Background and career
Theodore Marvin DiBiase Jr. (born November 8, 1982) is an American retired professional wrestler and actor. He is best known for his tenure in WWE and role in the Mississippi welfare funds scandal for which he was acquitted. Part of the DiBiase wrestling family, he was trained by Chris Youngblood and Harley Race's Wrestling Academy and debuted in 2006. He won the Fusion Pro Tag Team Championship with his brother Mike DiBiase in February 2007, and also toured Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah. He signed a developmental contract with WWE in July 2007, and was assigned to their developmental facility, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he won the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship in December 2007. Due to injury, he relinquished the championship in January 2008. He made his WWE television debut on May 26, 2008, and quickly formed a tag team with Cody Rhodes. The duo won the World Tag Team Championship twice before forming The Legacy faction alongside Randy Orton. Following The Legacy's dissolution, DiBiase moved into singles competition and received the Million Dollar Championship from his father Ted DiBiase. DiBiase left WWE in 2013 due to family commitments and other business pursuits. He continued to wrestle on the independent circuit until 2017. In 2020, he officially announced his retirement. From January to March 2026, DiBiase was tried for 13 criminal counts related to potential misappropriation of Mississippi state welfare funds. On March 20, 2026, he was acquitted of all charges.
DiBiase was born on November 8, 1982, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was raised in Clinton, Mississippi. He knew fellow professional wrestler Christie Ricci as a child, as they attended a Sunday school class together. He graduated from Clinton High School in 2001. At Clinton, DiBiase was the football team's starting quarterback. DiBiase enrolled at Mississippi College in Clinton and was a starting wide receiver for Mississippi College's football team before leaving the squad following his freshman season. He also played soccer in college, and received awards in both sports. He graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Business Administration. During his time in college, DiBiase considered becoming a minister.
DiBiase and his older brother Mike DiBiase, received professional wrestling training from Chris Youngblood in Amarillo, Texas, before going to train at Harley Race's Wrestling Academy. The DiBiase brothers made their professional wrestling debut on July 8, 2006, for World League Wrestling (WLW), the promotion run by Harley Race in Eldon, Missouri, in conjunction with the Wrestling Academy. On February 17, 2007, they won the Fusion Pro Tag Team Championship by defeating Raheem Rashaad and Juntsi. In early 2007, DiBiase also wrestled on tours in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah, where he competed against wrestlers including the former GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion, KENTA.
In July 2007, DiBiase signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and debuted in their training territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He made his FCW debut on August 4 in a tag team match, in which he and Jake Hager defeated Keith Walker and Heath Miller. In October, DiBiase became a member of the Next Generation Hart Foundation faction alongside Harry Smith, TJ Wilson, Nattie Neidhart, and Teddy Hart. He quickly separated from the group, however, and gained Maryse as a valet. On December 18, 2007, DiBiase defeated TJ Wilson to win the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship in New Port Richey, Florida. DiBiase, however, was unable to defend it due to an injury sustained, so he awarded the championship to his partner Heath Miller on January 19, 2008. As of March 2008, DiBiase had suffered from a multitude of injuries including sciatica, a fractured left knee, separated ribs, broken finger, and bone spurs in his elbow. Due to these injuries, DiBiase competed sporadically in FCW for the next few months, competing in both tag team and singles competition.
DiBiase made his WWE television debut as a villain on the May 26, 2008 episode of Raw, where he cut a promo about his intent to become a champion like his father, Ted DiBiase Sr., challenging the World Tag Team Champions, Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly. At the Night of Champions pay-per-view on June 29, DiBiase won the World Tag Team Championship in his first match in WWE, after Rhodes betrayed Holly, revealing himself to be DiBiase's partner. After holding the title for just over a month, they dropped it to John Cena and Batista on the August 4 episode of Raw. The following week, DiBiase and Rhodes used their rematch clause to defeat Batista and Cena to regain the titles. DiBiase and Rhodes were soon joined by Manu, forming a stable of multi-generation superstars. On the October 27 episode of Raw, DiBiase and Rhodes lost their title to CM Punk and Kofi Kingston. It was during this time that Randy Orton became linked to Rhodes, DiBiase, and Manu on television, criticizing them in a mentor-type role. On the November 3 episode of Raw, DiBiase was attacked by Orton, after he interfered in Orton's match. This storyline attack was to allow DiBiase to be written out of WWE storylines, so he could film the direct-to-video movie, The Marine 2.
On the January 12, 2009, episode of Raw, DiBiase returned to aid Manu and Sim Snuka in attacking Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. Instead, however, DiBiase turned on them and helped Rhodes and Orton assault Manu and Snuka, thus joining The Legacy faction. As part of The Legacy, DiBiase entered the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble on January 25 in order to help Orton win, and lasted until the final four, before being eliminated by Triple H. Rhodes and DiBiase became involved in Orton's scripted rivalry with the McMahon family, helping him to attack Shane and Stephanie McMahon, and Stephanie's real-life husband, Triple H. DiBiase was also elevated to main event status as a result of joining The Legacy, competing in handicap and six-man tag team matches, as well as the occasional singles match against Orton's opponents and rivals. On April 26, at the Backlash pay-per-view, DiBiase, Rhodes, and Orton defeated Triple H, Batista, and Shane McMahon in a six-man tag team match, which, per the pre-match stipulation, resulted in Orton winning the WWE Championship. During WWE's tour of Australia in early July, DiBiase suffered an arm injury, but did not miss any time because of it. Throughout mid-2009, DiBiase and Rhodes continued to compete against and attack Orton's rivals, particularly Triple H, preventing him from earning a match for Orton's championship. As a result, Triple H reformed D-Generation X (DX) with Shawn Michaels and they defeated DiBiase and Rhodes at SummerSlam on August 23. DiBiase and Rhodes later defeated DX in a submissions count anywhere match at the Breaking Point pay-per-view on September 13, before losing to DX in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 4. Tension between the members of The Legacy began building, when Orton attacked DiBiase and Rhodes for accidentally costing him a chance to win the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 31, 2010. On the February 1 episode of Raw, DiBiase defeated Mark Henry in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match, earning a chance to win the WWE Championship. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on February 21, he eliminated Orton from the Elimination Chamber match, but was eliminated by Kofi Kingston soon after. On the February 22 episode of Raw, Orton turned on The Legacy, believing they had a plan to turn on him, and in retaliation, they attacked Orton the following week. As a result, the three competed in a triple threat match at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28 in which Orton defeated Rhodes and DiBiase.
