Against The Grain 9.28.08: Diamond Dallas Page (DDP)

Posted by Julian Bond on 09.28.2008

Diamond Dallas Page aka DDP aka “The Master of The Diamond Cutter” aka “The People’s Champion”. Today, I will share why I liked the guy so much in the ring, look over some of the highlights of his career and talk about why I think that he might be one of the most underrated wrestlers ever despite his rise to stardom.

Welcome everyone to Against The Grain, my (bi-weekly) take on some of the most unconventional and not-often talked about subjects in the wrestling world. I first wanted to say thanks to everyone who read my first edition. I received some great comments on the column and I again hope that you all enjoy it even more in the next upcoming weeks.

This week, I want to talk about the man who made the word "Bang!!" sound cool, got legions of fans putting up "diamond signs" in the air, and is the master of "The Diamond Cutter". Yes ladies and gents, I am speaking of Diamond Dallas Page also as known as D…D…P. Of all of the wrestlers that I've truly followed in the last decade or so, he is definitely the one who has had some of the most ups and downs in his career. So I wanted to take a look back at some of the highlights of his career when I first started to watch him, see why some called him "The People's Champion", and talk about the possible reasons why the man's career isn't highly regarded as much as it could have been.

"DDP…The Real People's Champion??"



A few weeks ago, I was listening to a weekly wrestling program that featured an interview with Diamond Dallas Page (DDP). He was there to mostly promote his YRG (Yoga for Regular Guys/Gals) program, but he also reminisced about his wrestling career path and how he got to where is today. This automatically had me also reminiscing about myself seeing him week in and week out and reminded me about why he was one of my favorites to watch. So this prompt me to think about a question…could've DDP been bigger and more popular than he was pegged to be? With every big move that he made in the ring, it seemed like either something else big was going on at the same time or something else had him taking steps backwards instead of forward. While he was definitely very over and is still popular amongst the fans, I always felt that the man could've became a potential legend in the ring if certain things wouldn't have held him back.

When I started to get addicted to the "Monday Night Wars" days of switching channels in between WWF and WCW (in 98'), one of the things besides Stone Cold, the NWO, and Degeneration X that attracted me to watching was the antics of DDP. When I first saw the guy, I thought "what the hell is this old guy doing on TV running up the turnbuckle making a diamond sign to the crowd". Having watched plenty of other wrestlers in the past that appeared to be "old has-beens", I assumed that DDP might had been no different; trying to appear and wrestle younger than he really was. But I quickly learned that this definitely wasn't the case with this guy. When I tuned into, I immediately was caught up in his three-way feud with both Raven (and his "Flock") and Chris Benoit over the United States Title and it was awesome and pretty crazy (so crazy that it even spilled onto a MTV music video show ["MTV Live"]…probably don't remember that, do y'all!). Their one-on-one and triple threat matches were great to watch and DDP showed that at age 40 that he just as energetic and just as insane as some of the other younger grapplers. Along with this having me hooked, the man also pulled out one of the greatest finishers that I have ever seen at that time and this, my friends, was known as the Diamond Cutter. The move, which was a modified version of the Ace Crusher, was great to witness because it sometimes came out of nowhere and always looked very sweet. Nowadays, some people may automatically say that the same move has been done way better and faster by current and much younger wrestlers such as Homicide ("Gringo Cutter") and Randy Orton ("RKO"), but no one can really deny that DDP was the original one who really put it on the map.

So parallel to the rising stars of WWF at the time (Stone Cold, the Rock), DDP was also making his impact as a top star in WCW next to the likes of Hulk Hogan and Sting. After he lost the U.S. belt, DDP slowly moved up the roster by fully feuding with the massive (and increasing growing) NWO faction and main-eventing with NWO leader Hulk Hogan. Despite these matches being with celebrity pairings (NBA player Karl Malone, TV host Jay Leno) and not being for the WCW Title, DDP still gained a lot more popularity and momentum by being in the spotlight. This eventually lead to the man FINALLY (cause' he should have had one months beforehand) receiving a main event PPV world title shot against the unbeatable Goldberg.

The premise for this match at Halloween Havoc was great: a first time meeting of the World Champion, who had never lost a match at that point in his career, versus the man who had all of the momentum in the world on his side and was Goldberg's biggest threat ever. So instead of hyping up the match to fullest as they should have, WCW instead focused all of their efforts to promote the returning match of the Ultimate Warrior versus Hogan, which was unfortunate since their match was very sub-par at best while DDP and Goldberg tore down the house in one of the best bouts in both of their careers and proved to be definitely one of the most exciting ones that I've ever seen. Despite the match's replay on Nitro the next night helping WCW gain a big win in the ratings war at the time, the company decided not to follow up on DDP's near upset win and instead had him take a different path by going back to the U.S. Title scene. Sure he ended up winning the United States belt again and feuded a bit with Bret "The Hitman" Hart, but his once-unstoppable momentum was now cut in half. So instead of wanting to tune into his matches every week, I was now more interesting in the uprising of future WWE legends, The Rock and Mankind/Mick Foley on the other channel. I was so engulfed into watching WWE's Raw, that by the time DDP did finally win the WCW Title a few months later in April 99', I (and a few others I'm sure) really didn't care all that much about it. I loved the fact that he won and was happy for him, but it kind of felt like a minor letdown because of the timing. Then to make it even worse, he held the title for only a month before dropping it and then disappearing from the World Title scene altogether. One step forward, one step back.

While attempting to still watch WCW despite its sometimes questionable creative decisions, I saw that DDP had managed to rebound from his "downgrade" away from the World Title picture to form a pretty unique group in the form of "The Jersey Triad". The heel-inspired squad led by DDP himself was made up of fellow New Jersey-raised wrestlers Kanyon and Bam Bam Bigelow and stood out from the rest of the other factions because of their natural-looking teamwork and use of the "Freebird Rule". The use of the rule came into play when the group won the tag team titles and were allowed to defend them in various combinations (Kanyon/DDP, DDP/Bam Bam Bigelow, etc) at any given time, which lead to some really good matches with the likes of Raven, Perry Saturn, and Harlem Heat (Booker T/Stevie Ray). When it seemed like the group was really gaining some steam (and I was enjoying every moment), the duo all of a sudden lost the tag team straps, split up shortly after, and DDP ended up spending the remainder of the year feuding with former partner Kanyon and Ric Flair. I honestly didn't know the exact reason why the group ended so soon because they didn't seem to appear as just another lame heel faction or weren't doing the same old song and dance every week. But the ‘powers that be' obviously thought differently and wanted to move DDP some place else. One step forward, two steps back.

Sticking to his pattern of ups and downs, DDP started off 2000 (no pun intended) ‘with a bang'. He had finished his filming in an upcoming major-studio wrestling movie "Ready To Rumble" and was thrown back into the World Title scene once again, this time against "The Chosen One" Jeff Jarrett. But instead of gaining an anticipated 4th World Title reign, DDP lost in title bouts to both Jarrett and, in a weird set of events, to non-wrestler/actor David Arquette, who ironically (and oddly) was the star of the "Rumble" movie he just starred in. So not only did his feature film debut bomb at the box office, he once again took his seemingly timely leave of absence from the main event picture. Finishing out the rest of the year, DDP formed an okay makeshift tag-team with Kevin Nash ("The Insiders") for a few months and tried one last time to gain the WCW Title right before WWE pulled the plug on WCW by buying them out. Despite the closing down of the long-time company (which was inevitable), there seemed to be a sliver lining in the dark cloud for many WCW workers, mainly including DDP himself. While most of the WCW top stars (Nash, Flair, Goldberg) didn't immediately jump ship to WWE, DDP was one of the few truly recognizable stars who did. So what started his WWE run off great as a "stalker angle" involving DDP harassing the "American Bad Ass" Undertaker and his real-life wife, shortly turned into a lame-duck storyline. Not only did DDP get constantly destroyed by Taker', he arguably looked horribly weak in the entire process. Instead of being known as a once-great WCW star posing as a main-event threat, he (and many others) looked like weak former WCW has-beens just getting their butts kicked by WWE talent week in and week out. One step forward, three steps back.

Just when I thought that hope was lost for one of my favorite wrestlers, the man found a crazy gimmick that may have finally gained him a few more fans in his late career. This was found was in the form of his "Positively Page" character. The "motivational-speaker" persona, which was based on his own real-life speaking gigs, had DDP give some serious laugh-out loud promos telling people for the most random situations that "it's a not a bad thing…it's a good thing!", while giving off the most creepy and eerie "dead behind the eyes" smile you'll ever see. After the WWE vs. WCW/ECW Invasion angle died down, DDP became one of the very few reasons why I kept tuning in. Seeing him come to the ring with a microphone on his head lecturing the crowd and consulting people like Christian (Cage) with their anger management problems provided for some great television. After months of the gimmick seeming to work in his favor, DDP injured his neck in a match against Hardcore Holly, went on the injured list for a few months, and then left the WWE when his contract ended. He disappeared from the ring for about a couple of years and then reappeared again in 2004 for TNA Wrestling. It was obvious looking at him then he wasn't the same super energized DDP from years prior, but the man still managed to put on some pretty good bouts with the likes of former rival Raven, Erik Watts, and Monty Brown. His TNA run came to a peak with a TNA title shot against champion Jeff Jarrett where he showed that he definitely could still go at a main event level. After this, DDP left TNA and stopped wrestling altogether to pursue other opportunities. One step forward, stepped out of the game.

Overall, I really didn't want to appear like I'm complaining about the setbacks or decisions made within DDP's career. I really just wanted to talk about the highlights and lowlights in the man's career and simply wonder if DDP could have been better than he was destined to be. Sometimes I wonder: Could he have been as big as Stone Cold or the Rock? Could DDP have had his own best selling DVD? If he was pushed on a regular and consistent basis, could he have gained more titles and more popularity than anyone else on the roster? As many steps forward and steps backs that DDP has gone through, he, to me, still remains one of the best and unique wrestlers that I've ever seen in the ring and stands as one of the reasons why I started the path of my full-time wrestling viewing today. He might not been as big as the other "People's Champion" in The Rock, but DDP is definitely still a true people's champion in my mind.

For Your Viewing Pleasure
DDP's Hilarious Motivation Skit #1



DDP's Hilarious Motivation Skit #2


Beginning of DDP vs. Goldberg (Halloween Havoc 98')


DDP/Raven Feud on MTV



Next Time On….Against The Grain
I will be talking about one of my personal favorite ECW PPVs in the form of the summerfest that was ECW Heatwave 99'. I will talk about what made the event so special in my mind and share why I think it's somewhat swept under the carpet by wrestling fans.