Million Dollar Championship

The Million Dollar Championship

The latest Million Dollar Championship belt design
Details
Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment
Date established February 15, 1989
Date retired November 15, 2010

The Million Dollar Championship was a professional championship in WWE created by The "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. The Million Dollar Belt was designed by Terry Betteridge of Betteridge Jewelers in Stamford, Connecticut.[1] The belt is gold plated, made with cubic zirconia, and has three tiny diamonds that were inserted behind the belt. The belt cost around $125,000.[2]

Contents

History

Ted DiBiase was unable to win the WWF Championship, having lost the final match of the WWF World Championship tournament at WrestleMania IV to "Macho Man" Randy Savage.[3] During the Summer of 1988 DiBiase teamed with André the Giant, in a team known as "The Mega Bucks", while chasing the WWF World Championship.[4]

A frustrated DiBiase decided that if he couldn't win or buy the WWF World Championship he would purchase his own championship belt.[5] In 1989 DiBiase unveiled a new championship belt, which he called the Million Dollar Championship. This title was never official and therefore unsanctioned by the WWF, and rarely did DiBiase defend his "title". Jake Roberts stole the title during their feud, but DiBiase had his bodyguard Virgil steal it back at Wrestlemania VI.

As part of his feud with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil turned face and trained with Piper to face DiBiase at SummerSlam 1991 for the title, which Virgil won, making him the only wrestler to win the title at the time.

During DiBiase's second title reign he abandoned the title when he won the WWF World Tag Team Championship on February 7, 1992 with IRS.[6]

Ted DiBiase would later go on to award the title to his newest protégé "Ringmaster" Steve Austin on his arrival in the WWF in early 1996.[3] After his protégé lost a match against Savio Vega on May 28, 1996, DiBiase was forced to leave the WWF.[3][7]

After a 13 year absence, the belt reappeared on WWE television in 2009 when DiBiase, the guest host of the night, appeared on the July 6 episode Raw, carrying the Million Dollar Championship as he carried out his duties. Nearly a year later, when DiBiase was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 27, 2010, he had the Million Dollar Title with him, saying he "never leave[s] home without it." On April 5, DiBiase's son, Ted DiBiase, Jr., after disbanding the tag team Legacy, came out holding the championship belt, claiming his father had given it to him. WWE's official website confirmed the reactivation of the unsanctioned title under DiBiase, Jr.'s profile. On the October 4 episode of Raw, Goldust attacked Ted DiBiase Jr. and gained possession of the championship.[8] On the November 8 episode of Raw, Goldust's own wife Aksana stole the Million Dollar Championship from him.[9] On the November 15 edition of Raw Goldust stole the title back and returned it to DiBiase, Sr. He then offered to return it to his son, who rejected the offer.

Title history

# Order in reign history
Reign The reign number for the specific set of wrestlers listed
Event The event in which the title was won
— Used for vacated reigns so as not to count it as an official reign
N/A The information is not available or is unknown
+ Indicates the current reign is changing daily
# Wrestlers Reign Date Days
held		 Location Event Notes Ref.
1 Ted DiBiase 1 01989-02-15 February 15, 1989 &10000000000000922000000922 Binghamton, New York Superstars of Wrestling DiBiase had the title created for himself and unveiled the belt during a segment called "The Brother Love Show". This episode aired on tape delay on the March 4, 1989. [3]
2 Virgil 1 01991-08-26 August 26, 1991 &1000000000000007700000077 New York City, New York SummerSlam (1991)
3 Ted DiBiase 2 01991-11-11 November 11, 1991 &1000000000000008800000088 Utica, New York Survivor Series Showdown This program aired on tape delay on November 24, 1991. [10]
— Abandoned — 01992-02-07 February 7, 1992 — Denver, Colorado Live event DiBiase abandoned the title upon winning the WWF Tag Team Championship with Irwin R. Schyster on February 7, 1992 in Denver, Colorado. [3]
4 The Ringmaster 1 01995-12-18 December 18, 1995 &10000000000000152000000152 Newark, Delaware Monday Night Raw The title was awarded to The Ringmaster by DiBiase during a segment of "The Brother Love Show". This episode aired on tape delay on the January 8, 1996. [3][7][11]
— Abandoned — 01996-05-28 May 28, 1996 — North Charleston, South Carolina In Your House 8: Beware of Dog The Ringmaster abandoned the title following DiBiase being (kayfabe) forced to leave the WWF on May 28, 1996. [7][12]
5 Ted DiBiase, Jr. 1 02010-04-05 April 5, 2010 &10000000000000224000000224 Moline, Illinois Raw DiBiase, Jr. was given the championship by his father, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. [13][14]
— Abandoned — 02010-11-15 November 15, 2010 — Hershey, Pennsylvania Raw Title returned to "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and abandoned. [15]

Combined reigns

Rank[N 1] Wrestler # of reigns Combined days
1 Ted DiBiase 2 1,010
2 Ted DiBiase, Jr. 1 224
3 The Ringmaster 1 152
4 Virgil 1 77

Footnotes

  1. ^ Each wrestler's total number of days as champion are ranked highest to lowest; wrestler's with the same number mean that they are tied for that certain rank.

References

  1. ^ Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man, p.167, Ted DiBiase with Tom Caiazzo, Pocket Books, New York, NY, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4165-5890-3
  2. ^ Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man, p.168, Ted DiBiase with Tom Caiazzo, Pocket Books, New York, NY, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4165-5890-3
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Ted DiBiase's Wrestling Biography". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/t/ted-dibiase.php. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  4. ^ "SummerSlam Greatest Moments". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2008-02-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20080221200155/http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam07/history/greatestmoments. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  5. ^ "Andre the Giant's First WWE Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/304454122. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  6. ^ "Money Inc.'s first World Tag Team Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/worldtagteam/304454132113111. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  7. ^ a b c "Stone Cold's WWE Profile". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2008-02-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20080224102832/http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/stonecold/bio/. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  8. ^ Keller, Wade (2010-10-04). "Keller's WWE Raw report 10/4: John Cena joins The Nexus, wrestles as Nexus, reads statement regarding joining Nexus". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://www.pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/wwerawreport/article_44266.shtml. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
  9. ^ Plummer, Dale (2010-11-08). "RAW: Barrett, Nexus celebrate early in the U.K.". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2010/11/08/16041271.html. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
  10. ^ "Ted DiBiase's Wrestling Biography". Wrestlin Rollercoaster. http://www.accelerator3359.com/Wrestling/bios/dibiase.html. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
  11. ^ Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man, p.193, Ted DiBiase with Tom Caiazzo, Pocket Books, New York, NY, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4165-5890-3
  12. ^ "WWE In Your House: Beware of Dog Results: Part 2". Online World of Wrestling. http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/results/wweppv/inyourhouse8b.html. Retrieved 2010-11-13. 
  13. ^ "WWE Superstars: Ted DiBiase". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/superstars/raw/teddibiase/bio/. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
  14. ^ Plummer, Dale (2010-04-05). "Raw: Cena's not on the A-List". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2010/04/05/13477066.html. Retrieved 2010-04-14. 
  15. ^ Keller, Wade (2010-11-15). "Keller's WWE Raw report 11/15: Special three-hour old school Raw with great angle at end, Jim Ross returns, Piper steps up, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/wwerawreport/article_45319.shtml. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
World
World Martial Arts Heavyweight (reigns) (1978–1985) · WCW (reigns) (2001) · ECW (reigns) (2006–2010)
Secondary
United States (reigns) (1970–1975) · North American Heavyweight (reigns) (1979–1981) · International Heavyweight (reigns) (1959–1963,1982–1985) · Canadian (reigns) (1985–1986) · European (reigns) (1997–2002)
Tag Team
United States Tag Team (reigns) (1963–1967) · International Tag Team (reigns) (1969–1985) · Women's Tag Team (reigns) (1983–1989) · Intercontinental Tag Team (reigns) (1991) · WCW Tag Team (reigns) (2001) · World Tag Team (reigns) (1971–2010)
Weight Div.
Junior Heavyweight (reigns) (1967–1985) · Light Heavyweight (reigns) (1981–2001) · Cruiserweight (reigns) (2001–2008)
Other

Million Dollar (reigns) (1989–1992, 1995–1996, 2010) · Hardcore (reigns) (1998–2002) · Women's (reigns) (1956–2010)