Customer Reviews

Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is an excellent one which provides the reader with much insightful information about professional wrestling during the 1970s through 2006. Ted DiBiase was a very talented wrestler who performed as one of the greatest heel characters of all times - the totally despicable Million Dollar Man. It was also quite interesting to note that the heel persona which Ted DiBiase was able to so successfully present was clearly not the real Ted who is known to his friends, fellow wrestlers, family and others. This book presents solid information about how the Million Dollar Man was created by the WWE honcho Vince McMahon and capably carried out by DiBiase. The book also provides much insight into what it takes to become a wrestler and the sacrifices which must be accepted in order to receive any measure of success in the mat world. I know that true wrestling aficionados will find reading this book to be a real pleasure with much that can be learned about the profession of wrestling. After ending his wrestling career, Ted went into the Christian ministry to serve people in a very different capacity, and very successfully too. All aspects of Ted's life were covered in this book and provided in a way which demonstrates his self awareness and his honesty in revealing himself to the reader.

I'm a huge fan of Ted Dibiase - especially the Million Dollar Man character that he portrayed to expertly during his WWF/E run in the late 80s and early 90s. This autobiography is a serviceable look into the details of his wrestling career that were not provided during his first autobiography that had more of an evangelical bent to it.

With that said, the errors contained within this book are glaring, and they raise questions as to the author's recall of other statements of which people will have less obvious knowledge. For instance, in the opening chapter of the book, Dibiase mentions how he turned Macho Man Randy Savage face during their match at Wrestlemania IV. Fans with even the most basic knowledge of the 80s WWF know that Savage turned face during only a few months after Wrestlemania III and was firmly established as a face before his Wrestlemania IV match with the Million Dollar Man.

Dibiase gives details about the Andre the Giant-Hulk Hogan match on Saturday Night's Main Event that simply did NOT happen; the referee switch did NOT take place mid match, but before. This might be Dibiase's most noteworthy moment as a wrestler, seen by far more people than any other moment, but he can't get his facts straight.

Another error: He talks about how Virgil was forced to hurl an interfering fan from the exterior of the steel cage to the floor during a match with Randy Savage at Madison Square Garden. I've seen this match, as have MANY wrestling fans; security removed the fan from the cage, and Virgil feigned a kick at the fan only AFTER the fan was removed. Again, either Dibiase had his facts wrong, or he flat out lied and doesn't count on fans to have actually seen this footage.

In addition, there are editing mistakes that betray an inexcusable lack of review and editing on the part of the WWE. In one instance, Dibiase refers to the Royal Rumble as the King of the Ring tournament and goes on to mention how the WWE crowned TWO kings that night: Bret Hart and Lex Luger. He's obviously referring to the finish of the Royal Rumble where both men landed on the floor simultaneously. For a man who played such a prominent role in the first Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, and for a former King-of-the-Ring winner (before the event was televised), these types of mistakes REALLY should not be made.

Criticisms aside, I would highly recommend this autobiography simply because it is the best such work available on one of the best wrestlers of his era. However, learned wrestling fans should be advised that poor editing and weak recall of event knowledge will leave them shaking their heads several times during this book.

A pretty easy read but it contained a lot of errors that should have been caught by the editor.
Ted is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and a great promo man so I was expecting just a little more from him. I just felt the book was missing something.

I have a handful of wrestling autobiographies and I greatly enjoyed this one. I'm not going to say it's a must read b/c everyone's tastes are different. If you were a fan of the last generation of wrestlers (80's to early/mid-90's) that you'd probably enjoy this. Me, I enjoy reading about an era that will never come around again, road stories and ribs.

As one of the best technical wrestlers, Ted DiBiase had the whole package he could wrestle, talk and was the ultimate heel figure, fans really despised him and his wwe character The Million Dollar man. So its disappointing that this is the part of the book which is a letdown.

It all starts well with DiBiase describing his childhood, family life and highly promising College football career. He does a great job of telling how he got started in the business and would finally make the big time as Vince McMahon gave him the character that if he was to become a wrestler (which he eventually did).

This is when the book goes down hill as DiBiase just kind if skimps through it. So while we do learn that he liked all the perks that came with the road (women mainly) we don't learn much about his time there. We do get comments from family members and fellow wrestlers some are welcome some are not.

The book does pick up again at the end when hes very honest describing what its like working as a producer for wwe and that he simply wasn't up to the job. The book would have been better with more chapters like this as there's no doubt he has a few stories to tell.

If your a fan of The Million Dollar Man you might be letdown as it does not give great detail about his wwe time.

As a huge fan of Ted, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and his honesty. He was always one of my favorite characters and he's extremely easy on the eyes.

The DiBiase that writes this book and the one who was the perrenial bad guy in the 80's and 90's aretwo different people. I am a pro wrestler myself and it is good to know that with all of the garbage that goes on in the business, a man can actually change for the better. Ted talks about the territories and the old days and does it with class that doesn't sound forced.

Even though it is a WWE book, it does come off honest. Highly recommended.

This is the basic story of ted dibiase. Where he grew up, hoe he got into and finally out of wrestling. Ted seemed to get along with everyone. No stories of hatred, real life feuds, etc. He mentions he tended to drink too much and briefly mentions an affair and he was a little egotistical at the peak of his million dollar man gimmick. That's about it. Pretty bland. the writing style is seems to be geared to very intermediate readers. Spend your $$ on the Bret Hart book, or even the flair book, way more engaging reads.

I originally bought this book to save money on shipping, but it was really entertaining. I used to watch wrestling around 20 years ago, I wondered what the million dollar man really like.
Reading this book I learned about the constant travel and respect for the wrestling business. I also learned about Ted Diabase the person. I would recommend this book to anyone who knows who Ted Diabase is, you don't have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy this one.
Remember don't cheat, don't steal and don't lie

This is a great read, easy to follow and understand. I enjoy reading wrestling biographies and this one seems straight as opposed to some that are deceptively written. It's a good comprehensive history of the Million Dollar Man's career and is well worth the price.