1. Diamond Dallas Page brings Jake the Snake and Scott Hall back to a healthy life
“The Original People’s Champion” had maintained significant title reigns in WCW, though in the WWE he could never get past the European and Tag Team Championships. One of the top performers in WCW, he had switched companies during the Invasion only to be buried under WWE's enormous mounds of abysmal booking.
Nonetheless, it is mostly outside the squared circle that DDP cemented his legacy as one of the most generous, positive and committed individuals to have been around in a while.
Even before his retirement in 2005, Page had been dabbling in motivational speaking and yoga inspired fitness programs. Discovering the health benefits of yoga from his erstwhile wife Kimberley, Page developed a fitness routine which incorporated the discipline in a major way. “Yoga for Regular Guys Workout” was published in 2005 and soon evolved into a series of workout videos called “DDPYoga”.
One of the most cited stories of rehabilitation through DDP’s yoga regime is that of Arthur Boorman. A Gulf War paratrooper who remained disabled for fifteen years, Boorman approached DDP after coming across him following a random search result on the Internet. The medical opinion was that he could never walk without leaning on canes again, just like he had for those difficult years of his life. Accumulating weight in alarming levels, a helpless Boorman sought a hand to lead him out of this agony and bleakness.
Though a note of skepticism rang through the situation about its outcome, both men exerted themselves to their mental and physical limits. DDP, in his position as mentor and guide, directed a resilient Arthur towards safer shores by following a strict standard of dieting, exercise, and control.
By the end of numerous sessions, Arthur was not only able to take strides unaided, but also make a run for it. Today, he stands without any physical duress, a testimony not only to the incredible power of yoga but also to DDP’s benevolence, guidance, and persistence.
DDP has also been instrumental in bringing former WWE Superstars back to a prime state of health and being. Jake the Snake and Scott Hall, two of the most iconic wrestlers of the 1980s and 1990s, had slipped into a bottomless abyss of drug and alcohol abuse. Each had struggled with addiction at some point in their careers, coming off and relapsing numerous times but their days took a sharp turn in the late 2000s. Rehabilitation efforts by the company had proved futile to both in the face of trauma induced demons, strained family relationships, and career distresses. Vices from their chaotic pasts returned to haunt and further drive both Hall of Famers into irredeemable depths.
Jake was the first of the pair to be approached by Page in 2012. In fact, Jake had been one of the most influential mentors to DDP during his in-ring days. Offering him a room at his house in Atlanta, Page ensured that Jake’s travails to recovery transpired under his careful auspices. Inside the “Accountability Crib”, Jake partook of DDP Yoga to lose over sixty pounds and abstain from any sight, smell, and taste of alcohol for over a year.
When he finally made an appearance in 2014 for an “Old School” episode of WWE Raw, looking neater and stronger than before, the cheers erupted were thunderous. Jake was inducted into the Hall of Fame by DDP in a heartfelt ceremony, fondly remembering in his speech the role the latter had to play in pulling him out of the flotsam into calmer waters.
By the time Page and Jake had reached out to Hall, the latter was reportedly “drinking vodka for breakfast”. A living wreckage of a man, Hall had collided and crashed through domestic violence allegations, PTSD episodes, overdoses, hospital visits and occasional relapses along a headlong course towards a painful, certain end. It was only with the intervention of Jake and Dallas that “The Bad Guy” felt a warm glimmer of hope.
Seeing the results of DDP Yoga on Jake, Hall acceded to staying at the “Accountability Crib”, and under DDP’s watchful eyes, transformed into a healthy and spirited human being after five months of clean living, meditation, and exercise. Page even initiated a fundraising campaign for Hall’s hip replacement surgery and dental treatment. In 2014, Hall was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and has made sporadic appearances on both the WWE ring as well as NXT’s developmental stage.
Page’s generosity is not limited to the insides of his yoga program and motivational speeches. In one instance during his time with WCW, Page helped out fellow wrestler Goldberg by footing his medical insurance when the latter had burned himself from a pyro during his entrance. Goldberg had initially bypassed Ted Turner’s offer of insurance but was brought abroad the company plan once Turner found out about DDP’s aid. Page, however, refused any reimbursement from Turner for his noble act.
LMAO. Check out who just called Becky Lynch 'tiny' RIGHT HERE
