Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
Professional wrestling can be a very cyclical business. Many times you could be watching a match, a gimmick or a storyline and think to yourself…”I have seen this before.” Sometimes, you may be right, as many things in wrestling do get recycled over the years. Other times, it just may be something similar to something you saw years ago. In any case, Deja View looks at stuff that may or may not have been re-used in wrestling or something that was simply similar in nature that made you go…”Oh yeah, that’s where I remember that from.”
In 1987, ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase announced that he was going to buy the WWF title from Hulk Hogan. After Hogan refused and told him no, Dibiase hired Andre the Giant to take the title off of Hogan. The aftermath, saw Andre defeat Hogan for the belt and then surrender the WWF title to Dibiase after it was bought by Dibiase. A tournament was created after Jack Tunney stripped Dibiase of the belt.
Rewind back to 1983 and you will see that this angle was done once before. It took place in Georgia Championship Wrestling with the participants being Larry Zbyszko and ‘Killer’ Tim Brooks. Larry Zbyszko bought the National heavyweight title from ‘Killer’ Tim Brooks for $25,000. The title was held up and a tournament was ordered to crown a new champion.
As shocking as the WWF Title / Million Dollar Man angle was, the concept was most likely “borrowed” from the Zbyszko angle just four years prior.