50 Fascinating Facts About WWE in The 1980s
18. Vince McMahon = Real Million Dollar Man
There's no end to the ridiculousness involving Vince McMahon and Ted DiBiase's 'Million Dollar Man' character. As aforementioned, it was a gimmick McMahon came up with for himself. Then, he bestowed his own personal cape (?!) on DiBiase for various vignettes debuting the Million Dollar Title. The synergy between Vince and Ted's gimmick doesn't stop there.
Bruce Prichard once told a story about McMahon asking someone on a flight to put his cigarette out. At first, the guy said no, so Vince offered him money. Again, the answer came: 'No'. Eventually, the then-WWF boss upped his fee significantly and the dude stubbed it out. McMahon then went right back to talking business like he hadn't just handed someone hundreds of dollars to stop smoking.
Prichard was stunned. He'd never seen anything like that in his life. Remarkably, he doesn't recall the situation ever threatening to boil over or end in a fist fight. Vince didn't want that, and the guy minding his own business having an in-flight cigarette certainly didn't either. However, he walked off the plane richer for agreeing to McMahon's bizarre terms.
That sort of outlandish behaviour provided a firm foundation for the eventual 'Million Dollar Man' character Ted played on television. The cartoonish guise believed he could buy his way out of any situation, or wave enough money in front of people that they'd make problems go away. That's...pretty chilling considering what'd come out about McMahon decades later.
He really did want to be the living, breathing, walking and talking embodiment of that 'Million Dollar Man' gimmick.