On February 28, 2024, Mike Jones, best known for his time in WWE as Virgil sadly passed away. At the time of his death, it was believed he was 61 years old, although it later came out that he had been working with everyone for decades and was actually 72, which, amazingly, nobody ever suspected. And now his long-time colleague Ted DiBiase, whom he worked closely with in the 80s and 90s, has explained on the latest episode of his podcast why they fell out for a time.
“So what Virgil was doing is that he was contacting these people and seemingly booking both of us. And I never knew about it at all. And he would show up himself, and there’s no me. … I had to talk my way around a few times like that, and I was mad at him.”
Ted DiBiaseJones began wrestling in 1985 as Soul Train Jones before working enhancement matches for WWE in 1986. The following year, after impressing WWE management, he’d receive his big break, becoming DiBiase’s bodyguard Virgil, which was an inside joke at Dusty Rhodes, whose real name was Virgil Runnels. Subsequently, over the next several years, he’d be a featured talent working alongside DiBiase, and later, he memorably feuded with him. Then, after his release in the mid-90s and a spell on the indies, he signed for WCW in 1996, where he was reunited with DiBiase, and this time named Vincent, chosen to mock Vince McMahon.
