Did HTM cost MDM the WWF Championship?

[Tired]

Vince Russo admitted this year that he never saw championship belts as anything more than a prop. Before you make comments about "David Arquette", he also claimed that all other promoters feel the same way. Sadly, there has been a lot of evidence to support his claim. The Miz once defended the WWE Championship in a WrestleMania main event. Both The Rock and Brock Lesnar got the Championship despite working only a few matches over 2 years. John Cena is given a new title run each time a new star gets over. Randy Orton gets given the title every time he feels a little sad. Andre the Giant, Kane and Rey Mysterio have a total combined time of 1 day as WWE Champion... if you add them all together. Even Mr. McMahon held the gold for a week.

So it makes it even sadder when you think about the all-time greats that never got the chance. Goldust, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper, and of course, the 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase.

DiBiase came very close to winning the title twice around WrestleMania IV. There was even a very serious plan to have DiBiase end Randy Savage's first reign as champion at SummerSlam '88, and then have him defend the Championship against Hogan in the main event of WrestleMania V. But we all know that Savage held on to the title for the full year instead. So what happened? Rumour has it that Honky Tonk Man had stopped DiBiase from becoming the WWE Champion. But what is the truth?

<blockquote class='quote\\_blockquote'><dl><dt>"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase</dt><dd> </dd></dl><div>
"There was a lot of talk that at Wrestlemania IV, the tournament - that I would win it. That was the initial plan. I would win it and have my run with Hogan..."

"You gotta satisfy a lot of people and someone said Honky Tonk Man didn’t want to drop the Intercontinental belt to Randy Savage. And they wanted to make Randy happy too... so somebody came up with that idea to turn Randy babyface..."

“Wrestling is a business and of course I guess if you’re given the title you’re getting marked as the best...but that’s not necessarily always true. A belt is a gimmick in our business. It’s a status symbol. So the question was posed to me: 'What would get you more heat, Ted? If you didn’t win the belt? Or if in your arrogance you thumbed your nose at it and created your OWN belt...'

And I said, 'That’s the ticket.' And it was. Today, you talk about a conversation piece...Everybody wants to come take a picture with me and the Million Dollar Belt. The Million Dollar Belt made me more money than the WWF Title ever would have..."
[/quote]

<blockquote class='quote\\_blockquote'><dl><dt>Honky Tonk Man</dt><dd> </dd></dl><div>
"[Ricky] Steamboat was leaving. He was the one that got the [Intercontinental] belt from Savage and up and quit the company, saying, 'I want to go home and spend time with my wife and children.' Of course, if you have a championship belt, you don't go home and spend time with your wife and children. You have to be on the road and [Vince] said, 'This guy wants to go and do this and I got to have the belt in a town.' I just happened to walk by [in the hallway] and Hogan said to Vince, 'What about him?' Vince pulled me aside and told me what he wanted to do. I said, 'Listen, if you give me that belt, I don't want a day off.' And I ran with that belt for 64 weeks..."

"[Refusing to drop the title to Savage] wasn't the fact of losing the belt [itself]...I had a deal with WWE and Vince - a handshake deal. There were no contracts back then. 'I'll do anything you want if you give me an opportunity. If I do good, pay me. If I don't do good, I'll pack my bags and move down the highway.' All I said was, 'Treat me good on TV. Take care of me on television.' Back in the old days, us old guys always believed that if they destroy you on television, you're pretty much destroyed. It did Savage's career better than mine because he became World Champion as opposed to being the Intercontinental champion again. For that reason, Ted DiBiase - who still has a little animosity towards me - though not a lot - Ted never got to be world champion..."

"I don’t see why he was mad...the Million Dollar Man got the same perks as the world champ anyway!”
[/quote]

 

[stylesismilo]

"The Miz once defended the WWE Championship in a WrestleMania main event."

I thought he was pretty good then. Major heel heat. The only problem is that the creatives did not gave him a chance to "be the man (in-ring performance wise)", which in the end, became X-Pac Heat.

 

[Shining Wizard]

Honky Tonk Man was one of my favorites when he made it to WWF. I was amazed he ended up with the belt for as long as he did but i was happy about it. I cant imagine how many guys might have been promised title runs but never had them materialize for some reason or another. I always wondered about Goldust until I found out about his issues with drugs and alcohol which explained a lot. I am very happy he is still with us and still an active competitor. I remember reading Bad News Brown (Allen Coage) attacked Vince once because he promised him a title run with a push as black champion that never happened.
I am pretty certain Vince preferred having a face hold the world title most of the time. Probably better for merchandise and marketing. It seemed for a short time that Hacksaw Jim Duggan was going to replace Hogan as the unbeatable force, but again, that never came to pass.
Some guys are better chasing the title than holding it.

 

[stylesismilo]

In which you reminded me of Tommy Dreamer's gimmick. While his ECW title run at the end was good, I still prefer when he was chasing it. And god, who can forget Justin Credible's first reign by beating Dreamer when he just came out of a title match with Taz.

 

[thejess2000]

I like the way this topic is presented. And I do agree that title belts in general are a prop, but if we were honest with ourselves, (especially those of us that grew up on Hogan, Savage, Flair, Honky, long title reigns, etc that the belts carry some intangible magic about them. I think the hot potatoe reigns of recent years have spoiled that a litte, but could be recovered. Hogan's first title reign was over three years long - different era, different media world, yes - but if anyone didn't need a belt to get his character over, it was Hogan. For him, and for Savage, it was the company saying "you are the best, and we trust you to lead the rest of the locker room, and put buts in seats." They held that magic because the title was something elusive that had to be chased, and worked for, and so many times slipped from the grasp of so many would be contenders to the throne. I have a short list of my of guys that I really think could have carried the title on a combination of wrestling skill and heel heat, and that list includes Owen, Dibiase, Henning, and a few others.

 

[Shining Wizard]

I think of guys whose momentum died after getting a championship. Just from my outsiders perspective. Michael Elgin, Alberto Del Rio, and Jeff Hardy. Those were three guys off the top of my head whose title reigns came up very short. Whether it was poor writing or direction, all three men should have had amazing championship reigns.