Ted Dibiase: should he have been WWE champ?

[The Libertine]

I feel quite passionately about this subject, I feel that Ted Dibiase is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time certainly one of the best of the 80's. And if WWE had some common sense they would have made him alot bigger than they did. No doubt he did good in the 80's but the fact that they never gave him a title run is quite frustrating due to the fact that whatever he said or whatever he did he got huge reactions. Ted was definitely the most hated guy of the 80's.

But the unstoppable machine that was Hulkamania prevented us from seeing what I believe could have been one of the greatest champions ever. Vinnie Mac's motives was good for Hulkamania, but wouldn't it have made more sense to actually have a heel as the champion instead of just having Hogan as a champion or just having the heels as transitional champions.

We all know that all Vince McMahon really cares about is how much money he is able to get from us, so what if Ted Dibiase would defeat Hulk Hogan on an edition of Saturday Nights Main Event or a show like that and then build up to a huge main event at Wrestlemania wouldn't that bring in enough PPV buys?. Hogan was the number 1 face DiBiase was the number 1 heel, I don't know whether WWE just didn't think of it or whether it was Hogans backstage power that enabled him to be champion for as long as he wishes.

I suppose the arguement could be thrown in that maybe Ted Dibiase wouldn't be a good enough champion, but to me there are a few aspects that make a good heel champion and they are capabilities to create heat upon yourself. Good promos and able to have a good match, well Ted Dibiase was hated wherever he went no one can deny that, his promos were pure gold and he could have a great match with anyone.

I just really think WWE dropped the ball on this.

[Blitzkrieg]

There were a lot of people that got shafted in the Hulkamania era and Million Dollar Man ranks right up there.. He was a great heel and a good wrestler which many people tend to forget about the man. I was just a kid then, but looking back.. it would have been great to give the heels of this era a chance at the top.. but would the fans have accepted it? Probably.. but we'll never know as WWE seen the big cash cow and milked it for all he was worth and more..

[God]

Curt Hennig would be my pick of biggest missed chance. During his IC title run he was getting great reactions (Coincidently, he was with diBiase at this stage i believe) & WWE should have moved him to the top.

diBiase & Hennig are just two of the missed champions. I believe WWE had a lot of potential world champions but didnt push them to their potential. Razor Ramon & Owen Hart are the other two big misses i can think of.

[Blitzkrieg]

Rick Rude, Roddy Piper, Mr. Wonderful, they all could have held the strap..

[Crocker]

Rick Rude, Roddy Piper, Mr. Wonderful, they all could have held the strap..

If it wasnt for Triple H, oops I mean Hulk Hogan

[Jayman]

I was a fan of Ted Dibiase very much during the 80's, and loved his character. That laugh was infectious.

The only time I could have seen Ted being a legitimate World Title holder was around Wrestlemania IV. It was obvious Hogan wasn't winning the belt, and when he and Andre got the Double-DQ, it was obvious a new champion was being crowned. With the finals being Ted vs. Savage, they could have went one of two ways. As we all know, Ted lost and Savage walked away with the Title. A hogan vs. Dibiase program at Wrestlemania V would have been fun to watch, but would WWE really have let The Million Dollar Man hold the belt for a straight year?

Other than during that timeframe, I don't know if he should have held the belt any other time.

[Griff0rd]

That character could be champion today and be succesful. The more modern version being like JBL, and he was the longest reigning Smackdown Champion. So yeah the WWF missed out on the 80/90's version of a JBL.

The biggest drop of the ball IMO was Perfect. But if he wasn't taken before his time, Pillman could have been a decent champ as well. (I don't think he ever had the WWF Championship. I know he did the IC)

[Mikk]

After watching a very interesting video on youtube, it seems as if Hogan was not to blame for Ted not getting the title.

We can all blame The Honky Tonk Man.

It seems as if Honky was meant to drop the IC belt to Savage and then Ted would of gone on to win the WWE title but it seems Honky was unwilling to drop the belt after negotiations with another company and informing Vince of this it seems Vince decided to keep the IC belt on Honky and promote Savage to the world title leaving dibiase in the cold.


Here is the proof: YouTube - Rizaven and Hizonkytonk Pt1


So its not always Hogan!

[Daktrick Henry]

So its not always Hogan!

EXACTLY!

LEAVE HULK HOGAN ALONE PEOPLE!!

[Crocker]

That character could be champion today and be succesful. The more modern version being like JBL, and he was the longest reigning Smackdown Champion. So yeah the WWF missed out on the 80/90's version of a JBL.

The biggest drop of the ball IMO was Perfect. But if he wasn't taken before his time, Pillman could have been a decent champ as well. (I don't think he ever had the WWF Championship. I know he did the IC)

I dont believe Pillman ever held a title in the WWE.

Also in regards to Mr Perfect, I think he may have had a chance at the top but he screwed hs back up at around the same time he lost the IC Title to Bret Hart and took 18 months of from being in the ring(in which time he became an announcer and managed Ric Flair) he wasnt the same guy when he came back wrestling(look at his Summerslam 93 match with Shawn Micheals, it was dreadfull)

[Meldrew]

Ted would have made an awesome champion without a doubt. He drew tremendous heat & cut an excellent promo, never mind being technically excellent. Vinny didn't quite get that he could draw more money having a face chasing the title back in those days