Guys who you THOUGHT sucked

[Diamonddust 0]

I remember a borderline **** match he had against a Rockers era Shawn Michaels. It's on one of the Coliseum Videos. It must have been taped in San Antonio because it was super competitive and IIRC Michaels may have even gotten a DQ or count out victory.

 

I won't say DiBiase is one of the greats. But he was one of the pretty damn goods and he had one of the most beloved heel gimmicks (oxymoron?) in WWF history.

 

Agreed. DiBiase is remembered so fondly because of how well he played the Million Dollar man gimmick.

 

Off topic slightly a second i remember a story i heard that the million dollar man gimmick was meant for someone else but i can not ever remember who it was. History as shown it worked out will as dibiase played the role so well.

 

The story goes that they wouldn't tell DiBiase what the gimmick was before he jumped to the WWE. All they told him to reassure his doubts was, "If Vince could wrestle, this is the gimmick he'd give himself."

 

I don't know if some other worker was in line for the Million Dollar Man. I do know there is a story that Terry Taylor was considered for the Mr. Perfect gimmick since he and Curt came in at about the same time.

[King Kamala 0]

I read something recently that said Nick Bockwinkel was actually considered for The Million Dollar Man character. It's hard to imagine anybody but DiBiase in the role but Bock probably was a good enough worker to pull it off.

 

Oh and I just remembered that as a mark that Fit Finlay and Steven Regal bored the hell out of me and now they're two of my favorites. Go figure.

[Diamonddust 0]

I read something recently that said Nick Bockwinkel was actually considered for The Million Dollar Man character. It's hard to imagine anybody but DiBiase in the role but Bock probably was a good enough worker to pull it off.

 

I remember reading that as well. Bockwinkel would have done a good job with it, but DiBiase had a youthful touch to the character - a rich, young playboy. Bockwinkel would have come across more like he did in the AWA - the sophisticated heel champion - as opposed to the cocky, young, rich guy.

[King Cucaracha 0]

The other thing with DiBiase was, how many of his matches went to screwy finishes or non-finishes? More often than not he went to count-outs or DQs or cheap roll-ups during his WWF run, especially in the big matches, that probably has something to do with his lack of real classic matches.

 

I think DiBiase was a really smart worker more than a 'great' worker. He wasn't spectacular but he played his role expertly.