Did Virgil Ever Have A Chance?

[The Brain]

Is this a new low for me? You guys know I like creating threads on random wrestlers, but Virgil? Yep, Virgil. For many years Virgil has been a laughing stock in the wrestling industry, at least among the fans. There was a brief period, 1991 to be exact, when Virgil was pretty successful and popular. Did Virgil have a chance at sustaining that success beyond 1991? Let’s review.

I don’t know anything about Virgil prior to him joining the WWF. He debuted as Ted Dibiase’s bodyguard in the fall of 1987. Throughout the next three years Virgil was always by Dibiase’s side often doing his dirty work and occasionally teaming with him. Many times Virgil had to take the beating intended for Dibiase as the Million Dollar Man escaped from his opponent. On the rare occasion he did put on the tights Virgil’s ring skills were less than impressive. It seemed to me that Dibiase was much tougher than the guy he had protecting him. Virgil didn’t need to be tougher than Dibiase to do his job. He was just there to take Dibiase’s beatings, be at his beck and call, and stroke his ego. Toward the end of 1990 having Virgil around to carry his bags and things of that nature was not enough for Dibiase. Dibiase began to find more and more degrading things for Virgil to do and also became emotionally abusive. We learned that Virgil was putting up with Dibiase because he had to care for his mother and was desperate for the money. As 1990 turned to 1991 we could feel that Virgil was about to crack and a split with Dibiase was inevitable. He reached his breaking point at the Royal Rumble when after being degraded in the ring yet again Virgil blasted Dibiase in the head with the Million Dollar Belt to a thunderous applause from the crowd. Virgil was a sympathetic underdog figure and was instantly popular with the fans.

Roddy Piper took Virgil under his wing and trained him for a match against Dibiase at WrestleMania VII. The fans couldn’t wait to see Virgil give Dibiase his comeuppance after all the years of abuse. Virgil got a somewhat underwhelming victory at mania when he beat Dibiase by count out thanks to a distraction from Piper. Nevertheless he did get the win and Virgil was now a full time wrestler. His inspirational story continued into the summer as he defeated Dibiase at SummerSlam for the Million Dollar Belt to the delight of the fans. Just before Survivor Series Virgil lost the belt back to Dibiase and his momentum came to a screeching halt. For the next few years Virgil was used to put over pretty much every heel on the roster with his only wins coming against no name jobbers. Besides the feud with Dibiase, Virgil’s wrestling career was pretty much irrelevant. It makes me wonder if Virgil really ever had a chance.

Every once in a while a character is brought in for one specific angle and there is no intention on using him beyond that. It happened with Nailz for the Big Boss Man. It happened with the fake Undertaker for the real Undertaker. Was this the intention for Virgil when he split with Dibiase? Did the WWF know from the beginning they weren’t going to use him for anything relevant beyond that feud? Would you have liked to have seen Virgil get a chance at another decent angle after Dibiase? I know he’s a joke to most of you guys now but think back to 1991. Could Virgil have actually been more than he was?

 

[Big Sexy]

There's no doubt Virgil was hugely over in 91 but I relate that to the storyline rather then Virgil himself. A storyline is great to get a guy started but every good story comes to an end and when the Dibiase feud was over with Virgil wasn't good enough to capitalize on the momentum. He was decent in the ring but certainly nothing to write home about and he was average at best on the mic. His career was nothing to be ashamed of as many guys dream for the kind of opportunity he got, but in the end he simply wasn't good enough to do anything more.

 

[klunderbunker]

Not really no.

Other than DiBiase, there was nothing to Virgil. He was generic in the ring and there to do nothing more than eventually turn on DiBiase. Once that happened, Virgil was just a guy in shorts getting squashed. If you gave him a character of any kind he might have had a shot, but based on how simplistic he was there was no reason to care about him at all.

 

[Goldie]

I think Virgil got as far as he could in 1991.... in hindsight, its quite amazinbg that he got a clean win over Dibiase at a major PPV.... given his jobber status from 1992-93, and Dibiase is since regarded as a wrestling legend.

It was a great storyline however.... Virgil being humilataed by Dibiase for years... then servant turns on his master, and wins the consequent fued. The fans really bought it at the time, but after the Dibiase fued fizzled out... Virgil was never going to top that.

As the Brain points out here... some wrestlers have 'that one big-angle'.... and once that time came and passed for Virgil... he was just another guy making up the numbers on the roster.

He was average in all departments.

 

[berlinbrawler]

Am I the only one who sees parallels between Virgil and Alex Riley?

Ah, Virgil. The quintessential jobber. From the getgo this guy's sole purpose was to enhance DiBiase. He could work with Ted, but beyond that there was just no appeal whatsoever. As bland and boring as could be. So no, he never had a chance.

It is as you said. Sometimes they bring in one guy or create a character soleley to give one of their stars something to do. After that those guys get thrown to the wolfes and chewed up quickly. The worst offender in this category, by far, is the Undertaker. Giant Gonzalez, the Executioner, Underfaker, Kamala (more or less) and more. Mankind and Kane actually started out that way, but got over enough to become entities of their own, but they were the exception to the rule. Virgil sure as hell was not.

 

[bxbigshow]

Unfortunately WWE wasn't creative enough to capitalize on his run. I remember an episode of Superstars right after the split where new WWF Champion Bret Hart was a "fighting champion" and gave Virgil a title shot.

They could've had a few things happen to springboard Virgil then:

Have Bret job the belt over to Virgil...although to risky.
Have Virgil and Piper turn heel and Virgil wins...still a bit chancey as they just made him good.
Have the two of them put on a great match that elevated Virgil's status...Could've worked as Bret could make a 5 Star match out of anyone...

 

[Pedigree1]

Poor virgil never had a chance in hell. Once he went on his own in 1991,he never stood a chance. He was and always be remembered for being the MDM bodyguard and doing everything at his beckoning. Yes,Virgil got a couple of nostalgic wins against his former employer,but in reality Virgil was just another guy.

Nothing special nothing screamed even lower card about him.. He had a great build,but thats about it. He was just another guy,someone to feed the up and coming superstars too

 

[PingPongBundy]

I remember marking out huge in '91 when Virgil finally turned on DiBiase. I was six at the time, and wrestling was still "real" as I didn't know how wrestling worked. Looking back on it now, it is obvious that he wasn't going to do anything past DiBiase. Hell, even WCW realized this and made him the NWO bodyguard/abuse taker. I don't think he was all that bad in the ring, but like an above poster said, nothing to write home about. My most poignant memory of Virgil is when I recently watched Survivor Series 1992. I'd forgotten about his match with Yokozuna. In the match, Yoko lost his balance and fell backwards, with his posterior landing right on Virgil's face. I was amazed he was able to even move after that. I mean, 505 pounds of force coming down on a face, he's lucky he didn't break every bone in his face.

 

[Ubermensch]

He was worse as Vincent. The highlight of his WCW career being the first person in the NWO knocked out. I rarely even remember him wrestling. Usually he just came to the ring with Norton and Bagwell.

 

[enviousdominous]

I don't know if anyone's said it already, but let's remember that Virgil got his name as a jab to then NWA booker Dusty Rhodes.

I actually met Virgil when I was an event coordinator in South Korea. He talked non-stop. Honestly, everyone around took a turn asking him to please shut up for ten seconds. I should also note that most of the fans only came to see Virgil, even though Doink and Disco Inferno were on the card. Not a stellar card by anyone's standards, but it was cool to see fans pop huge for Virgil.

As far as his lack of a more significant push goes; other guys on the card told me that Virgil was never well liked back stage. His name was a punishment and his being made to just hold the money and not say anything while on tv was a punishment. Let's remember that his name was "Vincent" when he came to WCW and that it later changed to "Shane". Nearly his entire career has been being made to look like a stupid example of a competing promoter. His push to challenge Dibiase makes sense as Virgil had earned a place in our hearts as a reformed bad guy, I imagine that if you're going to be granted any staying power on tv then you have to not annoy the shit out of your bosses and co-workers.

In all honestly, I absolutely love the character and the man behind it. It's no wonder that most of us who grew up around a certain time still have a place in our hearts for Virgil. From what I hear the man is doing well for himself and I hope the very best for him.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Virgil was one of those guys who had potential but no real system in place for him to improve while he was working as the bodyguard. He's similar to Ricardo now but Ricardo has NXT to be active in where as Virgil lost nearly 4 years to just standing there holding the money.

It sums it up that WWE Magazine used to make fun of him a lot, notably when Bob Backlund had a centerpiece article and they said Virgil "mugged in" to get in the magazine. They also used to use the "X has signed an open contract" which was code for "is now a jobber".

Could they have done more with him sure, had he been working regularly he would have improved but without that chance (it's not like DiBiase was helping to train him) then he is a footnote and not a very good one however hot the initial turn was.

 

[deadman talking]

virgil was given a chance to be on his own, but failed miserably. i remember seeing him bouncing around like a wannabe boxer in his red and white striped shorts and getting beat by everyone. it was terrible considering where he had started in wwf. he was great at what he did with ted dibiase. maybe because he didnt wrestle or have to say much. he kinda looked like he could do some damage to anyone who tried to screw over ted. he was best as valet/bodyguard. dont know how he even got into the business. and after his shitty wwf singles run, wcw hired him ha. hope he saved that cash.

 

[thebarber]

some guys are just meant to be hanger-ons. Virgil/Vincent was one of them. He played his servan role mperfectly when with DiBiase, the turn 3 and a half years was done greatly and subsequent fued, but because WWE never gave us a reason to give a toss about Virgil, he was always going to be a lost cause once that feud ended. Sure he had a great look, huge arms etc, but yeah, waste of space really post-Dibiase

 

[AhSpicyDrop]

Virgil was "over" but DiBiase and Piper were the stars of that entire angle. I remember watching it as a youngster and thinking even then it was going to lead to a major DiBiase and Piper showdown. Instead we got the feel good moment with Virgil winning the Million Dollar belt.

The problem for me was even as a kid I had a hard time believing that Virgil could beat DiBiase, even as an 'underdog'. Virgil had literally been DiBiase's scapegoat for years, and had his ass thoroughly handed to him by every face on the roster, many who DiBiase had beaten cleanly or at least convincingly.

Not to mention I think people have a warped sense of wrestling physique. There was nothing intimidating about Virgil, even in the early days when they first introduced him and tried to pretend like he had some chops to him. He looked tiny compared to DiBiase when they worked matches as a team, and he definitely looked small in comparison when they worked against eachother.. And Ted was never the biggest guy by any stretch.

The fact that Virgil went over DiBiase once, let alone twice is ridiculous. Looking back, in a perfect world, it should have solely been about building a huge storyline between Piper & DiBiase; because the mic work between those two in a lofty storyline would have been money. If you took Virgil out of the equation sooner, I think more could have came from it.

I don't remember much about Virgil's career post-DiBiase, aside from his horrible attempt at dancing like Ali and other showboating techniques in his matches. I remember really scratching my head when WCW hired him, and then KEPT him for as long as they did. He probably had the easiest job in the wrestling industry for the amount of money he made.

Long story short, he should be grateful he even got an attempted rub from DiBiase... He was shit on the mic, and he was shit in the ring.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The problem was Piper was injured for most of 91, even accompanying Virgil on crutches at Mania.

It's very likely the initial plan was for Piper to have the feud and win the belt but they switched it to Virgil when he was hurt. It is one feud that never really did what it set out to do, it didn't create a new star and was pretty much the final nail in DiBiase's singles career. To be fair to Virgil though, Piper and DiBiase wouldn't have worked at that time either particularly well. The time for it was in 88 when Piper was in "Hollywood".

 

[jacdnwarrior]

Virgil. I did like the character, but tbf, he had only a marginal career at best. He was okay in the ring, had a look but he wasn't good on the mike and his move set seemed limited. He wasn't the best brawler I've ever seen, or greatest technician he was in between and not so good at that. The Dibiase feud was the only thing of significance he really had and after that he put over every one else.

I have to say he had a chance, as he was over after the victory over Dibiase, but it seemed that beyond that rivalry WWF didn't have faith in him beyond that to move him upward.

 

[Lowdown]

With Virgil, what you saw was what you got. He wasn't horrible in the ring, but the run with DiBiase was the one brass ring he was gonna get. Like mentioned before, if WWF expanded on his character some he probably could've done more beyond '91. I look at his storyline being similar to the push they gave Barry Horowitz back in '95 (or was it '96). A taste of glory then it's back to being enhancement talent. But while it gave fans someone else to root for, Virgil probably didn't have a chance at going beyond that. Keep in mind also that '91 was sort of the beginning of a transition period for WWF with the rise of guys like Bret and Shawn. No way would Virgil had been able to be in the same convos as them.

 

[dudenamedric]

Virgil didn't have any star quality to him. He should've just stayed on as MDM's butler. He had a good run in 91, but as was stated before, it was mainly due to MDM and Piper. When I think back to watching Virgil back then, what I remember most was Piper pushing him on the mic. He wasn't able to carry himself into new territory after that storyline ended.

All in all tho, just having that brief stint that he had would be an awesome accomplishment. I mean, he did legitimately win the Million Dollar Belt from MDM. I personally think that's awesome. The Million Dollar Belt has long been my favorite belt

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

No.

When someone's the butler or minion for so long, it simply sticks to you. And Virgil had a great look to him, too. And apparently was the most well-endowed man in history if you listen to colleagues and women in shoot interviews when asked about him.

I digress.

The point is Virgil simply had NO chance to be successful. His initial push after finally turning on MDM was great, but it wouldn't be sustained. I mean, where does he go after feuding with MDM?

Exactly.