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Talking With 'Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase

Posted: Apr 16th 2010 By: CMBurnham

The grappler who once boasted that "everyone had a price" is now being paid his due respect.

Less than a month since being inducted into World Wrestling Entertainment's Hall of Fame, "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase will be honored next week at the Cauliflower Alley Club's annual convention in Las Vegas. He will receive the "Iron Mike" award, which is named after the late wrestler and CAC founder, Mike Mazurki.

"I've been telling everybody that this must be my year," DiBiase said last week in a telephone interview. "Fans have approached me over the past few years and said, 'When are you going to be recognized (by WWE)?' I had been listed by WWE among the Top 50 WWE wrestlers, so I would just laugh and say, 'Something has to happen sooner or later, right?' But everything lately has just come at once like a flood. It's really great."

DiBiase was great during his 19-year wrestling career. The adopted son of veteran Mike DiBiase, Ted DiBiase quickly became one of the industry's top technicians following his 1975 debut. Besides headlining in Japan and for Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling territory during the 1980s, DiBiase was under consideration to become the National Wrestling Alliance heavyweight champion when that was considered the industry's most prestigious title.

DiBiase, though, found his greatest success with a gimmick that included his own "Million Dollar" belt. Hired away from Watts by WWE in 1997, DiBiase was recast as the snobby "Million Dollar Man" by company owner Vince McMahon.

The gimmick became a huge success. He infuriated fans with his bribery attempts and cruel antics, like kicking a basketball away from a youngster who was about to earn $500 from DiBiase by dribbling 15 consecutive times.

"I was very well known before among my peers and within wrestling circles," DiBiase said. "But as far as national and international recognition among fans, it exploded after I joined WWE."

So did DiBiase's real-life bank account. He enjoyed a seven-year run that included such highlights as managing Andre the Giant against Hulk Hogan, headlining matches against then-WWE champion Randy Savage and teaming with Mike "I.R.S." Rotundo as Money Incorporated.

But DiBiase, 56, admits he couldn't handle such success. After returning home from "Wrestlemania 8" in 1992, DiBiase said he was confronted by his wife, Melanie, about infidelity while on the road.

"I never had an alcohol or drug problem," DiBiase said. "I did my share of both, but the addiction in my life was women. After 'Wrestlemania 8,' in a flash of a second I realized what an incredibly huge fool I'd been and how unbelievably selfish I was. I had put at risk the love and devotion from my committed wife and the well-being and stability of my children. It was a real hard thing to face."

DiBiase, though, did just that. He gradually regained the trust of his wife and became a born-again Christian, which led to the formation of his Heart of David ministry in 1999.

"I basically threw myself on the mercy of the court and came totally clean," said DiBiase, who will celebrate his 29th wedding anniversary later this year. "But what I really did was commit myself to a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. I had come to a place where I had all this fame and things that come along with it, yet I was miserable ... I made the choice to not continue down the path I was going."

DiBiase's career road then took an unexpected turn. He left WWE in 1993 and returned to All Japan Pro Wrestling so he could spend more time at home between overseas tours. DiBiase, though, suffered a career-ending neck injury and hasn't wrestled since.

"I was in my prime," said DiBiase, who later served as a manager in WWE and the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling. "Had I stayed (in WWE) and wrestled another three to five years, I would have been one of those guys who scored when the big contracts started coming.

"But I don't regret it. I look at the peace and joy in my life today and the unbelievable relationship I have with my wife and boys."

Two of DiBiase's three sons are keeping the family name alive in WWE. Ted DiBiase Jr. is a rising mid-card performer whom WWE cast in the lead role of its 2009 action movie "The Marine 2." Brett DiBiase is training in WWE's developmental system (Florida Championship Wrestling) and should debut soon on WWE's main talent roster. A third son, Mike, wrestles on the independent circuit.

DiBiase said he had no problem with his offspring becoming wrestlers because the lifestyle is healthier than during his WWE heyday.

"I'm happy to say that (party) atmosphere no longer exists," said DiBiase, who worked backstage full time for WWE in 2005 and 2006. "If it was like it was when I was wrestling there, I would never have given my sons the blessing to get in the business."

DiBiase speaks regularly with his sons about their careers and is willing to reprise his Million Dollar Man persona if it means helping Ted Jr. and Brett advance. WWE recently reintroduced the Million Dollar belt for Ted Jr. A laughing Ted DiBiase admits he was caught off-guard when seeing his son with the strap on "Monday Night Raw" (9 p.m. EDT, USA Network).

"I'd do some things differently myself, but I can't regret anything, really, because this experience has brought me to the right place," said DiBiase.

Jim Ross, Dan Severn and Joyce Grable are some of the other performers being honored next week by the CAC, a nonprofit organization that provides aid for retired and aspiring grapplers. For more information, visit www.caulifloweralleyclub.org.

For more information on DiBiase's ministry, visit www.heartofdavidministry.com.

Tags: WWE, Ted DiBiase, Mike DiBiase, Bill Watts, MSW, NWA, Andre the Giant, WCW, Jim Ross