by Ted DiBiase
Before leaving, I spoke to Jim Ross. I have known Jim since my MidSouth days and we are good friends. He is the lead announcer for WWE and is, bar none, the best wrestling announcer ever to call a match. I closed the door behind Jim and explained to him my concerns about the position. He understood and bluntly said, “Ted, this is a job that will keep you up at night. You’re constantly thinking about what to do, where the angle can go, what will happen with it in the long term. I know that if you really want to do the job, and your heart is in it, you will succeed. But keep in mind, you have to really want to do it.”
As I headed to the airport, I had mixed feelings about the position. I was very happy serving in my current position as a preacher and spreading the word of God throughout my ministry. On the other hand, I was not the Million Dollar Man in real life. The pay of a preacher is nominal. The position would offer a better salary and a great benefits package. It would also allow me the opportunity to continue preaching on my off days. I was intrigued by the opportunity. I had done almost everything in the wrestling business. The position would now allow me to have done it all in professional wrestling.
I will always have a place in my heart for the wrestling business. Despite the grind and temptations of the road, I guess my love for the business is why I kept going back into wrestling over and over again. It had been an integral part of my life; once it’s in your blood, you never lose the desire to be a part of the industry.
While waiting for my flight home to Jackson, I made a few calls. I told Melanie about the interview and my reservations. She was very supportive and reminded me, “Teddy, you have the credentials to do a great job. You were one of the best wrestlers ever in WWE. If you really want to do it, you can.” She boosted me up some more and told me not to sell myself short. I needed to hear that because for whatever reason, I sometimes have a problem with self-confidence.
I also called Shawn Michaels. Shawn and I are very close friends. Our friendship goes back to when he broke into the business in the Mid-South territory. I remember the first time I saw him in the dressing room. He was very young and had a real baby face. He was extremely quiet and respected the veterans in the room. He watched and learned from those who were in the ring. Over the years, I have watched the Heartbreak Kid grow in the business from a tag-team wrestler to one of the greatest workers in the history of our profession.
In the prime of my wrestling career in World Wrestling Federation, Shawn and I would regularly drink beer and chat about the business. We wrestled on the same cards together throughout the country. Because of our interaction, we became good friends. He would often get frustrated because he felt the company wasn’t utilizing his talents. After one of his vent sessions I told him, “Shawn, there is one thing that this business will never deny and that is talent. The cream will always rise to the top. You are talented and your time will come. There are all types of politics involved in this business. Sooner or later you will get your shot. Believe me, don’t give up and keep going. Your time will come.”
SHAWN MICHAELS:
I met Teddy in the Mid-South territory, which was where I first broke into the business. He was the top heel. I didn’t talk too much back then and kept to myself, respecting the veterans. During that time, I was a jobber and got beat up a lot. But I will never forget the match I had on TV against Ted. I only did two moves—a sunset flip and a small package. But Teddy worked the match in such a way that it was probably the best match for my career in the territory. Ted gave me so much feedback and helped me to understand why things were to be done in the ring. For me at such an early stage of my career to have someone like Teddy take time out to teach me speaks volumes about him.
I shared my heart with Shawn and told him my concerns about the position with the company. “Shawn, I just don’t know about this opportunity. There is a part of me that says I can do it and another part that says I’m not cut out for it.”
“Ted, you have to follow your heart. I think you can do it. Just keep in mind, however, it is a very demanding position. The folks on the creative team work more than people give them credit for. You know I would love to have you working here. Just pray about it. I am sure you will make the correct decision.”
SHAWN MICHAELS:
I supported Teddy being part of the creative team and a producer. To work in those capacities, Teddy had to try to teach a generation that simply didn’t have an appreciation for the business. It was hard for him to find a connection with the talent. I think he also felt the business had changed.
He felt that everything that he was good at, perhaps, did not apply. And that really wasn’t true. To me, that is why he never got comfortable in those positions. He believed it had changed, and in fact it hadn’t. All the basics that he knew so well and could do so well were just tough for him to relay to the younger generation. Teddy took that as a failure on his part, but really it was a failure of the generation to appreciate the basics and foundations that will always be a part of professional wrestling.
At thirty thousand feet, my mind continued to explore. Although Stephanie had told me that I would be on the road four days a week and home the other three, I began to wonder if I could be away from my family for even that duration. I had enjoyed spending time, for the past six years, with Melanie and the boys. I wasn’t quite sure that I wanted to break the continuity.
By now, my two oldest boys were interested in becoming professional wrestlers. Although I wished they wouldn’t pursue that career route, I was supportive of their desires. Melanie told me that if they offered me the position, and I accepted, it would be a great opportunity to be with my boys in the business. I could be there to watch over them and help influence and guide their careers. It all made sense, and the pros outweighed the cons. I made the decision that if they offered me the position, I would accept.
About two weeks passed and I hadn’t heard anything. I started to wonder if they had chosen someone else. Then one day in early March, I received a phone call in my office while I was preparing for an upcoming speech to the Promise Keepers. It was Stephanie. “Ted, we decided to choose you for the advisor to the creative team position. If you are still interested, we would love to have you be part of our company.”
Without hesitation, I said, “Yes!”
We talked about the work schedule and some of my other prior commitments. Stephanie understood and knew I had to honor them. We settled on a starting date of April 6, 2005, three days after WrestleMania XXI in Los Angeles. Meantime, Stephanie gave me my first assignment: to start watching the wrestling matches on TV and familiarize myself with the WWE characters.
As I watched the shows on TV, everything seemed so foreign. It was like watching a different business. It was more entertainment than when I was wrestling. I watched a two-hour show and only saw four or five matches. It wasn’t a wrestling show anymore. There was a lot more drama and scripted talking.
The one thing that stood out was the talent; they all looked the same. Everybody was built like a muscle head. They had tattoos all over their bodies and had bald heads. I wondered what had happened to all the characters in the business. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon created characters like the Million Dollar Man, Koko B. Ware, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, the Bushwhackers, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Yokozuna, I.R.S., Undertaker, and Hulk Hogan. Everybody was different. But now, everybody looked the same. It was too much of the same thing. New characters were needed.
When I reported it to the creative team, they concurred with my observation. The creative team was comprised of some very bright people. They were all young college graduates who had some experience in Hollywood script writing. The writers were wrestling fans and very energetic.
The wrestling industry had changed and WWE was not a wrestling company anymore. It was a sports entertainment company. The writers are needed to create the best product on the planet. You could tell that they really loved the business. A couple of them just amazed me because they knew all my matches, specific
dates, and other things about my career that I had long forgotten.
However, you still need people in the business to help polish up the wrestling side. The creative script writers knew how to write and put stories together, but they didn’t know the nuts and bolts of wrestling. They had never been in the ring, and only those who had been in the ring could truly appreciate and understand a wrestling match. This is why producers are needed to help put together the matches.
I noticed that there was definitely a difference in the level of talent within the company. Besides the top guys—Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Undertaker, and Eddie Guerrero—the others didn’t have the same level of believability. The success of professional wrestling is based on believability. Although the fans know it is staged, the talent still has to be able to make it seem as real as possible, to tell a story, to make people want to watch and follow the angle. The talent roster was weak.
The producers had to map out matches from bell to bell. It’s not because the talent was bad, but because they hadn’t been trained to be in-ring generals. Years ago, the talent would learn the craft by going from territory to territory. Today, there is nowhere for the talent to learn. To help with this shortcoming, WWE created developmental territories, one in Florida and another in Ohio. This is where wrestlers learn their craft from trainers like Steve Keirn and “Dr. Death” Steve Williams. But when they are called up to the big leagues, many are still raw and inexperienced, and the producers have to help them organize their matches.
John Cena is a talent who has dramatically improved over a short period of time. He is a product of WWE’s Ohio Valley developmental territory. I give John a tremendous amount of credit. He is an excellent athlete and an overall great person. When you are the champion, Vince runs you hard. Besides doing the wrestling matches and interviews, the champ also is the company’s chief spokesperson. There are media appearances, charity events, community activities—the list goes on and on. The champ is required to do whatever Vince asks of him, to help promote and market WWE.
I used to see John every day and we chatted quite frequently. “Hey, champ, how are you holding up, buddy?”
“I am doing okay.”
I continued, “Listen, you have to look at it like this: if you keep it up at this pace, you won’t have to worry about anything too much longer. You will be financially set for life.”
With a big grin, John smiled and said, “Ted, that’s the plan.”
I enjoyed working as a producer a lot more than being part of the creative team. Although Dusty Rhodes and Michael Hayes are good friends, and we had fun working together on the creative team, I was more comfortable being close to the in-ring action. For example, at WrestleMania 22 in Chicago, I was in charge of the Hardcore match between Mick Foley and Edge. It isn’t difficult to script a match when you are working with two great talents. I just listened to what they had to say as they laid out their match. They knew exactly what they wanted to do and it made sense. After working for a very exciting fifteen minutes, Edge defeated Mick after spearing him off the apron and through a flaming table outside the ring.
After a couple of months on the job, I knew it was something I couldn’t do. The reason being that I never did it. The art of wrestling is improvising. If one is really good at what he does, he does it instinctively. It is the main reason why I eventually failed in my position as a producer.
I also failed as an advisor to the creative team. I think creative writing is a gift. Throughout my entire wrestling career, I never came up with my own gimmicks. Guys like Bill Watts and Vince McMahon gave me my character. I was the actor. If someone told me what he wanted, I could make it happen in the ring and do it instinctively. I couldn’t become someone else’s character and help him put together his game plan.
ARN ANDERSON:
Teddy was a great performer and he wrestled on instinct and feel. He acted, reacted, and adjusted to the situation in the ring. He was an excellent worker and an in-ring general. He was always a gentleman and very knowledgeable. He was diverse in the ring and is probably one of the top twenty-five performers of all time.
Even though Teddy performed in the ring at the highest level, it didn’t necessarily mean that he could picture that and translate it to someone else. We work in a very specialized field. There are only a few people in the world who have an aptitude for this aspect of the business. Today, we have guys in the business who need lots of guidance, preparation, and training. Teddy wasn’t able to translate what he knew to the workers. It just didn’t work out. I didn’t consider it a failure. Rather, I think Teddy just got frustrated. Not everyone can be a producer. It doesn’t demean who he is, or what he has meant to the business.
STEVE KEIRN:
When Teddy came in as a producer, I don’t think he ever had any experience teaching anyone else in this business. He never taught or passed his trade on to anyone. Teddy was undoubtedly one of the greatest workers in the history of wrestling and could do anything in the ring. To turn around and explain how he did it, and how you could do what he did, was something that Teddy had never had experience in. He was put in a position where his job was to make the talent better. Teddy could see the mistakes, but he didn’t have the descriptive analysis to teach people that made those mistakes how not to make them again. He fumbled with this and eventually started to feel insecure. So he was man enough to admit not only to himself but to everyone else that he just wasn’t getting the job done.
MICHAEL HAYES:
Was Teddy born to be on the creative team? No. He was very creative in the ring during his career as a wrestler, but trying to communicate with kids today isn’t the same as in Teddy’s era. Being a producer is something that takes a lot of patience and it just didn’t come easy for him. He is not alone. The position is a never-ending job and there is never a finish line. Consequently, you never have any time to enjoy the success of victory.
Teddy also has that low voice, which at times was a hindrance when communicating with the production crew and getting the information to them in enough time. We always try to give the folks in the production truck a heads-up as to what is going to happen in the ring. We want to give them at least thirty to sixty seconds to get ready for a spot so they can have time to get their cameras in place. I think for the old-school guys like Teddy, it was hard to make the transition from the ring to calling the matches (it took me a long time to learn). In his matches and back in the old days, you just called your spots and did your moves as they happened. In today’s television world, that doesn’t give the camera operators and directors time to get ready for whatever is going to happen. Teddy just couldn’t make the transition.
I don’t know that Teddy was totally unsuccessful. I think he did have some victories. There is no doubt that he definitely improved from the time he got there to when he left the creative team. Teddy is used to succeeding. He never just passed at anything he had ever done. He wasn’t doing A work but C work. Teddy doesn’t like average. He certainly tried and gave it all he had. The job just isn’t meant for everybody.
MIKE ROTUNDO (I.R.S.):
I had just started out as a producer when Ted left the company. From talking with him, I think Ted just wasn’t comfortable working as a producer. It is an ever-changing and difficult job. You have to be able to translate to the talent what the creative team and production office wants.
Although Ted was uneasy in that capacity, he was probably one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of the business. He also has a big heart and I really enjoyed my time being around him.
I accepted my shortcomings and tried my best. I valued the company and appreciated the opportunity and the challenge. I was so frustrated that on a flight with Vince McMahon I shared my genuine concern and feelings. Vince listened and encouraged me to stick with it. “Ted, you remind me a lot of Ray Stevens.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ray was one of the greatest workers in the wrestling business. But when I asked him why he
did what he did in the ring, he couldn’t tell me.”
“Vince, you are absolutely right.”
For the next ten months, I continued serving as an advisor and producer. I had a few cameo appearances at some shows and was even part of the huge Legends Homecoming ceremony in Dallas. One day at a TV taping of SmackDown!, Stephanie called me into the office. I sensed by her teary eyes and tone that something was up. “Well, Ted, we gave you a chance as an advisor but things don’t seem to be working out.” She lightheartedly added, “I guess you were right, Ted. This advising to the creative team isn’t your forte.” We laughed. “But I spoke to Johnny and we are going to keep you on full-time as a producer.” I thanked Stephanie and deep down was quite relieved.
In December of 2005, I was stressed out. The pressure was tremendous. It had been a grueling year for me because I felt I wasn’t getting the job done. I felt like a stranger in a very familiar place. But I pressed on to perform well for the company.
JIM ROSS:
I think it would be challenging and not necessarily accurate for anyone to say that Ted’s tenure as a producer in WWE could be termed a “failure.” There was never a lack of effort or hard work on Ted’s behalf that I ever witnessed or heard anyone speak of. I do remember talking to Ted while he was on his visit to WWE to interview for the position. I could tell that he wasn’t sure that the job or role was going to fit him personally, but he seemed like he wanted to try it nonetheless. I told him that day in my office that coming back into the business full-time after such a long absence was going to be extremely challenging.