Ted DiBiase's "dry run" as WWF champion in 1988

[Warner2BruceTD]

I fell into a 1988 wormhole while combing through some old results/attendance figures in doing HOF research. I never knew this, but it turns out the WWF did a dry run of sorts with Ted Dibiase as WWF Champion after Andre handed him the belt on The Main Event (the double Hebner gimmick). The idea was to see if he could draw as champion, because the plan was for him to win the title tournament at WrestleMania IV.

From a 1988 Wrestling Observer:

It's kind of a shame, but there is no question that DiBiase's gimmick is over, but his wrestling ability isn't over. The casual fan doesn't see DiBiase as a great wrestler, in fact, they don't even see him as a good wrestler. While one could make the case that his vulnerability would make him a draw as champion (fans will show up thinking that Savage, Bigelow, Steamboat, etc. can win the title because Ted is beatable) the bottom line is that the belt has no drawing power. While the WWF belt is the 'most over' title in wrestling, people have seen so many champions and so many championship matches that seeing a title change, even a WWF title change, will do very little to up the gate. DiBiase didn't draw in his one week dry run as champion in California (traditionally Titan's hottest corner of the U.S. aside from the Northeast), and his main event last Monday at the Garden with Bam Bam Bigelow drew the smallest MSG crowd in years. Still, nobody but Hogan himself is going to sellout buildings this summer.

First, kind of shocking that as far back as 1988, Meltzer was already noticing a trend of title belts being devalued due to too many title matches & title changes. This coming off a Hogan run that lasted four years! Little did anybody know, that less then a decade later we'd be seeing the title change monthly. KILLED DEAD.

Anyway, I looked up the shows. It looks like Dibiase worked three times as the advertised World Champion. Los Angeles (def. Bam Bam Bigelow, in what at the time was only the third pinfall loss of Bigelow's entire career, if you can believe it), Sacramento (faced Bigelow, no result available, but he probably pinned him again as it was the same card two nights later and we all know WWF house show patterns), & Phoenix (def. George Steele by DQ, and won a 22-man battle royal. Steele was subbing for Bigelow). The LA show (LA Sports Arena) is the only one with a listed attendance - 3,000 paid. Yuck.

The B show tour was being headlined by Randy Savage, and also had the Hart Foundation vs Strike Force feud. Hogan appeared to be off both swings, as they were clearly testing Dibiase vs Savage as draws. The Savage tour did much better, even in smaller venues.

By the time the west coast swing ended, weekend syndicated TV aired, and at that point Dibiase was stripped by Jack Tunney and the title was held up pending the WrestleMania IV tournament.

Dibiase also worked two matches as champion the day after The Main Event. WWF did a double shot in Boston (matinee) & Philly, both headlined by Dibiase & Andre vs Hogan & Bigelow. Boston sold out (15,534). Philly drew about 13,112. Both were advertised with Hogan as champion, obviously. They announced to the crowd on both shows that Dibiase was now champion "due to the events that took place in Indianapolis last night".



Here is the only footage online of Dibiase working as champion:

So the west coast swing sunk the idea of Dibiase as champion. All of three shows. If you notice, he had little undercard support. It was sink or swim:

WWF @ Los Angeles, CA - Sports Arena - February 8, 1988 (3,000)
Scotty Casey defeated Terry Gibbs
Sam Houston pinned Danny Davis
The One Man Gang defeated Jake Roberts via count-out
WWF Women's Tag Team Champions the Jumping Bomb Angels defeated Judy Martin & Leilani Kai
Ted Dibiase pinned Bam Bam Bigelow after Virgil hit Bigelow with the world title belt; Dibiase was billed as the WWF World Champion and the match was recognized as a title match (Bigelow's 3rd career pinfall loss)
Dan Spivey pinned Lanny Poffo
Brutus Beefcake pinned Greg Valentine
The Islanders defeated Davey Boy Smith & the Dynamite Kid via disqualification

WWF @ Sacramento, CA - Arco Arena - February 10, 1988
WWF Women's Tag Team Champions the Jumping Bomb Angels vs. Judy Martin & Leilani Kai
Sam Houston vs. Danny Davis
Brutus Beefcake vs. Greg Valentine
Jake Roberts vs. the One Man Gang
Davey Boy Smith & the Dynamite Kid vs. the Islanders
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Ted Dibiase

WWF @ Phoenix, AZ - Veterans Memorial Coliseum - February 1988
WWF Women's Tag Team Champions the Jumping Bomb Angels defeated Judy Martin & Leilani Kai
Ron Bass defeated the Junkyard Dog
Hercules defeated Hillbilly Jim
The Ultimate Warrior defeated King Harley Race
Ted Dibiase defeated George Steele (sub. for Bam Bam Bigelow) via disqualification
Ken Patera & Jim Duggan defeated Demolition & Mr. Fuji in a handicap match
Jake Roberts defeated Butch Reed
Don Muraco fought the One Man Gang to a double count-out
Ted Dibiase won a 22-man bunkhouse battle royal



To be fair, Savage's shows weren't much better, but at least he had the tag champs as support:

WWF @ New Haven, CT - Coliseum - February 9, 1988 (4,300)
Paul Roma pinned Steve Lombardi
WWF Women's Champion Sensational Sherri pinned Rockin Robin
SD Jones pinned Sika
Brady Boone pinned Johnny V
Rick Rude pinned Koko B. Ware
Jacques & Raymond Rougeau defeated Conquistador #1 (Jose Luis Rivera) & Mario Mancini (sub. for Conquistador #2)
Dino Bravo pinned Hillbilly Jim
Randy Savage, WWF Tag Team Champions Rick Martel & Tito Santana defeated WWF IC Champion the Honkytonk Man, Bret Hart, & Jim Neidhart in a steel cage match


Hogan came back on the next set of shows, and they returned to drawing over 10,000 in the bigger markets with the Hogan/Bigelow vs Dibise/Andre tag matches on top.

The rest is history.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Here is Dibiase's MSG main event that bombed mentioned in the Observer quote above:

WWF @ New York City, NY - Madison Square Garden - February 22, 1988 (less than 10,000)
Televised on the MSG Network - included Gorilla Monsoon & Lord Alfred Hayes on commentary; this was the first MSG card in which there were mats on the floor surrounding the ring:
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/14/88: Jacques & Raymond Rougeau defeated King Harley Race & Iron Mike Sharpe (sub. for Hercules) at 9:26 when Raymond pinned Sharpe after the Rougeau Bomb from Jacques
Prime Time Wrestling - 2/29/88: George Steele pinned Sika at 2:49 after Sika hit himself with a chair that bounced off the apron, moments after Steele threw three chairs into the ring
Prime Time Wrestling - 2/29/88: Demolition Ax (w/ Mr. Fuji) pinned Ken Patera at 7:27 after Demolition Smash came ringside and distracted Patera as the full nelson was applied; after the bout, Patera was double teamed until the Junkyard Dog made the save
Prime Time Wrestling - 2/29/88: The Junkyard Dog (sub. for Billy Jack Haynes) (w/ Ken Patera) pinned Demolition Smash (w/ Mr. Fuji & Demolition Ax) at 3:44 by hitting him with his steel chain after Patera tripped Smash and attacked Ax, distracting the referee
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/7/88: Jake Roberts fought Dino Bravo (w/ Frenchy Martin) to a 20-minute draw at 19:23
Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow via count-out at 11:04 after sending Bigelow into the steel ring post as Bigelow was chasing Virgil on the floor
Prime Time Wrestling - 3/7/88: Jim Duggan fought Ron Bass to a double count-out at 15:16 when Duggan chased Bass backstage
Don Muraco & the Ultimate Warrior defeated Butch Reed (w/ Slick) & King Kong Bundy (sub. for the One Man Gang) when Warrior pinned Bundy with a crossbody at 14:48, with Bundy falling backwards over Muraco who was on all fours; during the match, Slick briefly joined the commentary team of Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes at ringside

2/22 at MSG was a horrible show and drew less than 10,000, the smallest in five years. The show was headlined by Ted DiBiase vs Bam Bam Bigelow. **1/2, the only decent match on the show. DiBiase is the best in the country on his good nights, but he can't touch Ric Flair as a night after night guy. 2/27 in Denver drew a sellout 8,500 headlined by Hogan & Bigelow vs Andre & DiBiase. 2/21 in Providence, RI, drew 3,100 headlined by Brutus Beefcake vs Greg Valentine.

A decade later, that Beefcake/Valentine main event would go on to headline every fucking VFW Hall & High School gym in New Jersey for like 5 years straight.

Also, odd to see King Kong Bundy on that show, I thought he was gone by this point. Maybe since he was a sub, he was called in as a favor.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Great post.

Should turn it into a VoW article.

This plays out a LOT differently if Ricky Steamboat was still around. Savage was running the B circuit for years as a very steady secondary draw to Hogan. Steamboat was supposed to be the guy they gave the ball to on the B circuit, after his son was born to elevate Savage...they gave the ball to Honky Tonk Man...but he was a nobody and they kept Savage on the B circuit because he was really their only "draw" besides Hogan. They had teased the Hogan-Savage feud for YEARS, since Savage came to the company...we ended up getting a great program and match out it, but its funny the way things fall into place in hindsight.

They were really going to run with Bam Bam...unfortunate.

And, a random question...

Did Tito Santana EVER run the A-circuit? He ran the B-loop for at least a decade.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Check out this C show on Feb 8. While Dibiase was beating Bigelow in LA, & in Monreal Hogan, Savage, & Steamboat were beating Honkytonk Man & Hart Foundation w/Andre in their corner (they loaded up for Montreal), 450 people in upstate NY were treated to this:

WWF @ Clinton, NY - Arena - February 8, 1988 (450)
David Sammartino pinned Barry Horowitz
Johnny V defeated George Skaaland
Outback Jack pinned Iron Mike Sharpe
George Steele defeated Ron Bass via disqualification
Jerry Allen pinned Johnny V
Little Coco & Pepe Gomez defeated Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo
B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell defeated Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov

Two failed sons of past performers, three TV jobbers, a manager working twice, and a Killer Bees vs Bolsheviks main event.

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Holy Shit...Outback Jack....
Stupid Random story :I watched a "coliseum home video" that had a good Dibiase fight at the end was a mailing address for suggestions. I mailed out a letter suggesting Hulk Hogan and Corporal Kirchner become tag team partners. They never teamed up but about a month later I received a WWF catalog similar to this.

I teared up when my parents refused to buy me this.

No punchline....other than Hulk Hogan having a weight set for kids that didnt include a bible or vitamins.

 

[clovett]

That magazine is one of the best things I've see in awhile.

 

[MrBill]

I was a big DiBiase fan growing up. My earliest memories of watching wrestling on TV was the old Mid-South broadcasts on Saturday afternoons.