Paul Orndorff became one of Ted’s toughest opponents and they had some thrilling matches. Ted knocked off Orndorff in November of 1981 to regain the North American Title. As Ted battled the likes of Paul Orndorff, Paul’s brother Terry, Bob Roop, and Bob Orton Jr. he counted on the likes of Junkyard Dog, Dick Murdoch, and even Dusty Rhodes as close allies and tag team partners. Ted lost the North American Title to Bob Roop on March 17, 1982 in Shreveport and wanted nothing more than to regain that title. To get that title Ted had to take a giant and profound step.

In 1982 Mid-South booker Ernie Ladd asked Ted DiBiase for a favor. Since Ted wrestled for several promotions in the United States as well as competing for All-Japan Wrestling, would Ted keep his eyes peeled for a new lead heel for him? Ted agreed and came to Ladd shortly thereafter with a new lead heel for Mid-South Wrestling. Ted presented himself for the role. The Big Cat was a bit skeptical at first. Ted had spent his entire career as a baby face. Could he really pull off the role? Ted insisted he could and Ladd decided to give it a go. This began a new and exciting chapter of Ted DiBiase’s career.

Ted was scheduled to face North American Champion Bob Roop in a title match. Before that bout could come to pass, Ted’s good friend Junkyard Dog won the title. As JYD would assume Roop’s championship commitments, it meant that the two friends would face off for the belt. Each man insisted that there was no problem. This would be a scientific match between two close buddies. During the bout things started off clean and friendly, but then Ted DiBiase shocked the wrestling world. Ted used a loaded, black glove to knock JYD into next week and stole the North American Heavyweight Title. Ted was utterly remorseless about his change of attitude and his new, cheating ways. Ted behaved like a sociopath about the situation. His desire for the money and prestige of the North American Heavyweight Title had got the better of him. Instead of talent and ability Ted wanted to use outside interference and his trademark loaded, black glove to win matches. To provide friendship and protection Ted formed a heel faction known as The Rat Pack with Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Matt Borne. With these allies watching Ted’s back, JYD found it tough to get a fair match. The newly created hatred led to a brutal feud between the two former friends.

In a famous Mid-South match and angle Ted and Borne faced off against JYD and Mr. Olympia in a match in which the loser of the fall would have to leave Mid-South Wrestling. A man wearing a gorilla suit had been roaming ringside entertaining the fans. Suddenly he jumped into the ring and cost JYD the fall. It was Hacksaw Jim Duggan in disguise all along. With a little help from his friends Ted DiBiase had driven his archenemy Junkyard Dog out of Mid-South Wrestling. Or had he? A new masked man entered Mid-South wrestling by the name of Stagger Lee. Ted DiBiase was furious to put it mildly. He insisted that anyone should be able to see that Stagger Lee was Junkyard Dog in disguise. Ted’s mission in life was to unmask Stagger Lee and finish off Junkyard Dog in Mid-South Wrestling once and for all. Their battles led to a showdown on November 25, 1982 at the Super Dome in New Orleans. Good triumphed over evil as Stagger Lee defeated Ted DiBiase to claim the North American Title that Ted had stolen from Stagger’s "good buddy" Junkyard Dog.

Another of Ted DiBiase’s great rivals was Hacksaw Jim Duggan. At one point they were the closest of friends, the lynchpins of The Rat Pack. In 1983 that all changed. Ted made a deal to take on General Skandor Akbar as his manager. As the Big Cheese of the Rat Pack Duggan had committed some diabolical deeds, but joining forces with the anti-American Akbar crossed the line by insulting Jim’s renowned Patriotism. Ted insisted that his dealings with Akbar would not affect his relationship with Duggan. Fat chance! At Akbar’s behest, Ted sold out Duggan at the first opportunity. This led to one of 1983’s most violent and exciting feuds. Ted and Duggan were polar opposites and played off each other brilliantly. Ted was the underhanded ring technician. Duggan was the straight-ahead brawler. Duggan proudly represented the working man, proud of who he was and what he had. Ted would sell out his best friend and his country for the almighty dollar. The more the fans loved Duggan, the more they hated Ted.

The feud came to a shocking to a shocking end in June of 1983 when Hacksaw Duggan defeated Ted DiBiase in a loser leaves Mid-South match. Ted had to leave a promotion he had dominated. In the fall of 1984 Ted returned to Mid-South in almost as shocking manner as he had left. Ted assaulted Duggan in the parking lot of the Irish McNeill Boys’ Club before Duggan’s football helmet match with Steve Williams. Once again the feud was on. The two archenemies once again played off their contrasts to enthrall the fans with a feud that was psychological as well as physical. An infamous Best Dressed Man in Mid-South Wrestling contest led to Ted brutally assaulting Hacksaw. This incident and all of the pent up bad blood led to a series of special matches to settle the score. The feud came to a brutal and violent conclusion as Ted DiBiase and Hacksaw Jim Duggan fought it out in a combination Glove on a Pole, No Disqualification, and Tuxedo Match all contested inside a Steel Cage. The bouts in Houston on March 8, 1985 and in New Orleans on March 30, 1985 stood out in particular. No matter the city, Hacksaw came out the winner. Ted DiBiase still made a huge impact on Duggan and Mid-South Wrestling in general.

While feuding with Duggan, Ted held the Mid-South Tag Team Title with Hercules Hernandez. Hercules was in his prime and with Ted’s experience and talent and Akbar’s craftiness at ringside they formed a talented, underrated, and wrongly forgotten team. They battled with the Rock n Roll Express during the late fall and early winter of 1984 trading the Mid-South Tag Team Title back and forth. When that team dissolved Ted paired up with a new partner and formed a team that became legendary in the eyes of wrestling fans. Ted’s new partner was none other than Steve "Doctor Death" Williams. Ted and Doc possessed the right combination of skill, intelligence, brawn, and viciousness. The Rock n Roll Express provided Ted and Doc with heated competition. Despite an obvious giving away a lot of size Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson used their skill and speed to match up well with Williams and DiBiase. The Rock n Roll Express withstood Ted and Doc’s onslaught for months before finally dropping the Mid-South Tag Team Titles in Houston on May 3, 1985.

Ted and Doc seemed invincible as champions. The Rock n Roll Express quickly departed the area. Fellow heels Jake Roberts and Nord the Barbarian wound up providing Ted and Doc their toughest challenge. Jake Roberts had a crafty mind second to none, but even he was out thought by Ted and Doc. The two rival teams met up in a steel cage match at the Superdome in New Orleans on August 10, 1985. Mid-South officials had assigned veteran tough guy wrestler Bob Sweetan as the special referee. Only Sweetan could keep all of these heels under control. Shockingly Sweetan joined forces with Ted and Doc and screwed Jake and Barbarian out of the Title. With a new ally in their camp, Ted left for a tour with All-Japan Pro Wrestling. Steve Williams and Bob Sweetan would defend the title in his absence. A good plan went bad when the unheralded team of Wendell Cooley and Al Perez upset Doc and Sweetan for the Mid-South Tag Team Title at the Irish McNeill Boys’ Club in Shreveport on August 28, 1985. Ted took care of business upon his return, beating up Sweetan and teaming with Doc to demolish Cooley and Perez, gaining retribution if not the Mid-South Tag Team Title. Ted’s career was on track. He and Steve Williams formed Mid-South’s most feared tag team, title or not, and he still possessed one of the promotion’s finest won-loss records as a singles wrestler. However, not even Ted DiBiase could have expected what was about to come.

Beloved by the fans, Butch Reed was one of Mid-South Wrestling’s most dominant wrestlers during 1985. He faced Ric Flair for the title on August 10, 1985 at the Superdome and pushed the NWA World Champion to the limit. Flair retained his title and made clear his intention to never defend the title against Reed again. Flair declared that only the North American Champion would receive future NWA World Title shots. This put Reed at odds with his friend Dick Murdoch, the North American Champion. Reed wanted that title to earn a shot at Flair. Murdoch desperately wanted to retain that title to face Flair himself. While Reed took the high road viewing it as a competitive sporting rivalry, the increasingly selfish and paranoid Murdoch violently turned against Reed, preferring a title to his friend. Reed eventually defeated Murdoch to take the North American Title and earn another chance at Flair. The Nature Boy responded by placing a bounty on Reed. Flair would pay $25,000 to anyone who could injure Reed and knock him out of contention. Dick Slater answered the call and, along with Flair, injured Reed’s neck. Just a week before Flair and Reed were scheduled to meet for the NWA World Title, Flair needed a new challenger. Enter Ted DiBiase.

Of all the competitors in Mid-South Wrestling Ted DiBiase was selected at late notice to challenge Ric Flair for the NWA World Title. Prior to the match Dick Murdoch made an unwelcome visit to the ring. Murdoch seethed with jealousy when Reed captured the attention of Flair and the promoters as an NWA World Title contender. Now he audaciously demanded that Ted step aside and let him face Flair instead, trying to guilt trip Ted by pointing out that he helped get Ted his scholarship to West Texas State and that he’d help Ted break into professional wrestling. Ted calmly and politely refused. Ted earnestly and honestly thanked Murdoch for all of his help, but he’d waited more than a year since his last shot at the NWA World Title and he may never get another chance. Ted explained that he had to go for it. Murdoch exploded with rage. He sucker punched Ted and threw him to the floor. Murdoch then rammed DiBiase’s head into the ring post, busting open a huge, gory cut on Ted’s forehead. As paramedic’s helped a dazed Ted DiBiase to the locker room, Ric Flair boasted that he now had the evening off. How wrong he was.

As paramedics attempted to close the massive wound on his head, Ted lied on a bench, concussed and covered with blood. Cowboy Bill Watts explained that Ted had suffered from a severe laceration, arterial damage, and tremendous loss of blood. Nevertheless Ted insisted on facing Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Title as Ted never knew when or if he’d get another shot. Before Murdoch’s interruption and attack Ted had been one of the most hated men in Mid-South Wrestling. Sympathy over Murdoch’s attack combined with Ted’s gutsy, earnest attempt to pursue the NWA World Title made Ted an instant hit with the fans. Battling through blood and pain, Ted gave everything he had to a stunned Ric Flair in one of 1985’s most exciting matches. At one point Steve Williams came to ringside to encourage Ted to end the match, Ted’s blood loss was so severe. Ted DiBiase fought on and several times nearly had Flair down for the count. In the end Ted and Flair collided, sending DiBiase to the floor where he was counted out. Still, it had been a valiant effort on Ted’s part. Then Dick Murdoch appeared at ringside once again. Dick pounded Ted and nailed him with a brain buster on the concrete floor. Paramedics carried Ted on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance and then on to the hospital. Dick Murdoch was suspended for 45 days while Ted’s career appeared to be finished due to a broken neck.

After his suspension ended, Dick Murdoch returned crowing about the end of Ted DiBiase’s career. How wrong he was. Ted had made a remarkable recovery and returned to action with revenge on his mind. Ted and Doc regained the Mid-South Tag Team Title they never lost as a team on November 11, 1985 by defeating Eddie Gilbert and Murdoch who was subbing for The Nightmare. In December Ted used his famous, loaded black glove to KO and pin Murdoch in a big grudge match at The Myriad in Oklahoma City. Murdoch countered by bringing the legendary Masked Superstar to Mid-South as his partner. Ted and Doc were now in rampant form and vanquished Murdoch and Superstar in numerous bouts in early 1986. Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams stood tall and proud as the final Mid-South Tag Team Champions as the promotion evolved into the UWF in the spring of 1986.

Ted DiBiase remained one of the biggest and most popular stars of the newly renamed UWF, feuding with The Freebirds and Devastation Incorporated. In 1987 he went on to the WWF and gained enormous fame as The Million Dollar Man, both as a wrestler and as a manager and broadcaster after a neck injury ended his wrestling career in 1993. He moved on to WCW in 1996, initially as a member of the New World Order. He later switched his allegiance to WCW and managed the Steiner brothers before retiring from professional wrestling in 1998. Since then Ted has embraced Christianity and published his autobiography, describing both his wrestling career and his spiritual awakening. Today Ted DiBiase travels the nation speaking at churches and before other religious groups and organizations. Although religion is Ted’s primary focus he always has a handshake and story or two for the many fans who fondly remember his wrestling accomplishments. No doubt Ted has told many tales of his fantastic career in Mid-South Wrestling.

NEXT MONTH:

There may not have been a more beloved figure in the history of Mid-South Wrestling. Next time we’ll remember the great Mid-South career of the one and only Junkyard Dog.