10 Weirdest Ways Wrestlers Got Their Gimmicks

Only in the business of professional wrestling would being your boss’ Gary Stu expy be both normalised and profitable. Nonetheless, Ted DiBiase’s reinvention as ‘The Million Dollar Man’ was a self-insert that was idealised in its dastardly, supervillain portrayal.

DiBiase recalled:

“The Million Dollar Man the character is actually a Vince McMahon original. It was presented to me and Vince kind of started laying it out […] In a moment when he was called away and I was just sitting there with Pat Patterson who at the time was his right-hand man, Pat looked at me and said, ‘Ted, if Vince can be a character in his own show, this is it, this is who he would be.’ It had never been done before. Vince said, ‘I chose you because you’re articulate; you carry yourself well; you interview very well; you are a great wrestler; you’re perfect for this.’”

DiBiase was a clear precursor for the ‘Mr. McMahon’ persona that Vince unleashed on the WWE Universe following the attention he gained after the Montreal Screwjob. While ‘Mr. McMahon’ took the archetype to a whole new level of evil, DiBiase deserves great credit for his balance between the more nefarious traits of the character and keeping the persona suitable for the child-heavy audience of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.