WWE Hall of Famer “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase recently spoke on his podcast, “Everybody’s Got A Pod,” about a variety of professional wrestling topics including what he thinks is missing from modern wrestling:
“All you other guys out there, don’t go out there if you’re 6’4″ and try to do triple back somersaults. I mean it’s kind of, you know, it’s the bottom line with me. My whole objection with a lot of what I see on TV today is, the thing that has changed is the match. And I’m sorry, but I personally don’t believe that that should have changed at all. Because you’re telling a story, and sometimes it’s a short story because you may only have a six-minute match, and then it’s ‘Then what you can do or what you know?’ And I’ll be honest with you: it’s really hard to have a match in six minutes, but it’s just become all this high-flying junk.”
“I’ve seen these guys take beautiful bumps. These young kids take a triple back somersault. And you know, if I ever took a bump like I’ve seen some of these guys take over the top rope to the floor, I’m not going to bounce up like a bunny. I’m going to stay down and sell it. That’s what’s missing. Sell it. And that’s what sells tickets. Before the fans can really get behind you, you have to do as much as you possibly can in the time that you have in the ring. Try to make them believe your story and make it as realistic as I can. Nobody tries to do that. Well, I won’t say nobody but very few try to do that anymore. One of the guys that I think has become very good and more of an old style — and again, by a lot of the people who influenced him, was CM Punk. He wrestles in a more old-school way. I’m going to die on that hill.”
You can check out the complete podcast below:
