Which Wrestler Do You Most Associate With Ted Dibiase?

[The Brain]

Ok guys, let’s keep with the managers theme and only focus on guys Dibiase managed after his wrestling career was over. Please don’t include tag team partners, guys he feuded with, people who managed him, etc.

This one is a bit more difficult for me as Dibiase didn’t achieve much success with any of the people he managed. He also didn’t mange anyone for a considerable length of time. I suppose the first guy that pops into my mind is Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow was the first guy Dibiase took on as a manager besides the comedy charity act of nickel and dime Volkoff. Dibiase never managed a champion so his biggest success as a manager was managing Bigelow in the main event of WrestleMania XI. Even though Bigelow suffered and embarrassing loss Dibiase was still a part of the mania main event.

Remember guys, NO SPAM. Some of the other threads people simply say the first guy that pops to mind without offering an explanation. Spammers will be infracted.

 

[yur_momma]

hm, can i say virgil? that should be the obvious choice for everyone but he later became a wrestler and not one managed by dibiase so...

im gonna go with IRS. that tag team was very memorable to me and virgil and IRS always immediately come to mind when his name is mentioned. bam bam and tatanka are the only others i can think of but they are not automatic associations for me like virgil and IRS.

 

[willbd78]

I would have to say Tatanka. I say this due to the fact that because there was such a good program with him and Lex Luger about who DiBiase had in his pocket. It seemed through most of that program that it was Luger who was in Dibiase's pocket, when in turn it was Tatanka. It also stood out for me because it showed what Tatanka could do as a heel. A close second would be Austin. I enjoyed the Ringmaster gimmick.

 

[HBsam31]

Two popped into my mind immediately. The one that got my vote was Steve Austin. Been watching Ted since the 80's and I still think of The Ringmaster when he comes up. I think of him because he managed Austin in the gimmick he had to break out of to become a megastar. As an aside, did Million Dollar Man leave for WCW right after his split from Austin?

Now the one that popped into my mind at the same time was Tatanka. The reason is simple, the storyline leading to Ted acquiring him. Tatanka accused Leg Luger of selling out to the Million Dollar man, it played out for weeks with little teases that Lex did sell out. Then in the PPV match it is revealed Tatanka was actually the one that sold out. I was young so it may in hindsight have been predictable, but at the time I loved it and will always think of Tatanka when I hear Million Dollar Man.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Because Dibiase wasn't a manager long I would say IRS is the person I associate with Dibiase most with Austin being second.

Mostly I associate IRS with Dibiase more than anyone else is because of their relationship long before Dibiase even became a manager. They were Tag Team champs together more than once and defended those titles in a pair of Wrestlemanias together. They were a very successful tag team together and were one of the top teams in the early 90's.

Austin is second for the simple fact he became the most profitable star in wrestling history and he started his WWE career with Dibiase as the Million Dollar champion and I believe he was the only member of the million dollar corporation that actually got to hold that title. He was also the last person Dibiase managed before becoming the manager of the nWo.

SIDE NOTE: are you only counting WWE guys Brain because I think the nWo would be a good choice as well.

The thing is Dibiase was never a overly successful manager. His stable was utterly forgettable and like you said Brain he wasn't a manager for that long.

 

[The Brain]

SIDE NOTE: are you only counting WWE guys Brain because I think the nWo would be a good choice as well.

The thing is Dibiase was never a overly successful manager. His stable was utterly forgettable and like you said Brain he wasn't a manager for that long.

I am only counting WWE guys because that's what I know. I know Dibiase was a part of the nwo but I don't know if he managed anyone specific or everyone in general. The other option is there for the WCW fans to vote on. I simply didn't follow Dibiase enough in WCW to include anyone from there on the poll.

 

[relentless1]

im going to say other, he mamaged the steiner brothers to the wcw tag titles, he had some success mamanging the nWo as well, hogan specifically as world champ, it annoys me how people forget about the good things that WCW produced in its heyday, i saw another poll on here about the best feud from 1997 and it was only wwe feuds listed, just irritating how everybody seems to buy into wwe being the be all end all of wrestling...anyways ya...ted dibiase, the steiner bros i think because he mamaged them to the tag titles....

 

[GameOver]

fake Undertaker LOL

seriously, i would say Ringmaster.... sure it was brief but look what it led too.

and in a close second the Million Dollar Corporation - I.R.S., Bam Bam Bigelow, Nikolai Volkoff, Kama, King Kong Bundy, Sycho Sid, 1-2-3 Kid and Tatanka.

 

[matman8540]

fake Undertaker LOL

seriously, i would say Ringmaster.... sure it was brief but look what it led too.

and in a close second the Million Dollar Corporation - I.R.S., Bam Bam Bigelow, Nikolai Volkoff, Kama, King Kong Bundy, Sycho Sid, 1-2-3 Kid and Tatanka.

I completely agree. This got Austin's foot in the door into the WWF/E, and we all know...the rest of the story. If it wasn't for this ridiculous gimmick, and then the complete 180 from it, there would be a serious delay in the Attitude Era. DX started it, and Stone Cold kicked the door in; along with the boot to Vince's gut for a Stone Cold Stunner that was heard 'round the world.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

When I think of him as a manager, Bigelow, and Austin pop into my head.

I voted for Austin simply because I still vividly remember Dibiase giving him the Million Dollar championship in his debut. That is the most significant memory I have of Austin pre Stone Cold


Bigelow I think of because of the match with LT at Wrestlemania. Shortly after though Bigelow turned face. It was just another guy in a long line of unsuccessful managing attempts for Ted

 

[Theo Mays]

Gotta go with The Ringmaster, no doubt about it. That was my heyday as a child getting into wrestling. I was always into wrestling due to my family, but this was right around the time I would start to remember things and really learn about it. Austin really stuck out to me. I absolutely loved the feud with Savio Vega as a child and Austin and Dibiase just went hand in hand to me. I actually met Dibiase once in a grocery store and he told us to keep an eye out for British Bulldog, who was returning with short hair. My dad and I didn't buy it, but low and behold he was right. So really the first person I think of is Bulldog, but he was never managed by Dibiase. Got a little sidetracked, sorry. Back to the feud with Savio Vega, that is what really got me into storylines and what not. That feud with the whole strap match pulled me into a different aspect. So Austin and Dibiase get some credit for that.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Immediately I thought of "The Ringmaster" AKA Stone Cold Steve Austin.

I know DiBiase only managed Austin for a brief period of time, before Austin broke away and went on to become the beer-drinking SOB that we all know and love, but it was with DiBiase that he got his first opportunity in the WWE, being given the Million Dollar Belt by DiBiase and being taken under his wing.

I never really enjoyed the Ringmaster gimmick, it was pretty dull and I never would have anticipated how good Austin could become and how red hot he would become in just a couple of years. It shows what can be achieved by people that you wouldn't expect to do it, when given the opportunity to use a character they are more comfortable with and are given creative freedom to be themselves and get themselves over.

The Ringmaster is not who Steve Williams/Austin is, "Stone Cold" is. Maybe Vince and the creative team need to look at examples like this when sticking all the restrictions on their talent these days. If they gave the wrestlers more say in the creative process or a say in their characters, maybe they would find an unexpected megastar, like Steve Austin.

 

[ProWrestlingFan84]

Going to vote for Tatanka because I remember the big story going into that Summerslam was Luger selling out. As the match progressed it was shown that Tatanka actually sold out and started his heel role which well didn't amount to anything but a memory. I guess the other honorable mention is Brian Lee aka Underfaker. That was another pretty cool story with both of them having an interesting match. It would've been cool if they brought back Brian Lee for another Undertaker role, maybe as Kane before Glen Jacobs got the role, just a thought. But again great thread Brain.

 

[daddyJ_t]

technically u can say the nwo, cause not only was he a member, he was brought in as a face for ted turner, yes ted debiase was brought in and christened billionaire ted, as sort of a benifactor for the nwo

 

[xxxdaniel_ariesxxx]

Is Andre the Giant eligable? while I'm not sure if Dibiase was ever "officially" his "manager" he did accompany him to the ring, and acted in a very managerial way, in the months leading up to WrestleMania IV and into the first SummerSlam that year... it was sort of like a manager/tag team relationship... but when I think of Ted Dibiase in a managerial role I think of his time with Andre. after all, it was his influence that lead to Andre winning the WWF Championship from Hogan.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

I'd have to say Ringmaster era Steve Austin, by a landslide on this one. Dibiase's stint as a manager was brief, and he did manage The Steiner's to gold, and even had the likes of Tatanka and others under his watch at different points in time, but Austin was the one person you could see WWE knew to invest in 100%, and obviously felt could benefit from the association with a guy like Dibiase. Just the fact that he was basically passed the torch in that he took over The Million Dollar Dream as one of his default finishing moves really cemented him as the jewel of Dibiase's managerial days in my eyes.

He was able to help get Austin over as a heel before WWE ever let him loose on the microphone and before they really saw that Austin was best served simply as himself. That's the mark of a quality manager, and a sign that the involvement was a success in the long run.

 

[ITrippedTheShockmaster]

There's a lot of guys you could mention here that associate best with DiBiase (Virgil and Andre are the first to come to mind overall), but I'd have to say as a manager, I'd most associate DiBiase with Steve Austin's "Ringmaster" character. Even though the character didn't last long, DiBiase handing him the prized Million Dollar Belt was a moment that sticks out in my mind.

After that, I'd say IRS (because the two also worked so well as Money Inc. prior to DiBiase managing), then Bam Bam Bigelow because he was DiBiase's first managing gig and Tatanka b/c of the swerve.

I know it has been mentioned in other postsl, but I also think of DiBiase working with the nWo as their "financial backer" and then managing the Steiner Brothers for a short while in WCW as well.

BTW, got to meet Ted at a recent ComicCon. Very nice guy.

 

[HBKperfect23]

This is probably the hardest one for me. The first name that comes to mind is IRS but Im thinking that only because I was a Money Inc fan. When think of Dibease as a manager I think of the Million Dollar Corperation. IRS didnt do much so Im going to eliminate him. Bam Bam probably had the most success so he gets my vote. He did close a WM. Tatanka would be a close second.