Ted DiBiase Recalls Who Created “The Million Dollar Man” Character
The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase is a certified wrestling legend.
Over the course of his illustrious career the WWE Hall of Famer appeared with Mid South Wrestling, WCW, All Japan Pro Wrestling as well as the WWE.
While DiBiase had a short stint with WWE in 1979, it wasn’t until his return to the company in 1987, where he came to embody his most famous persona, The Million Dollar Man. It was a character which spawned the Million Dollar Championship as well as his own stable, and still remains popular to this day.
Speaking on Stories with Briscoe and Bradshaw, DiBiase recalled how Vince McMahon came up with the character. The former Tag Team Champion broke down how McMahon described to him how the character was going to work.
“So he [Vince] flies me and Melanie, my wife, and we get the red carpet treatment. First class, the limousine picks us up, takes us to the office. So he kinda laid it out there. He said the one person that everybody hates is someone by virtue of their wealth who thinks they’re better than everybody. They bully people with their wealth. I said, ‘I kinda hate guys like that myself.'”
DiBiase then detailed how McMahon laid out his entire character and how he had to act in public. Including being presented with thousands of dollars in cash to walk around with.
“‘So what we’re gonna do is, we’re gonna try and make the public believe you’re really the guy.’ He said ‘we’re gonna fly you everywhere first class, you’re gonna have a limousine service every night, in every town.’ Then this guy comes walking in and counts out $2000 in brand new $100 bills and says ‘This is your flash cash. I don’t care if you buy a stick of gum pay for it with a $100 bill. People will really hate you, because you’ve got to make change for that. Go into a restaurant and announce yourself, tell everybody who you are and it’s they’re lucky day because you’re picking up the tab. And we’ll have somebody that’s always there with you, and he’ll go round and pick up all the cheques. You slap down the $100 bills and you bring us the receipt and we’ll replenish the money.'”
The money did however come with a warning that if he was found abusing it, it would be taken away, so the newly minted Million Dollar Man was told to “pick his spots.”
DiBiase has enjoyed something of an Indian summer in recent months with regular appearances on NXT alongside the Million Dollar Championship.
Ted DiBiase debuted on NXT in April where he engaged in a feud with Cameron Grimes. This led to a match between Grimes and LA Knight for the Million Dollar Championship at NXT TakeOver: In Your House. While Knight was overjoyed to win the belt and the right to continue DiBiase’s legacy, he later turned on the Hall of Famer.