Lesser Known Fam
Chapter Eight: Mike DiBiase
#PWHS #Article #LesserKnownFam #LKF #DiBiaseFamily
As time goes by the illustrious history of Professional Wrestling is being lost day by day to the masses. The purpose of these articles is to preserve the memory of lesser known family members. They come from the same family of a recent star. They may even have been somewhat a star themselves to the fans of their generation. This is just another method of preserving Professional Wrestling history. Enjoy.
April 2, 1950 - Nebraska State Journal
The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase, had the roots to become a possible pro wrestling star. His mother was a pro wrestler, and so was his adoptive father, “Iron” Mike DiBiase. Mike was a top star in the years he wrestled 1950-69. This included being the WWA World Heavyweight Champion, which he won on July 28, 1967 before losing it to "Killer" Buddy Austin.
He had great feuds with such stars as Eddie Graham, John Tolos, Reggie Parks. He also had great nights of battling with both Dory Funk Sr and Jr. This included a Texas Death Match with Dory Sr that lasted 16 rounds and 104 minutes.
This hated villain won at least eighteen individual belts and fifteen tag titles. You can catch how good he was when I tell you he shared tag belts with the likes of Bob Orton Sr, Fritz Von Erich, and even the great Fred Blassie. I can imagine him tagging with Blassie would be worth the price of admission.
I never saw him wrestle, but from all accounts I can find makes him sound like he had a special persona of greatness. The fans of his age would tell you to look up the meaning of “evil” in the dictionary, and the face you would find was “Iron” Mike DiBiase. Think of Bull Curry, The Shiek, Abdullah the Butcher, Brute Bernard, El Monstro, and Fred Blassie and you are starting to get the picture. Some that have spanned the years from his time to ours would say he possibly still would have been the best in drawing heat; that’s high praise.
He could build heat, the old fashioned way, without touching his opponent for 10 minutes or more. You know, have the special hidden object in his hands…play “hide and seek” with the ref concerning his foreign object…act like he was going to attack his opponent, and then slip his body partly or entirely outside the ropes….and then start it all over again.
It is sad to say that Iron Mike is better known probably of being one of a few wrestlers that actually died in the ring from a heart attack. The date was July 2, 1969 and he wrestled a match against Man Mountain Mike in Lubbock Texas. Harley Race was the first one to notice something was wrong and started giving CPR immediately. He rode with him to the hospital, where he was pronounced officially dead. His heart attack had nothing to do with pro wrestling, unless you possibly could blame too much fast food wrestlers ate.
“Iron” Mike DiBiase-another superstar I would have liked to have seen at least once. Thanks for your colorful contribution to Pro Wrestling History.
He had great feuds with such stars as Eddie Graham, John Tolos, Reggie Parks. He also had great nights of battling with both Dory Funk Sr and Jr. This included a Texas Death Match with Dory Sr that lasted 16 rounds and 104 minutes.
This hated villain won at least eighteen individual belts and fifteen tag titles. You can catch how good he was when I tell you he shared tag belts with the likes of Bob Orton Sr, Fritz Von Erich, and even the great Fred Blassie. I can imagine him tagging with Blassie would be worth the price of admission.
I never saw him wrestle, but from all accounts I can find makes him sound like he had a special persona of greatness. The fans of his age would tell you to look up the meaning of “evil” in the dictionary, and the face you would find was “Iron” Mike DiBiase. Think of Bull Curry, The Shiek, Abdullah the Butcher, Brute Bernard, El Monstro, and Fred Blassie and you are starting to get the picture. Some that have spanned the years from his time to ours would say he possibly still would have been the best in drawing heat; that’s high praise.
He could build heat, the old fashioned way, without touching his opponent for 10 minutes or more. You know, have the special hidden object in his hands…play “hide and seek” with the ref concerning his foreign object…act like he was going to attack his opponent, and then slip his body partly or entirely outside the ropes….and then start it all over again.
It is sad to say that Iron Mike is better known probably of being one of a few wrestlers that actually died in the ring from a heart attack. The date was July 2, 1969 and he wrestled a match against Man Mountain Mike in Lubbock Texas. Harley Race was the first one to notice something was wrong and started giving CPR immediately. He rode with him to the hospital, where he was pronounced officially dead. His heart attack had nothing to do with pro wrestling, unless you possibly could blame too much fast food wrestlers ate.
“Iron” Mike DiBiase-another superstar I would have liked to have seen at least once. Thanks for your colorful contribution to Pro Wrestling History.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Lesser Known Family: Chapter Eight.
Author: Terry Kent.
Published: December 9, 2015.
Article: #132.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Lesser Known Family: Chapter Eight.
Author: Terry Kent.
Published: December 9, 2015.
Article: #132.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Lesser Known Family: Chapter Seven - Read Here.
Other articles by Terry can be Read Here.