wrestling / Columns
Right Move/Wrong Move 06.18.10: Virgil Defeats The Million Dollar Man at SummerSlam ’91
RIGHT MOVE/WRONG MOVE
Looking back at the history of Vince McMahon’s decisions and the fallout – both good and bad!
Follow me on Twitter @MrMD411 and let me know what you want to see.
Also, check out 411 on Twitter:
411wrestling
411mania
411music
411movies/tv
411games
411boxing
411mma
Virgil defeats The Million Dollar Man at SummerSlam ‘91 for the Million Dollar Belt.
Here’s one that sure to piss some people off. Ted DiBiase seems to be well respected amongst wrestling fans, Virgil not so much. Virgil’s career will be forever linked with Ted DiBiase, but DiBiase’s not as much with Virgil’s. From the moment the Million Dollar Man debuted on WWF television, he had a bodyguard named Virgil. The two spent years together taking on all of the top “good guys” of the World Wrestling Federation, but it was only a matter of time until the bodyguard “saw the light”. He would get his chance for revenge on his former boss on several occasions, but none bigger than SummerSlam ’91. It was at this event in Madison Square Garden where Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Championship was on the line, a rare occurrence in the WWF. It took some luck and some questionable officiating, but Virgil was able to pull it off and walked out of Madison Square Garden a millionaire. But was this the right thing to do? Did making Virgil the MD Champion pay off in the long run? Or should the Million Dollar Man have retained his belt, and left Virgil down and out? We’ll take a look…
PARTICIPANT #1
Let’s look at the former bodyguard…
As stated earlier, Virgil was introduced to the WWF audience at the same time Ted DiBiase was. Although Virgil would not start out as a wrestler, that did not prevent him from getting quite physical with many of DiBiase’s opponents. He had a very good physique, and it was obvious that the man had taken care of his body. Though not as big and strong as some of the other worker of the 80s, Virgil was effective when he would interfere on behalf of DiBiase. Afterall, he was a bodyguard. This formula would be duplicated several more times after the DiBiase/Virgil combination, most notably Shawn Michaels & Diesel. Virgil was a big help to DiBiase against the top stars of the WWF such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior. The Million Dollar Man, himself, was a top-of-the-card heel for most of his time as an active performer, which made Virgil successful by association.
Things started to change at the end of the summer in 1990. DiBiase had begun a feud with Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream. After “finagling” Rhodes’ valet, Saphire, away from the Common Man at SummerSlam ‘90, the Million Dollar Man was now touring the country going one-on-one with the Dream. The singles matches would only last so long before a new competitor was thrown into the mix, but his name wasn’t Virgil. Dustin Rhodes, the son of Dusty, was making his entrance into the WWF and started tagging with his dad in the fall of 1990. Now that Dusty and Dustin posed a formidable threat against the Million Dollar Man, it was only a matter of time before DiBiase evened the odds by claiming Virgil as his tag team partner.
The match was signed for January 19, 1991 in Miami, Florida, the Royal Rumble. Dusty & Dustin Rhodes vs. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase & “The Bodyguard” Virgil. Virgil had seldom been in the ring before as a legal wrestler. Dustin was a greenhorned rookie, but both Dusty and Ted were veterans, and damn good ones at that. So the match was pretty well balanced. The younger Rhodes was mostly schooled by Moneybags, but did manage to get in some offense. Everytime Virgil stepped through the ropes, however, he would find a way to embarrass his employer. The match was close to the end when DiBiase entrusted Virgil one last time by hooking Dustin’s arms allowing Virgil a free shot. In what has become an obvious occurrence in the world of wrestling, the “trapped” babyface ducked out of the way at the last second, causing heel #1 to unintentionally blast heel #2. In this case, Virgil leveled DiBiase, sending him to the mat. Having been embarrassed enough, DiBiase lost his cool and took it out on his inexperienced partner. After a few punches and knees to the gut, he threw Virgil to the floor. By this time, the young Texan had reached his father to make the hot tag and the Dream came in like a house of fire. Surprisingly though, the match came to an end after DiBiase avoided an elbow in the corner and rolled up the Common Man, using his own momentum against him. The match was over, but the fireworks were about to begin.
The Rhodes family immediately left the ring area in what would be Dusty Rhodes’s last match in the WWF, taking his son with him in his return to WCW. Dustin would return several years later as the controversial Goldust, but Dusty would not return until his active wrestling days were over and Vince had purchased WCW. Once they were gone from ringside, the fans’ attention had turned to Virgil. He had just taken a beating and was humiliated in front of 20,000 fans, how would he respond? To make matters worse, DiBiase had grabbed the mic and ordered Virgil to fetch his Million Dollar belt. The bodyguard re-entered he ring with the gold strap and was forced to listen to more of DiBiase’s taunting. When told to wrap the belt around DiBiase’s waist, Virgil just dropped it. Furious, DiBiase continued the verbal onslaught until Virgil, seemingly dejected, dropped to his knees. He grabbed the belt and appeared to fall right back into the routine of swallowing his pride and doing as told. Until Ted DiBiase uttered those famous words.
“That’s right. That’s right. Like I’ve always said – EVERYBODY HAS A PRICE FOR THE MILLION DOLLAR MAN!”
Turning around to face his partner, the Million Dollar man was blasted with his own belt right in the face. In one of the biggest pops of the night, Virgil just stood there, soaking in the roar of the crowd, proud. It was about time. Finally, he had taken enough, he saw the light and he finally gave it to DiBiase. But this was only the beginning.
It didn’t take long for the match to be signed, the Million Dollar Man vs. Virgil at WrestleMania VII. Rowdy Roddy Piper had befriended Virgil just before his face turn and was slated to be in his corner at WrestleMania. Before their match, however, Piper had been in a motorcycle accident and came out on crutches. DiBiase, for one of the first times since he arrived in the WWF, had come to the ring without an escort. In a rare visual, DiBiase walked to the ring solo, but his independence wouldn’t last long. Virgil had competed in several “warm-up” matches prior to his match at WrestleMania, but these were against jobbers and not nearly the level of opponent DiBiase was. Once the match started, DiBiase dominated most of the contest, but got thrown off his game thanks to Roddy Piper. DiBiase began to run toward the ropes when Piper used his crutch to pull down the top rope, sending Ted over it and onto the floor. This then gave DiBiase the opportunity to shove the crippled Scotsman sending him all the way to the aisle. While enjoying his cheap shot, DiBiase became ignorant of the count being layed on by Earl Hebner. Though he slowly made his way back to the squared circle, he had only reached the outside apron when the count hit 10; DiBiase had lost.
In what had become a common occurrence for these two, the most interesting developments occurred after the bell. DiBiase, in shock, returned to the ring and locked Virgil in his Million Dollar Dream. It wasn’t long before Piper crawled into the ring and whacked Ted with his crutch. While he wound up attempting a second strike, someone stopped the crutch from coming forward. It was Sensational Sherri, dressed in white. She had obviously joined forces with the Million Dollar Man, having been temporarily unemployed since her Macho King had lost his career earlier in the night. Sherri had saved DiBiase from a double team attack and turned the tables on Piper and Virgil.
Since nothing had been settled, their feud continued throughout the spring and summer of ’91. Their imminent rematch was announced for SummerSlam in Madison Square Garden, but there was one thing that made this match extra special. The Million Dollar Championship would be at stake. Unlike the other three Championships that were defended in the WWF at this time (WWF, Intercontinental, and Tag Team), the Million Dollar belt was very rarely put on the line. In fact there was only one other match, where DiBiase had risked his gold belt and that was at WrestleMania VI against Jake Roberts. Ironically enough, it was Virgil who saved the gold for his boss at that event by distracting Jake long enough to get him counted out. In a bit of inconsistent booking, at WrestleMania VI it had been noted that since this belt was not sanctioned by the WWF, that it could be lost via countout or disqualification, unlike the other three titles. This would not be the case for Ted’s SummerSlam match and, with no explanation as to the change in rules, it would be treated like any other belt in that you have to win it by a pinfall or a submission. Obviously the WWF made this change to fit the scheduled finish and future plans, but kayfabe-wise there was no mention of the difference on-screen.
So the stage was set and Virgil had walked into Madison Square Garden the underdog. The match was more back-and-forth than their previous encounter, and the early-on had Virgil as the aggressor. After avoiding Sherri for most of the match, Virgil locked in his version of the Million Dollar Dream and the win was in his clutches. Sensing defeat and in an act of desperation, Sherri climbed into the ring and used her apparently loaded purse to force Virgil to break his submission hold. With the crowd moaning in disappointment, it appeared the Million Dollar Man had retained his title once again, by hook or by crook. Even though he still hadn’t defeated his former protégé, he would live to fight another day with his precious gold belt around his waist; until Earl Hebner began conferring with Howard Finkel. The crowd was listening intently to the referee’s decision:
“The referee has every right to disqualify the Million Dollar Man for outside interference, however the referee has rendered an official decision and it is as followed… Number one, he is ordering that the Sensational Sherri return to her dressing room now or face permanent suspension. Number two, the referee has further ruled that the match between the Million Dollar Man and Virgil will continue!”
In a time where match restarts rarely occurred, this announcement had the New York fans on their feet. Sherri was barred from ringside and Virgil could now have a fair fight. DiBiase took control of the second-half of the match and seemed to have Virgil down for the count when the referee went down. The Champion became overconfident and started taunting Virgil, as well as Roddy Piper, who had been sitting ringside doing commentary for the event. With the turnbuckle pad removed by DiBiase earlier in the match, he planned to ram Virgil face-first into the exposed steel. The plan backfired when Virgil, at the last second, reversed the move sending DiBiase’s face into the steel buckle instead. Both men went down and the referee started to stir. Virgil slowly draped an arm over the fallen Champion and the referee, still gaining his whereabouts, began a slow count, 1…2…..3. Virgil had done it! To the shock of the crowd, Virgil was the new Million Dollar Champion and celebrated in the ring with his new belt.
Although he would later be relegated to near jobber status, this was undoubtedly the highlight of his career. I don’t think Vince McMahon ever had any big plans for Virgil aside from this one-off victory at the biggest event of the summer. While he was never the one with the dough that ran the show, the belt being around Virgil’s waist didn’t seem too out of place since he had been associated with it since its inception. At least not when you compare him being MD Champion to say, someone like Jake Roberts. By no means was Virgil an exceptional in-ring worker or even near the type of performer of Jake Roberts, but I just couldn’t picture Jake Roberts as Million Dollar Champion. If the belt had to be taken off DiBiase, who more appropriate to be the one to do it then his longtime bodyguard. It was only fitting.
So Virgil was now the owner of the Million Dollar belt. And though he wasn’t a successful Champion, Virgil holding the belt definitely brought a change to the title. It also sent a message that the title could change hands. I don’t recall any successful title defenses by Virgil, but then again this still wasn’t treated with the same prestige as any of the other Championships. Before the next Pay Per View, Virgil would lose the title back to Ted DiBiase at the Survivor Series Showdown. No longer the Champion, he participated in the 8 man elimination match at the Survivor Series alongside Roddy Piper, Bret Hart and the British Bulldog against DiBiase, The Mountie, The Warlord and Ric Flair. Soon after that he became fodder for the likes of Sid Justice, Yokozuna, and other big heels the WWF wanted to get over. Virgil competed in the WWF for several more years making appearances in several Royal Rumbles, every Pay Per View of 1992, but by the end of 1992 he was seen as a glorified jobber.
Once Virgil became an active wrestler, he had a relatively short shelf-life. He received a great rub thanks to Ted DiBiase that he was unable to sustain. He went from Million Dollar Champion to curtain jerker seemingly overnight. Would this have changed if he lost at SummerSlam?
PARTICIPANT #2
Now let’s look at one of the best heels of the 80s…
Like many other competitors we review, Ted DiBiase had a very long, very successful WWF career. For the purposes of this segment, we will focus on his career during 1991 and the fallout from his match with Virgil.
DiBiase had been a top heel in the WWF ever since his arrival in the fall of 1987. It has been well documented that Vince McMahon hand-picked DiBiase to portray a gimmick that Vince, himself, had thought he would portray if Vince had been a worker instead of a promoter. DiBiase wrestled with or against every major WWF star of the 80s. He had runs with Hogan, Andre, Savage, Warrior, Snuka, Jake, Beefcake and so on. In 1991, he would add two more names to his impressive resume: Dusty Rhodes and Roddy Piper.
During the summer of 1990, Dusty Rhodes’ valet, Saphire, had started to receive various lavish gifts from a secret admirer. It was revealed at SummerSlam right before Rhodes’ match against Randy Savage, that the secret admirer was the Million Dollar Man. The Common Man’s valet had been bought and paid for, and this would be the last we saw of the Sweet Saphire.
As detailed earlier, this led to Rhodes and DiBiase matches all over the country. The two captained their respective teams at the Survivor Series where DiBiase debuted his mystery partner, The Undertaker. DiBiase came out the sole survivor in this match, defeating one half of the Hart Foundation, Bret Hart, after several minutes of great wrestling action. The next PPV was the Royal Rumble and this is where his feud with Virgil really got off the ground.
Prior to the tag team match at the Royal Rumble, a series of vignettes were shown on WWF television displaying just exactly what Virgil was paid to do. Shots of Virgil massaging DiBiase’s feet and toes were replayed week after week, along with Virgil wiping horse excrement off the boots of his boss. All throughout these vignettes, Virgil was shown to look more and more disgusted, growing more impatient, and more bothered by these actions, foreshadowing his face turn. It all came to a head at the January PPV when Virgil received a beating at the hands of the Million Dollar Man after screwing up several times throughout their tag team encounter.
Throughout the next few months, DiBiase had no bodyguard, no valet, no manager, no one to escort him to the ring and help him do his dirty work. Whether it was Virgil or Andre the Giant or even Zeus, he always seemed to have someone by his side to give him that extra advantage. At WrestleMania VII, Sensational “No-longer-Queen” Sherri had come to the aid of Ted DiBiase and saved him a post match two-on-one beatdown. She was now DiBiase’s new manager/valet/sidekick, whatever term you prefer. Similar to DiBiase, Sherri had only been paired with top talent throughout her run in the WWF and was arguably the most talented woman in professional wrestling history. Their pairing didn’t last long, but for the year that it did, the two worked pretty well together.
SummerSlam ’91 was the pay-off match to their rivalry and was the first time in WWF history that the Million Dollar Championship changed hands. Although DiBiase would win the title back a couple of months later, Virgil’s victory freshened things up a bit in regards to the Million Dollar belt. The two men continued their feud through the week of the Survivor Series ’91, after which Virgil would turn his sights towards I.R.S. for causing him to lose his very expensive belt. Irwin R. Schyster, formerly known as Mike Rotunda, had recently returned or debuted in the WWF, depending on your viewpoint, and helped his future tag team partner regain his gold.
Shortly after recapturing the Million Dollar Championship, Ted DiBiase would unite with his new friend in I.R.S. and challenge the Legion of Doom for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Kayfabe, this title change was a surprise since DiBiase and Schyster had yet to be seen on WWF television as a new tag team. It also came as a shock since the Legion of Doom was entrenched in a feud with another tag team, the Natural Disasters. In reality, the swap of the belts was believed to have taken place since Hawk had failed a drug test. The new tandem of Ted & Irwin, now known as Money Incorporated (Money Inc.) went on to become one of the most successful tag teams over the next couple years. In addition to the Legion of Doom, Money Inc. earned victories over the Natural Disasters, the Bushwhackers, the Nasty Boys, the Mega Maniacs (Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake), the Beverly Brothers, the Steiner Brothers, the Smoking Gunns and others. By hook or by crook, they defeated pretty much all of the tag teams that were in the WWF in 1992 and 1993.
DiBiase’s American career came to an end at SummerSlam ’93 when he put over Razor Ramon, who was on his way to receiving a steady push. Even upto his last match in the WWF, the Million Dollar Man was paired with some of the more popular stars in the WWF, and he almost always helped to improve the wrestlers that he worked with. Unlike some other veterans, DiBiase’s ability to enhance the talent of other competitors was not done in a losing fashion. Just being in the ring with DiBiase was enough to improve some talent, whether they went over or not. Virgil was one of the lucky men who did score a pinfall victory over the Million Dollar Man, and was better because of it.
DiBiase was a very good worker and had the much desired ability to pull out a decent match with just about anyone. By 1991, his career was winding down and his feud with Virgil would be one of his last as a singles competitor. He soon tagged with I.R.S., which added some time to his career and was able to add multiple Tag Team Championships to his resume.
REVERSED DECISION
