Ted DiBiase (25 page)

After we visited in Amarillo, I didn't see Bret again until I started working for Vince. Unfortunately, we didn't wrestle each other that often because we were both heels. We wrestled once in Los Angeles and it was probably one of the best matches I ever had in World Wrestling Federation. Bret had great technical skills and ring psychology. Bret was one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of World Wrestling Federation.

About a month before
WrestleMania IX
, my grandma was rushed to the hospital. I hopped on a plane to Tucson and prayed that she would still be alive when I arrived. She was. As I prayed for and held the hands of the woman who had raised me, hundreds of images scrolled through my mind—from the fun times I had hanging out at her restaurant to the constant love she gave me.

Grandma was my anchor.

I couldn't believe she was dying. Despite the fact that Grandma continued to fight for a couple more months at home, she eventually slipped into a coma. As she lay there, I kept saying, “Grandma, I love you.” I'll never forget the look in her beautiful eyes. She eventually passed away at the age of eighty-nine.

Although 1992 and 1993 were exciting years for me in wrestling, the grind of the schedule and lifestyle affected me personally. Being a champion and at the top of my game gave me fame and fortune. But it would end up being one of the worst times in my life. At the pinnacle of my success, I was personally out of control. I let all the notoriety and money go to my head. My life was wrestling, drinking, and women. In fact, after
WrestleMania VIII
, I partied all night long. I didn't even sleep. That next morning, I took a limousine to the Detroit airport to begin our European tour. I called Melanie to check in. It was then that she confronted me about my infidelity.

I had to face up and take a long, hard look at myself. Because of my indiscretions, I put in jeopardy everything that I worked my tail off for. I disrespected myself, my wife, and my family. It was time to take responsibility and drastically change my life.

HAL SANTOS (friend and pastor):

I have known Teddy for some thirty years and he is one of my best friends. But in March of 1992, I had to be more than his friend. As a pastor, Teddy called me and told me that he really messed up with Melanie. After Teddy confided in me, I hung up with him, telling him to call me back in about an hour. He was in Europe at the time. I then called Melanie. I guess she thought it was Ted calling, because she hung up on me. I finally got her to listen to me and we chatted. She was very hurt. Teddy called me back and I said, “Okay, Teddy. I spoke to Melanie. She is very hurt but agreed to meet with us at my house in Fairview Heights, Illinois, tomorrow. You need to come home so we can work on getting your marriage back together.” Ted was at my house the next evening.

As we sat in the living room of my home I said to Ted,
“Whatever you do, before you say anything, the Bible states that the truth will set you free. It doesn't say it is painless. But it does guarantee that if you speak the truth, God will help you.” They started talking it through and started working it out. Their boys came to the house a few days later and they stayed about three weeks at my place. We even took a trip to Chicago with my youth group. It was at that time that Teddy made a commitment, with his wife and family, to Jesus Christ. After lots of counseling, prayer, trust, and time, Teddy and Melanie worked out all their problems.

About three months before
WrestleMania IX
, I walked into Vince McMahon's office and gave him my notice that I had planned to leave World Wrestling Federation. I really respected Vince and he had done so much for me and my career. But my faith wasn't strong enough to keep me from being dragged back into my old ways. My marriage was at stake. After a lengthy conversation, Vince accepted my decision to leave and wished me the best of luck.

My last match as a wrestler for World Wrestling Federation was at

Razor trying to break my hold.

SummerSlam
in August of 1993. Since I was leaving to get my personal life back in order, I once again helped turn another heel into a babyface. So for the next few weeks I.R.S. and I had tag-team and single matches against Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid. The program and my wrestling career with World Wrestling Federation ended in front of twenty-four thousand people at the Palace in Auburn Hills. It was there that Razor Ramon pinned me around the eight-minute mark.

MIKE ROTUNDO (I.R.S.):

Ted and I were working a program against the Natural Disasters (Typhoon & Earthquake). For some reason, Typhoon didn't show up for the match. So I worked a singles match against Earthquake (John Tenta). The finish was supposed to have Ted come down and throw in my metal suitcase so I could use it to knock out Earthquake. I don't know why, but Ted ended up coming in late. While Earthquake got ready to cover me for the pin, Ted was making his way down to the ring. Since Ted wasn't close enough to stop the count, he just slung the metal briefcase into the ring, hitting the referee, Earl Hebner, in the head. The referee wasn't completely knocked out cold, but after he disqualified me, he left the ring slightly loopy. After the match, the doctors had to tend to Earl.

Ted and I always had a lot of fun and laughs on the road. One time, however, our enjoyment cost Ted some of his own money. After a show in upstate New York, Ted and I missed our exit off the freeway as we headed to our hotel. It was dark and there wasn't anybody on the road. After a few miles, we saw a sign that showed the next exit was some thirty miles away. We didn't see anyone on the road. Ted decided to make a U-turn. About a half mile down the road, we heard and saw the blue lights. A New York state trooper pulled us over and issued Ted a ticket.

Avoiding the lifestyle I had embraced by wrestling in Japan seemed like a good idea. I hadn't counted on injuring my neck. I had to be at home for at least three months, with nothing to do. I was concerned about my future, but I was very happy to be at home with my wife and kids. I was able to enjoy the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's holidays with my family.

All of my financial obligations were being met. Due to good investments and savings, I had a steady income. But it was nominal
and I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to start working again. I was having fun. I was busy spending all my time with my three boys, Michael, seventeen, Teddy, twelve, and Brett, seven. They were growing up way too fast and I had lots of lost time to make up for.

That Thanksgiving, our family spent a wonderful week with my in-laws on their ninety-acre wooded home right outside of Crystal Springs, Mississippi. My in-laws are fantastic people and my father-in-law was like a dad to my kids when I was on the road. The boys call him Pop. That weekend Pop, the boys, and I had a great time fishing and hunting. It was quite amazing to watch them teach me how to properly bait a hook and aim a rifle.

I was sitting in a deer stand one early morning, and I was taken aback by the quietness of the woods. As I stared into the open sky, I became overwhelmed by the moment. The tranquillity brought forth a sense of inner peace. It made me realize that I needed to relax more often and stop to smell the roses. Ever since 1975, I had been going nonstop. The moment of reflection struck a chord and I realized I had missed out on way too much with my family.

But after the holidays, I started getting antsy. I was enjoying the time off, but I just couldn't do nothing. Because of my neck injury, I knew that my

My three sons (from left to right): Teddy, Michael, and Brett.

days in the ring were over. But I figured that I could do something else. I sat down with Melanie and kicked around a variety of ideas. The one thing that we agreed on was for me to pursue a career doing voice-over work. Like my biological father, Ted, I have a very deep, bass voice. People have told me for years that I would be good at providing voice-overs in radio and TV commercials. So I decided to go to Hollywood and pursue a career.

While making all the arrangements, I decided to call my good friend who lives in Los Angeles, Rich Minzer. He worked in the corporate offices of Gold's Gym. If anyone wanted to open a Gold's Gym franchise, Rich was the contact person. He had lots of friends in the wrestling business and would come to many of the matches.

I told Rich I was going out to L.A. to try my hand at voice-over work and was going to take some lessons. I also wanted to see if he would train me and help me get back into shape. While I was relaxing over the holidays, I had put on about twenty pounds. I didn't go to the gym or watch what I was eating.

I also called my biological father, Ted. I told him that I was coming into town, and he insisted that I stay with him. For years, I had unsuccessfully tried to get him to move to Mississippi. He had a nice one-bedroom apartment located about six blocks from where he worked at the ABC studios. He loved living in Los Angeles and he enjoyed the Hollywood lifestyle.

I arrived in Los Angeles in January of 1994 and enrolled in voice-over classes. Although I wanted Melanie and the boys to be with me, they couldn't be there because of school. I was going to miss her and the kids deeply, but I had to do something to make a living and provide for them.

I started working out with Rich. He introduced me to another trainer, Francois, who performed Shiatsu on me, a form of Japanese therapy of physical and energy rebalance. It raised my energy level and increased my flexibility. I also did extensive strength training and cardiovascular work. After one month of training and watching my caloric intake, I lost all the weight that I had gained over the holidays. In fact, I was in the best shape of my life.

I found out that a Hollywood career would be challenging and very competitive. To get a chance in the voice-over profession, I was going to have to invest a lot of energy, resources, and time. It would be like starting an
entirely new career. I was going to turn forty, and I wasn't about to commit the next five years of my life to pursuing something that might never materialize at the expense of my family and faith. I decided voice-over work wasn't in my future.

I spent a lot of quality time with Ted. At the time, he had emphysema and was on oxygen twenty-four hours a day. His mobility was limited and my stay gave me an opportunity to help him out around the house, running errands and driving him around town. He took me out to celebrate my fortieth birthday. I was even there when the 1994 Northridge earthquake hit.

On January 17, I was awakened by the shaking of the apartment building. After getting my bearings, I rolled over and grabbed both sides of the bed. While holding on, the bed's headboard fell off. It hit me right on the head. By the time I realized what had happened, it was over. Although I had felt a couple of tremors while I was wrestling in Japan, this was my first major earthquake experience. The damage was widespread. Sections of the freeways had collapsed, as did parking structures and office buildings.

After the earthquake, I immediately checked on Ted to make sure he was all right. We were both fine. Although the apartment building didn't suffer any structural damage, the inside was a complete mess. Dishes and cups were broken and the contents of the refrigerator were on the floor. The TV broke, as did most of his appliances. It was a good thing that I was there, because in his condition there would have been no way he could have cleaned up that mess. It was an unforgettable experience.