03 June 2023 , 11:43
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WWE legend Ted DiBiase has revealed he is suffering from "severe brain trauma" following an in-ring career that spanned two decades.
DiBiase was known as ‘The Million Dollar Man’ as he competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, All Japan Pro Wrestling, WCW and the World Wrestling Federation, which later became World Wrestling Entertainment. The 69-year-old - who was trained by wrestling icon Terry Funk - retired in 1993 after headlining various major events, including WrestleMania IV and the first-ever SummerSlam.
However, the wear and tear of his career appears to be taking its toll. Last week, DiBiase revealed on his podcast that he is suffering from short-term memory loss, although he hasn’t been given an official diagnosis of an illness.
“I’m dealing with this, this is legit,” DiBiase said on the ‘Everybody’s Got a Pod’ podcast. “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.”
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DiBiase admitted the conversation with medical officials was surprising to him, particularly as he "only wrestled for maybe almost 20 years’" However, he dived into the remarkably intense schedules of wrestlers on the road.
Ted DiBiase's 'Million Dollar Man' gimmick proved to be incredibly popular in the 1980s and 1990s (Getty Images)“There were no days off, that was seven days a week we wrestled. 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,” ‘The Million Dollar Man’ added.
“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.”
DiBiase was the first WWE North American champion as well as three-time tag-team champion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.