Why Ted DiBiase Never Doubted WWE Legend Bret Hart's Potential

WWE legend Ted DiBiase has opened up about what he saw in Bret Hart that convinced him that he was going to be a star during "The Hitman's" early years in WWE.

In the recent "Everybody's Got A Pod" podcast, Ted DiBiase discussed the SummerSlam 1993 pay-per-view, where he named Hart as his heir after he retired as an in-ring performer. He further explained why he had no doubt that Bret Hart would be a success during his early years in WWE, despite him not fitting the typical WWE mold of being a big guy.

"I wasn't skeptical because I knew his [Bret Hart's] background," said the Hall of Famer. "And Bret and I only had a couple of opportunities to wrestle each other and we had great matches. And that's the thing about Bret — Bret could lead you, Bret could have a ... go out there and have a great match and I think that's what Vince [McMahon] began to see and understand is that, just because you put a great, big musclehead in the ring doesn't mean he's a great wrestler. I was a big guy, I had a decent body, but I wasn't a musclehead."

At SummerSlam 1993, Ted DiBiase faced and lost to Razor Ramon in the opening match of the show. Bret Hart, meanwhile, first went one-on-one with Doink The Clown and walked away victorious, but lost the match against Jerry "The King" Lawler — one of Bret Hart's most memorable opponents — making Lawler the Undisputed King of the World Wrestling Federation.

DiBiase retired in 1993 after suffering a herniated disc injury and then became an on-screen manager of The Million Dollar Corporation stable. Hart, meanwhile, quickly rose up the ranks in WWE and became the top babyface in the company, filling the void left by many top names who quit WWE for WCW.