Ted DiBiase is a
professional wrestler, the son of Iron Mike DiBiase--a wrestler himself. Ted's father tragically died in the ring due to a
heart attack in July of 1969.
Ted was hired by the
World Wrestling Federation in 1987, as "The Million Dollar Man", Ted DiBiase. He played the role of a
snobbish
millionaire born with a
silver spoon in his mouth, whose mantra was that "
everyone has a price". He'd try to bribe opposing
wrestlers not to fight him, bribe others to do his
dirty work, bribe...well, just about everyone. His completely subservient
black servant,
Virgil, completed the image. (Yes, it was blatantly
racist.)
Fans absolutely HATED him, and within a year he was the top
heel (
bad guy) in the
WWF. He was featured in the
main event of
Wrestlemania IV, fighting
Randy Savage for the vacant
WWF Championship. He lost (as
heels always did at the time at
Wrestlemanias), but interestingly enough he was originally slated to
win the title--
Vince McMahon decided to play on Savage's popularity and give him the belt instead.
So, the
WWF instead gave DiBiase the
Million Dollar Belt, supposedly made from real
gold and
diamonds. It was an interesting theory, but ultimately silly because once someone beat him for the belt (the rebelling
Virgil was the first), it looked silly for them to be the Million Dollar Champion once they were done feuding with DiBiase.
DiBiase continued to compete for the WWF until 1993, when a severe injury he suffered while wrestling a tour in
Japan ended his active career. He stayed with the WWF as a
manager (and occasionally
commentator) until 1996, unhappy with the more
risque angles and storylines the
WWF was beginning to use. Who was the last
wrestler he managed, you ask? Oh, just a guy with a blond
crew cut named the
Ringmaster. Doesn't sound familiar? Perhaps you know him only as his current character,
Stone Cold Steve Austin.
DiBiase then jumped to
World Championship Wrestling and became part of the
nWo--as the
storyline went, DiBiase (now known as "Billionaire Ted") was the primary financial backer of the group. He was unhappy with this role, however (likening it to being
Hulk Hogan's
ring boy), and left
WCW after several months.
A devout
Christian, DiBiase now runs a
church and, using his noteriety, crosses the country speaking to youth about
morality,
Christianity, and
professional wrestling.