Ted DiBiase Sr.

You look at all the athletes who come out of high school and college into professional sports. And they hit it big, they make money, and instead of saving their money, instead of doing the right thing, they go out and buy the biggest house, and the finest car, and then they get hurt, and it's gone.

Reality is, I could have made Japan a career. I could have just gone to Japan and I'd have been great.

Yeah, the first television match that I'm going to have, I got put out there with Danny Hodge and I was scared to death.

I've been asked many times, do you regret never having been the world champion, you know? I kind of laugh. I say well, you know, this business is a work. It's like, none of those guys are ever really the world wrestling champion. The titles are props in this business.

I always looked like an athlete but I didn't look like Charles Atlas.

My strength was my ability to talk and my work in the ring.

I was supposed to be the mouthpiece and financial backer of the NWO but what really happened as this thing got hotter, Eric Bischoff saw where he could slip himself into the role that he hired me for. And that's what he did.

So I went to WCW for three years and quite frankly, it was the most miserable three years of my life in terms of business.

I understand the psychology of the business. I understand who I am and I know how I interact with other people, but that's a gift, the storytelling. Not everybody has that gift and it's kind of like the way I work.

Dusty Rhodes was a great athlete. Actually, he was a baseball player as well. He played football but he played baseball. That was his number one sport. He wasn't always heavyset like he is. But Dusty Rhodes, The American Dream he just gets charisma.

There's a lot of guys that made big money in wrestling because they just projected such a realistic character. And they weren't necessarily great athletes. Junkyard Dog played football, Junkyard Dog the wrestler, mechanically in the ring he was just not that good. His gift was, unbelievable work on the mic. He had charisma coming out of his ears.

Wrestling is an art form.

Wrestling is sports entertainment for sure. But to be really good at what we do you have to be both an athlete and an entertainer. And actually, if you're going to be lacking in one, then be more of an entertainer and less of an athlete.

I really spent the better part of the first 12 years of my career wrestling for Mid South. Fond memories, but a grueling territory.

By the time Vince McMahon called upon me to become this character, the Million Dollar Man, I had already been wrestling for 12 years.

I was fortunate. I probably could have saved more money, too. But, it's like, even though I'm not really the Million Dollar Man, I have a retirement account, I saved some money, and I did some right things.

When you talk about running big venues, obviously the WWE has sold out arenas all over the world throughout the years and it seems like every WrestleMania sets a new record. But, I believe l and I'm not mistaken that the first guy to run a dome was Bill Watts when he ran The Superdome.

The owner of Mid-South Wrestling, 'Cowboy' Bill Watts was and is extremely intelligent and unbelievable at understanding the psychology of our industry and I probably learned more from him then just about anybody.

Mid-South is what started my whole career.

There's people that have labored and labored and it takes them a long time before they get that break and then they get it. Then sometimes, I've seen guys with a lot of talent never get it. It's the nature of the beast.

The difference between Eric Bischoff and Vince McMahon is Vince McMahon knows how to create a star. Eric took a company and took it down.

No matter how many times you get beat, you don't mind seeing them get beat again. That's what a good heel is in our business. I think JBL did it just as good as anybody.

Alberto Del Rio is doing a pretty good job.

My son wanted to become a wrestler because I was a wrestler. I was his hero. I didn't want them to wrestle. It was the same reason my dad didn't want me to wrestle. It's not the wrestling. It's the lifestyle that goes with it and the demands it puts on you. It's not so bad for single guy.

When you're a celebrity, you don't have to find trouble because it will come find you.

We have all said things in anger in a moment that we don't mean.

I taught my boys it is easy to follow a crowd. Anybody can do that. It takes a man to stand up for your principles. You cut your own path in life. Chase after whatever your heart's desire is, and instead of following the crowd, let somebody else follow you. That takes a little guts.

I was smarter when I was 15, 16 than when I was 18 to 26, because instead of caving in to being cool, I stuck close to my convictions and I was rewarded.

My father died when I was 15, and my dad was a professional wrestler but as well as a national amateur champion at the University of Nebraska.

I tell everybody all the time: I had a 25-year wrestling career, and I'm most known for laughing.

Vulgarity, in my mind, is not cool.

I think with a lot of comics, their gift is improv. They don't have a script. They'll have a couple of good ideas they start with, and go from there. And it's the same in wrestling.

I remember when I was in Mid-South and they used to tape interviews every Wednesday morning, and I wasn't required to go to the interviews because I was a rookie and I wasn't cutting any interviews - I was a curtain jerker. But I went every Wednesday anyway because I was going to watch those guys and I was going to glean from them.

The reason that I discouraged my boys as I was discouraged was not because of wrestling itself. The reason I discouraged them as a father was from having lived the lifestyle - like my father did - and understanding the hardships that come along with it. It's not the wrestling itself. It's the 90 percent divorce rate.

I tell people all day who say 'When you going to retire?' I said I never found the word retirement in the Bible, so I'm going to keep going till I'm not here.

I travel all over the United States basically in evangelism, speaking in churches, speaking in prisons, speaking in rehab centers wherever I can basically sharing my story of redemption and the turnaround in my life.

The Million Dollar Man thought he could buy anybody or anything and that was the essence of the character. About as evil as you can get!

Being a good worker in WWE is the worst curse that you can have. Instead of being given the title for being a great worker, they give it to someone who isn't and have that person work with the good worker, so they look good in the ring.

Wrestling fans are the best, because they are so loyal. You can play on emotion. The good guy gets knocked down, and the bad guy takes advantage. And the good guy comes back from the very bottom to make that explosive comeback and overcome.

I tell young guys, you need to build accountability into your life to avoid the pitfalls.

The road can become a very lonely place. It's not what it's cracked up to be. Of course, it's what you make it.

I have the love and respect of my wife and my kids. I could look in the mirror and I'm happy with that guy now. He's okay. He's not a schmuck.

As a young man, I had a strong faith in God. It dwindled and I pretty much abandoned it when I went to college. Basically, what I tell everybody is what took over my life was my pride.

It's just one of those things. When you're a wrestler you're thinking about one guy, yourself, your character and whatever guy it is you're working with. When you're a writer and you're kind of in a booking type role, you're thinking about the entire roster so you're thinking about wrestling 24 hours a day.

Usually a manager is put with someone who has got good rings skills, but is not necessarily good on the mic. So I have no idea why they put me with Steve Austin, he didn't need any help!

I did make 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin the Million Dollar Champion on Raw. You know I saw the talent in Steve and I remember telling him - because a lot of people were telling him 'You need to do more' - I remember telling him, 'Don't do anything different, because what you do is believable, it's real.'

Well, the mission statement of Heart of David is that we're a ministry of evangelism and encouragement. Evangelism meaning that I evangelize I travel on a weekly basis to churches not only churches but I find myself doing a lot more men's events, I talk to a lot more men and I go to a lot of prisons.

Wrestling is a business, it is show business and wrestling championships are props.

Well, you know, I was a top heel in the company for a long time and whether I was moved over to a tag team with Mike Rotunda, you know, we were a top heel team.

Well, I think everyone would agree that Vince McMahon, although he doesn't get it right every time, he gets it right most of the time, and he is a marketing genius.