Brian Fritz of The Orlando Sentinel and Between The Ropes radio (who we just conducted an interview with for our monthly “Conference Call” audio show at this link) has an interview up with WWE star Ted DiBiase Jr. Here are some of the highlights.
If he always wanted to follow his father’s footsteps in wrestling:
“Yeah. Definitely, as a child at a very young age, I wanted to be like my dad and carry on the legacy but that didn?t become a reality until a got older. In my late teens, I realized that I wanted to really give this a shot. I tell a lot of people that my dad didn?t really want me to for a while because of the way it was before now. There was more travel and it was just a lot different. When he got signed back as an agent, he?d seen the changes. That’s when I was about done with college and I was like ?I?m going into wrestling dad?. He said to finish college first and then you can try it. I?m not going to help you. I?m going to point you in the right direction but this is on you. You have to do it on your own so that’s what I did.”
If he feels any pressure with the family name:
“I don?t feel pressure from my father. I think I put more pressure on myself. With my dad being ?The Million Dollar Man? who was such a profound character in building wrestling into what it is today ? this global phenomenon ? he and others paved the way. So, yeah, those are big shoes to fill. I don?t think it puts too much pressure on me. I don?t put too much pressure on myself. I?m trying to be successful. Yeah, I want to surpass and do things my father didn?t do. I?ve already made a movie! He never made a movie. But it’s not like that. I?m not trying to be better than my father. I?m just enjoying what I do. I have the same passion that my father had for wrestling. It’s just a roller coaster ride.”
His reaction to John Cena feeling he will be the next top guy:
“Wow! Really? That’s quite a compliment.”
If he is surprised to be where he is at so quickly:
“(laughing) Ah, maybe? I don?t know. I would say that I?m very blessed to be in the position I?m in and I have a lot of people to thank for that. I?ve got a long way to go, I believe. Like I said, I?m not happy at all with where I am right now. I mean I?m happy but I don?t plan on being here. I want to be the John Cena, the Randy Orton of WWE. If you don?t, you should just leave. That’s how much we love what we do. You want to be the best. That’s really cool coming from John.”
On having the lead role in “The Marine 2”:
“It was a total learning process. It was an incredible experience. I did learn that I like the movie business. Not as much as wrestling but I hope I get more opportunities to do that because it was a lot of fun. It was an action movie so I was blowing stuff up, getting blown up, beating up guys. It was just a taste of something new. It was amazing. We spent six weeks in Thailand and worked hard every day but it was like wrestling ? I get paid to play. It’s awesome.”
To check out the full interview, click here.
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