Ted DiBiase, 'Million Dollar Man,' reflects on Amarillo and Terry Funk

At this weekend’s Super Mini-Con, former pro wrestler Ted DiBiase, also known as the “Million Dollar Man,” spoke about his ties to Amarillo and the passing of his close friend Terry Funk recently.

“I flew in early so I could drive all around Amarillo to some of the places that we lived here,” DiBiase said. “I have a fondness for this town that I will never lose. Amarillo will always have a place in my heart.”

DiBiase said that his relationship with Amarillo and the Funk family began when his dad, ‘Iron” Mike DiBiase, a former collegiate wrestler at Nebraska, became good friends with Dory Funk Sr. through his Western States Sports wrestling promotion, which was headquartered in Amarillo and part of the National Wrestling Association.

According to DiBiase, his dad had planned to move the family to Texas during high school so that he could take better advantage of his football talent due to the level of exposure and competition in the state, but his father died of a heart attack later that year in Lubbock. This tragic event led to DiBiase moving to Wilcox, Arizona with his grandparents, where he played high school football. He earned a scholarship offer to the University of Arizona to play football.

He said that during his time in Arizona, he had not watched wrestling for over three years but saw on TV that a wrestling event was coming to Tucson featuring the wrestling promotion that his dad had wrestled with, so he decided to go to the event. He said that while talking to Terry Funk at the show, he was convinced to make a visit to West Texas State University, now known as West Texas A&M University (WT), to play football.

“I got back to the area where I went to school in first and sixth grade, and being around the Funk family again, it just felt like coming home,” DiBiase said. "To everybody’s dismay in Arizona and in Wilcox, I told them I wasn’t going to Arizona; I was going to West Texas State. I had a lot of people mad with me in Arizona about that.”

He went on to play football at WT for three years. Among its greatest legacies for WT is the number of professional wrestlers that played football at the university. Twelve major pro wrestling stars played at WT, including Dusty Rhodes and the Funk brothers Terry and Dory Jr.

DiBiase said that an NCAA ruling in 1975, which allowed an athlete to be professional in a sport while also allowing amateur status in another sport, greatly changed his career trajectory. While wrestling in Mid-South Wrestling during that summer, DiBiase said that things went so well for him that he decided not to return to WT for his senior season.

“I regret that now; it’s the only thing in my life that I failed to follow through on,” DiBiase said. “By the grace of God, I never needed it. That’s when my wrestling career started. After about a year there, I came back to Amarillo to wrestle on the circuit for a while. Through all that, the main mentor in my life was Terry Funk. Because of the family-like relationship, Terry was always there for me. From there, going forward, he always gave me career advice.”

DiBiase said that he sought Terry Funk for advice after Vince McMahon had made him an offer to do something new with his organization, the World Wrestling Federation, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment. This offer would be to play his iconic character, "The Million Dollar Man," for the organization.

“I called Terry, and he said that if he has got something brand new and thinks you’re the guy, pack your bag and don’t look back. Go,” DiBiase said. “McMahon flew me up there and then laid out the character of the 'Million Dollar Man.' He said that everybody hates someone who, by virtue of their wealth, bullies people, and that is the essence of this character.”

This is like many other times he said that Terry Funk was there for him in his major decisions or just when he needed advice or help. He said that he gives a lot of credit to Terry and his brother Dory Jr. for his success in wrestling. DiBiase said that he had not spent a lot of time in Amarillo since he had left but he spoke about returning for the funeral of Terry Funk’s wife Vicky in 2019. He later returned for Terry’s funeral in September after the passing of his longtime friend.

“Terry was like a big brother to me; they were all family to me,” DiBiase said. “The relationship between the DiBiase and Funk family goes all the way back to our fathers. As a family, we would always find a way to stop in Amarillo and spend time. It makes me feel odd that nobody from our family is here anymore. But Amarillo will always be with me because I have so much history here with the relationships that were built with our families.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Wrestling star Ted DiBiase speaks about returning to Amarillo