No matter how you slice it, rich, white Ted DiBiase talking about how he can buy a person, such as my man Virgil, a black bodyguard whose primary job is to hold DiBiases money, is racist. Virgil also chauffeured DiBiase around and seconded him to the ring, often serving as a distraction and a punching bag for the Million Dollar Mans opponents. Sure, you could make the case the Virgil was meant to represent Dusty Rhodes real name Virgil Runnels but having a rich white man barking orders at a subservient black man just screams degrading. How they got away with this on television for several years is beyond comprehension. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lhpWkv_Wws Interestingly, many fans fondly remember the Million Dollar Man character and overlook this very racist element of his character in favor of that maniacal laugh. Hes now an almost-beloved Legend who shows up in the occasional backstage segment. People dont seem to care about the manservant aspect of the character. But at least Virgil finally got his comeuppance and captured the Million Dollar Championship. Thats more than can be said for the next guy.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
