IGN interviews Diamond Dallas Page - January 2000
Posted by admin admin on Saturday, May 25, 2013
Under: WCW Interviews
Interview: Diamond Dallas Page
Two time WCW champ DDP shoots the breeze with IGN on his life, career and backstage gossip.
January 13, 2000
Out of all the times I’ve ever called Page, he has never been "taking a break." Without exception, he has just gotten back from somewhere, he’s on his way to somewhere, he’s got three calls going at once or he’s in a cell phone half way between a gym and an arena. In the time since he won two world championships last spring, his career has lacked direction, and he spent much of his time putting younger talent in the company over. However, the feud he recently started up with Buff Bagwell has already began going a great ways towards rejuvenating his character, and their match at Souled Out was the sleeper match of the evening.
When IGN’s Blake Norton caught up with Page on cell phone, it was the day before Souled Out and DDP was on his way to the gym for a workout. He talks about the recent mix-up in the WCW booking committee, the rumors of him going to the WWF and his upcoming autobiography, Positively Page, which is released next month.
IGN: Where are you off to now?
DDP: Cincinnati. Tomorrow we got the Pay Per View.
IGN: I heard that Bret Hart and Jarrett are off the show (Souled Out). Is that an internet work or is it happening? It will put a lot more focus on your match (with Buff Bagwell).
DDP: With the mix up in the booking committee, if it were a work, it would have changed back to the first format. I don’t see them taking a main event and destroying it for a work. A .3 (rating) does like a million plus profit, so no matter what the rating, they’re not going to do something like that.
IGN: Now that the two biggest matches in the card have been killed, will it put more emphasis on you and Bagwell?
DDP: I think the change in the booking committee again will make people wonder what they’re going to do. The causal viewers know they’re not going to get this match. (My match with Bagwell) is a feature match, but (at the same time) we’re not. It should have been a triple main event. That’s what we did when it was me and Goldberg, Hogan and Warrior (Halloween Havoc ’98), I think you should give your top three matches equal billing in case anything freakish like this happens.
IGN: Still, the top two champions in the top two matches being injured days before a Pay-Per-View is pretty unprecedented.
DDP: Yeah. Jeff Jarrett’s been a workhorse here. People have been saying we’re scripted, we’re fake, we go in there and knocking the hell out of our bodies. You can’t fake gravity, and this (crap) hurts like hell.
IGN: Jerry Lynn was injured last night on an ECW show. Maybe with these two guys in WCW being injured, the fact that it’s not simply "a show" will be brought back into focus.
DDP: It is a show, but it’s not a show. When the casual fan says to me, "Those steel chairs, how do you do that?" I say, "I hit ‘em with ‘em!" (laughs). When I hit Buff with one on Monday, I nailed him. This ain’t checkers.
IGN: How do you feel about the way Kimberly is being portrayed in this angle? She’s being portrayed as a WWF-style, racy character. Do you think it’s a bad thing, or is it all for the angle. Is that the attitude?
DDP: I think it’s how it’s interpreted. Kim is an actress. She can do anything. She’s showing her acting ability and all around talent. She’s my wife, and she’s not just beautiful, she can act.
IGN: Is she enjoying the emphasis on her character now?
DDP: Of course. She should have been there four or five years ago. I know Nash wanted to do it too. He asked if I wanted to do something more with her and I said "definitely." This is a borderline shoot angle, but we’re over that shit and it’s fun now.
IGN: What’s the latest on the booking situation? I heard it’s going to get more traditional, but that’s speculation at this point.
DDP: I think it goes back to just "we’ll see." If Vince Russo was to come here when we were doing 4s, 5s, if they were to come then with their work ethic, with Bischoff we could have been a hell of a team.
IGN: It was too little, too late?
DDP: Well, things are now out of control. I don’t know if we’re going to see Vince anymore, we’ll see.
IGN: How do you feel about Bischoff being let go, him being a friend of yours?
DDP: I was hoping Corporate America wasn’t going to screw him, not after what he did for the company.
IGN: The guy who brought WCW to the top the first time?
DDP: Right…It’s one of those things. A lot of people like to see him get buried...the way things went down at the end, but in the long term a lot of guys will miss him too. You’d be surprised.
IGN: How does it feel to be an author?
DDP: It’s great. I’m just wondering how it’s going to go down! The book’s now set to come out the 10th of Feb. That’s the last I heard. We’re working on getting it to all the independent stores, and then by mid March hopefully I’ll get to go around to all the chains like Barnes & Noble.
IGN: You talked before about retiring a year ago and using your last year to put over a lot of the younger guys. You certainly did that, what’s the plan at this point, particularly since your character seems to have been rejuvenated with this Bagwell feud?
DDP: I want to work out the remainder of my contract, which is another two years. I want to become a color commentator there after. If they don’t give me the money I want at that time (laughs), I may just go and see who the real people’s champion is (laughs). I met the Rock in Toronto, and loved hanging out with him. He’s a great guy and I love his character. There’s a lot of money between me and him, and a lot of other people (in the WWF).
IGN: So it comes down to your role…..
DDP: It comes down to MONEY. They’ll pay people to stay home. They’ll pay people to sit home just so they don’t go to (the WWF). How much do you pay DDP, who’s never gone to New York, never worked for McMahon? Hall, Hogan, Nash would all make an impact up there. But they’ve all been there, I haven’t, I haven’t worked with those guys except The Giant (Big Show). When I met The Rock I was with Giant, who calls in to the Rock who was in the shower. He says, "Hey Rock, I got this big mark who wants to meet you.” I said, "yeah, I don’t want to meet you unless you’re naked and all soapy!" He says, "who the hell is that?" He comes out and says, "Hey Diamond, how are you doing?" This is where all the rumors of me going to the WWF came from.
Jake Roberts, a good friend of mine, a few years ago told me Rock would be great money. He told me that I’d be great money, told me Steve Austin would be great money – and he was right. It’s fun to talk to him in person, because The Rock is a totally different guy in person, (but I act my character, my character is who I am). DDP in a nightclub is DDP. When I’m helping guys find their character, we go out and I say, "see this guy in the nightclub? That guy’s money."
As I was leaving that night, Rock was in the corner getting changed. Me and Giant were walking out and you can’t see anything behind that wall. I hear "Hey Diamond!" and as I turn around, Giant leans back so I can see him. Rock is putting on one of those $500 shirts. He says, "You know…. There’s only ONE people’s champion." Giant looks at me and does a "Whooo!" I turn around and say "you’re right, and you’re looking at him!"
There was so much chemistry between the two of us that all I could think of is how much I’d like to work with him. Thing is, I never called myself the People’s Champion – the announcers did, then the people did, signs there, I never went there. Rock picked that up as his tagline. I think it’s great that I never labeled myself that, so going up there I could be the biggest heel that McMahon ever had. Hunter is doing a great job in that spot. Going against The Rock is what it all comes down to. Hunter is phenomenal. They would love to hate me.
IGN: Who would you like to face at this point in WCW? You have two years left, I expect the Bagwell feud to be very drawn out, after him who would you like to work with?
DDP: I like Jarrett. People have mixed emotions about him being over, but he’s a huge heel. I think he’s a great heel. Of course, that would be if I were to go baby face. I’m not burying the fans anymore, because I want to just see where they go. I’m not playing to fans, I’m playing to people. I’m letting them act and react, letting them dictate my character.
IGN: I think in today’s wrestling climate, particularly in a feud like this, where hypothetically he wronged you but he’s the babyface, the fans will pop for the feud and for the intensity and who they actually side with could change on a nightly basis.
DDP: Exactly, exactly.
IGN: The Triad broke up, Kanyon came back, Bam Bam isn’t doing much right now. Are there any plans to be in another stable in the near future?
DDP: (When The Triad formed), I was in limbo, so I wanted to help a few buddies of mine get elevated. If you’re the best Rock n’ Roll band on the earth, without the push, you’re not going to sell the albums.
IGN: Anything else to touch on?
DDP: Just to plug the book (laughs) check out www.DDPbang.com. The book is the first biography/autobiography ever written. They re-wrote and edited it in an autobiography style, and I hated it. So we edited it down in two voices, mine and Smokey’s. Around chapter eight, the editors called up and apologized, said "this is a great book." The Rock is going to sell millions (and millions) of books, Jack
Did a terrific job. I think my book being done by me is going to blow everyone away. (turns to driver – "that’s the gym we’re going to, let’s turn here").
IGN: 1999
DDP: What you get out is what you put in. People ask me how I work this much. I just say, "I’m not working!" Everything I do is fun. This is going to be a phenomenal year. Kim and I are the only real married couple. We’ve been together for ten years, she’s still young and gorgeous. We’re going to have a great year.
Two time WCW champ DDP shoots the breeze with IGN on his life, career and backstage gossip.
January 13, 2000
Out of all the times I’ve ever called Page, he has never been "taking a break." Without exception, he has just gotten back from somewhere, he’s on his way to somewhere, he’s got three calls going at once or he’s in a cell phone half way between a gym and an arena. In the time since he won two world championships last spring, his career has lacked direction, and he spent much of his time putting younger talent in the company over. However, the feud he recently started up with Buff Bagwell has already began going a great ways towards rejuvenating his character, and their match at Souled Out was the sleeper match of the evening.
When IGN’s Blake Norton caught up with Page on cell phone, it was the day before Souled Out and DDP was on his way to the gym for a workout. He talks about the recent mix-up in the WCW booking committee, the rumors of him going to the WWF and his upcoming autobiography, Positively Page, which is released next month.
IGN: Where are you off to now?
DDP: Cincinnati. Tomorrow we got the Pay Per View.
IGN: I heard that Bret Hart and Jarrett are off the show (Souled Out). Is that an internet work or is it happening? It will put a lot more focus on your match (with Buff Bagwell).
DDP: With the mix up in the booking committee, if it were a work, it would have changed back to the first format. I don’t see them taking a main event and destroying it for a work. A .3 (rating) does like a million plus profit, so no matter what the rating, they’re not going to do something like that.
IGN: Now that the two biggest matches in the card have been killed, will it put more emphasis on you and Bagwell?
DDP: I think the change in the booking committee again will make people wonder what they’re going to do. The causal viewers know they’re not going to get this match. (My match with Bagwell) is a feature match, but (at the same time) we’re not. It should have been a triple main event. That’s what we did when it was me and Goldberg, Hogan and Warrior (Halloween Havoc ’98), I think you should give your top three matches equal billing in case anything freakish like this happens.
IGN: Still, the top two champions in the top two matches being injured days before a Pay-Per-View is pretty unprecedented.
DDP: Yeah. Jeff Jarrett’s been a workhorse here. People have been saying we’re scripted, we’re fake, we go in there and knocking the hell out of our bodies. You can’t fake gravity, and this (crap) hurts like hell.
IGN: Jerry Lynn was injured last night on an ECW show. Maybe with these two guys in WCW being injured, the fact that it’s not simply "a show" will be brought back into focus.
DDP: It is a show, but it’s not a show. When the casual fan says to me, "Those steel chairs, how do you do that?" I say, "I hit ‘em with ‘em!" (laughs). When I hit Buff with one on Monday, I nailed him. This ain’t checkers.
IGN: How do you feel about the way Kimberly is being portrayed in this angle? She’s being portrayed as a WWF-style, racy character. Do you think it’s a bad thing, or is it all for the angle. Is that the attitude?
DDP: I think it’s how it’s interpreted. Kim is an actress. She can do anything. She’s showing her acting ability and all around talent. She’s my wife, and she’s not just beautiful, she can act.
IGN: Is she enjoying the emphasis on her character now?
DDP: Of course. She should have been there four or five years ago. I know Nash wanted to do it too. He asked if I wanted to do something more with her and I said "definitely." This is a borderline shoot angle, but we’re over that shit and it’s fun now.
IGN: What’s the latest on the booking situation? I heard it’s going to get more traditional, but that’s speculation at this point.
DDP: I think it goes back to just "we’ll see." If Vince Russo was to come here when we were doing 4s, 5s, if they were to come then with their work ethic, with Bischoff we could have been a hell of a team.
IGN: It was too little, too late?
DDP: Well, things are now out of control. I don’t know if we’re going to see Vince anymore, we’ll see.
IGN: How do you feel about Bischoff being let go, him being a friend of yours?
DDP: I was hoping Corporate America wasn’t going to screw him, not after what he did for the company.
IGN: The guy who brought WCW to the top the first time?
DDP: Right…It’s one of those things. A lot of people like to see him get buried...the way things went down at the end, but in the long term a lot of guys will miss him too. You’d be surprised.
IGN: How does it feel to be an author?
DDP: It’s great. I’m just wondering how it’s going to go down! The book’s now set to come out the 10th of Feb. That’s the last I heard. We’re working on getting it to all the independent stores, and then by mid March hopefully I’ll get to go around to all the chains like Barnes & Noble.
IGN: You talked before about retiring a year ago and using your last year to put over a lot of the younger guys. You certainly did that, what’s the plan at this point, particularly since your character seems to have been rejuvenated with this Bagwell feud?
DDP: I want to work out the remainder of my contract, which is another two years. I want to become a color commentator there after. If they don’t give me the money I want at that time (laughs), I may just go and see who the real people’s champion is (laughs). I met the Rock in Toronto, and loved hanging out with him. He’s a great guy and I love his character. There’s a lot of money between me and him, and a lot of other people (in the WWF).
IGN: So it comes down to your role…..
DDP: It comes down to MONEY. They’ll pay people to stay home. They’ll pay people to sit home just so they don’t go to (the WWF). How much do you pay DDP, who’s never gone to New York, never worked for McMahon? Hall, Hogan, Nash would all make an impact up there. But they’ve all been there, I haven’t, I haven’t worked with those guys except The Giant (Big Show). When I met The Rock I was with Giant, who calls in to the Rock who was in the shower. He says, "Hey Rock, I got this big mark who wants to meet you.” I said, "yeah, I don’t want to meet you unless you’re naked and all soapy!" He says, "who the hell is that?" He comes out and says, "Hey Diamond, how are you doing?" This is where all the rumors of me going to the WWF came from.
Jake Roberts, a good friend of mine, a few years ago told me Rock would be great money. He told me that I’d be great money, told me Steve Austin would be great money – and he was right. It’s fun to talk to him in person, because The Rock is a totally different guy in person, (but I act my character, my character is who I am). DDP in a nightclub is DDP. When I’m helping guys find their character, we go out and I say, "see this guy in the nightclub? That guy’s money."
As I was leaving that night, Rock was in the corner getting changed. Me and Giant were walking out and you can’t see anything behind that wall. I hear "Hey Diamond!" and as I turn around, Giant leans back so I can see him. Rock is putting on one of those $500 shirts. He says, "You know…. There’s only ONE people’s champion." Giant looks at me and does a "Whooo!" I turn around and say "you’re right, and you’re looking at him!"
There was so much chemistry between the two of us that all I could think of is how much I’d like to work with him. Thing is, I never called myself the People’s Champion – the announcers did, then the people did, signs there, I never went there. Rock picked that up as his tagline. I think it’s great that I never labeled myself that, so going up there I could be the biggest heel that McMahon ever had. Hunter is doing a great job in that spot. Going against The Rock is what it all comes down to. Hunter is phenomenal. They would love to hate me.
IGN: Who would you like to face at this point in WCW? You have two years left, I expect the Bagwell feud to be very drawn out, after him who would you like to work with?
DDP: I like Jarrett. People have mixed emotions about him being over, but he’s a huge heel. I think he’s a great heel. Of course, that would be if I were to go baby face. I’m not burying the fans anymore, because I want to just see where they go. I’m not playing to fans, I’m playing to people. I’m letting them act and react, letting them dictate my character.
IGN: I think in today’s wrestling climate, particularly in a feud like this, where hypothetically he wronged you but he’s the babyface, the fans will pop for the feud and for the intensity and who they actually side with could change on a nightly basis.
DDP: Exactly, exactly.
IGN: The Triad broke up, Kanyon came back, Bam Bam isn’t doing much right now. Are there any plans to be in another stable in the near future?
DDP: (When The Triad formed), I was in limbo, so I wanted to help a few buddies of mine get elevated. If you’re the best Rock n’ Roll band on the earth, without the push, you’re not going to sell the albums.
IGN: Anything else to touch on?
DDP: Just to plug the book (laughs) check out www.DDPbang.com. The book is the first biography/autobiography ever written. They re-wrote and edited it in an autobiography style, and I hated it. So we edited it down in two voices, mine and Smokey’s. Around chapter eight, the editors called up and apologized, said "this is a great book." The Rock is going to sell millions (and millions) of books, Jack
Did a terrific job. I think my book being done by me is going to blow everyone away. (turns to driver – "that’s the gym we’re going to, let’s turn here").
IGN: 1999
DDP: What you get out is what you put in. People ask me how I work this much. I just say, "I’m not working!" Everything I do is fun. This is going to be a phenomenal year. Kim and I are the only real married couple. We’ve been together for ten years, she’s still young and gorgeous. We’re going to have a great year.
In : WCW Interviews