WWE Hall Of Famer Says 1990 World Title Match With Ultimate Warrior Match Was “Horrible”

WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase has candidly criticised his 1990 match against The Ultimate Warrior, held at the WWF/NJPW/AJPW Wrestling Summit in Tokyo, describing the experience as “horrible”.

Ted DiBiase discussed his match with Warrior at the 1990 event during an episode of his podcast, Everybody’s Got a Pod. The match, taped on 13 April 1990, was Warrior’s first recorded WWE Championship defence following his iconic victory over Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI. However, it aired after his 23 April defence against Haku.

“Oh, it was horrible,” DiBiase said. “I’ll be the first one to tell you it was horrible. Number one, we’re in Japan, and the other thing is, in Japan, I’m already, to the Japanese wrestling fan, an established star, but a lot of these other guys, it’s the first time they’re being seen live in Japan, and again, the Ultimate Warrior, he couldn’t wrestle.”

DiBiase did not mince words when addressing Warrior’s in-ring shortcomings, noting how difficult it was to produce a quality bout with him.

“It was extremely hard to even have or try to have a good match with him, and for that reason, we didn’t go very long.”

The Million Dollar Man also expressed frustration about being booked to lose in such a short match against Warrior, particularly in front of an international audience.

“That was the thing that really pi*sed me off, but there was nothing I could do about it,” he said. “For me, an existing star to have to do a job for that guy and do it in seven minutes, because he didn’t care about anybody else but himself… I pretty much didn’t care to have a much longer match because the longer it was, the worse it would be. I don’t think he had a long match with anybody.”

What Does Ted DiBiase Think The Ultimate Warrior Would Have Failed In WWE Without?

Ted DiBiase spoke about the key factor The Ultimate Warrior had that made him a success in WWE and said that it all boiled down to his impressive physique. DiBiase also said that Warrior was made to look like a more legitimate wrestler and star by being in the ring with good workers such as himself and Bret Hart, who were able to hide Warrior’s shortcomings in the ring with their own work.

H/t to ITRWrestling.com