"I wasn't comfortable at first" – Legend initially disliked Vince McMahon's drastic change to WWE (Exclusive)
It is well known that Vince McMahon prefers the sports entertainment aspect of WWE more than professional wrestling. In an exclusive interview, Ted DiBiase Sr. recently recalled how he felt about the WWE Executive Chairman drastically altering the company's presentation in the 1980s.
McMahon purchased WWE, then known as WWF, from his father in 1982. He quickly turned the promotion into an entertainment juggernaut, incorporating famous names from outside of wrestling. On-screen rivalries also became less about in-ring action and more about dramatic storyline developments.
DiBiase Sr. was one of the top stars in McMahon's revamped WWE in the late 1980s. He told Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter and Dr. Chris Featherstone that he had reservations about the new-look WWE product:
"I wasn't comfortable at first, and I guess in a lot of ways I'm still very old school," DiBiase Sr. said. "I'm talking about fans that come up to me that were fans of mine that are older folks. I don't know what the young people [think]. They've been programmed to something I think different because it is a different business. It used to be about the match. The contest and the story was the story told in the ring between two wrestlers. It wasn't what was going on in the dressing room and out in the parking lot, all that." [2:08 – 2:54]
In the video above, DiBiase Sr. also discussed his experience working alongside Cameron Grimes and LA Knight in NXT in 2021.
Ted DiBiase Sr. on Vince McMahon's dislike of wrestling
According to Ted DiBiase Sr., Vince McMahon changed wrestling's presentation due to the way it used to be perceived in the entertainment business.
DiBiase Sr. added that Vince McMahon brought in celebrities and outlandish characters to make WWE more appealing to new fans:
"Somebody told me one time, they said, 'Vince doesn't really like wrestling.' I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'Well, in terms of the entertainment industry, it's like the b*stard child,' so he's always wanted to make it something more acceptable on a greater scale. I believe that's why he's made a lot of the changes that he has, and obviously I was part of those changes." [3:03 – 3:36]
DiBiase Sr. was known as The Million Dollar Man in WWE. While he had no problem portraying an over-the-top persona, he still wanted people to take his matches seriously:
"I put on the Million Dollar Man suit and I'm [laughing], doing all of that, but when the monkey suit came off and I got in the ring, I wrestled like I always did," DiBiase Sr. continued. "That's where I still think the story should be, is in the ring." [3:40 – 4:02]
In the same interview, the former Million Dollar Champion explained why he did not win the world title against Randy Savage at WrestleMania 4.
What do you make of the way Vince McMahon changed wrestling? Let us know in the comments section below.
Thanks to www.wrestlecon.com for allowing Sportskeeda to get these exclusive interviews.
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