WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006 (PS2) Hidden Wrestlers (9/12): Ted DiBiase gameplay

Gameplay of the hidden character/wrestler Ted DiBiase in Yuke’s/THQ’s WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2006.

One of the great things about watching through wrestling chronologically is getting introduced to new faces and seeing the development of both the sport and a particular brand as it goes on. A few months after Wrestlemania 3, the WWF stars airing vignettes of a “Million Dollar Man” named Ted Dibiase, a despicable heel who travels around with his valet Virgil (Wrestling Superstar) and bribes his way into getting whatever he wants because, as his catchphrase went, “everybody’s got a price”. He had a great look, was already a great talker, and you knew there was clearly something to this character that people could get behind.

Thinking about it, in essence Ted Dibiase is essentially the WWF’s answer to Ric Flair, being that kind of cheating, despicable, overly wealthy and moral less heels who audiences are intended to despise from the get go. Wrestling is, traditionally anyway, a very working-class sport, particularly in Southern Wrasslin’ where the idea is that wrestlers (generally, anyway) weren’t superhumans but regular, decent athletes and looked like regular people you’d know. English wrestling was much the same way, unsurprisingly, particularly with its roots in the North of England. Needless to say then, having a rich, despicable, out of touch heel just made sense. While Flair was a bit too good at what he did however, accidentally getting over with audiences a lot of the time (and really laying the groundwork for babyface heels and eventual antihero types), Dibiase essentially hit the nail on the head right away and really managed to convey somehow he was not only exceedingly wealthy and snobbish but someone who was downright petty as well. After all, why would a millionaire need to bribe a public pool to be the only one allowed to use it when he could probably access plenty of private pools? Just to spite others, of course. It still plays into that slightly more cartoonish style which the WWF was going for at the time, but I’d be hard-pressed to say it wasn’t memorable and even a weirdly likeable gimmick in some ways. Makes a difference from yet another “this guy is a heel because we say so as opposed to any specific reason”, at least.

Up next, it’s Bret again.