ted dibiase
Photo Credit: Price of Fame

Ted DiBiase Explains How The ‘Million Dollar Man’ Gimmick & Title Originated

Ted DiBiase has been a regular character on NXT recently and even brought back the Million Dollar Championship which is currently held by LA Knight.

Speaking with ‘Bullet Cast‘, DiBiase explained how the character got started. Ted said “When they showed me what the dollar sign would look like, I said, ‘that’s okay.’ Initially, the one that they had, if you look at the belt, there is the great big one, and then there is a smaller one. The smaller one was going to be the main plate. I said, ‘That won’t work.’ They made it bigger. I tell everybody, Vince McMahon created this character. When I sat and talked with Vince McMahon, he said, ‘Ted, I have an idea that’s never been done in wrestling before and you’re the guy that fits the bill. You interview well and carry yourself well.”

However, Vince was reluctant to provide more details until he locked down Ted DiBiase long term. Continuing on, Ted said “Vince said, ‘Until you sign a contract with me, I can’t tell you what it is because if I tell you, I’ve given away a great idea and you can run somewhere else to do it.’ I had to have enough confidence in Vince to say, ‘Okay, I’m your guy’ and that’s what I did. When he laid it out for me and said I would be flying first-class everywhere and staying at the finest hotels and having limo service… pinch me! He said, ‘I think I can make you one of our hottest deals of all time.’ I said, ‘In the dressing room and out.’ There might have been a little jealousy, but most guys looked at it like, ‘If I had that opportunity, I’d take it.’ I already had a lot of respect from my peers for my ability in the ring.”

Speaking more about his return to TV, Ted said “I’ve had fun with it. The Cameron Grimes story, he apparently got rich overnight with Gamestop going through the roof and he was trying to do my schtick and apparently not doing it well, so I came back on the scene. We had some fun with it. All I can say is, stay tuned. It ain’t over.” Check out the entire interview below.

Thanks to Fightful for providing all transcriptions.

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