WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase recently spoke with Sportskeeda’s Bill Apter about a wide range of pro-wrestling-related topics, which included the Million Dollar Man looking back on his first meeting with Vince McMahon, what Terry Funk told him about the McMahon meeting, and how thankful he is to the now retired former WWE chairman about his career. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
Reminisces about his first meeting with Vince McMahon:
“I got that call from Vince and I went up there. It’s funny, that first trip up there, he just told me, he says, look Ted, your mic skills are great, you’re great in the ring, you’re the total package, and I have an idea, and he says, it’s my idea, it’s fresh, it’s new, he says, there’s a lot of things in wrestling that have been done over and over and over, but this is fresh and new, but here’s the deal, I can’t tell you what it is unless you agree to come on board because I don’t want to give away a great idea and then you go somewhere else and do it. So I played kind of, I don’t know why I was hesitant, I said, I need to think about that, talk it over with my wife, he says OK great.”
How Terry Funk told him to listen to McMahon
“I called Terry, I told him about my conversation with Vince, and he said, Teddy, if Vince McMahon has an idea, and says it’s tailor-made for you, pack your bag and don’t look back, go. So I called Vince and said, I’m your guy.”
On the Million Dollar Man persona:
“So I said, what is it. He said no, I’m not gonna tell you on the phone. I want to fly you and your wife both up here, so he flies us both to New York, limousine, Stanford, they entertained my wife, so Vince kind of laid it out there. The one thing that everybody hates is someone who bullies with their wealth. They just flaunt their wealth. And like most bullies, they talk real big but in reality, most of them are cowards. I said yeah, my dad always told me that. He said, that’s the essence of this character.”
Thanks Vince following his retirement:
“Vince, thank you. Thank you for the biggest break of my life. I’ve never known a man more dedicated to what he does and passionate about what he does than watching you. You’re a man driven, and I’ve heard you say, I just absolutely love what I do, and what he loved to do, he took wrestling to a plateau that I don’t think anybody could have. So thank you, Vince, very, very much.”
(H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)