"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase Reveals The Biggest Moment Of His Career
WWE Hall of Famer the "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase was a guest on ESPN Charlotte's The Gerry V Show for a short interview to promote his appearance at an autograph session. DiBiase talked about how he came into WWE just as Ted DiBiase, without the gimmick that he is known for today. However, Vince McMahon wanted a character that would be a version of himself on screen, and felt that DiBiase fit the description. Hence, The "Million Dollar Man" was born.
DiBiase talked about how he lived his gimmick, as he would frequently travel in limousines and learjets to show the public that he was extremely wealthy. He also was frequently given $2,000 in "flash money," which he was constantly told that he would lose it if he abused it. He recalled shooting vignettes with a wad of $100s, and going to different bars to pick up all the tabs to further add layers to his gimmick. He stated that he had a conversation with Ric Flair and jokingly told him that the difference between the two of them is that Ric Flair has to pay for his own tabs, but Vince pays for DiBiase's.
DiBiase was then asked about his biggest milestone moments of his career.
"My first WrestleMania, which was WrestleMania 4, was a milestone," he said.
Occurring on March 27, 1988, this was the first and only WrestleMania that DiBiase main-evented, as he competed against Randy Savage in the tournament finals for the WWE Championship. In addition to this event, DiBiase mentioned the episode of The Main Event where Andre the Giant won the WWE Championship and sold it to DiBiase, as well as his match at Wembley Stadium, which he stated was the biggest crowd he has ever competed for.
Traveling with Andre the Giant for nearly a year, DiBiase talked about how WWE wanted him to compete for a little longer than he wanted to, but Andre did not want to because he was in such poor health.
"There were nights that we would walk to the ring and he would put his hand over my shoulder, and to the public, it was like, 'well, that's just his partner,' but he was steadying himself because his back [was so bad], and so I would be the one who was doing most of the bumping and flying around the ring," said DiBiase.
Surprisingly, DiBiase is still popular to the younger crowd, as he still frequently gets stopped at different places. The reason for this, DiBiase has been told by younger fans, is due to video games and the WWE Network.
If any portion of these quotes are used, please be sure to credit The Gerry V Show via Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Gerry V Show