Ted DiBiase Recalls His In-Ring Career Being Over, Becoming A Manager, More

On the latest episode of his “Everybody’s Got A Pod” show, WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase spoke about transitioning from a wrestler to a manager in 1995.

In 1993, DiBiase quietly hung up his boots after sustaining an injury to two cervical discs in his neck.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On his start as a manager in 1995 for WWE: “I was getting used to it. I mean, obviously, the thing I was most concerned with always was wrestling. You know, being an in-ring talent and everything and of course, you know nothing lasts forever, and a lot of people even said, you know Ted you still had some good years left if you wanted them and hurt in terms of in-ring and and and I knew that.”

On his dad passing away when he was young: “But you know my dad was 45 years old when he had a heart attack in Lubbock, TX and died. Now Mikey be asked, he was not my biological father but he was the dad that raised me and I lost him at the age of 15. He was 45. He died of what they think is all arteriosclerosis hardening of the arteries. Of course, they don’t. They didn’t know and you know at that time a lot of the things they know about the heart and other things. But you know he had had a couple of checkups and I think he knew. We all think that he knew that something wasn’t right. But you know he wasn’t ready to. He was ready to quit. I mean, in his own words, he saw that I had some football talent my freshman year and in Omaha. And he said, ‘You know what, we’re going to go back.’ I’m going to go back and wrestle for the Funks at Texas. And let you finish high school there because he knew that Texas high school football there’s none better. And see yeah, I can get a scholarship somewhere but that was his thoughts And you know we went back that summer, and in July he had a heart attack diet. So I guess part of me was like.

On wrestlers wrestling for too long: “I’m not gonna stay too long. You know, and there and there’s there. There are some guys and a couple of guys, and you know, and I won’t mention names because I love them. They are still wrestling or are still trying to wrestle, and it just breaks my heart. It breaks my heart when I see him because they look terrible. I mean they don’t look like they should be in a wrestling ring at this point in time of their life and it just, but I understand, you know, as much as I hate it when I see it, I get it. I understand why they do it.”

On how he came to terms with his in-ring career being over: “I mean, there’s a lot of people that go to work every day, Marcus and and you know what they go and some people like what they do but not everybody likes what they do. There are a lot of people who go to work. Every day simply because they have to put food on the table and they don’t necessarily love what they do. I absolutely loved and dreamed of wrestling. I mean I was a kid who grew up in it, watched his dad, watched other guys and from the get-go. I was determined. Well, you don’t need a four-year degree to do it.”

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