DDP says veteran wrestler apologized after ending his WWE career

Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) recently reflected on the moment that his WWE career ended after a match against Bob Holly.

On the April 18, 2002, episode of SmackDown, DDP suffered a serious neck injury after delivering a superplex to Holly. The 67-year-old initially retired from in-ring competition two months later after several doctors advised him to stop wrestling.

In an interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, DDP revealed exactly how the botched move occurred:

“I remember because Bobby works super stiff. And that's where he got the name Hardcore Holly. And I lit him up in the corner with some punches, threw him in the turnbuckle, and I can judge your foot. I can make it look like you ripped my head off. But you got to hold it there. And Bobby would later apologize because he last second caught me. And my neck only moves so far, even back then. And when he hit me, boom, it kind of staggered me."

After a two-year absence, DDP returned to the ring in 2004 before having a short run with IMPACT/TNA. In 2020, the WWE Hall of Famer came out of retirement again to compete in a match on AEW Dynamite. He teamed up with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall in a losing effort against The Blade, The Butcher, and MJF.

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How Bob Holly vs. DDP ended

Despite suffering a devastating injury, Diamond Dallas Page soon got back to his feet and continued wrestling. The former WCW star lost the three-minute match after Bob Holly caught him in the face with a dropkick.

DDP ultimately had the last laugh after hitting Holly with a post-match Diamond Cutter. Although he finished the contest, the wrestling legend knew he had sustained a serious injury immediately after the superplex spot:

"Now when he would come through with a clothesline, I would always be gone," Page continued. "Like I'm not going to be there to take that hit. But I was knocked a little silly, and my timing was off. So when he hit me, it apparently friggin' jack-knifed my neck like whiplash type thing. By the time I hit the mat. I'm like, 'Okay, I have no idea where I am.'"

In the same interview, Page revealed why Logan Paul apologized to him when they bumped into each other at WrestleMania 39.

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