A new Million Dollar Champion will be crowned this weekend at NXT TakeOver: In Your House, as Ted DiBiase brought the title back this past week. Cameron Grimes and LA Knight will battle for the gold and its legacy. During the pre-show media call, Triple H explained the prestigious legacy of the championship.
“There will be a new Million Dollar Champion crowned, and as Ted DiBiase said, there’s quite a legacy to uphold,” said Triple H. “There’s only been four people that have ever held that title: Ted, Virgil, Ted’s son and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. It’s a pretty strong grouping. So the person to walk away with [the title] on Sunday, it’s a big moment.”
Triple H then explained how he could tell that Grimes and Knight both genuinely reacted to the sight of the title, so the moment was even more special.
“Even for me, watching it, when it was happening live on television, there was a moment in the ring when Ted opened it up, and I could see both of them, you know when you’re around talent so much, you get to know them very well,” said Triple H. “And I could see both of them come out of character, just for a moment, to think like, ‘Holy cow, I’m in the ring with ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase, and he is holding the Million Dollar Title. And I’m about to go into a match for that. Like I would have never dreamed that in my wildest dreams.’ so it’s a very cool moment.”
This reaction was echoed by several other talents in NXT, Triple H described how many members of the NXT roster were “in awe” when they looked at the title.
“One of my favorite things just recently has been this week, when we revealed the Million Dollar Title,” said Triple H. “As they brought the case out for the first time in the afternoon, as we were going practice putting it on a podium, and they opened it for the first time, the reaction to everybody of seeing the Million Dollar Title was awesome.
“It’s one of those things where there was one original title and it didn’t get redone, it didn’t get rebooted or remade. There were some replicas that were sold or whatever, but not the real deal. And when you have the real deal there, everybody just came over and was looking at it and was in awe of it. It was a really cool reaction. For a lot of those talents, seeing that in person was quite a moment. It was cool to see.”
During a recent interview with WrestleZone, Ted DiBiase reflected on his run with the Million Dollar Championship and explained the shortcom
“I didn’t own it, and that was all on me. I didn’t own what they gave me the opportunity to earn. And that’s called immaturity, you know, and stupidity. You get an opportunity, you take it. I just didn’t make [holding that title] my own, because that was my dad, right,” DiBiase explained, “and I did everything I could on the way up [to be different]. I didn’t go straight to WWE, that wasn’t my first contract like some other guys I know, other sons of wrestlers.”
