9 Old School Wrestling Champs That Could Make It In Today’s WWE
3. Ted DiBiase
Growing up, Vince McMahon Jr. always wanted to be a wrestler. His father, knowing that wrestling was a tough and often thankless vocation, put his foot down and stopped his son from training for the ring. As history records, the younger McMahon became first an announcer and then the owner of his fathers company. Out of respect for his father, Vince Jr never became a full-time wrestler. Still, Vince had a bulletproof, moneymaking gimmick picked out for himself if he had done and, ever the businessman, he didnt want to see it go to waste. Enter Ted DiBiase, the son of lady wrestler Helen Hild and entertainer Ted Willis, who was later adopted by wrestling star Iron Mike DiBiase, The young DiBiase, who had been trained by The Funk brothers and was a protégé of ring great Harley Race, was certainly being groomed for big things in the business. In the mid 70s, he wrestled for Bill Watts Mid South Wrestling Promotion, teaming with The Junkyard Dog and generally being presented as a hardworking young babyface with impeccable wrestling skill and pedigree. The rumour was that he was even being considered as a future NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. In the end, however, DiBiase ended up being handpicked by Vince McMahon and given the promoters own personal dream gimmick. Now billed as The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase would abuse his (kayfabe) wealth in the most vile and obnoxious ways, including offering money to young fans (including a young Rob Van Dam) in exchange for embarrassing stunts, after which he would never pay up. In one hilarious instance, he rented a swimming pool for an entire day and summarily booted all the kids out of it. These nefarious deeds (and many more) were all accompanied by his trademark evil laugh. The gimmick was over from the moment the fans saw it and Ted was over from the minute he stepped in the ring. He was just a great, great worker. Although he never wore a World Championship (he did, during one angle, attempt to buy the WWF Championship from Andre The Giant), Ted was one of his eras biggest and most recognizable stars, as well as one of the greatest heels in the history of the business. If he were starting out today, The Million Dollar Mans excellent ring work, technical expertise and magnetic personality would make him a guaranteed WWE main eventer all over again.
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