Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase Jr. (born November 8, 1982) is a retired American professional wrestler, having formerly worked in WWE. The son of "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase Sr., he is a former two time WWE World Tag Team Champion with his former tag team partner, Cody Rhodes. He is also an occasional actor in film.
After being trained by Chris Youngblood and undergoing further training at Harley Race's Wrestling Academy, DiBiase made his professional wrestling debut on July 8, 2006. He won the Fusion Pro Tag Team Championship with his brother Mike DiBiase, in February 2007, and also toured Japan briefly with Pro Wrestling Noah. He signed a developmental contract with WWE in July 2007, and was assigned to their developmental facility, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He joined the Next Generation Hart Foundation faction for a short time, before winning the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship in December 2007. Due to injury, he relinquished the championship in January 2008.
He made his WWE television debut on May 26, 2008, and in his first match as a member of the Raw roster, he won the World Tag Team Championship with Cody Rhodes. They dropped the championship in August, before winning it again a week later. Rhodes and DiBiase were joined by Manu shortly afterwards, forming a faction of multi-generation wrestlers, although shortly afterwards DiBiase was taken off television to film The Marine 2. Upon his return, he formed The Legacy faction alongside Rhodes and Randy Orton. Following The Legacy's dissolution, DiBiase moved into singles competition, and was drafted to the SmackDown brand in April 2011.
Aside from professional wrestling, DiBiase is also an actor, making his film debut in The Marine 2, a direct-to-DVD movie that was released on December 29, 2009.
He left WWE in 2013, and wrestled on the independent circuit for a while, before retiring in 2017.
DiBiase's post-wrestling career would end up taking a major turn for the worse. In May 2022, he, his father, and former NFL great Brett Favre were among several people sued by the state of Mississippi over misuse of over $20 million in welfare funds
. In April 2023, Ted Jr. was indicted on multiple federal charges related to the scandal.
Tropes associated with Ted DiBiase Jr. include:
- Arch-Enemy: While in Legacy, anyone Randy Orton feuded with by default. In singles; Goldust, Cody Rhodes, Hunico, Jinder Mahal.
- Battle Butler: Virgil, DiBiase Sr.'s bodyguard, eventually fired by Jr.
- Battle Couple: Subverted. Maryse was fresh off a Divas' Championship push when she joined his side, but this also marked her becoming a more straight-up valet as opposed to wrestler. They teamed together just twice.
- Demoted to Extra: The year 2012 was not kind to him with injuries and the like.
- The Dog Bites Back: After he had enough of Cody's BS.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: After his face turn, Michael Cole could not understand why he didn't flaunt his wealth like he used to.
- Evil Is Petty: He and Maryse tried their hardest to get Aksana deported just because Goldust was her pro on NXT, and he was after the Million Dollar Championship.
- Finishing Move: Dream Street, a cobra clutch side slam.
- Heel–Face Turn: After being mistreated one too many times by Cody Rhodes, he sneak attacked him hidden by one of the paper bags.
- Henpecked Boyfriend: To Maryse at one point.
- I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Aksana successfully invoked Distracted by the Sexy long enough for him to fall prey to a sneak attack by Goldust.
- Money Song: His 2010 onwards theme "I Come From Money", which says everything in the title.
- It Runs in the Family: Both with his father and grandfather.
- Legacy Character: At first. He brought back his father's manager Virgil, and the Million Dollar Championship. But it didn't amount to much and he never had much success trying to replicate his father's gimmick.
- Non-Idle Rich: Doesn't want his father's hand-me-down (Million Dollar Championship) and would rather go after his own opportunities.
- Power Stable: Was part of Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton.
- Put on a Bus: Due to the broken ankle, which had him out of action since March of 2012 before he returned in October, before an injury to his hand in December put him out action again. He then left the company in August of 2013.
- Redemption Promotion: Played pretty straight with his Heel–Face Turn.
- Rich Bastard: As a heel.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: As a heel.
- Simple, yet Awesome: His Dream Street finisher is an awesome visual for a finishing move, especially if sold well.
- Smug Snake: As a heel, this was his default look.
- Spear Counterpart: As a face he was close to a male version of Tina Ferrari and Ashley Cartier of GLOW.
- Straight Man: Plays this often, in particular when compared to the hamminess of his dad, the evil of Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes.
-
Suspiciously Similar Song: "Priceless", especially in its first version, is blatantly just "Money" with different lyrics. - Underwear of Power: He always wrestled in trunks.
- Unholy Matrimony: For a time he had Maryse as his girlfriend. They were both heels at the time.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: 6 foot 3, with piercing blue eyes and wore tight pants, pretty frequently during segments with Legacy and backstage segments with Maryse. They tried making this part of his character, during his babyface run in 2011-2013 but, it never really took off.
- Wrestling Family: He's a third-generation guy with his dad, Ted Sr., and his grandfather, "Iron" Mike DiBiase. His little brother had a brief stint in FCW as well, but had to retire due to injury.
