Ted DiBiase has paid a price.
DiBiase, known as the “Million Dollar Man,” revealed last week on his podcast that “severe brain trauma” is causing short-term memory loss.
“I’m dealing with this, this is legit. I don’t have Alzheimer’s and I don’t have dementia but they said, ‘Ted, you have something, we just simply call it severe brain trauma.’ I said, ‘Really?’ I only wrestled for maybe almost 20 years, so I’m not surprised that I might have a little brain trauma,” DiBiase said on “Everybody’s Got a Pod,” as covered by Wrestling Observer.
“What it affects is my memory and they say it’ll be easier for you to remember something you did 40 or 50 years ago but the short-term memory, some of the stuff right now, it’s bits and pieces.”
DiBiase, 69, was the first WWE (then-WWF) North American champion, and a three-time tag-team champion for the promotion.
His pro wrestling career began in the Mid-South Wrestling territory in the mid 1970s, and took him to WWF, the NWA, All Japan Pro Wrestling and WCW.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.
On the podcast, he talked about his grueling work schedule from his pro wrestling career.
“There were no days off, that was seven days a week we wrestled,” DiBiase said.
“Until I went to the WWF and even then when I first started with them, it was three straight weeks on, 21 days, 21 cities, and then you go home for a week. Then they eventually changed it to 10 on, three off, four on, and three off, so you were home a little more. But again, I thank God I’m still here.”
DiBiase was tied up in the Mississippi welfare scandal, and was accused in 2020 of receiving $2.1 million in welfare funds for his religious nonprofit, and was sued last year for repayment by the state.
DiBiase has not faced charges related to the scandal, but his son, Ted DiBiase Jr., was charged with wire fraud this past April.