Ted DiBiase Sr. discusses WWE's original plans for him working with recently released star
WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase Sr. opened up about one of the sports entertainment giant's recent releases. The storyline they worked with in NXT was a success among fans, but Cameron Grimes could not replicate the success on the main roster.
Cameron Grimes was released by WWE in April 2024. He later took to social media and shared a very emotional message, breaking down in tears. However, Grimes also expressed gratitude before stating that it was only going to motivate him to work harder.
Speaking on his podcast Everybody's Got A Pod, Ted DiBiase Sr. reflected on his work with Cameron Grimes. He said that WWE informed him about the 31-year-old's real-life attempts in the stock market, where the latter "made a lot of money."
"I mean, they gave me a call and this is what they told me, they said, 'Teddy, we've got this guy named Cameron Grimes and he legitimately, you know, I mean invested in the stock market and had a big hit and made a lot of money in a very short period of time. And they thought what a great story would be is like, you know, even though what happened was actually very real and it goes to his head now.' That's the storyline — it goes to his head and he just starts doing ... he starts acting like, you know, going and buying all this fancy stuff."
This angle was intriguing enough that they used it on TV, but it was not supposed to go on for as long as it did:
"I don't think they planned to do more than a couple of shows because it was just the uniqueness of, you know, them taking advantage of something that really happened and put me in there for a couple of weeks. Again, they told me it's getting over so well, we want to, you know, keep you on for a couple more weeks and so I said I can do that," said the Hall of Famer. [H/T: Wrestling Inc.]
Ted DiBiase Sr. speaks on WWE removing his title reign from the record books
Ted DiBiase Sr. is not recognized as a former WWE Champion, but there was a storyline in 1988, where he bought the belt from Andre The Giant.
It was after Andre defeated Hulk Hogan at The Main Event I on February 5, 1988, ending Hogan's 1,474-day reign. The Million Dollar Man bribed referee Earl Hebner and received the belt as per a prior agreement. While speaking to Sportskeeda's Bill Apter recently in an exclusive interview, Ted DiBiase Sr. looked back on this storyline:
"Basically, I said I bought the title from Andre the Giant. He wins it, I buy it, and so they take it off me. 'You're not really the champion. You didn't win it. We can't give it back to Hulk because he technically lost it.' They can't give it back to Andre – he won't take it because I've paid him off – so what do you do? You have a tournament to declare a new champion." [1:27 – 1:54]
Watch the interview above as Ted DiBiase Sr. touches upon a bevy of topics, including the similarities between his on-screen character as The Million Dollar Man with former WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon.