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 WWE changing Dusty Rhodes’ look.
DiBiase said, “I don’t know what Vince’s deal was. But you know, they put Dusty in this ridiculous-looking outfit… But I’m going to tell you what — and it’s to Dusty’s credit. Dusty said, ‘Okay, I’m going to take this ball and run with it.’ And he did. He got over. I mean, when you can work, you know how to get over. And so yeah, and I remember, he and I had some good matches.”
On the plumber’s vignettes for Dusty’s arrival:
“I don’t recall seeing any of the vignettes. Because it’s kind of like, we would do all the TVs, and it’s very rare that I go back, and ‘Okay, let me go watch myself. I didn’t see that vignette, no. But I knew that they had done those things with him.”
On whether it was disrespectful:
“You know what? And I don’t know if Vince did that to try and humiliate him. But Vince also knows that he got over. And the other thing you gotta remember about Vince: Vince was never a wrestler. Vince’s gift was marketing. And now he’s marketing all of these characters, and he’s marketing them to a younger audience. He’s trying to sell video games, action figures, and all that merchandise… I don’t know, it’s kind of like it may have been Vince’s way, I don’t know, of testing Dusty.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
