Ted Dibiase recently talked about a wide range of topics on his Everybody’s Got a Pod. Here are the highlights:
On JJ Dillon and Dillon joining WCW in 1996:
“No. I thought it was definitely something. I mean, because I’ve known JJ Dillon…..the first time I saw him, he was a wrestler and I can still remember the first match. I watched him in the Amarillo Sports Arena. He and Dick Murdoch had an unbelievable. They work together. They work a whole program. And. And JJ was the villain. He was the heel and Murdock was the babyface. And I’m telling you and then my, I’ll be honest with you, one of my very first matches was with him, with J.J. Dillon. Yeah. I mean, down in Abilene, I believe it was. I can’t remember why. I said, shoot, somebody didn’t show up or whatever. And so, instead of being a referee. I had this, this match with him and it was easy. It was easy because he was very good at what he did and led me through it. So yeah, I yeah, I forgot that. My very first match was with J.J. Dillon. And he was great. I mean, I mean, as a wrestler, he was very good. He was a heel in Amarillo. And again, the program that he had with Dick Murdoch was just second to none. And. Yeah, and I’ve known him that far back. He’s a great guy. And personally, he’s a great guy. He could do it all.”
On whether he ever considered using a faith-based character:
“No. And personally, at the time, I didn’t care. It’s hard for me to explain this, Marcus. Okay, I’ve got this contract. I’m committed to it. I’ve got a guaranteed contract. I’m going to do my best to do what they want me to do until this contract is over. But at no time did I even consider the possibility of renewing that contract. It was like I was there physically, but I wasn’t there mentally. And again, when I left there, my contract was. Well, I told Eric, I basically said, ‘look, I said here’s the deal, guys.’ I said ‘you got me over here. I’m part of this deal.’ I said ‘I’m going out here week after week. I’m standing in a corner with my thumb up my ass. I have nothing to say.’ And I said, ‘I didn’t spend all this time developing a character, a personality, and a position in this business to come along and just be Hulk Hogan’s belt bearer. If you don’t have any other ideas for me, just send me home.’ And that’s how it went. And I didn’t care. I didn’t care because they still had to pay me. And now I could put all my attention on the ministry.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Everybody’s Got a Pod with an h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.