This past weekend, I had the honor to attend a church service here in Tulsa where Ted DiBiase was the guest speaker. For those of you who remember the Million Dollar Man, you know that this was truly a big deal to me, as he was one of the guys I watched growing up. You may be wondering what in the world DiBiase would be doing speaking at a church in Tulsa, so I'll enlighten you briefly.
Ted was last seen in the World Wrestling Federation as the manager of Stone Cold Steve Austin. He left the company in May of 1996, shortly before Austin's big break. DiBiase managed the Steiners and I believe also had a run in the nWo in World Championship Wrestling in 1997. Following that, DiBiase had disappeared from the wrestling scene. Also in 1997, DiBiase published a book entitled "Every Man Has His Price", a play on his catchphrase from his WWF days. The book was I believe the first of what is now common - a wrestling autobiography. DiBiase's book is different though, for one very important reason.it is written from a Christian standpoint. I own and have read his book, it's a very good read. Although I must admit I never thought I'd have to look for a pro-wrestling book in the Christian Living section of the bookstore.
Anyway, since leaving the wrestling scene, DiBiase has become an ordained reverend. He was in Tulsa (he grew up wrestling the indy circuit here) to speak at Church On The Move. By now, you may have figured out this isn't going to be one of my usual obscenity-laced, smart mouthed, funny commentaries on the world of wrestling. In fact, this column may have more to do with religion than anything else. So if that makes you squeamish, stop reading now. I don't blame you, I don't especially like discussing religion myself, I figure it's between you and God. However, since it was an ex-WWF champion who was speaking, and because he referenced the wrestling world many times through his speech, I decided to write about it.
I should first mention that this was a casual church service, and I attended in my Kurt Angle "It's True, It's True" t-shirt. Might have been a mistake looking back on it, but I've written before about how I feel on having to hide the fact that I'm a WWF fan to avoid confrontations. I enjoy debating on it. Church isn't a place where I want to get into arguments however. Thinking maybe I'd get an autograph, I had also brought along my copy of "Every Man Has His Price". I'm sure I looked like a real fanatic, crazy, WWF fan who had just shown up at church because of DiBiase, and that was partly true. I don't attend church regularly, not because I don't believe in it, but because I don't enjoy the phony people who thrive on telling me how horrible I am, mostly based simply on the fact of my age and what the stereotypical teenager does. I don't like listening to people condemn the whole young male demographic as beer drinking, drug doing, cigarette smoking, wild sex having, immoral pieces of crap. Therefore I do not go to church. Granted, it also has a little to do with wanting to sleep in and having to go to work most Sundays, but still, you get the point.
This was an exception though. It was a Saturday night, I had gotten off work in time to go, and one of my good friends invited me to go with him, so I decided to go. Yes, I went because it was Ted DiBiase speaking, I most likely would not have gone if he had not been an ex-WWF star, but at the same time, at least I went and I went with a good attitude. I just want to say right here and now, that anyone who thinks the WWF is pure evil, the WWF is to blame for getting me into a church for the first time in years, so they can't be all bad. Anyway, after the hymns and the announcements and all of the opening church ceremonies, the main pastor introduced Ted DiBiase. He introduced him by saying something along the lines of "One of the most popular forms of entertainment today is professional wrestling. We are honored tonight to have wrestling's Million Dollar Man speak to us. Please welcome Mr. Ted DiBiase." DiBiase came out, he's put on probably 40 or so pounds since his ring days, and he was wearing glasses and his hair wasn't dyed blonde, but it was him.
Forgive me, the details are sketchy because it's Monday night as I'm typing this, and I don't remember exactly the order of things he said, but I'm going to cover the things that stick out to me. The first thing that stuck out to me, was a comment he made on wrestling fans. And I was and still am a Million Dollar Man fan, but this irritated me. He said something amounting to "If you're a wrestling fan who just came to church because you heard I was in town, you especially need to hear what I have to say". His message in his speech was about people who say they are Christians but are not truly good people, so that comment pissed me off to a degree. You know, this may not be the coolest thing to admit, but I'll do it anyway. I am, obviously, a wrestling fan. But you know what? I have not ever been drunk, I have never tried any type of illegal drugs, I do not smoke, I do not go to wild alcohol parties, I pray every night, and I do consider myself to be a good person. I'll admit to having a foul mouth and to occasionally having participated in pre-marital sex, but compare that to the average teen, and then tell me that I'm a horrible person. I also pull down pretty decent grades (except math.I really hate math), and I have full admission waiting on me to Oklahoma State, which is one of the top schools around. So tell me that Wrestling fans are bad people. No more so are we wrestling fans bad people than are football fans or hockey fans or even opera fans. But wrestling gets that bad wrap - even from a man who was once one of the main event stars. DiBiase made up for that comment later though, admitting that statistics show that 80% of church going people are no better.
Another choice comment from Ted was in reference to today's pro-wrestling. He said "And just for the record, I do not condone, nor do I allow my children to watch the disgusting display that they call professional wrestling today!" You know, that's fine. Ted has every right to parent his children as he sees fit, and he has every right to deem the WWF unacceptable for his kids. He also has the right to not agree with the direction the WWF has taken since he left 5 years ago. The problem I see with it is, and whether he will admit it or not, it is the truth, DiBiase still to this day uses the WWF to make money. Without his Million Dollar Man days, he would be just any other preacher out there and frankly, he might not even be that. I just think if he sees the WWF to be such filth, why does he still associate himself with them when he introduces himself? Because he did introduce himself by saying "I was the Million Dollar Man from the World Wrestling Federation". All that aside, because maybe that's just unavoidable when you get so big at something, when so many people knew you for that, I don't like the idea that the WWF is considered to be so horrible when there is so much worse filth on TV. But then again, he didn't say if he lets his kids watch those shows.
Here's two of my favorites though, when referring to the Bible verse John 3:16, he says "John 3:16, NOT AUSTIN 3:16, says for God so loved the world." and the other was in reference to Satan picking his spots he says "And for me, Satan was a guy named Vince McMahon.Which isn't that far from the truth!" Uggh. How many years now has Austin been ripped for using a Bible verse to create a catch phrase? How many times has he gone on record of saying it wasn't meant to be sac religious? Plenty of times. It's old, real old. As far as Vince McMahon, I heard an old man behind me say "amen" when Ted made that comment. Why amen? Why is Vince McMahon Satan? Because he is a hard business man? Or because he created something that is now viewed to be "morally unacceptable" by so many people? Hey, I've never met Vince, I don't have any right to defend or blast the man, because I don't know if he's Satan or not. I'd certainitly say he's not because I love the WWF so much, but the fact is, Vince may very well be a sleazebag. DiBiase can have that one, because Vince may have been a real jerk to him. The thing is, in his book, DiBiase says that Vince was always very nice and understanding when dealing with DiBiase. So why is he now Satan? And why is the guy who was behind me saying "amen"? That's the way the media programs us, by giving negative publicity to the WWF. How many times did you hear about how horrible the WWF was before it became popular? None. Figure that one out yourselves folks. It's easy to knock something as successful as the WWF and the McMahons are. Maybe Ted is a little jealous? Maybe.
But I'm not ripping on Ted DiBiase. He seems to me to be a wonderful Christian, a wonderful human being, a great husband and father, and even a good preacher. He has a very touching life story. For those of you who haven't read it, go read it. It's interesting and touching. He's been through a lot of crap, and he's come out of it as a better person and he's managed to use his platform as a WWF star to minister the word of Jesus to people who may have never heard it otherwise. I enjoyed his sermon, it was just those few comments that irritated me. I got a lot out of his speech, whether you're a true Christian or whether you're just giving "lip service" as he put it. Just saying you're one. But the comments he made in regards to the WWF and wrestling and it's fans made it to where when the service was over, I simply got up and left. I was looking forward to meeting him, maybe getting my book signed, you know, maybe even going as far as having a short conversation with him. But I honestly didn't feel like having to defend myself for wearing a WWF shirt to church and all, so I just left. DiBiase has a wonderful message to spread, I just wish he could do it without adding to the stereotype that wrestling and its fans are immoral trash.
A wrestling fan can be (and many are) just as good (if not better) human beings and Christians as anyone else out there. And THAT, (*ahem*) IS TRUE!
Until next time.
