On a recent edition of his “Everybody’s Got A Pod” podcast, Ted DiBiase Sr. discussed leaving Bill Watts’ Mid-South Wrestling promotion for Georgia Championship Wrestling, how he was written off, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On returning to Georgia after Mid-South Wrestling run: “Well, I think one of the reasons that may have played into this, too, is, of course, Melanie and Melanie and I get married and in Georgia, I was home every night. I mean, we would go and wrestle and come back home. So I came back and slept in my own bed every night. Now, this wasn’t the case in Mid-South. I think some of my reason for going back was to take Melanie back to a place where she was comfortable. She knew her way around. She had friends. And that was I’m sure that was one of my major reasons for going back. By this time, I think I had gotten the deal in Japan. I didn’t mind making less money in Georgia because going to Japan made up for it. And so I was making like, what, 2 or 3, sometimes four trips a year? To Japan. And so when we went back to Atlanta, by this time, Melanie’s dad had retired, and they went back to Mississippi, where her mother was raised. You know, her mother was raised in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, which is about 40 miles south of Jackson. We went back and instead of getting an apartment, we lived in the home Melanie basically grew up in. And her father was an executive with Sears. And he went all over the country building Sears buildings. He was like the guy in charge of all this stuff. But anyway, that’s why we went back to Atlanta. But me going to Japan and then coming back and having more time that way, that helped a lot.”
On whether he negotiated with Jim Barnett: “No, I don’t think I ever had more than two conversations with Jim Barnett, I mean, basically, he was told or Jim Barnett told whoever the booker was and the booker at first was Ollie. But then, when Ollie left and Robert Fuller came in, Jim Barnett told Robert Fuller, Get Ted DiBiase over. There’s a chance he could be the next NWA world champion. So Robert Fuller and getting me over got himself over because he made us a tag team. I like Robert personally, but he was horrible.”
On being kept off Mid-South Wrestling TV right before his departure: “Well well, yeah. I mean, if Bill knows, obviously if Bill knows I’m leaving, then why invest anything more in you if you’re leaving? In my estimation, Bill Watts is one of the brightest bookers and somebody who understands the psychology of what we do better than just about anybody. I know. I mean, Bill, Bill’s a brilliant guy. You don’t have to speak with him very long to tell just how she’s really he’s got it.”
