10 Second Generation Wrestlers That Should Have Known Better

8. Ted Dibiase Jr.

David Benoit Chris Benoit
WWE

Ted Dibiase Jr unofficially retired from professional wrestling in 2013 after starting up a non-profit organisation for underprivileged children in his own name. From promotional videos shared through WWE.com and other outlets, the organisation appears to be a wonderful outreach programme for children who may have suffered serious illness, experienced a difficult upbringing, or simply require nurturing and support they'd never had access to.

Dibiase himself looks incredibly at home in the environment, and can be considered one of the wrestling industry's real winners if only for escaping it into another success story. It's possibly of some relief, because the business he was born into had dealt out terrific loss.

Ted's Grandma Helen Hild was a pro wrestler who lost her last years to depression thanks to the death of her husband 'Iron' Mike Dibiase, who lost his life to a heart attack in a 1969 match against Haystack Calhoun's 623lb tag team partner Man Mountain Mike.

Ted's famous father, the 'Million Dollar Man' Ted Dibiase subsequently lost both his parents by the time he was 30. He nearly lost his wife and children due to his own self-confessed over-indulgence in excess on the road as a professional wrestler.

Never quite the performer his father was, Dibiase lost his way early into his WWE tenure, trapped in a stable he was the weakest member of. He was fortunate to spot his fresh start of his own accord before his next loss was his full-time job. Dibiase walked away from WWE of his own accord.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett