Eric Bischoff thought Ted DiBiase looked like a perfect fit for the nWo when WCW brought him in during 1996. Looking back three decades later, Bischoff admits it didn’t work the way he imagined.
While discussing DiBiase’s WCW arrival on 83 Weeks, Bischoff explained that Barry Bloom originally introduced the two. Bischoff immediately saw potential in DiBiase because he wanted the nWo to have somebody who could serve as a powerful spokesperson. From Bischoff’s perspective, everything about the idea looked right before they actually tried it.
“Barry Bloom introduced me to Ted and I had high hopes for Ted. He was a great talker, had a great voice, loved his voice. I really wanted a strong, powerful, credible voice to be the spokesperson, if you will, for the nWo.”
“And on paper at least, it was a perfect fit. Ted looked to be the perfect person on paper, but it’s just the chemistry wasn’t right.”
Bischoff said DiBiase never seemed to completely fit what the nWo was trying to become. He also felt the character fans already associated with DiBiase worked against the more grounded presentation WCW wanted for the group.
“I don’t think he had a real feel for the nWo and I don’t think from a character perspective, he was the right guy.”
The biggest problem, according to Bischoff, was that wrestling fans already knew DiBiase as the Million Dollar Man. That larger-than-life WWF character didn’t match the reality-based direction Bischoff was trying to establish with the nWo. Bischoff then summed up the problem in two words.
“Just because he was Ted DiBiase, he was the Million Dollar Man. People associated that character, associated Ted with that character, and that character, that overly animated Million Dollar Man character just didn’t fit the reality of the nWo story.”
“It was bad casting.”
He wasn’t blaming DiBiase for how things turned out either. Bischoff repeatedly made it clear that he still considered DiBiase a great performer and believes the mistake was simply putting the wrong person into that particular role.
“It had nothing to do with Ted. Ted was fine. Ted was great. Ted was a great talent. Had nothing to do with that. It was bad casting.”
Bischoff compared the situation to Hollywood, where even talented actors don’t necessarily work together if the movie, director or other performers aren’t the right fit. Ultimately, Bischoff still likes what WCW was trying to accomplish by putting DiBiase with the nWo. He just doesn’t think the idea translated once they actually put it on television.
“And that happens sometimes. You can put great actors in the wrong movie with the wrong director and or a wrong co-star and it’s—the chemistry is just not there, and that’s all it was with Ted.”
“It’s just it was a great idea on paper, but the chemistry just wasn’t right.”
DiBiase certainly had the voice, reputation and history to look like an obvious nWo fit, but Bischoff now sees that as part of the problem. The Million Dollar Man character was already burned into fans’ minds, while the nWo was supposed to feel like something that existed outside the usual wrestling playbook.
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Do you agree with Eric Bischoff that Ted Di Biase was bad casting for the n Wo? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
