Why Money Inc.?

[The Brain]

I think most of us agree that Ted Dibiase was one of the best heels the WWF ever had. He debuted with the company in 1987 and was an immediate main event player beginning a program with Hulk Hogan upon his arrival. In fact he was responsible for ending Hogan’s four year title reign. Even though he didn’t get a title reign of his own Dibiase would remain a top heel in the WWF for the next few years seamlessly bouncing from the upper mid card to the main event when needed. In early 1992 Dibiase transitioned from singles star to the tag team division. He formed Money Incorporated with Irwin R. Schyster and the pair won three tag titles in the year and a half they were together. Money Inc. was definitely a great tag team but at the time I was a little surprised to see Dibiase give up his singles career.

Usually when someone moves from singles to tag team it’s because their best days are behind them but the new team could give them some extra mileage. I didn’t notice Dibiase being on a downward slope in 1992 but maybe he was. He already worked with most of the top faces of the time and a lot of his guys from his era were leaving the company. Maybe switching to the tag division helped extend Dibiase’s career. Or maybe the tag division needed Dibiase more than he needed it. Over the past year The Hart Foundation, Rockers, Demolition, and Power & Glory either split up or left the company. The tag division was getting weaker so maybe a credible guy like Dibiase getting a partner and becoming champions was more to help the weakening division than save Dibiase.

Or maybe it was both. I felt Dibiase still had plenty to offer as a singles wrestler but with the amount of turnover in 1992 maybe the WWF didn’t feel the same way. Instead of just cutting him loose they decided to strengthen their weakening tag division. I’m not sure if Dibiase really needed Money Inc. but I do think IRS benefited tremendously from the team. The wrestling accountant could have easily been thrown in the terrible gimmick category with the wrestling garbage man, wrestling plumber, and wrestling dentist. Instead thanks to both Mike Rotunda’s talent but also his partnership with Ted Dibiase, it’s easy to overlook how silly the IRS gimmick actually was and view Irwin R. Schyster as a perfectly legitimate competitor. So maybe Money Inc. was more to help IRS.

So why do you think Money Inc. was formed? Was it to extend Dibiase’s career, save IRS’s career, or help the tag division? Don’t get me wrong. Even though I’m questioning why Money Inc. even happened doesn’t mean I didn’t like them. I thought they were a great team. So maybe that’s a fourth option. Maybe the reason was simply it was a good idea that just worked. What do you think?

 

[FromGlasgow]

I enjoyed the Money Inc tag team, Ive no idea why they formed the team it was possibly a mixture of all the reasons you gave but they were still featured in main matches so I don't see it as much of a demotion for him, I would have prefered to see him stick around a bit longer after Money Inc ended in 1993 and maybe went on to feud with some of the top wrestlers of the new generation as a singles wrestler and I still think he's the best wrestler ever that has never won a world title, Even his manager days with the Million dollar corporation was cut short in my opinion and could have went on longer. I always expected him to come back at some point and manage his son Ted jr which also never happened.

 

[Aquaman6686]

According to DiBiase's book, it was a pretty mutual decision between himself and Vince that DiBiase was never going to be as big a singles star as they originally thought. They felt he'd get more over as a tag team guy, and because of his years of experience, he'd be a mentor to anyone he tagged with. And it turned out they were right, he had more success as a tag team competitor and got even more over as a heel.

 

[rmp0012002]

If you look back at his career before MDM he had a lot of success as a tag team wrestler in Mid South and Japan so it wasn't a difficult transition for him.

 

[Makaveli31]

So why do you think Money Inc. was formed?

It was probably a combination of things.

1) The Million Dollar Man character had pretty much run it's course as a main event/upper mid card talent. DiBiase had just finished feuding with his longtime bodyguard Virgil and he had been at the top for 5 years. A long time for a single character. It was probably to give the "Million Dollar Man" character a fresh start and lend some credibility to the IRS character.

What I find interesting is he didn't want to be a tag team wrestler. He preferred singles. DiBiase also had a lot of personal problems going on at the time. He was close to losing his marriage in 1991 or 1992 so I think giving DiBiase a travel companion in Rotundo (a family man) was a good idea.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Dibiase's run at the top was over by the time Money Inc formed. His career was definitely winding down. He was the first man eliminated in the '92 Rumble and he'd have his last WWE match at Summer Slam the following year.

Money Inc were only interesting because of Dibiase. He still had something to offer wrestling at the time.

 

[Goldie]

Dibiase was still entertaining in the early 90s but his run as a top liner heel was pretty much 1987-88.
He went from fueding with Hogan and Savage in main events down to fueding with Jake and Jimmy Snuka in 1989- midcard attractions.

By 1991 he was even jobbing to Virgil .... that pretty much showed how much Ted had fallen from grace from being the companys top heel 4 years earlier.

Still at least the tag team with IRS gave him 3 tag title runs.... both very sound wrestlers. Shame they were often depicted as cheap skates though... such as Wrestlemania 8 where they simply walked out on purpose to take the countout loss yet retain the titles.
Still beating LOD in their primes isn't to be sniffed at. I think Money Inc worked well for Dibiase... in the singles ranks by this point- he was geneally putting over rising babyfaces, so the tag team gave him some time in the spotlight again

 

[Wald]

I don't know if this was the original intention but Money Inc. seemed to me to be one the ways Vince was showing that he was readying the WWF for the New Generation. DiBiase was, and still is, known as a big name from the 1980s primarily and in 1992 Vince was starting to look to the future. Shortly after Money Inc's debut we'd see Bret v Bulldog headline Summerslam and the Hitman would be champion by year's end. Their debut also came after Hogan's supposed retirement at Wrestlemania VIII, another indication that the WWF was finally moving on from the Rock n' Wrestling Days.

So I always took it as a way of keeping DiBiase relevant as they moved him from the upper midcard. That was either tag wrestling, WCW or he start jobbing out to guys so this was the preferred the option.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Ted was always Upper Midcard rather than main event, he got a handful of main events in 1988 but other than that he was exclusively upper mid.

DiBiase has spoken about this relatively recently and not quite as described in his book.

Basically around that time was when his wife discovered his affairs and he turned to religion/made real efforts to save his marriage/solve his issues. Being part of the tag team meant he had someone on the road with him who was also a religious family man (Mike Rotundo) to help keep him straight and meant he could be at home a little more to help salvage his marriage as he didn't need to be at every show.

Money Inc. were not really "depush" for Ted, they won the titles almost immediately and were always portrayed as a cut above your average tag team champions. Indeed they worked with The Steiners and later Hogan and Beefcake, both important feuds as Scott & Rick were a big "get" at the time and Hogan's return was a big deal...they were also a "safe pair of hands" to work with Brutus, who was still getting over that horrific face...injury

In truth, Money Inc were probably the first of the WWE "Superteams" - I don't mean the Megapowers type but the template of today, where two mid card guys are put together to create something better. Miz, Morrison, Showmiz/Jerichshow are more recent examples. Remember Rotunda was a relatively big name in the WWE, with his US Express and WCW runs making him a top 15 in the world level guy... IRS didn't really catch on till he was with Ted, in reality it wasn't even a year after he debuted as IRS that the team formed...then it made perfect sense and once that team caught on, you saw more appear very quickly like Shawn & Diesel, Owen and Yoko and The Allied Powers.

 

[sdelfin]

Dibiase was still in great form as a wrestler when Money Inc. was formed, even though his in-ring career would be cut short in 1993. It was the character of the Million Dollar Man that was on the downside at that point, which is something that just happens in wrestling. There always needs to be turnover. Dibiase lasted for a long time near the top of the card and there was no way they were going to be able to properly sell him in the main event anymore because the audience had already seen it. Even Hogan/Andre lost its audience over time.

Dibiase spent most of 88 chasing and losing to Randy Savage, taking the blow-off pin at Summerslam in a great match. At Survivor Series 89, he looked really good in a losing effort against Hogan as a means to protect Zeus. He got used up a year later, getting destroyed by Hogan at the Survivor Series and then pummelled by the Warrior the next night on TV(taped). They ruined all their heels in 1990. Money Inc. was a good way to extend the lifespan of the character of the Million Dollar Man and give credibility to the tag division, especially with Flair around as his character was a similar kind of heel to Dibiase.

 

[Makaveli31]

Ted was always Upper Midcard rather than main event, he got a handful of main events in 1988 but other than that he was exclusively upper mid.

He was still min event caliber in 1989/1990 maybe not at the PPV's but definitely on shows like Saturday Night's Main Event (vs Warrior) and Prime Time Wrestling (vs Hogan). I would consider him a top 4 heel in 1989/90 along with Savage, Rude, and Perfect.

Money Inc. were not really "depush" for Ted,

It technically wasn't a depush was it was definitely a move down on the card. The fact is tag team wrestlers don't make nearly as much as singles wrestlers even the low card singles wrestlers. I think DiBiase looks back on the move favorably now but at the time I bet he was at least disappointed and at most upset.

His career as a top of the card singles wrestler was coming to an end and I think he was disappointed at how it panned out considering the mega-push he got at the beginning. I bet he would trade all the tag team championship runs for just one run as WWF Champ or even I-C Champ.

I think that's why he bore so much resentment for Warrior and even later McMahon.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

He was still min event caliber in 1989/1990 maybe not at the PPV's but definitely on shows like Saturday Night's Main Event (vs Warrior) and Prime Time Wrestling (vs Hogan). I would consider him a top 4 heel in 1989/90 along with Savage, Rude, and Perfect.



It technically wasn't a depush was it was definitely a move down on the card. The fact is tag team wrestlers don't make nearly as much as singles wrestlers even the low card singles wrestlers. I think DiBiase looks back on the move favorably now but at the time I bet he was at least disappointed and at most upset.

His career as a top of the card singles wrestler was coming to an end and I think he was disappointed at how it panned out considering the mega-push he got at the beginning. I bet he would trade all the tag team championship runs for just one run as WWF Champ or even I-C Champ.

I think that's why he bore so much resentment for Warrior and even later McMahon.

Like I said, he basically ASKED to scale back on his road time to sort himself out or risk losing his family. Any disappointment on his part was long done with, they weren't gonna use him as a top guy and he knew that. He was still valuable and got the reduced schedule we often see now. He still made a LOT of money with Vince and was always used well, if not to his full potential. It wasn't till Flair that a heel really could "win the big one" at the size a DiBiase was.

By summer 93, when his deal was up and the chance came to go to Japan, he took it and got hurt in one of his first matches - ending his career, Vince took him back immediately, first as a commentator, then manager... how many guys would say "no thanks, I'm going to finish in Japan" and be back in the company working just 3 months later cos they got hurt? Not many...

The other thing to remember about Ted and WWE is that his dad DIED in their ring. Ted had known Vince since his youth and had much of his early career there where he was majorly pushed. There was a lot of goodwill between them, hence Vince giving Ted the gimmick "he would have given himself". So when Ted wanted to scale back, they were happy to oblige him - he'd already lost a lot for the company. One thing Vince Jr. does well is look after people who have issues from his ring (not outside of it) that Ted was one of the top 3 workers of his generation also helped a lot.

 

[Makaveli31]

Like I said, he basically ASKED to scale back on his road time to sort himself out or risk losing his family. Any disappointment on his part was long done with, they weren't gonna use him as a top guy and he knew that.

Right he did ask for a reduced schedule as confirmed multiple times but he didn't ask to be put in a tag team. I think it was a trade-off. Reduced schedule for you but you get put in tag team with IRS (Rotundo) to get him over. Vince never does anything for free. The disappointment I'm speaking about is how his singles career panned out. He never won a singles championship in the WWF. He was the good soldier. Passed over for guys like Savage and Warrior. He has stated multiple times he was told the plan was for him to have a run with the title after WM 4 until would drop it back to Hogan a year later.

DiBiase's dad didn't die in a WWE ring I believe it was somewhere in Texas and DiBiase was never a "New York" guy prior to 1987 he had a short stint in '79 under McMahon Sr. but that was the extent of their early relationship. Ted DiBiase was an NWA guy through and through spending his early years in texas and St. Louis before moving to Mid-South.

But like I said DiBiase was the good soldier he didn't make waves when the Savage thing went down.

 

[ilapierre]

I just read an article here on Wrestlezone where Dibiase talked about Virgil, his drunk Rumble, Christianity and cheating on his wife. Dibiase says that after Wrestlemania 8 he was confronted by Christian wife who had caught him in an affair. Dibiase decided he needed to do far less travel to get away from all the vices like alcohol, drugs and sex. His wife gave him a second chance and forgave him so he spent his next few years putting more focus on his spirituality rather than his singles career. It was about this time he asked Vince to 'slow' him down and this is probably the reason for teaming him up with Mike Rotunda. Tag team work is less work and perhaps Rotunda would have been a good influence for him when they were on the road. I believe Money Inc. was a way to help Dibiase save his marriage. He definitely had a few good years left though.

 

[Aquaman6686]

I just read an article here on Wrestlezone where Dibiase talked about Virgil, his drunk Rumble, Christianity and cheating on his wife. Dibiase says that after Wrestlemania 8 he was confronted by Christian wife who had caught him in an affair. Dibiase decided he needed to do far less travel to get away from all the vices like alcohol, drugs and sex. His wife gave him a second chance and forgave him so he spent his next few years putting more focus on his spirituality rather than his singles career. It was about this time he asked Vince to 'slow' him down and this is probably the reason for teaming him up with Mike Rotunda. Tag team work is less work and perhaps Rotunda would have been a good influence for him when they were on the road. I believe Money Inc. was a way to help Dibiase save his marriage. He definitely had a few good years left though.

I love WrestleZone articles that just copy/paste directly from DiBiase's book.

 

[justtxyank]

The timelines don't really add up. DiBiase has said that his crisis with his wife happened AFTER Wrestlemania 8. He was already tagging at that point. It's hard to ever be definitive about what led to things happening, because wrestlers are notorious for falsely remembering things and for misrepresenting things based on who they think they will get their next paycheck from.

 

[Makaveli31]

The timelines don't really add up.

I think he said it was around the time of WrestleMania 8. Still, the timelines aren't are all that much different maybe separated by a month or two at the most.

 

[justtxyank]

I think he said it was around the time of WrestleMania 8. Still, the timelines aren't are all that much different maybe separated by a month or two at the most.

He started tagging with IRS in February of 92. He claims that his blow up with his wife (her catching him in an affair) was after Wrestlemania 8. Not around, after. I don't think it was a favor to him that he got put in a tag team. I think he was pretty burnt out both as a draw for the WWF and as an employee. He was pretty happy when his contract expired a year later and he got to leave.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

And he got immediately hurt and went back... if you're a "burnout" as an employee you don't get to do that... I read that Iron Mike was on Vince Sr's payroll when he died - that was in an Apter mag years back however, so dunno, maybe he was on loan or finishing up for a run in New York... everyone went through New York at least once in those days if only for a tour.

Either way, Ted was always well liked and respected by the McMahon's cos of his dad and his talent. They wanted him to be the big secondary draw in 79 but he or the North American title didn't click and they went with Pat and the IC instead.

Money Inc may not have been initially what it became... You're talking 2 months from when they first tagged (and won the titles) to post Mania 8... remember this was the "old" WWF where stuff was planned further ahead. It's very likely Money Inc was intended as a way to get Quake and Typhoon over as the champs, but became something else once Ted made his request... perhaps he was already sensing the waters changing and his conciseness was telling him he was gonna be found out...

Either way it doesn't change that he asked for a reduced schedule and still ended up with his ONLY proper WWF title (not counting Million Dollar Belt) and his second Mania main event as part of Money Inc... That's not burned out, that's embracing the change... something so few can see past today... Would Vince trust a guy today to be in one of his Mania main events with only 3 months left on his deal? No Chance In Hell!

 

[Makaveli31]

He started tagging with IRS in February of 92. He claims that his blow up with his wife (her catching him in an affair) was after Wrestlemania 8. Not around, after. I don't think it was a favor to him that he got put in a tag team. I think he was pretty burnt out both as a draw for the WWF and as an employee. He was pretty happy when his contract expired a year later and he got to leave.
sendpm.gif

If you don't think their marriage was on the rocks before WM 8 I think you're sadly mistaken. Blow-ups and threats of divorce don't just happen overnight. I'm guessing the request for a lighter schedule happened sometime before WM8 in order to save his marriage. The incident after WM 8 was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

Would Vince trust a guy today to be in one of his Mania main events with only 3 months left on his deal? No Chance In Hell!

Well he has done it before.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Whatever the reasons behind DiBiase's coming together with IRS, it certainly did not end up as a 'demotion'. Being the team chosen to dethrone the Road Warriors (even if Hawk's suspension hot shotted the title change a month early, ideally it would have been at Wrestlemania VIII) and then a year later being part of the double main event of WMIX against Hogan and Beefcake is definitely not the sign of someone about to be discarded.

Since I signed up for the Network, I've been (slowly) wading through Raw chronologically from the start. In the early days, one thing was abundantly clear: the most hated heel on the entire roster was IRS, and Money Inc were super heated, though DiBiase was more of an early cool-heel for the fans, despite constantly heeling up his interviews.

It is also noticeable that DiBiase was the chosen one to try and get people over. From the 1992 Royal Rumble where Davey Boy Smith, who was earmarked for a huge push, eliminated him in 2 minutes, to trying to get the Natural Disasters and Nasty Boys over as faces, to easing in the returning Beefcake and Hogan, then the Steiners, the very short lived idea of a face turn for the Beverley Brothers, then finally being a key component in getting the 123 Kid over as well as facilitating Razor Ramon's face turn. That's quite apart from what he achieved as a manger, and commentator at the '94 Rumble

Make no mistake: DiBiase was very much a key player for WWE despite 'seemingly' being demoted to the tag team division

 

[MrMojoRisin]

And he got immediately hurt and went back... if you're a "burnout" as an employee you don't get to do that... I read that Iron Mike was on Vince Sr's payroll when he died - that was in an Apter mag years back however, so dunno, maybe he was on loan or finishing up for a run in New York... everyone went through New York at least once in those days if only for a tour.

Either way, Ted was always well liked and respected by the McMahon's cos of his dad and his talent. They wanted him to be the big secondary draw in 79 but he or the North American title didn't click and they went with Pat and the IC instead.

Money Inc may not have been initially what it became... You're talking 2 months from when they first tagged (and won the titles) to post Mania 8... remember this was the "old" WWF where stuff was planned further ahead. It's very likely Money Inc was intended as a way to get Quake and Typhoon over as the champs, but became something else once Ted made his request... perhaps he was already sensing the waters changing and his conciseness was telling him he was gonna be found out...

Either way it doesn't change that he asked for a reduced schedule and still ended up with his ONLY proper WWF title (not counting Million Dollar Belt) and his second Mania main event as part of Money Inc... That's not burned out, that's embracing the change... something so few can see past today... Would Vince trust a guy today to be in one of his Mania main events with only 3 months left on his deal? No Chance In Hell!

I'm getting really confused by the information you are insisting is accurate here.

- you say that he died in a WWWF ring, and that he was on Vince Sr's payroll when he died?

He died at a show in Lubbock, TX, where he had been working regularly. McMahon didn't promote in Texas. Looking at the cards he was on, it looks like it was the Amarillo territory and he was working for Dory Funk Sr.

When he wasn't working for Funk, he was working for Gagne in the AWA. He'd pretty much slowed down to semi-retirement by that point (only doing a few spots a month). A couple years prior when Dibiase was on the road regularly, he'd do stints in St. Louis (Mushnick), Japan (Baba), and Los Angeles (LeBell).

I only went back about 5 years or so before his passing, but didn't see any record of him ever working for McMahon.

So I've got no idea where you're getting your information about Iron Mike Dibiase.

As for Ted and Money Inc? After his main event heel run (he wasn't an upper mid card heel in the WWF, and you should really watch some Mid-South to see that Ted in his prime absolutely was a main event talent), he typically would have moved on to another territory... which is just how it was done back then. Thing is, this was shortly after the territories were a thing of the past, and the old ways didn't necessarily work. Putting a great talent like Ted into a tag team was a great idea, and gave him a second life in a company where his only other option had he stayed would have been to move down the card and start putting the new acts over.

He went to Japan after he left, and would have been happy working there for a while until the time came for a fresh, new run in the WWF, but like you said, he got hurt. He went right back as a manager... because this was a way for him to continue working and support his family. Simple as that.

 

[justtxyank]

When he left he was burnt out. He said it himself in an interview that upset Vince McMahon, saying something like "I'm so glad to be out of there" because he was tired of the travel.

When he came back from Japan due to injury he didn't think he could go back to the WWF, but they reached out to him to see if he could do some commentary. He did for a bit and then he was transitioned to a manager.

I don't think there is any for sure confirmation on why he was put into a tag team. He still worked house shows and toured when he was in Money Inc. There is nothing I've read that says he got a reduced schedule as part of a tag team, in fact he himself has said that when he finally left to go to Japan it was because of the travel he had been doing up to that point.

I think he got put into Money Inc. because they just didn't see him as a main eventer anymore, needed to refresh his role. They got a good run out of him by essentially creating a semi-main event tag team to feud with people. That is pretty standard wrestling booking.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

By 1992, DiBiase's best years in WWE were behind him, I think that's especially true if you look at it from a hindsight perspective. By the time he & IRS won their first tag team championship together, he was 38 years old and while he still had the goods, there probably wasn't a whole lot that he'd be doing realistically.

We'd seen him as a top heel chasing the WWF Championship during much of the late 80s, though he never captured the gold and it was fairly obvious, even at the age of 11 going on 12, that I knew he'd never be WWF Champion. By 1992, the only viable options for him that I could see were as a manager or a tag team wrestler because the singles championship picture looked pretty well locked. The WWF Championship was locked through much of 1992 with Ric Flair & Randy Savage who, frankly, were bigger stars than DiBiase, before Bret Hart got into the picture by beating Flair for the title. As far as the Intercontinental Championship went circa 1992, you had Bret Hart, the British Bulldog and Shawn Michaels keeping things going. It was obvious Bret Hart's singles career was on the rise during the early 90s, Shawn Michaels was a hot young rising star, both had strong mid-card title runs, DiBiase was getting older, he wasn't going to be WWF Champion so I think the road that was ultimately taken was really the only feasible way to go.

I think he could have had more to offer, it wouldn't have bothered me to see him go after the Intercontinental Championship but, looking back on things, I think I'd have rather had guys like Hennig, Hart & Michaels making up the IC title picture for much of the early 90s and that WWE made the right call.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I said where I read it, it was years ago... and that was my understanding, read it again i you missed it.

As for the whys and wherefores of Ted and when things happened, it's somewhat academic. Money Inc was far from a jobber team or demotion as we've covered, it was simply a different way to use a talent, and one that WWE has used countless times since with talents who were main event but not any more or to keep them occupied. Everyone from Kane to Jericho to Shawn has been in one of these style teams. Perhaps from Vince's side it was as simple as they wanted to see if it worked (it did) and Ted got the added benefits in his own life.

Either way, Ted DiBiase's life and career are better because he was part of Money Inc. so that's where it ends really.