In the WWF, DiBiase was known as "The Million Dollar Man", a millionaire who wore a gold-studded, dollar-sign-covered suit (sometimes green and white, sometimes pink and white or just all white, but usually black and gold) and, in time, a custom-made, diamond-encrusted and self-awarded "Million Dollar Belt". DiBiase had a bodyguard by the name of Virgil, that was also by his side during matches, and all of his vignettes. He was often seen doing what people would deem "humiliating" tasks, such as rubbing DiBiase's feet. DiBiase claimed "Everybody has a price" demonstrating his "power" through a series of vignettes in which he did things such as bribe the manager of a local swimming pool to close for the day so he could have the pool to himself. Other skits featured DiBiase traveling in limousines, giving $100 tips to waiters, and using $100 bills in convenience stores for small purchases like chewing gum. In reality, DiBiase's road travel was deliberately booked first-class for flights, into 5-star hotels for accommodations and was given a stipend of petty cash from the WWF Offices so that he could throw money around in public (i.e. pick up tabs and over tip, buy drinks for entire bars, actually pay for small items with a $100 bill, etc.) in order to make the character seem more real. Other times, DiBiase invited fans (including a young Rob Van Dam) to perform humiliating acts (such as kissing his feet) for money. During one skit, he invited a young boy onto a stage and told him if he bounced a ball 15 times in succession, DiBiase would pay him $500. After the 14th bounce, DiBiase kicked the ball away, sending the boy home without pay.
His first big in-ring angle came in late 1987 on an episode of Superstars of Wrestling, where he announced his plan to buy the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan. Hogan refused and said that DiBiase would have to defeat him in the ring for the belt. Hogan got the upper hand in a series of matches, and a frustrated DiBiase approached André the Giant to win the belt 'for' him. On the February 5 edition of The Main Event (which aired live on NBC), André defeated Hogan under questionable circumstances for the WWF Championship. Referee Dave Hebner was "detained backstage" and replaced with a referee DiBiase paid to have plastic surgery (actually Dave's twin brother Earl). He counted the pin for André despite the fact that Hogan's shoulder was up at the count of one; Andre then announced he was surrendering the belt and handed it to DiBiase. The WWF refused to acknowledge DiBiase as the champion (since at the time WWF titles could not be bought or simply handed to someone else) and declared the title vacant. Later, Andre was recognized for his short title reign. This angle was an amplification of an angle in the old Georgia Championship Wrestling, when Larry Zbyszko paid Killer Tim Brooks $25,000 for his NWA National Heavyweight Championship in 1983.
A tournament was announced to crown a new WWF Champion. At WrestleMania IV, DiBiase defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan in the first round and Don Muraco in the quarterfinal before receiving a bye in the semi-finals to advance to the finals of the tournament. DiBiase was defeated by "Macho Man" Randy Savage in the finals. After repeated interference by Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan got involved to even the odds. DiBiase continued to feud with Savage throughout the summer of 1988, culminating in a tag team match pitting DiBiase and André the Giant vs. Hogan and Savage at the inaugural SummerSlam (in a match billed as "Where The Mega Powers Meet The Mega Bucks"). Although pro-heel commentator Jesse "The Body" Ventura served as the guest referee, Hogan pinned DiBiase to win the match. DiBiase then defeated Brutus Beefcake, Ken Patera, Ron Bass, and Randy Savage to win the 1988 King of the Ring tournament, receiving his first WWF success.
Bobby Heenan sold Hercules' contract to Ted DiBiase for his services as his personal slave. DiBiase claimed that Hercules was his slave but started feuding with him after Hercules turned face. He eliminated his "slave" from the main event at Survivor Series.
At the Royal Rumble in 1989, DiBiase purchased the #30 entrance spot from "The African Dream" Akeem to become the final entrant in the match. Big John Studd and DiBiase were the final two participants in the match. DiBiase offered Studd a bribe to eliminate himself, but Studd eliminated him to win the match. DiBiase continued to feud with Hercules; the two had a series of matches including a match that DiBiase won on the February 3 edition of The Main Event. He defeated The Blue Blazer on the March 11 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. After that match, he introduced the WWF Million Dollar Championship, his own championship belt which was not recognized by the WWF. He created this belt because he was unable to buy or win the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan.
DiBiase fought Brutus Beefcake to a double-countout at WrestleMania V. DiBiase's next big feud was with Jake "The Snake" Roberts. A few weeks after WrestleMania, DiBiase attacked Roberts on WWF Superstars of Wrestling after Roberts defeated Virgil in a match. DiBiase put Roberts out of action for several months with a neck injury. While Roberts recuperated, DiBiase defeated Jimmy "The Superfly" Snuka at SummerSlam by countout. On the October 14 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, DiBiase faced Hulk Hogan in a match for the WWF Championship where DiBiase had the monster Zeus by his side. DiBiase lost the match when he accidentally hit Zeus and was pinned by Hogan with a small package. At Survivor Series, DiBiase captained a team dubbed the "Million Dollar Team" consisting of himself, the Powers of Pain (Warlord and Barbarian), and Zeus against Hogan's "Hulkamaniacs" consisting of Hogan, DiBiase's rival Jake Roberts, and Demolition (Ax and Smash). DiBiase eliminated Roberts after pinning him with help from Virgil before being pinned himself by Hogan.
In 1990, he broke the "Iron Man" record at the time by lasting 45 minutes in the Royal Rumble match after entering as the #1 entrant (rather than #30 like the previous year). He was eliminated by The Ultimate Warrior. He then feuded with Jake Roberts over the Million Dollar Belt, leading to a match at WrestleMania VI where he retained the title when Roberts was counted out. Shortly after WrestleMania, he had a brief feud with The Big Bossman which dated back to when DiBiase tried to bribe Bossman into retrieving the Million Dollar Belt when Roberts stole it. Bossman refused DiBiase's bribe and returned the Million Dollar Belt to Roberts. At SummerSlam, DiBiase bought the services of Sapphire, who was the manager of Dusty Rhodes at the time. This led to Rhodes & DiBiase feuding throughout the end of 1990 into the beginning of 1991. On the October 30 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, he attacked Dusty's son Dustin Rhodes during Dusty's match with Randy Savage. DiBiase and Dusty captained rival teams at Survivor Series, with DiBiase's mystery partner turning out to be the debuting Undertaker. DiBiase wound up eliminating both members of The Hart Foundation and was the sole survivor of the match. He, however, was eliminated in the main event by Hogan. At the Royal Rumble, Ted DiBiase and Virgil defeated Dusty and Dustin Rhodes in a tag team match. After the match, DiBiase ordered Virgil to put the Million Dollar Championship belt around his waist. Virgil dropped but picked it up on DiBiase's orders and instead whacked it on his head, turning face. At WrestleMania VII, DiBiase lost to Virgil by countout with help from 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, who had begun training Virgil to 'be a man'. Sensational Sherri, who earlier in the night had turned on a losing Randy Savage, came down midway through the match to help DiBiase and became his full-time valet. On the April 27 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, DiBiase fought Bret Hart to a double countout.
DiBiase lost the Million Dollar Championship to Virgil at SummerSlam when Virgil smashed his head into an exposed turnbuckle and pinned him to get the victory. DiBiase participated in the King of the Ring tournament drawing with Ricky Steamboat in the first round. DiBiase regained the Million Dollar Championship from Virgil with help from Repo Man on the November 11 edition of Sunday Night Slam which was dubbed "Survivor Series Showdown".
Money Inc.
Ted DiBiase officially formed the tag team, Money Incorporated, with Irwin R. Schyster (IRS). The duo were three-time WWF Tag Team Champions between February 1992 and June 1993. Their first reign came on February 7, 1992 when they defeated The Legion of Doom for the titles. Money Incorporated then feuded with The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon). They defended the title against the Natural Disasters at WrestleMania VIII and lost the match by countout, thus retaining the title. On July 20, they lost the title to the Natural Disasters.
After losing a match to the Legion of Doom at SummerSlam, DiBiase and IRS regained the belts on the October 13 edition of Wrestling Challenge from the Natural Disasters. This title change led to a feud with The Nasty Boys, who were originally scheduled for the title shot. On the November 8 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, they defended their titles against the Ultimate Maniacs (Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage). DiBiase and IRS lost the match by countout and thus retained the titles once more.
Ted DiBiase participated in the Royal Rumble match, entering at #4 before eventually being eliminated by The Undertaker. Shortly after, DiBiase and IRS became involved in a major angle with the returning Brutus Beefcake. DiBiase faced Beefcake on one of the first episodes of Monday Night Raw. DiBiase & IRS attacked Beefcake after the match and slammed his face (which had been surgically repaired following a windsailing accident) with a briefcase. Money Inc. also attacked their manager Jimmy Hart, who was disgusted by their actions. Beefcake's best friend, former WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, came to Beefcake's defense and challenged Money Inc. to a tag team title match at WrestleMania IX. DiBiase and IRS retained their titles by disqualification after Hogan used Beefcake's protective face mask as a weapon. They had a successful title reign as they dominated the tag team division of the WWF. They feuded with the Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) and had a series of title exchanges.
DiBiase and IRS were defeated by the Steiners for the WWF Tag Team Championship on the June 14 edition of Monday Night Raw. They would regain the titles on June 16 at a live event but lost them back to the Steiners three days later on June 19 at another live event. DiBiase last wrestled for the WWF in August, bowing out following an angle which saw Razor Ramon turn face and 1-2-3 Kid debut. The Kid had scored an upset pinfall against a cocky Ramon, causing DiBiase to mock Ramon and tell him he would show him how it was done. He then went on to also lose to the Kid, giving Razor a newfound respect for the Kid thus turning Razor face. This included a match at SummerSlam between DiBiase and Ramon which DiBiase lost. After a few months in Japan, he quietly announced his retirement due to accumulated injuries and returned to the USA.
Million Dollar Corporation
DiBiase returned to the WWF at the Royal Rumble as a guest commentator. DiBiase then began working as a commentator and manager for the WWF. Later in 1994, DiBiase "purchased" the services of many wrestlers for his Million Dollar Corporation stable in the WWF, which over time included I.R.S., Bam Bam Bigelow, Nikolai Volkoff, Kama, King Kong Bundy, Sycho Sid, 1-2-3 Kid, and in a swerve, Tatanka. DiBiase also renewed his connection with the Undertaker after the latter's six-month hiatus after the January Royal Rumble. Saying that he had originally brought the Undertaker to the WWF, and he was going to bring him back, DiBiase debuted a new Undertaker under his control (this Undertaker however proved to be a fake Undertaker played by Brian Lee and was subsequently defeated by the real Undertaker at SummerSlam).
DiBiase also had a place in the main event of WrestleMania XI as the manager of Bam Bam Bigelow in his match versus Lawrence Taylor. Surrounding the ring were members of DiBiase's corporation to offset Taylor's entourage of NFL All-Pros on the opposite side. After Taylor defeated Bigelow, DiBiase publicly referred to Bigelow as an embarrassment. This culminated in Bigelow quitting The Corporation after DiBiase fired him following a loss to Diesel in a WWF Championship match. Bigelow aligned himself with Diesel in a feud versus members of DiBiase's corporation.
As a manager, DiBiase also later introduced "The Ringmaster", who eventually became Stone Cold Steve Austin, to the WWF in December 1995. Austin became the Million Dollar Champion and began wearing DiBiase's gold belt that was introduced in 1989. DiBiase left for WCW in May. On WWF TV, it was explained that he was "forced out" of the WWF per pre-match stipulation when his protege Steve Austin lost to Savio Vega at In Your House: Beware of Dog.
World Championship Wrestling (1996–1998)
In WCW, DiBiase became the fourth member of the nWo (along with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and former enemy Hollywood Hogan) immediately after their formation in July 1996. He claimed to be financing the group (thus playing on his "Million Dollar Man" gimmick that WCW could not legally use outright). He was referred to, instead, as "Trillionaire Ted" (a play on the "Billionaire Ted" nickname of Ted Turner). Less than a year later, he left the nWo and made a face turn, managing The Steiner Brothers against the nWo until Scott turned heel and joined the group. DiBiase also managed one-time WWF rival Ray Traylor for a while as an ally to the Steiners but eventually stopped managing altogether.
Retirement from active wrestling
In April 2005, DiBiase was hired as a creative consultant and road agent for the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment. On October 3, 2005, at WWE Homecoming, DiBiase appeared with other WWE legends in a special legends ceremony. He eventually led the attack on Rob Conway, who had come down to the ring to insult the legends.
DiBiase inducted his former manager Sensational Sherri into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006, and made a cameo at WrestleMania 22, offering Eugene $1000 to dribble a basketball 100 times backstage. In typical fashion, he kicked the ball away at the last second. DiBiase also appeared on Raw on April 17 behind a newspaper doing his famous evil laugh as the camera went off air. DiBiase made a special guest appearance at an IPW show in Newton, Iowa on July 14, 2006, where he watched his sons' tag team match. The following day, he accepted the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame induction for his father, Mike, at the International Wrestling Institute and Museum. He also appeared at the Raw Family Reunion on October 9, 2006 aiding Ric Flair in his match with the Spirit Squad. On October 26, 2006, Ted DiBiase was released from his WWE contract by World Wrestling Entertainment due to low cutbacks.
DiBiase made his first "in ring" appearance in over five years at the Raw 15th Anniversary Special on December 10, 2007, by winning a 15-man battle royal, in which he was not even an active participant. Irwin R. Schyster, DiBiase's former tag team partner of Money Incorporated, had won the battle royal. True to his evil "Million Dollar Man" character, DiBiase came down to ringside and offered Schyster a sizable bribe to eliminate himself. Schyster accepted and hopped over the top rope, making DiBiase the victor. DiBiase then declared that even after fifteen years, everyone still had a price for the "Million Dollar Man."
On the May 19, 2008 edition of Raw, he was seen alongside Mr. McMahon about to "discuss business", in William Regal's office. On the following Raw, DiBiase introduced his son Ted DiBiase, Jr. to WWE as its newest member.