[1990-11-23-WWF-The Main Event] Ultimate Warrior vs Ted DiBiase

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The recap of DiBiase's schemes through the years before the match is tremendous.

 

This is a surprisingly good match, much better than the one in Tokyo. Ted works hard, and Warrior is above his normal level. This is a strong case for DiBiase that his supporters should point to, as he got the best match out of Warrior I've seen anyone get this side of Randy Savage or Rick Rude.

 

The post-match beatdown by Savage and Sherri is fantastic. This feud is working, but Vince's commentary is extremely annoying.

[Matt D]

This, to me, is one of those matches that actually has me point at Warrior (not Dibiase) as a guy who can follow direction.

[shoe]

This was the match I was telling JVK to use to boost his Dibiase argument. Not that horrible match from Tokyo.

[s1rweeze]

I remember watching this on my dad's crappy black and white TV that had a screen the size of an NES cartridge. The Savage/Sherri post-match beatdown is what hooked me for good as a pro wrestling fan as an 8 year old kid. Of course my mind's eye remembers it as Savage leaping over 20+ referees again and again to completely annihilate the Warrior, and that's not quite what happened, but still Savage made a gigantic impression on me. I thought he was unstoppable and could do whatever he wanted because he was a complete nutcase.

[PeteF3]

Warrior cuts his first legitimately, outright GOOD promo of this yearbook. He comes off as a high-strung human being instead of a total loonball, and is well-focused on the match at hand. Too little too late but I begrudgingly give him credit for effort.

 

All due praise to DiBiase but this is the Warrior's best overall performance of the yearbook. This may not have been as good as the WM6 match but I'm guessing this didn't have Pat Patterson carefully laying it out, either. Warrior keeps up with DiBiase as best he can, executes what he does well, gives DiBiase a good amount of offense though it doesn't ever quite seem like Warrior's in danger of losing, and the long drawn-out Hulk-Up was nicely done. Virgil breaks up a pin--nice to see DiBiase protected. Warrior quickly overpowers Virgil but leaves himself open to a Savage attack. Savage and Sherri take turns pounding the crap out of Warrior with the scepter while Savage drops from the turnbuckle over a bevy of referees and suits.

 

Afterward, Warrior slowly and painfully climbs to his feet. Before that, during his failed attempts, he had the look of a truly beaten man. I don't get what took the WWF so long to realize that being human enhanced the Warrior character rather than detracted from it. It didn't hurt Hogan that there was (kayfabe) legitimate doubt over whether he could continue wrestling after the Earthquake attack--it just made him more relatable.

 

Savage reveals that he took a "royal payment" after the match. A Savage/DiBiase alliance at this point would be the most badass thing ever.

[soup23]

I agree that I liked Warriors pre match promo and Ted was really devious.

 

Match is pretty good and I also must admit that Warrior's big matches for the year have at worst been decent (vs. Rude SNME) and most have been good (this, WM6, Rude Cage match).

 

The beatdown and Warrior rising up was awesome and the most iconic moment of his title reign. I even liked Vince yelling the Ultimate Champion when he lifts up the belt. Great showing all around to salavage his title run.

[Zenjo]

Actually this was quite solid apart from the standard bad finish. I do wish that Vince and Piper would STOP SHOUTING ALL THE DAMN MATCH!

[Kevin Ridge]

Thought this was really good. Way better than Tokyo match. One of the strongest Warrior matches outside of known ones. DiBiase is protected as Virgil runs in for the DQ. I guess they didn’t like him losing again after Survivor Series. Savage runs down and attacks Warrior with the scepter. Once over, Warrior is still able to get to his feet with the title to a good pop from the crowd.

[ajtroma]

Warrior not only hit a sunset flip but remembered to pin down Ted's arms with his legs. Color me surprised.

[garretta]

Finally, after a reign of over seven months, the Warrior hit his stride as champion in this match. From the prematch promo that actually sounded like it was delivered by a human to a match that may have been better for an NBC bout than a lot of the ones I saw Hogan wrestle through the eighties, he finally looked how he was supposed to look while still retaining enough of the Warrior character to be unique. It's a pity that this was his last major defense before the Rumble. Yes, Teddy helped out, and I have no doubt that the road agent did yeoman's work to lay the match out so it would look as good as it did, but it was still up to Warrior to go out there and do it, and do it he did. We saw the normal power moves, but also some sprinkles of technical wrestling and high flying that would have served him well in an extended reign.

 

It's also a pity that this is Teddy's last major title shot against a sitting WWF champion (which means that the '92 Rumble doesn't count). He was probably too far down the totem pole to go after Bret by the time Bret got the title in late '92, and Bret was the only major face champion left while Teddy was still on Vince's payroll. A part of his character was gone as a result; his biggest frustration was the inability to turn his wealth into a World singles championship. Maybe he could have feuded with the Warrior instead of Rude; it would have been interesting to see him go up against someone he couldn't buy not because of morals, but because money from "normals" meant nothing to him (Warrior).

 

The Savage attack and promo afterward made me want to go back twenty-four years, take the book from Patterson, and make Saavage/Warrior the title match at the Rumble. As I've said before (and probably will again), they should have just paid Slaughter off once the shooting war in Iraq started and sent him home without even taking a second to bury him. I don't know how you get the belt to Hogan if you don't have time to build to Hogan/Warrior II, but that's a problem for down the road. That night, you have Savage steal the title somehow and build to a final showdown for the belt (not career vs. career) at Mania VII. That's what it felt like they were leading up to here, and the hard left turn it seemed like they took to get the belt on Sarge damn near derailed business before the steroid scandal ever hit.

 

I fully agree about Vince and Piper shouting way too much on commentary, but there's no real sense in harping on it, since Vince is only going to get more obnoxious and less competent as the decade wears on. I'd basically stopped following wrestling by the time I got to college, but when I turned it on occasionally, it almost seemed like Vince doing a deliberate parody of every bad wrestling announcer ever, to what end I have no idea. By the time late 1997 hit, he was so bad that the birth of Mr. McMahon was a relief. If I felt this way after only watching a few minutes here and there, I can only imagine what regular viewers who'd put up with him all along must have felt like.

[drew wardlaw]

Haha a Tokyo Dome return match! Oh, but this one's pretty good. I really have no problem with these WWF style main events. Not my favorite style by any means, but they totally deliver what the people want to see, with the exception of the DQ finish here. also, Ted forcing the kids out of the pool, so cool.

[dawho5]

Warrior not sucking surprised me. Teddy is definitely underappreciated as a worker. Savage was incredible post-match and he was definitely the star of the whole segment.