemania.

Didn't he use it on Savage at Mania before Hogan stepped in with the chair?

 

Yep, that's what I was going to say.

 

What did he use to beat jobbers during his first few months in WWF?

[Matt D]

http://thehistoryofwwe.com/superstars87.htm

 

We've got "Cobra Clutch into Russian Legsweep," "Back Elbow from the middle turnbuckle," "Spinning toe hold," "scorpion deathlock." Lots of that elbow in 87, into 88.

 

Graham has the 4/10/88 wrestling challenge airing for..

 

Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil) defeated Jim Evans at 1:52 via submission with the Million $ Dream (the first match in which the finisher was referred to as such)

[Ditch]

I wish he used the Million Dollar Buster in WWF like he did in '93 All Japan. He clearly had it up his sleeve in the '80s based on the above post. Not that there's a problem with the Dream, but the Buster would have been effective in lots of situations (ie. quick finish after Virgil interference; as the big nearfall before a Hulk-Up).