Recently WWE Hall Of Famer Ted DiBiase did an interview on the Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast. DiBiase discussed retiring from professional wrestling, not working with his son, and how he met Virgil. You can check out the highlights here:
His retirement and not working with his son:
“Yeah, I mean, I really didn’t have any trouble because people ask me that all the time, they say, ‘don’t you miss it? I mean, man, you were the guy.’ And it’s like, I had a 19-year active career and overall I was in the industry as a full-time participant for 25 years. That’s long enough. And when I transitioned out of this, into the ministry, the ministry began to consume me in the same way. And so, I kind of feel for the guys because there [are] a lot of guys that have a real hard time making that transition, but I didn’t.
“I didn’t. And people ask me all the time, ‘don’t you miss it? Don’t you ever just wish you could get back in there again?’ and I go, ‘I really don’t.’ I say, ‘now maybe if I see a really good match or I see a young guy and I see a lot of talent, I go, ‘man, if I could get in there and have a match with him, it would help him a little bit.’ Something like that. But wanting to be the guy again? No problem. There was one [up-and-coming star he regrets not working] for sure, my son.”
Meeting Virgil:
“Well, actually, I can’t claim Virgil because I didn’t even know Virgil until they introduced me to him in the office, so I’m not sure who found Virgil. But they hired Virgil. I mean, he had the look and he had the guns. And I guess that’s about all I can say about that! Yeah, I mean, here’s the thing about [Virgil]. He wasn’t a bad guy. I mean, he showed up on time. He didn’t smoke or drink or do drugs. I’ve been told that he likes to gamble, but other than that… But I did realize that [he] wasn’t the smartest book on the shelf. No, not at all. And what we could’ve done if Virgil had some really, really good or decent wrestling skills, we could have had a heck of a run, but that wasn’t in the cards.”
You can listen to DiBiase on Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast by clicking this link here.
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions
