The real art of what we do, at least back in the old-school days, was improv. If you were a great worker, you were able to adapt and that skill developed over time because of all the traveling and working in different areas. You learned how to read a crowd.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

You've got to have new stars and you need people to pass the torch to build those stars.

You look at all the athletes who come out of high school and college into professional sports. And they hit it big, they make money, and instead of saving their money, instead of doing the right thing, they go out and buy the biggest house, and the finest car, and then they get hurt, and it's gone.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Sports Money Car

My first WrestleMania, which was WrestleMania 4, was a milestone.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

WrestleMania Wrestle Which

I was supposed to be the mouthpiece and financial backer of the NWO but what really happened as this thing got hotter, Eric Bischoff saw where he could slip himself into the role that he hired me for. And that's what he did.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Where Up Thing

The Million Dollar Man was to professional wrestling what Ebenezer Scrooge is to Christmas. He was like a rich bully. He bullied everybody with his money, and his motto was 'Everybody's got a price.'

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Money Christmas Wrestling

I was fortunate. I probably could have saved more money, too. But, it's like, even though I'm not really the Million Dollar Man, I have a retirement account, I saved some money, and I did some right things.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Money Men UN

I really spent the better part of the first 12 years of my career wrestling for Mid South. Fond memories, but a grueling territory.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Car Art Years

It's just one of those things. When you're a wrestler you're thinking about one guy, yourself, your character and whatever guy it is you're working with. When you're a writer and you're kind of in a booking type role, you're thinking about the entire roster so you're thinking about wrestling 24 hours a day.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Work Yourself Yours

I have wrestled in front of 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium, and that is a pretty big thrill.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Wrestle Thrill T

I think with a lot of comics, their gift is improv. They don't have a script. They'll have a couple of good ideas they start with, and go from there. And it's the same in wrestling.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Good Art Wrestling

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.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Art Yin Vince Mcmahon

I was smarter when I was 15, 16 than when I was 18 to 26, because instead of caving in to being cool, I stuck close to my convictions and I was rewarded.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

War Cool Art

We have all said things in anger in a moment that we don't mean.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Mom Men Anger

I remember when I was in Mid-South and they used to tape interviews every Wednesday morning, and I wasn't required to go to the interviews because I was a rookie and I wasn't cutting any interviews - I was a curtain jerker. But I went every Wednesday anyway because I was going to watch those guys and I was going to glean from them.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Morning Wednesday Wed

No matter how many times you get beat, you don't mind seeing them get beat again. That's what a good heel is in our business. I think JBL did it just as good as anybody.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Time Good Business

Some of the top grossing movies now are children's animated features, they're making more money than action movies. And you'd never find a Hollywood A-lister years ago doing voice-overs for those films and they do now. You know why? Because everybody's got a price.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Movies Money You

I travel all over the United States basically in evangelism, speaking in churches, speaking in prisons, speaking in rehab centers wherever I can basically sharing my story of redemption and the turnaround in my life.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Travel Life Wherever

I feel like my era was an era in which guys learned their trade the old school way.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Which Way Trade

I did make 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin the Million Dollar Champion on Raw. You know I saw the talent in Steve and I remember telling him - because a lot of people were telling him 'You need to do more' - I remember telling him, 'Don't do anything different, because what you do is believable, it's real.'

Ted DiBiase Sr.

You Were Use

Being a good worker in WWE is the worst curse that you can have. Instead of being given the title for being a great worker, they give it to someone who isn't and have that person work with the good worker, so they look good in the ring.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Work Great Good

The road can become a very lonely place. It's not what it's cracked up to be. Of course, it's what you make it.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

My son wanted to become a wrestler because I was a wrestler. I was his hero. I didn't want them to wrestle. It was the same reason my dad didn't want me to wrestle. It's not the wrestling. It's the lifestyle that goes with it and the demands it puts on you. It's not so bad for single guy.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

When I first went to Georgia Championship Wrestling, the promoter at the time Jim Barnett brought in Robert Fuller, who later became Colonel Rob Parker in WCW, as the booker. Everybody has their own style and way of doing things, and I was just not impressed with Robert Fuller. As a booker. As a talent he was fine.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I tell young guys, you need to build accountability into your life to avoid the pitfalls.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

My father died when I was 15, and my dad was a professional wrestler but as well as a national amateur champion at the University of Nebraska.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Reality is, I could have made Japan a career. I could have just gone to Japan and I'd have been great.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I taught my boys it is easy to follow a crowd. Anybody can do that. It takes a man to stand up for your principles. You cut your own path in life. Chase after whatever your heart's desire is, and instead of following the crowd, let somebody else follow you. That takes a little guts.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

The owner of Mid-South Wrestling, 'Cowboy' Bill Watts was and is extremely intelligent and unbelievable at understanding the psychology of our industry and I probably learned more from him then just about anybody.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I am a minister and I preach forgiveness all time.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I have the love and respect of my wife and my kids. I could look in the mirror and I'm happy with that guy now. He's okay. He's not a schmuck.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Mid-South is what started my whole career.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I was ordained into the ministry through my local church in February of 2000. I had already been doing a lot of speaking. So basically, my vocation in life changed and I went from a professional wrestler to a itinerate preacher.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I was not a big fan of the Attitude Era. Some of the things they did were very good and very funny but I was never a fan of the sleazy stuff.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Dusty Rhodes was a great athlete. Actually, he was a baseball player as well. He played football but he played baseball. That was his number one sport. He wasn't always heavyset like he is. But Dusty Rhodes, The American Dream he just gets charisma.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I always looked like an athlete but I didn't look like Charles Atlas.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Wrestling is sports entertainment for sure. But to be really good at what we do you have to be both an athlete and an entertainer. And actually, if you're going to be lacking in one, then be more of an entertainer and less of an athlete.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I didn't understand Warrior. When you come into my business, but you join the family, and that's something that Jim never did. It didn't seem to me that he was grateful for the things that people did for him.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

To be in this business and be a star, not just be on the card, to be a star puts a demand on your time.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Usually a manager is put with someone who has got good rings skills, but is not necessarily good on the mic. So I have no idea why they put me with Steve Austin, he didn't need any help!

Ted DiBiase Sr.

By the time Vince McMahon called upon me to become this character, the Million Dollar Man, I had already been wrestling for 12 years.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

The real art of what we do, at least back in the old-school days, was improv. If you were a great worker, you were able to adapt and that skill developed over time because of all the traveling and working in different areas. You learned how to read a crowd.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

If there was a regret, the one thing I didn't get to do before he died, was bury the hatchet with Ultimate Warrior.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

There's people that have labored and labored and it takes them a long time before they get that break and then they get it. Then sometimes, I've seen guys with a lot of talent never get it. It's the nature of the beast.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Well, you know, I was a top heel in the company for a long time and whether I was moved over to a tag team with Mike Rotunda, you know, we were a top heel team.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Well, the mission statement of Heart of David is that we're a ministry of evangelism and encouragement. Evangelism meaning that I evangelize I travel on a weekly basis to churches not only churches but I find myself doing a lot more men's events, I talk to a lot more men and I go to a lot of prisons.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Wrestling is an art form.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Well, I think everyone would agree that Vince McMahon, although he doesn't get it right every time, he gets it right most of the time, and he is a marketing genius.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

I walked away from a lot, I could have stayed in the industry in some capacity and had a fairly cushy income, and I chose to follow God. If it happened all over again, I would do that same thing.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

So I went to WCW for three years and quite frankly, it was the most miserable three years of my life in terms of business.

Ted DiBiase Sr.

Bobby Heenan to me, he was the best. Of all the guys that have been managers that can pick up a microphone and talk, he was a natural and so good. His character like mine was so hated, it was like a little weasel.

Ted DiBiase Sr.