Ted DiBiase on his Greatest Regret in Leaving the WWF for WCW

[@RogerAM78]

Ted being the money man of the nWo made so much sense and instead of Biscoff letting that story go he got jealous and had to be a part of it and kicked Ted out. Was the nWo took off Bischoff couldn’t control himself with over thinking the descions like The giant joining. Should’ve been old WWF guys only and younger talented guys coming up joining the nWo

[@AR41283]

Making Savage a WCW guy was so dumb. They could have reunited the Mega Powers as NWO/WWF heels along with Hall & Nash and had them battle with face Horsemen Flair, Sting, Luger & Arn. Would have been epic.

[@jokerswank6082]

@@AR41283 Yeah what they did looking back was rather stale

[@chrisgrudge6964]

Agreed. Ted should have had the on air role as heel Eric. Eric joining the nwo was really lame and didn’t make much sense. Ted works thematically with hogan and explains their funding as you said.

[@TL2354]

Bischoff was jealous? He told you that?

[@chrisgrudge6964]

Erm...do people go around telling people when they are jealous? If you're going to make a "you're just an internet guy" argument at least make it make sense. @@TL2354

[@reverendmorgan2200]

Everybody says they should've talked to Vince before leaving WWF (in my opinion) ONLY because Vince ended up buying WCW. But if you remember Scott Hall & Bret Hart went to Vince before leaving asking him to match Turner's offer and he turned both down. So Ted probably did right by giving his notice & leaving (at that time) from a financial standpoint & had WCW continued to stand alot of those guys would have NEVER gone or come back to WWE because they were being paid good, guaranteed money.

[@Matt-cr4vv]

That could be true but it’s always wise to keep your bridges built in any profession - especially when you’re in a profession that at this point in time only provides two options of places to work and make a healthy living. Because even if you go to him and he says no or can’t match your competing offer he’s still going to respect you more and appreciate that you at least came to him about it first. But even so history shows that if Vince feels bringing you back is the right choice for business he will do it even if he was hurt by your choice to exit as we’ve seen happen a ton of times.

[@ProBloggerWorld]

This requires that Vince actually cares about wrestlers above personal preferences and business concerns. It must work both sides.

[@undertakerfanz628]

I also liked Ted on play-by-play announcing

[@LL-fd7xn]

Honestly, I could see Ted be on commentary!!!!

[@mattb6369]

I loved his performance at Royal Rumble 1994

[@chico1680]

Ted did commentary for Wrestling Challenge from 94-95

[@jaythor70]

He used to do some commentary back in MidSouth and I even saw once in St, Louis. he was good even before the MDM character doing color.

[@slavaukraini1991]

He commentated on the 1997 Souled Out nWo PPV, did a great job I thought.

[@scottyoung7414]

His rumble was inconsistent, good parts and bad parts. Just needed to do the character and exert wrestling knowledge with it

[@mattm6580]

Had Ted stayed in WWF he would have been a good fit in McMahons corporation with Patterson, Brisco, Slaughter. His history with Austin could have played into it as well. That would have been a better fit for Dibiase than the Nwo imo.

[@JoeyT1]

😂

[@Parlimant_Strifey]

he could have fit, but earned less money. Being unable to wrassle at that point, actually meant he needed to take the bigger payout. Didn't stop Mean Gene from jumping and taking Heenan soon after.

[@airfixx_8952]

Wouldn't have worked...... He'd have just been overshadowed by Vince's character and all the wackyness of Patterson & Brisco. In fact when you look at 97 - 00 and beyond there's no obvious place to slot him in and, apart from Paul Bearer, it all transitioned to the likes of Terri, Trish, Tori, Sable etc. as quasi-managers instead.

[@titansrule72]

lot of guys had enough of vince by 1996. paydays were low. turner flashed cash and guys jumped. hurt their relationships later on, but vkm always welcomed them all back.

[@dane.4289]

I thought Ted left because of the whole 3:16 angle.

[@donjohn2695]

Yes money talks

[@titansrule72]

@@dane.4289 Austin never wanted Ted as his mgr. However Ted still had a ton to give to the business at that time (as a mouthpiece not as an in ring talent). Vince knew business was down and he couldn't afford to pay legacy performers to keep them around like wcw was able to at the time. Of course the big boom came a few years later and it all turned around.

[@jokerswank6082]

Vince didn't value them like he should have. Female talent was another thing he didn't value either sadly. Sure WCW had big money contracts no doubt but it seemed like a gamble that only paid off in the short term

[@benjamin8002]

Everyone but Savage.

[@filthiestfish]

I think Vince would have let him go. He wouldn't have matched WCW's guaranteed contract. It was time for Ted to move on. He was managing guys that were jobbing to everyone. Sid & Kama disappeared in January, Tatanka in March. He only had The Ringmaster and 123 kid left in his stable, so he was winding down. The era of managers had changed.

[@Jwjmcc]

The king was too good on commentary for ted to have stayed doing that

[@DinnersOnSaturday]

If Ted had stayed in the WWF, I'm not sure how they could have worked him into the attitude era but it is interesting to think about because at the time he left he was managing Stone Cold Steve Austin. This was just prior to Austin's infamous KOTR win over Jake the Snake which everyone agrees is where his legendary rebellious character was truly born. But when Dibiase was around, he was pretty much the mouth piece for Austin and did most of the talking for him in interviews. At some point, they inevitably if Dibiase would have stayed they would have had Austin break away from him but you have to wonder would this have turned Dibiase babyface or would they have gone a different route with Austin being a white bread babyface and not his mean nasty persona. The way they did it when Dibiase left worked out well to move Austin on. Austin loses a strap match to Savio Vega forcing Dibiase to leave the company. Dibiase is now out of the way and is never spoken of again setting the stage for Austin to morph into the character we all know him as now which he was able to do great as a heel in 1996 and then slowly take on more of a tweener role in 1997 before ultimately becoming a full fledged babyface in 1998 and the most popular wrestler in the company if not the whole industry. But if Dibiase had stayed, would the rattlesnake have ever happened? Would Austin vs. McMahon had ever happened? Would the WWF have wound up winning the war with WCW? Would WCW still be around today?

[@ibramblebush]

I always found it amazing how similar those two were. Both were technical wrestlers (well Austin used to before he changed his style), both have great strong commanding voices, both could cut an unbelievable promo Everytime, both were funny and charismatic in similar ways, both were not really body builder type body's, but athletic and strong. I wonder if Vince put them together because they were so similar?

[@RisingRecluse]

It would have been great if he had been called to be "the higher power" considering his history with The Undertaker and Austin

[@strafe604]

Jake would've been another good one for that with his history with those two had his life had not been in such a mess at that time.

[@kylemarcum3975]

They tried to get Ted in that angle. But he misunderstood what Michael P.S. Hayes meant when he said, “Ted, you know what’s Big, Easy Money from Marks?”. Ted slumped his shoulders and P.S. said, “That Higher Power Gimmick!”

[@JasonPearson]

Crazy how the open door policy doesn't seem to apply in all cases though, from what I've heard others say on podcasts. Others have said actually speaking with him was very difficult.

[@michaeldick6227]

I think the issue was that not only was Vince running creative, he was also running the company (as Chairman and CEO) so there were huge demands on his time.

[@leeday2265]

Interesting!

[@lockedinnn]

Bishoff put the fuck to him by taking back the mouthpiece job and giving it to himself… Where could Ted he have fit during the Attitude Era? Vince had that role..

[@airfixx_8952]

Absolutely; Ted as MDM had become too iconic to re-cast into a diff. character at that point.

[@ynotwilliams2000]

I think in terms of Money, I think Ted was picked up as another WWF guy jumping ship. More than likly made he more money during his WCW run. If he would have stayed, I don't see VKM offerinf the same money as WCW did. Especally during the Monday night wars. I think VKM would want Ted to go, make his Money becuase he knew WCW was a shit show.

[@jokerswank6082]

VKM kinda underestimated WCW at first but their contracts was a gamble that only worked in the short term

[@reallymakesyouthink]

It was a shame Ted left WWF as he did, Steve Austin's career tanked after losing him as a manager.

[@zombiefulci3301]

Ted was drawing a sizable weekly check for doing nothing but he really wanted to be on the WWF taking chest slaps and atomic drops for a pittance 🤪

[@fitfighter24]

Hi Ted thank you for so many memories but why did you feel you couldn't have that conversation with Vince now sure he most likely wouldn't have matched WCW money because he didn't build a billion dollar company with guaranteed contracts and all that however even if you made quite a bit less salary Vince could offer you things Bischoff could only dream about like royalty deals on merchandise and videos and he has all the connections in the world to guide you to tv and movie deals perhaps even a cut of the gate if you were able to latch on to be the manager of a main event performer ie: Paul Heyman for Roman Reigns you will bust your ass and work more days with Vince but you will always be more appreciated and always have job security even when they release they are always loyal to those who are loyal much like Regal

[@351clevelandmodifiedmotor4]

Ted and honkey had the most girly little pen pusher hands

[@positively_broad_st3780]

Ted wouldn't have been a good fit in WWF during the Attitude Era anyway. He was against Austin using 3:16 and his newfound religious beliefs would have conflicted with the risqué shows they were producing. Plus, Ted definitely made far more money just saying nothing while pacing behind Hogan, Hall and Nash than anything he would have been doing with Vince in the late 90's. The only angle in the WWF that would have made sense for Ted to be involved with as The Million Dollar Man in the Attitude Era would be if he was revealed to be the Higher Power instead of Vince. But that would have put Vince in the position to suggest Ted had more money than him, so I don't think Vince would want another wrestling figure to appear to have more wealth than himself. Ted made the right decision to leave when he did. There was really nothing for him to do during the Attitude Era in the WWF. He didn't do much in WCW either, but at least he was paid well...

[@GameTime-yj6qv]

Great points

[@kgamra1]

Agree 100 percent.

[@kgamra1]

Ted should have always been the money behind NWO. Challenging turner to fights saying he bought all the wwf stars to come and take over.

[@jokerswank6082]

Well, there are those from that era that could've been reinvented in the Attitude Era but funny Ted didn't come to mind till you mentioned it and you have a point. Warrior definitely wouldn't work. HHH could've been like the Attitude Era's version of Million Dollar Man since he kinda had that just with edge.

[@scottyoung7414]

Exactly. The only character for him would’ve been to run the corporation. So Eric and Vince being the mouthpiece of the heel stables, no spot for him

[@Parlimant_Strifey]

What about how he treated that former prisoner Nailz? It could have ended up that way. Boss Man shoulda been their to protect McMahon, he knew him the best.

[@kylemarcum3975]

Absolutely!!! Bossman kept saying every week on Supsrstars, “I’ve read his file, he deservered what I gave him when he was locked up.” So, you mean to tell me, that you’re the only Mofo in the Whole Damn Federation that’s read his Criminal File and he was still able to get to almost get raped by Vince?. Damn, Bossman!!

[@anthonycampbell1883]

Dibiase did all he can in wwf.. after dibiase left. Vince tok his spot. Being on hands on.. coming off commentary n creating da corporation n bein heel Vince that da million dollar character lol

[@trebillis7399]

What confuses me is I thought Ted left wrestling because his marriage was in trouble and he wanted to mend it. So why so soon go to WCW?

[@michaeldick6227]

Reduced schedule and more money.

[@curtisburgdrof8618]

He come back as manager or announcer

[@BlackMoore82]

Nine years ago in ECCW he managed The Bollywood Boyz for one event.

[@dane.4289]

I honestly thought Ted left because he was offended by the Austin 3:16 quote. He thought it was mockery to what his personal faith stood for.

[@ShadowAngel-lt8nw]

No that has nothing to do with it. His last appearance was at IYH: Beware of Dog, which featured the match stipulation that if Steve Austin lost (against Savio Vega), Ted had to leave the WWF. This of course was because he had already signed a deal with WCW. King of the Ring happened a month later.

[@dane.4289]

@@ShadowAngel-lt8nw I got you. Thanks for the clarification.

[@Karl.Leiserbach]

​@@ShadowAngel-lt8nwwhich means If he never left the wwf, the ringmaster would have become the greatest intercontinental champion of all time?

[@donjohn2695]

Ted shouldn't have gone to WCW he was totally out of place there

[@ShadowAngel-lt8nw]

Nah, it actually made sense especially with him being Billionaire Ted and funding the nWo. It fell apart when Bankrupt Bischoff took over his place, because he wanted the spotlight. Still one of the dumbest decisions