Ranking Every Major Monday Night Wars Jump From WORST To BEST
7. Ted DiBiase
A rare, mutually beneficial Monday Night Wars jump, Ted DiBiase left the WWF in the summer of 1996, and in doing so, left Steve Austin to his own devices. Austin used that freedom to get over, ultimately, as the biggest star in the business.
DiBiase left to join WCW in an inspired role that subverted his old role so beautifully. As the informal ‘Trillionaire Ted’, DiBiase was revealed as the financier of the New World Order, which helped to fill a plot gap using canny continuity: WCW weren’t exactly paying them to disrupt programming and pummel the babyfaces. This was the work of DiBiase, established in pro wrestling canon as a man of obscene wealth.
By the time of his arrival, any notion of this being a shoot had long since vanished—but this marvellous attention to detail allowed fans to suspend their disbelief.
DiBiase was replaced in the role by the more iconic Eric Bischoff—which some note as the very beginning of the end—and though he lacked that sheer detestable quality, he shone in the early, glory days of wrestling’s most effective faction ever.