Million Dollar Corporation
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| Million Dollar Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Members | Ted Dibiase's Undertaker Nikolai Volkoff Irwin R. Schyster (IRS) Bam Bam Bigelow Tatanka King Kong Bundy Supreme Fighting Machine/Kama 1-2-3 Kid Sycho Sid Steve Austin/Ringmaster |
Million Dollar Corporation was a heel stable in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from April 1994 to May 1996 and was led and managed by the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. When Corporation member Stone Cold Steve Austin lost a Caribbean Strap Match to Savio Vega in May 1996, Dibiase was forced to leave the company as per the match stipulation.
Dibiase's first members were Nikolai Volkoff and Dibiase's former tag team partner Irwin R. Schyster (IRS). Another infamous addition was made early on, when DiBiase claimed to be bringing The Undertaker back to the WWF after a long absence. The next week a man looking and sounding like The Undertaker was produced by DiBiase on Superstars. Intially, announcers accepted DiBiase's claim, but eventually his man (wrestler Brian Lee) was revealed to be a doppelganger. After a main-event showdown with "the real Undertaker" at SummerSlam 1994, the Million Dollar Man's version was not seen again. This angle is generally cited as an extreme example of the cartoonish character of the WWF in the mid-1990s.
Also at SummerSlam 1994, the Corporation gained another member. For weeks, the WWF had teased a heel turn by Lex Luger as DiBiase's men constantly interferred in matches on his behalf and offered him bribes to join the stable. His tag-team partner at the time, Tatanka, became suspicious and challenged him to a match, only to turn and join himself after DiBiase distracted Luger to set up the pin.
Around the same time, Bam Bam Bigelow teamed with IRS to challenge for the tag team titles. After the team's loss in a tournament final to determine new champions, Bigelow became involved in an (kayfabe) altercation with football legend Lawrence Taylor at ringside. The two would square off in the main event of WrestleMania XI, with Taylor victorious. After his loss to Taylor, relations soured between Bigelow and DiBiase, cooling for months until the former turned face and saved then-champion Diesel from a beating at the hands of the Corporation.
Throughout 1995, the Corporation continued to feud with the WWF's top faces, including The Undertaker, Luger, Diesel and Razor Ramon. At the 1994 Survivor Series, the Corporation defeated a team captained by Lex Luger in an elimination tag team match. To fight off The Undertaker, DiBiase recruited King Kong Bundy and Kama, who stole The Undertaker's urn and had it melted down into a gold chain for himself. In a memorable series of (perhaps unintentionally) humourous skits, IRS travelled to a graveyard in order to "leave no stone unturned" in his investigation of dead tax cheats, and to psych out The Undertaker.
DiBiase added the 1-2-3 Kid and Sycho Sid during a feud with Razor Ramon. The Ringmaster (Steve Austin), who initially used Dibiase's Million Dollar Dream, turned out to be his last protege. Austin feuded with Savio Vega in 1996 beating him (with a Million Dollar Beltshot) at WrestleMania XII. Vega however, went on to defeat Austin at an In Your House event during a strap match. The stipulation of that match was that Dibiase would have to leave the World Wrestling Federation if the Ringmaster lost. Austin later claimed that he intentionally lost the match with Vega in order to be rid of DiBiase, and began his "Stone Cold" gimmick shortly thereafter. Had Austin won the Strap Match, Vega would have to become DiBiase's chauffeur.
Ted DiBiase would not appear on WWE programming again until 2006, when he was interviewed for several DVDs and inducted Sensational Sherri into the WWE Hall of Fame.
The motif would be used again in WWE, with Vince McMahon's own "Corporation" stable and its later incarnation as the Corporate Ministry.
