Former WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page spoke earlier this week with Raj Giri of WrestlingINC.com about his return to RAW Monday night, the backstage reaction to his return and more. Here are some highlights from the interview:
The crowd reaction to his return: “If I didn’t know they were on a tight time frame and [if] it was all about me, I would have really taken some time there. But I know they were on a time frame so I didn’t want to do that… I can get my sh-t across and do what we needed to do because sometimes less is more. That time that we [Page and Slater] had, that little moment back and forth, and they [fans] started chanting ‘DDP,’ and I gotta tell ya, I was a little set back by it. I mean, the pop that I got when I came out was amazing. They started chanting ‘DDP’ and it got louder and louder… I was like, ‘Wow.’ Maybe I did make a real impression to some people… maybe I did do something right over all those years. Because you can’t make people do that, you know?”
Criticism from some fans for not wrestling a match: “Those same people that complain about me not wrestling a match are the same people who would complain that I went too long, or I didn’t do this, or I didn’t do that. Those are the reasons that my critics could never carry my jock. [laughs] If I would have come out and squashed [Slater], what would that have proved? If I would have had a match, they would have said, “Come on, three weeks in a row,” blah, blah, blah.
If people backstage were talking to him about wrestling or DDP
Yoga: “It was a combination of things, because a lot of guys grew up watching me. One of the things Heath said was, ‘I’m getting to actually work with a lot of the guys I grew up watching.’ That’s the same with baseball — any athlete.
“The feeling is much different than it used to be. They really created something for the guys. I mean, Johnny [Laurinaitis] does a team meeting thing and it’s fun. I was like, ‘Wow, this is a pretty interesting comradery thing.’ You know?
“With me, you know, Sheamus came up to me and we hadn’t talked since WrestleMania. Chris Jericho, he’s amazing. I couldn’t afford Jericho, he’s a million dollar guy, but he’s barked about DDP Yoga because it really helps him and it’s the only workout that he does. So, when I have Sheamus come up to me and say, ‘You know, Chris [Jericho] really puts this over. Can you tell me more about it?’ Well, you know what? I’m sending it to them. [Laughs.]
“Then Tensai comes up to me and he’s like, ‘Dude, I’ve been tweeting. You going to get back to me? I need a program.’ Guys start dropping by and they see where my body is at. A lot of the guys see what my body looks like when walk, when I move around. They’re like, ‘f–k. He’s 56? He’s doing something right.’
“Then I get into it with eating. So much of how your body feels has to do with what you put in your mouth. Nobody ever really believes it until they do it. When I show some of them, they say, ‘Oh, my God.’ The worst thing you can be is injured. You get that hot angle and all of a sudden, you’re hurt. When Randy Savage was dropping those elbows on me, I pissed blood 13 out of 16 weeks. My ribs were f–ked up and so was my kidney. But you didn’t think I would quit then, did ya? [Laughs.] I was doing the impossible, I’m going to work through it. When it comes down to your knees, or your back or your hips — it’s a different animal, you know.”
On the number of wrestlers using DDP Yoga: “Yeah, they’re doing it. I was talking to Alex last night and he goes, ‘Dude, I’ll pay for it.’ I go, ‘No. I don’t want any of the boys to pay for the workout. I want to just give it to you as long as you’re going to do it.’ ‘Oh, I’ll do it. I’ll talk about it tonight.’ I go, ‘No. I want you to actually do it and then tweet about it because I don’t need PR. I just want people to know what you’re going through. On Twitter, @DDPYoga or @RealDDP — it’s intense, man. There’s been 100’s of people tweeting about the workout and right now, I’ve got a 30 day challenge. Do it for 30 straight days. I’ve got all different kinds for 10 minutes, some for 25. So, having these guys doing it, they’re going to be on WWE online. They’ve already filmed a bunch of the guys. So, it’s really cool.
“The one thing is that it’s going to get a better resurgence again because I’m going to get the wrestlers to start tweeting again. I showed them Arthur’s before and after photos but they’ve never seen the video — you’ve seen the video, right (posted below)? He lost 140 pounds and he went from knee braces, back brace and canes to none of that s–t and running. That was 5 years ago. I’ll give you an example (of how it works): on Monday, next week, Arthur and I will be at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina with the Marines — the baddest dudes of all the f–king dudes. The ones they drop out in the middle of f–king nowhere. I do my inspiration talk about how I started doing this workout. It’s inspirational. I started my career at 35, I was done by 40. Then I talk about people I started to help. Now, I show Arthur. Then, I show the video and at the end of the video, I go, ‘Gentleman, please welcome Arthur.’ He’ll say something, then I come back out and I say, ‘I hope you boys brought your A game today because we brought ours.’
“I could make this the easiest workout ever. Obviously, if he can do it. But were coming to do the bad ass workout. I want to make Lt. Colonel who’s said to me, ‘If these guys like your workout like I do, it’ll become part of the curriculum. That’s a huge goal of mine, getting it in the military.”
DDP also revealed his backstage conversation with CM Punk (who said DDP Yoga wasn’t real yoga earlier this year), when he found out about the apperance, if he would return to the ring and much more. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.