Mike DiBiase (born 1977)

Michael Wills Foreman DiBiase II (born September 10, 1977)[4] is an American retired professional wrestler.[5][4] A third generation wrestler, DiBiase is the grandson of "Iron" Mike DiBiase and Helen Hild and the son of "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.

This article is about Mike DiBiase. For his grandfather "Iron" Mike DiBiase, see Iron Mike DiBiase.

Mike DiBiase
Birth nameMichael Wills Foreman DiBiase II
Born (1977-09-10) September 10, 1977[1]
Clinton, Mississippi, U.S.[1]
FamilyMike DiBiase (grandfather)
Helen Hild (grandmother)
Ted DiBiase (father)
Ted DiBiase Jr. (half-brother)
Brett DiBiase (half-brother)
Terry Funk (godfather)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Mike DiBiase
Billed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Billed weight227 lb (103 kg)[3]
Trained byTed DiBiase[1]
Terry Funk[1]
Harley Race[1]
Chris Youngblood[1]
DebutJuly 8, 2006[1]
Retired2009[1]

Professional wrestling career

DiBiase began his career in early 2006, when he and his younger half brother Ted began training in Amarillo, Texas with Chris Youngblood while gaining experience wrestling in shows for local independent wrestling promotion Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF).[2] While there, DiBiase became the first-ever PWF West Texas Wrestling Legends Heritage Champion. He also won the 2006 Jay Youngblood Memorial Tag Team Tournament Cup alongside "Radical" Ricky Romero III. DiBiase and Romero became the first tag team in professional wrestling that consisted of two third generation superstars, and became known as Team 3G.

DiBiase (bottom) wrestling Johnny Goodtime in 2008.

In mid-2006, the DiBiase brothers went to train with former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race, and began competing in his World League Wrestling promotion.[2] The DiBiase brothers began working as a tag team, and made their debut in April 2006, beating the then-WLW Tag Team Champions.[3] DiBiase continued his stay in WLW and became one half of The WLW Tag Team Champions with "Wild" Wade Chism. On January 13, 2007, DiBiase returned to PWF for their Wrestlution event, where he defeated Mosh Pit Mike. Both DiBiase and his brother Ted signed contracts with Pro Wrestling Noah in late January, but suffered a knee injury.[2] In February 2007, DiBiase suffered a torn ACL during a training session with Race. DiBiase had immediate surgery and was out of action for over five months. Due to his injury, he and "Wild" Wade Chism were stripped of the WLW Tag Team Titles.

During his injury, DiBiase relocated back to Amarillo, Texas and began scouting matches and offering advice to young wrestlers. He also made several in-ring appearances at the weekly events. On March 3, 2007, he vowed to win the PWF West Texas Wrestling Legends Heritage Championship, after he had returned. His next appearance was on April 28, 2007, when he awarded the 2007 Jay Youngblood Memorial Tag Team Tournament Cup to the team Pain Inc. (Mosh Pit Mike and WidowMaker). DiBiase's first match back after his injury was on July 7, 2007 when Team 3G reunited and became the PWF Tag Team Champions after defeating Pain Inc. and The Texas Heart Throbs (Brice Payne and Shawn Sanders) in a three-way tag team match. On December 8, 2007, DiBiase won the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship by defeating Damien Wayne in Las Vegas, Nevada.[6]

DiBiase added the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship to his collection on August 6, 2008, defeating Chaz Taylor in Amarillo, Texas.[7] He was later stripped of the title, however, for missing a scheduled title defense on October 4. On May 1, 2009, DiBiase lost the NWA North American Championship to Apollo.[2] He retired from professional wrestling later that year.[1]

Personal life

DiBiase is a third generation professional wrestler; his grandfather, "Iron" Mike DiBiase, and his grandmother, Helen Hild, were professional wrestlers, and he is the eldest son of Ted DiBiase.[8] Both his younger half brothers Ted Jr. and Brett wrestled professionally.[2][8] DiBiase is Terry Funk's godson.[3]

DiBiase competed in amateur wrestling, college football, and soccer, before becoming a professional wrestler.[3] He also worked as an account executive for MCI WorldCom.[2]

On January 23, 2014, DiBiase was arrested following a 12-hour standoff with police in Amarillo, Texas. Initially sought by police for a parole violation, a SWAT team used tear gas to arrest DiBiase for both the parole violation and hindering apprehension.[9][10]

Championships and accomplishments

References
  1. "Mike DiBiase". Cagematch.de. Retrieved February 11, 2017.
  2. Van Der Griend, Blaine (May 21, 2009). "The struggle of the oldest DiBiase son – Mike". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
  3. "Mike DiBiase". harleyrace.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008. Retrieved July 22, 2008.
  4. DiBiase, Ted; Caiazzo, Tom; Funk, Terry (2008). Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man. Simon & Schuster. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-4165-5890-3.
  5. "Mike DiBiase". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 27, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  6. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary; Oliver, Earl; Roelfdema, Eric. "NWA – North American Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Titles Histories. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  7. "PWF 9/6/08 results" (in German). Cagematch. Retrieved September 10, 2008.
  8. Craft, Dan (May 14, 2009). "Ted DiBiase Jr. previews Saturday's WWE mega-show in Bloomington". Free Time Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
  9. Namako, Jason (January 24, 2014). "Mike DiBiase arrested on 1/23 after police standoff". WrestleView. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  10. Revera, Chelo (January 23, 2014). "Man arrested after standoff with police". Connect Amarillo. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  11. "Independent Wrestling Results – July 2007". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  12. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2008". Retrieved February 4, 2015.
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