Ted DiBiase Jr.
Theodore Marvin DiBiase Jr. is an American retired professional wrestler and actor. He is best known for his tenure in WWE.
Part of the DiBiase wrestling family, he was trained by Chris Youngblood and Harley Race's Wrestling Academy and debuted in 2006. He won the Fusion Pro Tag Team Championship with his brother Mike DiBiase in February 2007, and also toured Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah. He signed a developmental contract with WWE in July 2007, and was assigned to their developmental facility, Florida Championship Wrestling, where he won the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship in December 2007. Due to injury, he relinquished the championship in January 2008. He made his WWE television debut on May 26, 2008, and quickly formed a tag team with Cody Rhodes. The duo won the World Tag Team Championship twice before forming The Legacy faction alongside Randy Orton. Following The Legacy's dissolution, DiBiase moved into singles competition and received the Million Dollar Championship from his father Ted DiBiase.
DiBiase left WWE in 2013 due to family commitments and other business pursuits. He continued to wrestle on the independent circuit until 2017. In 2020, he officially announced his retirement.
Early life
DiBiase was born on November 8, 1982, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was raised in Clinton, Mississippi. He knew fellow professional wrestler Christie Ricci as a child, as they attended a Sunday school class together. He graduated from Clinton High School in 2001. At Clinton, DiBiase was the football team's starting quarterback. He enrolled at Mississippi College in Clinton and was a starting wide receiver for Mississippi College's football team before leaving the squad following his freshman season. He also played soccer in college, and received awards in both sports. He graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Business Administration. During his time in college, DiBiase considered becoming a minister.Professional wrestling career
Early career (2006–2007)
DiBiase and his older brother Mike DiBiase, received professional wrestling training from Chris Youngblood in Amarillo, Texas, before going to train at Harley Race's Wrestling Academy. The DiBiase brothers made their professional wrestling debut on July 8, 2006, for World League Wrestling, the promotion run by Harley Race in Eldon, Missouri, in conjunction with the Wrestling Academy. On February 17, 2007, they won the Fusion Pro Tag Team Championship by defeating Raheem Rashaad and Juntsi. In early 2007, DiBiase also wrestled on tours in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he competed against wrestlers including the former GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, KENTA.World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2007–2013)
Florida Championship Wrestling (2007–2008)
In July 2007, DiBiase signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment and debuted in their training territory Florida Championship Wrestling. He made his FCW debut on August 4 in a tag team match, in which he and Jake Hager defeated Keith Walker and Heath Miller. In October, DiBiase became a member of the Next Generation Hart Foundation faction alongside Harry Smith, TJ Wilson, Nattie Neidhart, and Teddy Hart. He quickly separated from the group, however, and gained Maryse as a valet. On December 18, 2007, DiBiase defeated TJ Wilson to win the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship in New Port Richey, Florida. DiBiase, however, was unable to defend it due to an injury sustained, so he awarded the championship to his partner Heath Miller on January 19, 2008. As of March 2008, DiBiase had suffered from a multitude of injuries including sciatica, a fractured left knee, separated ribs, broken finger, and bone spurs in his elbow. Due to these injuries, DiBiase competed sporadically in FCW for the next few months, competing in both tag team and singles competition.The Legacy (2008–2010)
DiBiase made his WWE television debut as a villain on the May 26, 2008 episode of Raw, where he cut a promo about his intent to become a champion like his father, Ted DiBiase Sr., challenging the World Tag Team Champions, Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly. At the Night of Champions pay-per-view on June 29, DiBiase won the World Tag Team Championship in his first match in WWE, after Rhodes betrayed Holly, revealing himself to be DiBiase's partner. After holding the title for just over a month, they dropped it to John Cena and Batista on the August 4 episode of Raw. The following week, DiBiase and Rhodes used their rematch clause to defeat Batista and Cena to regain the titles.DiBiase and Rhodes were soon joined by Manu, forming a stable of multi-generation superstars. On the October 27 episode of Raw, DiBiase and Rhodes lost their title to CM Punk and Kofi Kingston. It was during this time that Randy Orton became linked to Rhodes, DiBiase, and Manu on television, criticizing them in a mentor-type role. On the November 3 episode of Raw, DiBiase was attacked by Orton, after he interfered in Orton's match. This storyline attack was to allow DiBiase to be written out of WWE storylines, so he could film the direct-to-video movie, The Marine 2.
File:The Legacy.jpg|right|thumb|alt=Three dark-haired men stand side-by-side in a wrestling ring with red ropes. The man in the center has tattoos on both his arms which are being raised in the air by the two men on either side of him. All three are wearing black wrestling tights.|DiBiase as a member of The Legacy with Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes
On the January 12, 2009, episode of Raw, DiBiase returned to aid Manu and Sim Snuka in attacking Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. Instead, however, DiBiase turned on them and helped Rhodes and Orton assault Manu and Snuka, thus joining The Legacy faction. As part of The Legacy, DiBiase entered the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble on January 25 in order to help Orton win, and lasted until the final four, before being eliminated by Triple H. Rhodes and DiBiase became involved in Orton's scripted rivalry with the McMahon family, helping him to attack Shane and Stephanie McMahon, and Stephanie's real-life husband, Triple H. DiBiase was also elevated to main event status as a result of joining The Legacy, competing in handicap and six-man tag team matches, as well as the occasional singles match against Orton's opponents and rivals. On April 26, at the Backlash pay-per-view, DiBiase, Rhodes, and Orton defeated Triple H, Batista, and Shane McMahon in a six-man tag team match, which, per the pre-match stipulation, resulted in Orton winning the WWE Championship. During WWE's tour of Australia in early July, DiBiase suffered an arm injury, but did not miss any time because of it. Throughout mid-2009, DiBiase and Rhodes continued to compete against and attack Orton's rivals, particularly Triple H, preventing him from earning a match for Orton's championship. As a result, Triple H reformed D-Generation X with Shawn Michaels and they defeated DiBiase and Rhodes at SummerSlam on August 23. DiBiase and Rhodes later defeated DX in a submissions count anywhere match at the Breaking Point pay-per-view on September 13, before losing to DX in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 4.
Tension between the members of The Legacy began building, when Orton attacked DiBiase and Rhodes for accidentally costing him a chance to win the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 31, 2010. On the February 1 episode of Raw, DiBiase defeated Mark Henry in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match, earning a chance to win the WWE Championship. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on February 21, he eliminated Orton from the Elimination Chamber match, but was eliminated by Kofi Kingston soon after. On the February 22 episode of Raw, Orton turned on The Legacy, believing they had a plan to turn on him, and in retaliation, they attacked Orton the following week. As a result, the three competed in a triple threat match at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28 in which Orton defeated Rhodes and DiBiase.
Million Dollar Champion (2010–2011)
After WrestleMania, DiBiase debuted a new gimmick of an arrogant millionaire, similar to his father's old gimmick. On the April 5 episode of Raw, DiBiase was given possession of the Million Dollar Championship and access to a trust fund by his father. DiBiase then began looking for a "Virgil", a manservant like his father used to have. He offered the position to R-Truth, who refused, provoking a feud between the two. On the May 17 episode of Raw, DiBiase revealed his "Virgil"—the original Virgil who had worked for his father. In his first singles pay-per-view match at Over the Limit on May 23, DiBiase was defeated by R-Truth. During the match, DiBiase suffered a concussion, but was able to appear on Raw the following night. On the June 21 episode of Raw, DiBiase fired Virgil in favor of the managerial services of his on-screen girlfriend Maryse. In September, DiBiase entered in a feud with Goldust over the Million Dollar Championship, after Goldust stole the title from him. On the November 15 episode of Raw, Goldust returned the Million Dollar Championship belt to DiBiase Sr., who then offered to give it back to his son, but he refused the offer, proclaiming that he was interested in another belt. Later in the night DiBiase attacked WWE United States Champion Daniel Bryan, setting up a match at Survivor Series on November 21 for the championship, in which he was unsuccessful. DiBiase was a Pro for the fourth season of NXT, in which he and Maryse mentored Brodus Clay. On the January 25, 2011, episode of NXT, Clay traded DiBiase for Alberto Del Rio as his Pro.As part of the 2011 supplemental draft on April 26, DiBiase was drafted to the SmackDown brand. In his first match on SmackDown, DiBiase lost to his former tag team partner Cody Rhodes. The following week, DiBiase was accompanied to the ring by Rhodes. On the June 3 episode of SmackDown, DiBiase lost to former rival, Daniel Bryan via submission. After the match, Rhodes and DiBiase attacked Bryan, but were stopped by Sin Cara. On the July 8 episode of SmackDown, DiBiase teamed with Rhodes in a winning effort against the team of Bryan and Ezekiel Jackson. After DiBiase lost a match against Randy Orton on the August 26 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes attacked him, ending their association.