10 Origin Stories Of Awesome Wrestlers
5. The Million Dollar Man
Fittingly, for a Christian minister, Ted DiBiase took a gigantic leap of faith upon signing with the WWF in 1987. Vince McMahon so coveted the creation of the Million Dollar Man character that he persuaded DiBiase to sign his contract without disclosing it. It was such a hit, he reasoned, that he could not risk showing his hand - lest the cards be wrested from it.
DiBiase, won over by the pitch, duly signed up - but not before seeking the advice of mentor Terry Funk, who urged him to place his trust in the Federation owner. McMahon then briefed DiBiase on the character, who retorted that it sounded like a "million dollar man". The concept had been christened.
McMahon had always aspired to wrestling stardom - and if that route was chosen, the Million Dollar Man was the character he would have played. It was a character that could only exist in the massively-moneyed WWF - and McMahon used that money to legitimise it. DiBiase, operating at a time when kayfabe was in a state of some health, was jetted around the country in limousines and given an endless kitty with which to flaunt his purported wealth.
DiBiase was lucky - had he waited a year, he might have been lumbered with Terry Taylor's Red Rooster gimmick.