I took title from Hulk Hogan in front of 33m viewers and defended it but WWE refuses to acknowledge my reign
Do you remember the one about the wrestler defending the WWE Championship without ever being champion? As they used to say back in the day – anything can happen in the World Wrestling Federation – as it was known before the company’s change to WWE in the early 2000s. In true foreshadowing, Ted DiBiase told fans he was going to ‘buy’ the WWE title, and did In a top-quality example of a professional wrestling company throwing up the most absurd and comical scenarios imaginable, this is exactly what happened to one Hall of Fame star. Ted DiBiase is known to millions around the world as The Million Dollar Man – the man so conceited and convinced of his own money-bought superiority that he decided he could make his own championship and declare himself its holder. The Million Dollar Championship was his very expensive prop, but only really came into its own after DiBiase failed to win the ‘real’ WWE title from Hulk Hogan – at least where the record books are concerned. Fans of the time, however, recall a very different history, one where DiBiase won the WWE title and even defended it! Allow us to explain… Always bragging about the bucks he had in the bank, DiBiase said in late 1987 he intended to buy the WWE Championship from incumbent Hogan, something the Hulkster, being the hero of the day, scoffed at. DiBiase then did what he always did – chucked some cash around, recruiting Andre The Giant to his cohort. Andre was chief nemesis to Hogan following their epic WrestleMania III clash and eagerly eyed a rematch with the champ in early 1988. Such was the popularity of their rivalry, their bout on Saturday Night’s Main Event garnered an unthinkable 33 million television viewers in the US as wrestling fans tuned in to see the latest chapter in their story. Rather than Hogan standing tall once again, though, Andre pinned him to snare the gold and immediately, something seemed untoward and wonderfully villainous – not least as Hulk’s shoulders were clearly up during the decisive three-count. Regardless, his 1,474-day reign as champ was over. It later emerged that DiBiase had paid off a rogue referee, too, and celebrated wildly when, having been announced as the new WWE Champion (or WWF as it was at the time), Andre swiftly handed the belt to DiBiase, naming him champ. He had, the story goes, been paid to ‘beat’ Hogan and hand over the gold. Naturally, fans of the day wouldn’t stand for such behaviour, and neither would on-screen authority figure Jack Tunney. Chaos set in amongst thousands of fans when Hogan was counted out despite having his shoulders upWWE Andre won the WWE title and is recognised as having done so, but what happened after is murkyWWE Ted DiBiase was the WWE Champion, and yet never was, according to recordsWWE Viewers were treated to a follow-up address from Tunney shortly after the event in which it was stated that, due to such a shambolic ‘win’, neither Andre nor DiBiase were now WWE Champion, and that the title was vacated, conveniently, ready to be battled for at the upcoming WrestleMania IV. To this day, decades later, WWE refuses to recognise DiBiase in their records as ever being WWE Champion – recognising only that Andre ‘won’ the title before it was vacated. That would be fine enough but, in 1988, the company’s relentless schedule meant the show always went on and in, in the interim, DiBiase actually appeared at three non-televised events with the championship – even being billed as WWE Champion.- before his ‘reign’ was scrapped. One of them included a match for his WWE Championship, too, Bam Bam Bigelow was the challenger on February 8th, 1988 in LA, DiBiase winning that match and walking out with his gold. With no social media or camera phones to document the outing, WWE have been able to effectively erase it from existence, leading to DiBiase himself launching a petition to have his contribution recognised. Under ‘Make it Official’ on his website four years ago, sits a petition that’s still active, with a message that reads; “In February of 1988, Ted enlisted the services of the legendary Andre The Giant to assist with capturing the WWF Championship. DiBiase even filmed promotional videos as WWE Champion during the reign history doesn’t acknowledgeWWE Hogan wasn’t off the top of WWE for long, and was world champ again by 1989WWE “Andre was successful in pinning Hulk Hogan at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN. In the history books WWE has decided not to recognize this title reign even though Ted defended the championship at a live show against Bam Bam Bigelow. “Support Ted by signing this petition asking WWE to #MAKEITOFFICIAL.” Though never formally acknowledged as WWE Champion as is his great wish, the now 71-year-old has always acknowledged the role the storyline – which he called ‘awesome’ – played in launching his career incredible heights. In an interview more than a decade after that fateful ni
Do you remember the one about the wrestler defending the WWE Championship without ever being champion?
As they used to say back in the day – anything can happen in the World Wrestling Federation – as it was known before the company’s change to WWE in the early 2000s.
In a top-quality example of a professional wrestling company throwing up the most absurd and comical scenarios imaginable, this is exactly what happened to one Hall of Fame star.
Ted DiBiase is known to millions around the world as The Million Dollar Man – the man so conceited and convinced of his own money-bought superiority that he decided he could make his own championship and declare himself its holder.
The Million Dollar Championship was his very expensive prop, but only really came into its own after DiBiase failed to win the ‘real’ WWE title from Hulk Hogan – at least where the record books are concerned.
Fans of the time, however, recall a very different history, one where DiBiase won the WWE title and even defended it! Allow us to explain…
Always bragging about the bucks he had in the bank, DiBiase said in late 1987 he intended to buy the WWE Championship from incumbent Hogan, something the Hulkster, being the hero of the day, scoffed at.
DiBiase then did what he always did – chucked some cash around, recruiting Andre The Giant to his cohort. Andre was chief nemesis to Hogan following their epic WrestleMania III clash and eagerly eyed a rematch with the champ in early 1988.
Such was the popularity of their rivalry, their bout on Saturday Night’s Main Event garnered an unthinkable 33 million television viewers in the US as wrestling fans tuned in to see the latest chapter in their story.
Rather than Hogan standing tall once again, though, Andre pinned him to snare the gold and immediately, something seemed untoward and wonderfully villainous – not least as Hulk’s shoulders were clearly up during the decisive three-count. Regardless, his 1,474-day reign as champ was over.
It later emerged that DiBiase had paid off a rogue referee, too, and celebrated wildly when, having been announced as the new WWE Champion (or WWF as it was at the time), Andre swiftly handed the belt to DiBiase, naming him champ. He had, the story goes, been paid to ‘beat’ Hogan and hand over the gold.
Naturally, fans of the day wouldn’t stand for such behaviour, and neither would on-screen authority figure Jack Tunney.
Viewers were treated to a follow-up address from Tunney shortly after the event in which it was stated that, due to such a shambolic ‘win’, neither Andre nor DiBiase were now WWE Champion, and that the title was vacated, conveniently, ready to be battled for at the upcoming WrestleMania IV.
To this day, decades later, WWE refuses to recognise DiBiase in their records as ever being WWE Champion – recognising only that Andre ‘won’ the title before it was vacated.
That would be fine enough but, in 1988, the company’s relentless schedule meant the show always went on and in, in the interim, DiBiase actually appeared at three non-televised events with the championship – even being billed as WWE Champion.- before his ‘reign’ was scrapped.
One of them included a match for his WWE Championship, too, Bam Bam Bigelow was the challenger on February 8th, 1988 in LA, DiBiase winning that match and walking out with his gold.
With no social media or camera phones to document the outing, WWE have been able to effectively erase it from existence, leading to DiBiase himself launching a petition to have his contribution recognised.
Under ‘Make it Official’ on his website four years ago, sits a petition that’s still active, with a message that reads; “In February of 1988, Ted enlisted the services of the legendary Andre The Giant to assist with capturing the WWF Championship.
“Andre was successful in pinning Hulk Hogan at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN. In the history books WWE has decided not to recognize this title reign even though Ted defended the championship at a live show against Bam Bam Bigelow.
“Support Ted by signing this petition asking WWE to #MAKEITOFFICIAL.”
Though never formally acknowledged as WWE Champion as is his great wish, the now 71-year-old has always acknowledged the role the storyline – which he called ‘awesome’ – played in launching his career incredible heights.
In an interview more than a decade after that fateful night, he said: “I didn’t know what we were doing until that night, and when I heard about it, I [thought]: ‘That’s awesome.’
“It was the defining moment; it really kicked the Million Dollar character into high gear. For us to rob the champion and for me to go out wearing the belt, it was great.”
