Ted Dibiase Jr

[543Y2J]

I still don't understand how of the most charismatic and greatest characters in history in Ted Dibiase, had a son who for the most part the complete opposite of that charisma that his dad has.

Don't get me wrong I wanted to like Jr, he seemed like a nice and down to earth guy outside of the ring in everything I have heard from him, and he was a decent hand in the ring, but looking back there really wasn't anything there at all as far as character/charisma/presence/mic work etc to get attached to. Hell the Dibiase Posse was a good fun idea near the end of his run, and you could tell he was trying to improve in those areas.

Unlike his old tag team partner, Cody has grown into it over the years, he started off exactly the same as Dibiase by way of being a decent in ring hand with nothing else to become attached to. It's night and day looking back at he was in 06/07 tag team days with Bobcore, to all the great personas he has had over the years as a character (dashing, disfigured, crazy,rhodes scholars mustache etc and how well he pulled all of them off. While at the same time getting better and better with his ring work)

Originally, who did you view the stronger out of the two in Cody and Ted? Do you think Dibiase might have grown into a character if he stayed a year or two more? Did you view him as stronger in ring than Cody?

[JCBaggee]

Remember when he tried to get over by tailgating with fans before the shows? Oh man, what a gimmick. I wonder if anyone here actually went to a "Dibiase Posse" tailgate, I'd love to know if they were any fun.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

I feel pride in predicting right from the start that Cody was gonna be the bigger star when everybody was banking on Teddy.

It's not like Dibiase was bad. He actually developed into a damn solid hand by the end of his run. He just...wasn't very interesting, haha. Guys like him are why tag teams exist.

[Push R Truth]

Although he showed from flickers of charisma here and there, for the most part he just seemed like a cardboard cutout.

[Gravedigger's Biscuits]

I felt bad for Ted, because even though he was very bland, I think he could give more than what WWE were allowing him.

He was getting quite over in 2010 when people were expecting him to turn on Orton. Then Randy turned face instead because WWE were hurting for top stars. And that definitely set Ted back a fair bit.

Then he gets stuck with a lame Million Dollar Man rehash, gets jobbed out left and right, before settling on a "man of the people" type gimmick which although he looked more comfortable in the role, was given no legs to stand on by WWE's writing.

In the ring, he's a very good hand. Almost as good as Cody can be.

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

I'm an unashamed Ted Dibiase Jr mark. The problem was that the WWE tried to make him his father, when he's not. His interactions with Cody in Legacy, and the Dibiase Pary Posse gimmick, were him. He's the polite son of Ted Dibiase and not the Million Dollar Man's spoiled son. In ring when he left, I'd say he was better than Cody.

[keezy]

Were the tailgate parties doing well and possibly a threat to Cena's babyface image? I remember they stopped mentioning them pretty abruptly and he vanished for months before jobbing out to a few guys and being released.

I liked his brief feuds on Smackdown as a babyface against Jinder Mahal and Hunico, with Jinder it was supposed to be battle of the millionaires and was a unique concept even though it was heavily kayfabe, Jinder was probably WWE's lowest earning male at the time. I think a feud with Del Rio could have been interesting.

[Back to being Cenanuff]

Sometimes it skips a generation.

[Mayonnaise]

Trying to make him MDM Jr.. instead of letting him be Ted DiBiase Jr. killed it. He should have been the guy trying to make it in spite of who/what his dad was, not the guy who wants to buy people's fake eyes because he has money. Pattern him more after his dad before MDM. Then of course the blown opportunity with Orton I will never understand. Even today I'd say he blows Cody out of the water in ring work. Really if he was getting his start now, I think he'd be much better off.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Sept 18, 2015 7:58:46 GMT -5 Jedi-El of Tomorrow said:

I'm an unashamed Ted Dibiase Jr mark. The problem was that the WWE tried to make him his father, when he's not. His interactions with Cody in Legacy, and the Dibiase Pary Posse gimmick, were him. He's the polite son of Ted Dibiase and not the Million Dollar Man's spoiled son. In ring when he left, I'd say he was better than Cody.

This was also a big problem. Dude's a natural babyface with his good looks and polite manner but they kept trying to shoe-horn him in as a heel because of who his daddy is.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Sept 18, 2015 9:50:50 GMT -5 Mayonnaise said:

Trying to make him MDM Jr.. instead of letting him be Ted DiBiase Jr. killed it. He should have been the guy trying to make it in spite of who/what his dad was, not the guy who wants to buy people's fake eyes because he has money. Pattern him more after his dad before MDM. Then of course the blown opportunity with Orton I will never understand. Even today I'd say he blows Cody out of the water in ring work. Really if he was getting his start now, I think he'd be much better off.

The crowd was SO ready to explode at him turning face on Orton. He never even came close to that kind of heat again.


If they were hell bent on making his character reference his dad, he should have been a rich good guy. Millionaire philanthropist. Have him bankroll underdog wrestlers who are popular with the crowd. Cross promote some sort of charity by having him "buy" everyone in the arena a t-shirt. Maybe make that happen at a small house show and show it on TV. Gets Dibiase buzz, gets people talking about attending house shows. I don't know, just brainstorming.


Still doesn't fix his unfortunate lack of natural charisma, but this would play more toward his real personality.

[the2ndevil]

I've always liked him. Don't know why, but there's just something about him that just gives off the impression that he's a real good dude.

That said pairing him with Maryse was just baffling, especially since he is A) Married in real life and B) I'm pretty sure his wife was pregnant during this time, and you can just tell how uncomfortable he was during that whole thing.

It worked as well as TNA trying to turn AJ Styles into Ric Flair. It's not who either of them are, and the fans know that.

[Squirrel Master]

A shiny luchador mask and a run-in gimmick could have helped young Ted. Like Brutus Beefcake did briefly in 1991.

[Gerard Gerard]

He really impressed when he was first courting Cody for their team. Thought he seemed really confident for a someone seeing their first national exposure.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Ted was a good hand, and he was really finding his footing with the tailgate thing. What really hurt him was that this came around at the end of the brand split and WWE deciding that if you weren't World Title material, then you weren't worth showcasing. Ted was a casualty of WWE having a bloated "main event" scene of 12-15 guys and no room to showcase a proper midcard (unless you were either Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, a newbie like Brodus Clay, Sandow or Cesaro, a comedy character like Santino, or they were actively trying to bury you like Ryder).

[ayumidah]

I enjoyed Ted. Too bad the wrestling business didn't work out for him, but he seems happy with his post-WWE life so that's something, I guess.

[Hit Girl]

His father set a standard he could not possibly have lived up to, so comparisons are a little unfair. He was a good wrestler he just needed the right gimmick, which I suggested ages ago was some sort of Brain Busters superteam with Joe Hennig with a manager/mouthpiece. No bullshit, just a tough guy team of no-nonsense workers.

[1 Free Moon-Down with Burger]

Sept 18, 2015 9:33:23 GMT -5 keezy said:

Were the tailgate parties doing well and possibly a threat to Cena's babyface image? I remember they stopped mentioning them pretty abruptly and he vanished for months before jobbing out to a few guys and being released.

There was literally no news positive or negative about the tailgate stuff. Where does Cena even come into the equation here?

[sonofblaine]

My dad was a multitalented musician and I can barely play chopsticks.

[Instant Classic]

I liked him. Wish he could have been bigger.