An Interview With Diamond Dallas Page, Plus A Review Of DDP Yoga

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It’s me, it’s me…It’s Brian Rzeppa, interviewing DDP.

I had the chance to talk to former World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page a few months ago, and it’s safe to say that that talk had a pretty positive impact on my life, which tends to be the affect that he has on most people that he comes in contact with. Before we get to how his program helped me out, Page opened up about some major events that transpired throughout the course of his career, as well as his take on the current direction of the company.

Brian Rzeppa: What was it that first drew you to wrestling?

Diamond Dallas Page (DDP): When I was like 8 or 9 years old, they were still bigger than life characters, and when I was 11, I got into sports and didn’t really watch it. Then later on in my teens, a guy named Jimmy Valiant came and I just related to him. I tried wrestling when I was 22, and it didn’t really work out for me. I just knew that I looked like a star, but I didn’t have the knowledge. Wrestling was really a different world in the 70’s. I hurt my knee after my 3rd match, and I got more involved in the bar business and stopped paying attention to it. Then in the 80’s it blew up, and I was pissed because I said I could’ve been a part of that. I then got drew back in by a guy named Jesse Ventura.

Did you play any sports growing up?

I played football and hockey until I was right around 13, and then I got hit by a car and flew 42 feet from the point of contact. The doctor told me I couldn’t play contact sports anymore. I was pretty gifted, I was playing above my age all my life. It was the 60’s so they hadn’t really heard of rehab. But I ended up playing basketball, and first I got cut, then the next year I made the team. It was then that I really learned about work ethic. I was on the court every day for 4 or 5 hours, and I ended up starting on varsity for 3 years.

Who were your favorite wrestlers when you were a kid?

When I was in my teens, I loved Handsome Jimmy Valiant. Superstar Billy Graham and Dusty Rhodes were some of my favorites. I watch it today and they were just unbelievable. Those two on the mic, they just talked you into the building.

How did you get into WCW?

I literally grew my leaps and storms in the nightclub business. I was in Fort Myers working in the AWA, and I sent Michael Graham a video of what I was doing in the AWA, and he called me one night. I heard him leaving a message on my machine, and I asked if he got my tape, and he said yeah that’s why I’m calling you, and I’m sitting here with Dusty Rhodes. So I want you to talk to him and give him your best promo. So he really liked me and signed me and took me under his wing. We had stayed in contact while he went to WWF, and long story short, when it came time to come to Atlanta and he called me in to manage the Freebirds.

You started wrestling at a later age then most of your peers, do you think this age difference impacted your development?

I think that it was the best and worst thing. The worst thing, I was so much older and could only take so much punishment. You can only take so many bumps. The positive part was, I was older. I did a lot of stupid, crazy stuff but nowhere near the amount of stuff I would’ve done back then.

What was it like to win your first championship?

It was emotional. I’ll never forget talking to Dusty, and he listened to me and let me vent. I remember getting so frustrated because the booking committee would never let me get into the Jake Roberts/Rick Rude spot, because you never knew if they were going to win or going to lose. I told them that I knew I was never going to be you or Flair, and that they’d never give me the world title. He said, “If you don’t think that you’re the world champion, then you need to get out right now.” So I wrote it down, and said if I wasn’t champion in 5 years, I was getting out. So 4 years and 4 months later, I was champion.

Who would you say is the most talented in-ring worker that you ever faced?

Kanyon would be near the top of that list. I wrestled with Rey Mysterio with one time, and he was amazing. But I think the best would be Eddie Guerrero, he was just unbelievable. He helped me up the ladder, and he brought the best out in me.

What was your favorite experience during your time in WCW?

There are a number of those, but my favorite would have to be when Savage and I were feuding, because there’s no way that I could have requested to work with him. He had to ask to work with me. One of my favorite moments was when we were coming into Spring Stampede, and I couldn’t have been any hotter, and Randy came out of the porthole and called me some kind of gemologist, and he said come Spring Stampede he was going to find out if I had any family jewels. Then Gene was about to take it off the air, and I imitated him, and then asked if he was going to bring that bimbo Liz, and the crowd just went nuts.

What was your favorite match of your entire career?

Without question, my matches with Randy Savage. But I also had a match with Sting, which I think was the best match ever on Nitro, and I just felt like it was a pay-per-view match. Sting was having some issues at that time, and he was edgy at that time, and if you ever watch that match again, I got to pull him to the floor, and you’ll see Sting is really pissed until I start choking him, and then I chopped him.

How easy of a decision was it to come to the WWF?

It wasn’t hard at all; I knew I would finish my career there. I didn’t think about the aspect of this is going to be huge money. I came in wanting to be a team player, and then I realized that I had to fight for everything. The really positive thing that came out of it, was that as a businessman, I completely changed my viewpoint on how I negotiate.

What was it like to have Vince McMahon as a boss?

Well, acceptable.

Did you enjoy your time in TNA? How did it compare to WCW/WWF?

It was just another place to work. I got to have another angle with Raven, and I was 49 at that time, and I showed I could really go. I got a world title match with Jeff Jarrett, and we threw everything at each other, and it was really fun. I didn’t want to beat my body up anymore, though.

What was the worst part about your wrestling days?

The beating up of my body, and the travel. The travel was brutal. from driving anywhere from 100-300 miles and having to get hotel rooms, and having to sleep 4 hours to catch a plane. The show, and the adrenaline, made it worth it completely.

How did you decide to start DDP Yoga?

Well it came completely out of necessity. For the first 42 years of my life, I was a guy that wouldn’t get caught dead doing yoga, but I needed to prolong my career. I wasn’t into all the spiritual stuff, so I dropped that, and threw in what I knew from my training, as well as throwing in dynamic resistance principals. It will dramatically increase your flexibility and your core strength, with minimal joint impact. It’s a kick-ass cardio workout without a lot of strain on your muscles. There’s no other system in the world that works like DDP Yoga. 3 specialists told me I would never wrestle again, and 3 months later I was back in the ring from DDP Yoga.

Are there any future plans for expanding the program?

Yes, our app that we’re developing. It’s going to change the fitness world. It’s going to change how people look at, and market fitness.

What has been the most rewarding part of your program thus far?

Without question the Arthur Boorman video. Arthur is the person that you say. “Okay, what excuse do I have?” Jake [Roberts] has blown me away to think of the man he has become. The same with Scott [Hall]. I don’t take credit for these guys, I’m just a guy that helps out. The first thing I did with Jake and Scott is to eat real food, instead of genetically modified crap. Anything that is genetically modified is not allowed in my house.

You have done work with WWE in the past. Are there any plans in the works there?

Well I think it all comes down to what the fans say. We were the second best selling DVD behind WrestleMania, so if it’s selling, so we might keep doing stuff. I could see something new coming out in a year or two.

What do you think of the current product?

I loved SummerSlam. I also love the way the product is headed.

Do you have any favorite wrestlers?

Yeah, I like to watch Orton, he’s my favorite. I really like to watch Daniel Bryan, as well as Ziggler; He’s a cross-breed between Mr. Perfect and a bunch of guys. He’s still himself, though, and I’m going to really encourage him to do my workout, he’s incredibly to watch in the ring. I love, love, love the Wyatt Family. I just like the guys as a whole. I like The Shield, too. I’m also a Cena fan, I know a lot of guys bust his chops. He busts his ass every night and he never phones it in, ever. I like to watch Punk, too. I thought him and Lesnar was just awesome.

What advice do you have for someone looking to get into professional wrestling?

Go to school, get your education, then follow your dream. The bottom line is that in this generation, the minimum is that you need to get a college degree. What big companies look at today is could you actually dedicate yourself and get 4, or 5, or 6 years after you get done with high school. It’s about commitment, and that’s what it’s all about.

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While I was on the phone with DDP and we got to talking about the yoga program that he had created, he had me do a quick workout that lasted about a minute, and I could do it all while seated and talking to him. In this minute, I actually began to break a little bit of a sweat. This surprised me, because at that time I was going to the gym 6 days per week, and considered myself to be in pretty good shape.

Like many guys, I thought that yoga tended to be more directed towards girls, but it’s safe to say after doing the 13-week DDP Yoga program, that it lives up to the billing of, “It Ain’t Your Mama’s Yoga.”

Given that I, again, considered myself to be in pretty good shape, I started off with the toughest level, called “Extreme.” I soon came to find out why it was called this, because I was drenched in sweat after the 12-minute “Red Hot Abs” workout. Luckily for me, though, the DVD’s sort of eased you into the program, with just 3 workouts per week for the first couple of weeks.

While before-and-after pictures of myself wouldn’t really do this program justice due to my diet (I was attempting to gain weight at the time), the amount of flexibility and energy that I had gained was tremendous. Prior to this, I was really never all that flexible, but now I’m able to bend in ways that I didn’t think were possible.

On top of that, my abs, arms, and legs, have all been toned as a result of the dynamic resistance exercises that the program provides. My dad, who has had problems with his knees and his shoulder for over a decade, was able to complete all of the workouts, too, and he’s feeling better than ever.

When I saw the videos of DDP Yoga with all of the claims that they made, I almost thought it was too good to be true. After trying it, though, I can definitely say that I would recommend it to anyone, and I personally think that everyone should at least give it a try.

For more information on DDP Yoga, be sure to check out their website, Facebook, or Twitter page, and for updates on the man himself, Diamond Dallas Page, you can also find him on Twitter.

Diamond Dallas Page, a champion in the ring, and a life-changer out of it.

Thanks for reading.