WWE Hall Of Famer Ted DiBiase Names His Favorite Managerial Clients

In late 1993, Ted DiBiase was forced to retire from pro wrestling after sustaining a severe neck injury during a match for AJPW. When DiBiase returned to WWE in 1994, he took on the role of a manager for several superstars whom, per storyline, he owned the contracts of. The list of wrestlers who joined his Million Dollar Corporation included his former tag team partner, I.R.S., Bam Bam Bigelow, Nikolai Volkoff, Kama Mustafa, King Kong Bundy, Sycho Sid, 1-2-3 Kid, Tatanka, and eventually, "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin. 

On the latest "Everybody's Got A Pod," DiBiase reminisced over his brief stint managing Austin, and while doing so, admitted that he knew "The Texas Rattlesnake" was destined for greater things. "I saw that coming," DiBiase said of Austin's ascension to megastardom. "Obviously, Steve Austin has become a super icon, and I get it — but I didn't manage him very long. And to be honest, I didn't think I was going to because I could see what the guy had, and [that] he was going to shoot to the top."

DiBiase conceded that a wrestler like Austin — known for his microphone skills even in early '90s WCW — never required a mouthpiece, unlike others in his faction, and was therefore a bad fit with the Million Dollar Corporation. The one superstar DiBiase felt benefitted from working with him? King Kong Bundy. "The one I had fun managing [was] Bundy. I mean, he's a good guy, a fun guy." 

Although his time managing Austin was short-lived, DiBiase was involved in several high-profile storylines during his time as a manager, including the one that led to the WrestleMania XI main event between Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. DiBiase was also instrumental in putting together the impostor Undertaker storyline. In the late '90s, DiBiase would continue his managerial career in WCW, repping several wrestlers as part of the NWO.