WWE Hall of Famer “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase recently appeared on an episode of his “Everybody’s Got a Pod” podcast, where he discussed a number of topics including Arn Anderson’s retirement segment from wrestling in WCW.
DiBiase said, “It was great television, but it was the truth. That’s the other thing. It’s like, a lot of the things that happen in our business — obviously it’s sports entertainment. But I mean, that really happened to Arn, and he had to lay it down.”
On his retirement:
“I made a promise to myself when I stepped into that ring that, ‘I’m not going to stay too long. I’m not going to be one of those guys who stay till they’re 50 years old and they don’t look like they used to look anymore.’ And it’s kind of embarrassing sometimes to see those guys. I said, ‘When I turn 40, physically I’m done.’ In other words, ‘I’m not going to physically wrestle after the age of 40,’ And I did, I stopped. And that’s when I started being a manager and a commentator. It was different for Arn. And if what happened to Arn had happened to me, I don’t know. I mean, the other thing that I was dealing with was, like a vertebrae in my neck. I think the C5 and C6. I started having — I would do a flat back bump in the ring, and this pain would shoot down my arm. ‘Where’d that comes from?’ Well, what I realized was, after seeing a doctor or whatever, I realized it was coming from my neck. And so the same thing — I mean, I can’t tell you how many wrestlers retired early because of that same thing. Because when you take a bump in wrestling, you’re flat-backing. But what’s taking the most — I guess not pounding, but the jolt of the primary part of the body that’s taking that impact is right across the top of your shoulders. Right across the top of your shoulders is where your neck meets [your C5 and C6].”
On Kevin Nash mocking Anderson’s retirement in a WCW skit:
“I’ve seen it. And I’m sorry, that was disgusting. It’s one thing when you work a program, and it’s a work. It’s like, it’s not real. It’s like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna make-believe that somebody’s retiring and something now you go out and give that speech to something like that’s gonna end up backfiring later.’ Okay, but when you’re talking about a real guy who really got to retire, that’s — I don’t know. I just — [it was] tasteless.”
You can check out the complete podcast below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
