“The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase was once WWF Champion…sort of. Immediately after Andre the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan to win the title on The Main Event in 1988, he quickly surrendered it to Dibiase. The Hebner brothers were involved as well. It was a fairly controversial night.
Distinguished WWE figurehead Jack Tunney ultimately vacated the championship due to the controversy. A tournament to crown a new champion was set for WrestleMania IV, with Dibiase making it to the finals against the winner, “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
Dibiase now wants his ‘phantom’ title reign to be made official. This despite the fact he never actually beat anybody to win it. He has issued a petition to make his reign official.
“In February of 1988, Ted enslisted the services of the legendary Andre The Giant to assist with capturing the WWF Championship,” reads a description of the petition. “Andre was successful in pinning Hulk Hogan at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN. In the history books WWE has decided not to recognize this title reign even though Ted defended the championship at a live show against Bam Bam Bigelow.”
Dibiase did wrestle Bam Bam Bigelow at several WWF house shows in February of 1988 before Tunney had officially declared the title vacant.
“Support Ted by signing this petition asking WWE to #MAKEITOFFICIAL.”
#MakeItOfficial
Although WWE does not recognize Dibiase’s short WWF Championship reign, he has held several other titles. Along with IRS, Dibiase’s Money Inc team are 3x WWF tag-team champions. In 1989, he would declare himself the Million Dollar Champion. He even had his own belt commissioned.
