Ted DiBiase Explains Why He Chose WWE Over Japan & The Crocketts In 1987

On the latest episode of Everybody’s Got a Pod, WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase talked about the major career choice he made in 1987: sign with WWE, sign with the Crocketts, or continue his lucrative career in Japan. He explained why a guaranteed offer from the Crocketts wouldn’t have swayed him. You can check out some highlights below:

Ted DiBiase on why a guaranteed offer from the Crocketts wouldn’t have swayed him: “I don’t think so, only because everybody saw what Vince was doing. Everybody — it’s like, if it had been tempting but we’re talking about the Crocketts buying Mid-South. And then they had Charlotte, which were two of the biggest territories in the country, but that’s all they had. They weren’t the machine that Vince was. I don’t think they had the kind of capital to compete with him. That was the deal. It’s like, here’s this guy who’s fixing to take over the world.”

On the pros and cons of leaving his top spot in AJPW where he was tagging with Stan Hansen: “He stayed with Japan, and that’s what he did. Stan Hansen did not end up being really well known in the United States. But — I’ll put it this way. If I was getting a grand a day, he was getting more. He was The Guy… Even when I went to Giant Baba and said, ‘Look, this is an opportunity I can’t pass. And I hope you understand that. And thank you.’ I said, ‘I’m going to finish out.’ And Baba was great. He said, ‘Thank you very much, and the door is open.’ In other words, ‘Anytime you want to come back, just call us.’”

On sometimes wondering about the decision: “Sometimes I still — even now, all these years later, I still wonder. I started thinking about that, I could have been doing a lot of other things when I was home. The one thing about going to work for Vince is, now I’m going all over the country. And it’s — when I first started, it was three weeks through, 21 days out, and then a week off. Twenty-one straight days, 21 cities, and that’s when they were building. And then, oh my gosh, it’s just incredibly — and when I think about the fact that I could have been going to Japan, paying for nothing but my food, taking all my money home. And was I making a grand a day in the United States? No.

“It was a hard choice to make. And it was just that I didn’t want to — I wanted to remain relative. I wanted to remain relative in the United States. Well, who cares? At the end of the day, as I sit here talking to you, I’m 71 years old. Yeah, I have action figures and all that stuff, and I’m in all these video games, and everybody knows who the Million Dollar Man is. And that wouldn’t be true if I had stayed working for Giant Baba and All Japan Pro Wrestling. But I may have had more money. I may have saved more money. I don’t know.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Everybody’s Got a Pod with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.