Million Dollar Championship

The Million Dollar Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the American promotion WWE. The title was originally introduced in 1989 by "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, who was unable to win or purchase the WWF Championship (now WWE Championship). In storyline, the title was an unsanctioned championship that DiBiase rarely defended. After DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster won the WWF Tag Team Championship in 1992, the Million Dollar Championship was abandoned.

Million Dollar Championship
The Million Dollar Championship belt
Details
PromotionWWE
BrandRaw (2010)
NXT (2021)
Date establishedFebruary 15, 1989
Date retiredAugust 23, 2021
Statistics
First champion(s)Ted DiBiase
Final champion(s)Cameron Grimes
Most reignsTed DiBiase (2)
Longest reignTed DiBiase
(922 days)
Shortest reignCameron Grimes
(1 day)[lower-alpha 1]
Oldest championLA Knight
(38 years, 225 days)
Youngest championTed DiBiase Jr.
(27 years, 147 days)
Heaviest championTed DiBiase
(260 lb (120 kg))
Lightest championTed DiBiase Jr.
(214 lb (97 kg))

The title has since been revived on three occasions. The first was in 1996 for DiBiase's protégé, The Ringmaster, who shortly after became Stone Cold Steve Austin, but the title was abandoned after DiBiase left the promotion a few months later. In 2010, the title was revived for DiBiase's son, Ted DiBiase Jr., but was again abandoned later that same year when DiBiase Jr. returned the title to his father. The third revival came in 2021 for the NXT brand division for a storyline between DiBiase, Cameron Grimes, and LA Knight. During this time, the title was officially recognized by WWE; however, it was deactivated in August of that year when Grimes, who won the title, gave it back to DiBiase.

History

Introduction
Frustrated that he could not win the then-WWF Championship, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase created his own belt, the Million Dollar Championship

Ted DiBiase, known as "The Million Dollar Man", was unable to win the WWF Championship (now WWE Championship), having lost the final match of the WWF Championship tournament at WrestleMania IV to "Macho Man" Randy Savage.[1] During the Summer of 1988, DiBiase teamed with André the Giant, in a team known as "The Mega Bucks", while chasing the WWF Championship.[2] Still unable to win the title, a frustrated DiBiase decided that if he could not win or buy the WWF Championship, he would purchase his own belt.[3] In 1989, DiBiase unveiled a new championship belt, which he called the Million Dollar Championship. This championship was not officially sanctioned by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and DiBiase would rarely put his "championship" on the line in matches.[1]

In early 1990, Jake "The Snake" Roberts stole the belt during his feud with DiBiase.[4] This also led to a face turn for the Big Boss Man, who resented his manager Slick selling his services to DiBiase in order to retrieve the belt from Roberts. After attacking Roberts and stealing the bag containing the belt and Roberts' pet python named Damien, DiBiase, the Boss Man, and Slick headed for "The Brother Love Show" where DiBiase bragged about buying the Boss Man's services. The Boss Man then told both Slick and DiBiase that he could not be bought and immediately returned the bag to Roberts, who had been left handcuffed to the ring ropes. The Boss Man then released Roberts, walked back to the Brother Love set, pushed Slick, and again told an irate DiBiase that he could not be bought before walking off to the cheers of the crowd, cementing his face turn.[5] DiBiase had his bodyguard Virgil get the belt back from Roberts at WrestleMania VI after Roberts was counted out during their match at the SkyDome.[6]

In 1991, DiBiase's bodyguard Virgil rebelled, turned face, and trained with "Rowdy" Roddy Piper to challenge DiBiase at SummerSlam for the Million Dollar Championship. Virgil won the match,[7] however, DiBiase regained the championship with the help of Repo Man at Survivor Series Showdown.[8] When DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster won the WWF Tag Team Championship on February 7, 1992, DiBiase abandoned the Million Dollar Championship.[9]

First revival

Ted DiBiase would later go on to award the championship to his newest protégé, The Ringmaster, on his arrival in the WWF in January 1996 (pre-taped in December 1995).[1] The Ringmaster would shortly after become known as Stone Cold Steve Austin. After Austin lost a match against Savio Vega on May 28, 1996, DiBiase was (kayfabe) forced to leave the WWF, thus the Million Dollar Championship was again abandoned.[1][10]

Passing it to his son
A dark-haired man wearing blue wrestling tights, black knee-high wrestling boots and black knee-pads stands on the white ropes of a wrestling ring. He is wearing around his waist a gold-plated professional wrestling championship belt shaped with three dollar signs on the front.
Ted DiBiase Jr. was awarded the Million Dollar Championship by his father Ted DiBiase in 2010

In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, which became an orphaned initialism in 2011).[11] After several years, the Million Dollar Championship reappeared on WWE television in 2009 when DiBiase, the guest host of the night, appeared on the July 6 episode of Raw, carrying the belt as he fulfilled his guest host duties. Nearly a year later, when DiBiase was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 27, 2010, he had the Million Dollar Championship belt with him.[12] Then, on the April 5 episode of Raw, after DiBiase's son Ted DiBiase Jr. disbanded his tag team, Legacy, DiBiase Jr. came out holding the Million Dollar Championship, claiming his father had given it to him.[13] WWE's official website confirmed the reactivation of the unsanctioned championship under DiBiase Jr.'s profile. On the October 4 episode, Goldust attacked DiBiase Jr. and gained possession of the belt.[14] On the November 8 episode, Aksana stole the Million Dollar Championship belt from him.[15] Goldust stole the belt back the following week and returned it to "The Million Dollar Man", who then offered to return it to his son, who rejected the offer, thus the Million Dollar Championship was again deactivated.[16]

NXT

After more than a decade of being off television, the title was brought back in 2021 for WWE's NXT brand. On the February 10, 2021 episode of NXT, Cameron Grimes made his return from injury and claimed to have become a GameStop investor during his time away (in reference to the GameStop stock rise), thus making him the "richest man in NXT". Grimes then began a feud with DiBiase after encountering him in a jewelry store over their watches.[17][18] Over the next few weeks, "The Million Dollar Man" would continue to one-up Grimes, outbidding him in various purchases. The two then had a "Million Dollar Face-Off" on the May 25 episode where LA Knight defended and allied with DiBiase.[19] At TakeOver: In Your House Knight defeated Grimes in a Ladder Match for the title.[20] After this, WWE added an official title history for the Million Dollar Championship to their website, thus recognizing the title as an official championship in the promotion.[21]

During the following episode of NXT, Knight turned on and attacked DiBiase, who was saved by Grimes.[22] Grimes then defeated Knight to win the title at TakeOver 36 on August 22.[23] On the following episode of NXT, Grimes gave the title back to DiBiase, who said that Grimes should keep it, but DiBiase actually kept the title and instead gave Grimes a replica.[24] In September 2021, the championship was quietly removed from WWE.com with Grimes being referred to as a former champion, thus deactivating the title with Grimes recognized as the final champion.[25]

Belt design

The Million Dollar Championship belt was designed by Terry Betteridge of Betteridge Jewelers in Greenwich, Connecticut.[26] The center plate features three large dollar signs that are entirely filled with cubic zirconia, and there are three small diamonds on the back. The strap itself is made up of multiple metal dollar signs that go around the entire circumference of the strap; there are small hinges between each dollar sign so that the strap can go around the title holder's waist. All of the metal on the belt is gold plated. Although the belt was billed as being worth US$1,000,000, DiBiase claimed the cost was around $40,000,[27] while Bruce Prichard claimed the cost was close to $50,000 during an episode of his podcast, Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard.[28]

Reigns

Over the championship's 32-year history, there were seven reigns between six champions as well as three vacancies. Ted DiBiase was the inaugural champion and had the most reigns at two. His first reign was also the longest reign at 922 days and he had the longest combined reign at 1,010 days. Cameron Grimes had the shortest reign at 1 day (2 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay) and was the final champion. LA Knight was the oldest champion, winning the title at 38 years old, while Ted DiBiase Jr. was the youngest at 27 years, 147 days old.

Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
Days recog. Number of days held recognized by the promotion
† Championship change is unrecognized by the promotion
<1 Reign lasted less than a day
+ Current reign is changing daily
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign DaysDays recog.
World Wrestling Federation (WWF)
1 Ted DiBiase February 15, 1989 Superstars of Wrestling Binghamton, NY 1 922905 Frustrated that he could not win the WWF Championship, DiBiase had the Million Dollar Championship created for himself and unveiled the title belt during a segment of "The Brother Love Show". This episode aired on tape delay on March 4, 1989. [1]
2 Virgil August 26, 1991 SummerSlam New York, NY 1 7790 [7]
3 Ted DiBiase November 11, 1991 Survivor Series Showdown Utica, NY 2 8874 This program aired on tape delay on November 24, 1991. [8]
— Deactivated February 7, 1992 House show Denver, CO — —— Ted DiBiase abandoned the title upon winning the WWF Tag Team Championship with Irwin R. Schyster during this house show. [1]
4 The Ringmaster/Stone Cold Steve Austin December 18, 1995 Raw Newark, DE 1 162140 Awarded the championship by Ted DiBiase during a segment of "The Brother Love Show". This episode aired on tape delay on January 8, 1996. Shortly after, The Ringmaster became known as Stone Cold Steve Austin. [1][10][29]
— Deactivated May 28, 1996 — — — —— Stone Cold Steve Austin abandoned the title following Ted DiBiase's departure from the WWF on May 28, 1996.
In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).		 [10][30]
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE): Raw
5 Ted DiBiase Jr. April 5, 2010 Raw Moline, IL 1 224224 Awarded the championship by his father, Ted DiBiase. WWE billed him just as Ted DiBiase. [31][32]
— Deactivated November 15, 2010 Raw Hershey, PA — —— After the championship had been stolen from Ted DiBiase Jr., Goldust returned the title to Ted DiBiase, who attempted to give it back to his son, but DiBiase Jr. rejected it, thus abandoning the title. [33]
WWE: NXT
6 LA Knight June 13, 2021 TakeOver: In Your House Orlando, FL 1 7069 Ted DiBiase reintroduced the championship on the June 8, 2021, episode of NXT. Knight defeated Cameron Grimes in a ladder match to win the revived title, which became recognized as an official championship in WWE. [20]
7 Cameron Grimes August 22, 2021 TakeOver 36 Orlando, FL 1 12 If Grimes had lost, Ted DiBiase would have become LA Knight's butler. [23]
— Deactivated August 23, 2021 NXT Orlando, Florida — —— Cameron Grimes relinquished the title to Ted DiBiase, which aired on tape delay on August 24, 2021, the date WWE recognizes.[24] [34]

Combined reigns

As of October 25, 2023.

† Indicates the current champion
Rank Wrestler No. of
reigns		 Combined
days		 Combined days
rec. by WWE
1 Ted DiBiase21,010979
2 Ted DiBiase Jr.1224
3 The Ringmaster/Stone Cold Steve Austin1162140
4 Virgil17790
5 LA Knight17069
6 Cameron Grimes112

Notes
  1. WWE recognizes 2 days due to tape delay.

References
  1. "Ted DiBiase". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  2. "SummerSlam Greatest Moments". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  3. "Andre the Giant's first WWE Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 24, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  4. Jake Roberts steals the Million Dollar Title (01-20-1990), archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved July 31, 2021
  5. WWF History – Big Boss Man (from heel to face) YouTube video, March 17, 2008, archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved October 16, 2016
  6. "WrestleMania VI". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on March 29, 2007. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  7. "Full Event Results: SummerSlam 1991". WWE. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  8. "Ted DiBiase's Wrestling Biography". Wrestlin Rollercoaster. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  9. "Money Inc.'s first World Tag Team Championship reign". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 29, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  10. "Stone Cold's WWE Profile". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 24, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  11. "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
  12. "FULL REPORT FROM THE 2010 WWE HALL OF FAME CEREMONY INCLUDING WHAT YOU WON'T SEE ON USA NETWORK - PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  13. Plummer, Dale (April 5, 2010). "Raw: Cena's not on the A-List". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  14. Keller, Wade (October 4, 2010). "Keller's WWE Raw report 10/4: John Cena joins The Nexus, wrestles as Nexus, reads statement regarding joining Nexus". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  15. Plummer, Dale (November 8, 2010). "RAW: Barrett, Nexus celebrate early in the U.K". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  16. Martin, Todd (November 16, 2010). "WWE Old School Raw Report". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  17. Cook, Ryan (February 10, 2021). "WWE NXT Results for 2/10/21 The Last Stop Before Takeover: Vengeance Day". Fightful. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  18. Cook, Ryan (February 10, 2021). "Cameron Grimes Invested In GameStop And Now You Can Kiss His Grits". Fightful. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  19. Moore, John (May 25, 2021). "5/25 NXT TV Results: Moore's review of Karrion Kross vs. Finn Balor for the NXT Championship, Franky Monet's in-ring debut, Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai vs. Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon for a shot at the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Ted DiBiase and Cameron Grimes face-off segment". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  20. Powell, Jason (June 13, 2021). "NXT Takeover In Your House results – Powell's live review of Karrion Kross vs. Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Pete Dunne vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT Title, Raquel Gonzalez vs. Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Title, Bronson Reed and MSK vs. Legado Del Fantasma for the NXT North American and NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  21. "Million Dollar Championship". WWE.
  22. Moore, John (June 15, 2021). "6/15 NXT TV results: Moore's review of William Regal addresses his future, Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans in a tornado tag match, Kushida defends the NXT Cruiserweight Championship in an open challenge". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  23. Moore, John (August 22, 2021). "NXT Takeover 36 results: Moore's live review of Karrion Kross vs. Samoa Joe for the NXT Championship, Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai for the NXT Women's Title, Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly in a best of three falls match, Walter vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  24. "SPOILERS: 8/24 WWE NXT AND THE NEXT TWO WEEKS OF 205 LIVE | PWInsider.com". pwinsider.com. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  25. "WWE NXT 2.0 results, Sept. 21, 2021: Ciampa & Breakker crush Dunne & Holland in chaotic fashion". WWE. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  26. DiBiase & Caiazzo 2008, p. 167.
  27. DiBiase & Caiazzo 2008, p. 168.
  28. Varbie, Aaron (January 12, 2017). "10 Things We Learned From Bruce Prichard's Million Dollar Man Podcast". Featured. Still Real To Us. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  29. DiBiase & Caiazzo 2008, p. 193.
  30. "WWE In Your House: Beware of Dog Results: Part 2". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  31. "WWE Superstars: Ted DiBiase". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
  32. Plummer, Dale (April 5, 2010). "Raw: Cena's not on the A-List". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved April 14, 2010.
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  34. "Superstars". WWE. Retrieved September 26, 2021.

Bibliography
  • DiBiase, Ted; Caiazzo, Tom (2008). Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man. New York, NY: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-1-4165-5890-3.
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