The wrestling world is offering prayers and messages of support for an all-time WWE icon after he made a heartbreaking announcement.
WWE Hall of Famer Ted ‘The Million Dollar Man’ DiBiase revealed on the latest edition of his “Everybody’s Got A Pod” podcast (h/t Ryan Morik of FOX News) that he suffers from “severe brain trauma.”
DiBiase stated that he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s nor dementia, but he is suffering from short-term memory loss:
“I’m dealing with this, this is legit. I don’t have Alzheimer’s, and I don’t have dementia. But they said, ‘Ted, you have something. We just simply call it severe brain trauma.
What it affects is my memory, and they say it’ll be easier for you to remember something you did 40 or 50 years ago, but the short-term memory, some of the stuff right now, it’s bits and pieces…
Until I went to the WWF, and even then, when I first started with them, it was three straight weeks on — 21 days, 21 cities — and then you go home for a week. Then they eventually changed it to 10 on, three off, four on, and three off, so you were home a little more. But, again, I thank God I’m still here.”
Wrestling fans took to Twitter to offer support for DiBiase following the tragic announcement.
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The 69-year-old DiBiase debuted in Mid-South wrestling back in 1974. He joined Vince McMahon Sr.’s WWWF (now WWE) promotion in 1979 before making the move to the National Wrestling Alliance in 1980.
DiBiase also enjoyed success in All Japan Pro Wrestling in the late ’80s. He returned to the WWE in 1987 and endured the most successful run of his career as an arrogant and ruthless “Million Dollar Man.”
In WWE, DiBiase won two Million Dollar Championships, one 24/7 Championship and three Tag Team Championships with I.R.S. DiBiase was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the 2010 class.
His son, Ted DiBiase Jr., also competed in WWE From 2007 to 2013. DiBiase Jr. worked alongside Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton in a villainous faction called “The Legacy”, as all three men were all multi-generation superstars.
DiBiase is a member of WWE’s Legends program, and he makes occasional televised appearances for some of the promotion’s biggest shows. Most recently, he was at the “Raw is XXX” special on Jan. 23.
