Million Dollar Memory: Missing the Original Ted DiBiase

Why Ted DiBiase Will Never Be The "Million Dollar Man" To Me

by Dick Bourne 
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

In the 1980s, the WWF took some of my favorite wrestlers and made cartoon characters out of them. That isn't meant as commentary; it's just a statement of fact. Fair to say it was pretty successful for the WWF and many of the wrestlers still make good money doing appearances largely off the fame of those cartoon days.

Classic PWI Magazine Cover

While there are many examples, one of the most infamous, to my way of thinking at least, was the transformation of Ted DiBiase into the "Million Dollar Man".

It cannot be stated strongly enough how much I hated this at the time. I hated the outfit, I hated the belt, I hated the maniacal laugh, I hated Virgil, I hated it all. Sure, the character was pretty creative and some of the vignettes were pretty funny. It obviously connected with people as it is still one of the most remembered characters of the WWF's cartoon era. Most of that is owed to the incredible portrayal by DiBiase himself who brought that character to life.

No, I hated it because it buried forever the great wrestling character of Ted DiBiase.

Ted would have to be considered as one of my favorite wrestlers of all time. I first saw him in Georgia Championship Wrestling out of Atlanta on Superstation WTBS around the 1979-1980 time frame. I didn't know it then, but later we've learned he was being groomed as a possible future NWA champion. While that never came to pass for various reasons (or no particular reason at all), Ted was universally respected by promoters and his peers as one of the best in the business. He ranks up there at the top of my "should have been champion" list.

He simply was as good as it got in the ring, and could work with anyone and make anyone he worked against look great. That was an important required characteristic of the NWA champion at that time. Ringmasters like Harley Race and Ric Flair could make the most average wrestler in the ring look like a top contender for the title. DiBiase was in that same mold. He could work equally well in the role of a good-guy or bad-guy.

My particular favorite Ted DiBiase period, though, was the late 1983-1984 heel in Georgia and his feuds with Brad Armstrong and Tommy Rich. DiBiase had started wearing the black glove and one of his big gimmicks was to load the glove out of view of a distracted referee and blast his opponent with it for the dubious win. I loved him in that role, loved his promos, loved the way he sold for the babyface comebacks - - just everything about him worked for me.

And while he was great in the role as the veteran babyface in 1985 and early 1986 for Bill Watts in the Mid-South area, it was in the heel role where I thought he always did his best work.

All of that changed, though, when DiBiase made the jump to the WWF and became the "Million Dollar Man." Rather than the cool, calculated, killer heel that DiBiase had perfected in the territory days, he became this outlandish cartoon character that was the staple of the WWF at that time. Again, I don't argue against the success of the gimmick, and it certainly was a positive creative and financial development in his career. I was just terribly sad to see one of my favorite wrestlers disappear. And there is no disputing that when the Million Dollar Man was born, the wrestler Ted DiBiase died forever. At least that character did, anyway.

Not only have I always been sad Ted never got to hold the "ten pounds of gold", I was equally disappointed that he never worked in the Mid-Atlantic territory for the Crocketts. He would have fit in really well here. Imagine, if you will, a DiBiase feud with Ricky Steamboat in the late 1970s, or as one of the Four Horsemen in the mid-1980s.

DiBiase continues to make appearances at conventions and fan events across the country and it is always as the Million Dollar Man. I've had the time opportunity a time or two to tell him that it was the Ted DiBiase of those 1980s Georgia days that I was there to see. He always smiles. And he even once responded that it's good to know fans remember that part of his career, too.

Surely I'm not alone in that regard. But sometimes it seems awfully lonely.

Jim Ross Memories Will Abound in Charlotte at Fanfest

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

"Good Ol' J.R." Jim Ross

It was with great delight that I learned recently that announcer extraordinaire Jim Ross will be returning to this year’s NWALegends.com Fanfest Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina running from August 4-7. “Good Ol’ J.R.” is scheduled to host “Ringside with Jim Ross” on opening night, and will be presiding over the first-ever “Breakfast of Champions Roast” of the indelible Ole Anderson on Fanfest’s closing day. In between, Jim will be participating in autograph and photo opportunity sessions, including can’t miss photo ops with fellow legendary announcers Bob Caudle and Tony Schiavone.

It is hard to imagine any professional wrestling fan that has not been touched at some point by the voice of Jim Ross. Jim has worn many a hat in the wrestling business, but let’s just talk about Jim Ross the broadcaster now. From Mid-South/UWF and Jim Crockett Promotions/NWA in the 1980’s to WCW, Smoky Mountain and the WWF in the 1990’s segueing to his legendary WWE announcing in the 2000’s that spanned all the way to 2013 and now currently has him calling the action for New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ross’ voice has been synonymous with professional wrestling.

No doubt we all have Jim Ross moments and memories that we are particularly drawn to. After all, he’s called some of the greatest wrestling matches of all-time. I’m no different, and my most enduring Jim Ross memory is of a match that goes all the back to November of 1985. It was a NWA World Title bout, and if it was not the very first, it was one of the first World Heavyweight Title matches J.R. called.

Growing up in Richmond, Virginia in the era of wrestling territories, I was a Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling guy. But in August of 1984, about the same time the wrestling territorial system was starting to break up, I headed halfway across the country to the University Of Arkansas School Of Law in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Out in northwest Arkansas, the wrestling territory that covered my new three-year home was Mid-South Wrestling. I immediately became a fan of this promotion, with its hard-hitting realistic style of storylines and in-ring action. I also became a big fan of a young, but very knowledgeable and exuberant Mid-South TV personality named Jim Ross.

Fast forward to the Thanksgiving holiday season in 1985, and I was forced to make a quick trip home from law school for a family emergency. My airplane trip back to Fayetteville and my looming law school exams was about to set me up for an unforgettable November Saturday night! And my most enduring memory of Jim Ross, the announcer!

Jim Ross on Mid-South's "Power Professional Wrestling"

My flight back to Arkansas added to the drama of this wild Saturday night. The first leg of my flight, from Richmond to Memphis, Tennessee, was uneventful. But then, as J.R. would often say, business was about to pick up! It was a balmy 70-something degrees when I boarded the tiny commuter plane in Memphis that would take me to the then tiny airport in northwest Arkansas. After a short time in the air, the pilot advised that because of severe turbulence, we would have to turn back to Memphis. We were even advised of hotels in Memphis where we would stay over. While that news was going to make things inconvenient, everything otherwise seemed to be all right.

But very soon after the pilot’s announcement, things went haywire. The plane was tossed around like a rag doll, and I thought my head was going to hit the top of the plane. The thrashing of the plane was so violent, that I had burn marks on my shoulders from the harness and was sore for weeks. I was 100% sure we were going down. I was so scared that when we finally landed, I figured we were in Memphis. It turns out we were in Fayetteville, and there were three inches of snow on the ground. The little plane had some how gotten through the clashes of those air masses near Little Rock, Arkansas, where multiple tornadoes touched down.

When I got to my law school dorm room about 10:30 p.m., I was still shaking like a leaf. But I had the presence of mind to turn on Channel 8 KTUL in Tulsa, Oklahoma for Mid-South Wrestling. The lateness of the hour, along with the sometimes snowy picture our cable feed gave us for KTUL along with my harrowing plane ride, was the perfect backdrop of what Jim Ross would amazingly announce that night on Mid-South!

This edition of Mid-South Wrestling was special, because NWA World Champion Ric Flair was scheduled to defend his belt against Ted DiBiase. But as ring announcer Boyd Pierce was introducing the competitors, Dick Murdock rudely came in the ring and told DiBiase he wanted the title shot. Ted didn’t react well to that, and told Dick he was yesterday’s news. Murdock attached DiBiase, and Flair assisted by kneeing Ted in the back, knocking DiBiase to the floor at the Irish McNeil’s Boys Club. Murdock followed up, and rammed Ted head-first into the steel ring post, followed by a "brain-buster" to the floor and DiBiase was cut with torrents of blood gushing out. I’ll never forget Ross exclaiming, “He is split wide open,” as pools of blood were visible around DiBiase on the ringside floor. As the show went to commercial, it appeared there would be no World Title match due to Ted’s condition.

Dick Murdoch delivers a "brain-buster" to Ted DiBiase on the concrete floor.
NWA champion Ric Flair watches from the ring.

After the commercial break, a somber Cowboy Bill Watts, the President of Mid-South Wrestling, told the viewers from the dressing room that Ted DiBiase was BADLY lacerated in the forehead and had arterial damage and that a pressure bandage had been applied to allow him to compete against Flair for the World Title. Watts advised parental discretion for further viewing, because if the bandage came off the match could become very gory. As it turned out, it did…and it did.

Ted DiBiase

A wobbly DiBiase entered the ring, with a huge white bandage covering his head, already starting to turn red because of the tremendous blood out-flow. Flair immediately tore into the damaged DiBiase, but Ted actually showed some offense that was highlighted by announcer Joel Watts. However, Ross kept it real for the viewers, noting, “But DiBiase is SOOOO weak; and he is bleeding profusely from that tremendous laceration to the head…a classic battle here on Mid-South Wrestling.”

After a high vertical suplex from Flair, the pressure bandage popped off and Ric went for the pin. J.R. ecstatically shouted, “He kicked out…DiBiase kicked out!” The studio audience was raucous for this bout which Jim hastened to add as Ted threw Flair in the corner and Flair did his patented flip. “There’s not an empty seat in the house and they’re all standing …and Flair, up and over,” Ross exclaimed.

As the match neared its conclusion, J.R. made it clear that the crowd in attendance was seeing a whale of an athletic contest between two warriors. Ross continued, “They sense something here! They’re seeing something, a tremendous athletic contest between two supreme athletes!” Were they ever! It soon appeared that referee Alfred Neely was going to stop the bout because of Ted’s blood-loss, but DiBiase persevered. “Ted DiBiase, a tremendous athlete, and Flair is having to reach down into the recesses with everything he’s got,” Jim expertly concluded.

Dick Murdoch

Somehow, the dazed DiBiase was able to put Flair’s finisher, the figure four, on the Nature Boy! Ross analyzed, “It might be the one maneuver that DiBiase can actually capitalize on. But Flair’s in the ropes, and the referee has to break it. If Flair would’ve been in the center of the ring I GUARANTEE you we would’ve had a new World’s Champion!” When Ted tried to reapply the figure four, Flair was able to push DiBiase over the top rope into the steel barricade that surrounded the ring. Ross, almost trying to will Ted back into the ring pleaded, “Can he get up? Can DiBiase get up? The biggest match of his life! He’s lost SO much blood…that’s it…the 10 count. Ted DiBiase…what a tremendous effort by Ted DiBiase!”

Just when I thought I could finally catch my breath, lo and behold Dick Murdock came back to ringside and attacked the fallen DiBiase. Jim exclaimed, “NO Murdock, NO! Come on, Murdock! My God, he’s brain busted him on the concrete!!” When Ross finally sent the TV viewers to commercial, I was completely spent! As Jim would do throughout his announcing career, he was able to build up the talent in the ring, and its accompanying storyline. In this case, a valiant Ted DiBiase turning into a fan favorite by his “never give up” performance. Due to Jim’s efforts, it was almost an afterthought that Ted technically “lost” the World Title match.

Between my plane ride and Jim Ross’ description of one of the wildest TV wrestling matches ever, I don’t think I slept a wink that night in late 1985! And as thoughts of my harrowing airplane flight subsided, I was left with the memory of Jim’s call of the World Title bloodbath on KTUL as my most lasting recollection of that wild Saturday night. Surely in Charlotte at Fanfest, there will be a lot more Jim Ross memories talked about from the past…and the creation of many new ones with his legions of fans.

For more on the NWALegends.com Fanfest in Charlotte, click here.
Follow Jim Ross on Twitter @JRsBBQ and on his website at jrsbarbq.com