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On the latest episode of Dropkick DiSKussions, I had the pleasure of catching up with the very first ever wrestler I got the opportunity to interview, and a man who knows all about both going to "war" with WWE and being a part of the company - WCW legend and WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page.
DDP has recently appeared on AEW and, of course, has a very close relationship with Cody Rhodes. We spoke to the former WCW Heavyweight Champion all about how AEW Dynamite has been doing in his opinion, and revealed how he believes Vince McMahon's XFL resurgence is comparable to that of All Elite Wrestling!
You can watch the entire video below, or continue reading for the full article.
Last time we spoke, a year and a bit ago, one of the main takeaways that I took from our conversation was you mentioning Drew McIntyre being the next big thing. For me, he's one of the best talents in the world but just hasn't quite managed to reach the Universal or WWE Championship just yet.
Do you still think he's the next big thing and, if so, how far away do you think it is before he is the top guy?
I think that he still is. I think they just have to let him be himself, you know? With WWE, it's a lot of stories. Guys have different stories that they have to live out. Like, I never saw him as a psychopath. Do you know what I mean? A warrior? Okay, but psychopath? I never saw that.
You know, so, I think that, in the big picture, they've just got to let him be himself, and sometimes it takes time.
Look at Stone Cold Steve Austin. When he came in, when he was the Ringmaster, and he was working with Ted DiBiase, he was the same wrestler. He just wasn't the same guy. They had to let Steve be Steve, and eventually they did. And we know what happened.
The reason I ask that, I have to thank you for sharing a Sportskeeda article recently about MJF, a man with the world in his hands right now and a man you've worked with very, very closely.
What's your opinion on his journey so far and the potential he has?
Well, it's funny you say that because he's my pick for the hottest up-and-coming guy in 2020. You know, I think that he's got a lot of natural ability. You can tell he loves being a heel but there is going to come a time - and when he went out there to save Cody out there, it lit the place up, and the crowd popped bigger than they have for anybody.
Being able to do the moves and the high spots, and the big oohs and ahhs, that's definitely what wrestling is about today but who can grab and captivate the people by their charisma? A la Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Steve Austin, the Rock... DDP! You know, whatever, to grab the people and make them react. That's what MJF has.
He's just another guy that I put under my wing a little bit because when I see someone who wants it as bad as he does, but is willing to put the work in. That's the part that's pivotal to me.
He'll do an interview or something and he'll go, "What did you think?" I will tell him and he'll go, "What did you really think?" He really wants to know!
He just, a lot of it is just natural ability. He grew up in... There was a video on YouTube of him on the Rosie O'Donnell show. He's five years old, and he does what he calls opera. He's five. He says on the show with Rosie, "I'm going to be an opera singer when I grow up and a wrestler." I mean, that's the vision. Again, he gets it.
Couldn't say enough good things about the kid. As long as he can keep his feet on the ground as he's reaching for the stars, the world is his oyster, literally. As long as he can do that. You know, never believe your own hype because that p****s people off.
NEXT: DDP speaks about Chris Jericho!
COMING UP: Will DDP be appearing in WWE or AEW any time soon?
On the opposite end of the scale, another man who you've worked very closely with, who you can't say many more things about DDPY than he already has Chris Jericho.
Man, what do you think about him still being on top of his game at, I think he is 48 years old now?
49 on November 9th. I'm just so happy to be a part of Chris being able to do that because he tells everybody, not just on his podcast, that DDPY is the reason why he is still able to do the things he can do.
That, his heart, his determination, just his insane drive. To be a little piece of it that literally helps him get out there every night. You can look at Chris Jericho in the match he had with Kenny Omega and you can go back and look at a match he did eight years ago, and the guy still out there busting his a** just as hard. The fact is going to be 49, holding back the hands of time, it's super special.
It's great that I can actually support him in his podcast, which does killer. And Chris has always said it to a ridiculous amount of people, and anybody he wants to have a new program, whether it is musicians or athletes, or whatever.
He's actually featured in a new documentary that we've got coming out, and he's in it a couple of times. It's called Relentless. It's the story of me blowing my back out in 1999, and the doctors tell me I'm never going to wrestle again, to where we are today.
Steve Austin is featured in it as well. Those guys were around. Steve was around when I was putting it together. He was like, "Dude, what are you thinking? This DDP Yoga getting is never going to happen, stop wasting your money, it's killing me do watch you do that."
And it goes from him saying that to him showing up at my DDP Yoga Performance Centre in Smyrna, Georgia and he's blown away. AJ Styles is in it. Guys I've worked with.
Look at AJ. I mean, he is literally a superhero. Again Ricochet. I was down at NXT working with the young guys down there. Ricochet will tell you, when he's on the road, if he's on a hard road, he doesn't even go to the gym. Literally hits the mat, that's what he does.
And if it works for him... He is probably one of the most exciting guys to watch on the planet right now. You mentioned DDPY, that's obviously mainly the fitness aspect of it but there's a lot about mindset and the last time we spoke you're actually talking in support of your book, Positively Unstoppable. How pleased were you with the way the book was received?
Positively Unstoppable really only had one chapter devoted to what I do with my DDPY program. Everything about Positively Unstoppable is about mindset and training your brain to work at a different level. It's more about training your brain than anything and showing people how to do that.
I got just an unbelievable response from people in general and just how much it helped them, and what's really cool as people tell me that they've read it three times. Ideally, if you get Positively Unstoppable, then you highlight it. then you don't have to read the whole book. You go back and you hit the high spots, stuff that you gravitate towards, stuff that will teach you to literally own it.
It's an awesome tool and it just fits with my whole DDPY programme because the workout's just a piece of it. The eating is just a piece of it. The mindset is the biggest piece of it.
Obviously it works and people like Jake Roberts are testament to that.
NEXT: DDP speaks about Big Cass!
COMING UP: Will DDP be appearing in WWE or AEW any time soon?
One other person you've been working closely with recently is Big Cass. Do you have any update for us on how he is doing?
I know he's in rehab right now and he's really getting a lot of really good help.
He's a really smart guy. He's dealing with depression and all that, and he's got to get a point like where Jake is at. At least he's not waiting until he's in his late 50s. He's doing it in his early 30s, he still has a brilliant career ahead of him, if he can stay sober - which I believe he has the ability.
The WWE is the ones who stepped up and took care of him. I talked to Johnny Ace, Triple H, and Mark Carano, and they're the guys who made it happen. They got him into rehab.
I told him I would help him when he got out, but he needs to go in right now. When you start getting blackouts, which is what happened to Cass, and when you're drinking, then you don't even know what happened. That is a scary thing, so it's got to go deeper than just positive training. It's a huge part of it but you've got to go deeper than that.
It's great to hear he's on the road to recovery from what it sounds like.
You mentioned you've been to the WWE Performance Center but not only that, you've appeared on AEW Dynamite and you're no stranger to being on a wrestling show at the same time as WWE. How do you think AEW is doing so far and what you make of the so-called 'Wednesday Night Wars'?
I think it's amazing for wrestling fans. I said that AEW stepping up, Tony Khan, creatively, with Cody, the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, I said it was going to make WWE better and it already is.
Like I always say, WWE is a juggernaut. It's bigger than wrestling. AEW isn't about Superstars and sports entertainers, AEW is about professional wrestling.
It's very similar of course but you've got some great, great, great talent down at NXT and you've got some great talent at AEW. Do you know who wins the most? The fans!
The real wrestling fans are the ones who win, win, win. And also, it's a great time to be one of the boys or girls, because now there's a point where there can be so many more of them.
NEXT: DDP continues to speak about AEW, and comparisons to the XFL!
COMING UP: Will DDP be appearing in WWE or AEW any time soon?
It's kind of like Vince getting ready to do the XFL. The guys who really win, too, are the players because now there's more teams to play for.
If anybody understands AEW, it should be Vince McMahon because he's trying to do the XFL!
That would seem to be the juggernaut you can't knock down. But do you know what? All I know is a lot of the things the XFL started, and one of them was the camera that goes down the middle of the field to make you feel more impact. That wasn't an NFL idea! They took it from the XFL and there were lots of those.
The team Vince put together had a lot of really smart people and it didn't work the first time but I know if Vince McMahon is coming and doing this again, first of all, you can't tell the guy he can't do something because that ain't going to happen. I guarantee he's learned from a lot of his mistakes and the team that he's got from the first time, or he wouldn't be doing it again.
It's going to be really interesting to watch, but you can't get on AEW for starting another league when your company is starting the XFL against the NFL. It's kinda funny when you think about it.
Again, I'm happy for all the guys. It's a great way, great to have more guys be a part and someone like Cody Rhodes to be at the helm of this thing.
I don't charge them anything. I don't have a contract with AEW. I don't. I show up there, if Cody, it's if WWE was to call me and say, "We want you to do something" - but I haven't heard from them since I've done stuff from with AEW but I would do something for WWE tomorrow.
I would if they asked me to do something because I'm not a contracted player, I'm doing stuff Cody Rhodes because he's like a nephew to me. Without him, without his dad, I wouldn't have had the career I had.
To me, I believe in what Cody is doing, I will do anything he wants. I'm super proud of him.
I think he's done an unbelievable job. You can't watch enough wrestling, I guess. What they are offering is just different. It's going to be a fun ride to watch, that's all I know.
NEXT: Will DDP be appearing in WWE or AEW any time soon?
You totally answered my last question 100% there, which was about whether we might see you on AEW or on WWE television again.
I answered it! If either one of them wanted me to come on, I feel like I'm kind of in the doghouse with the WWE because I didn't get to go to the show but I'm good with them.
WWE's been very good with me. Very, very good to me. They've allowed me to do a lot of really cool things, and that's why so many of my guys that work with are NXT guys and I work with AEW guys. I really like being the guy without the one side of the other. I am for professional wrestling. That's what I'm time for. I want them both to do really well.
And I mean, the SmackDown stuff that they have done on Fox! Oh, my God. The branding for WWE is just amazing. I'm watching the football games, different styles from Becky to The Rock to Ricochet, to whoever. You see them in flashes with the football.
They are really pumping this SmackDown thing like no-one's ever, on probably our highest-rated shows, professional football. They've got an unbelievable rub there, but again I'm just happy for them and I'm super happy that AEW will get that big rub when it comes to basketball season. You'll probably see a lot of them mixed in there, so it's all about getting people in the mainstream to check out the product and I think the production level so far for a brand-new company have been amazing.
Yeah, couldn't agree more. Thank you so much. It's been great talking to you again and I really appreciate you taking the time.
And let everybody know that, you know, if you go to DDPY.com, or go to the app and you can use the app within minutes of signing up, and get seven days for free to try it!
You can try the DDPY app, go to DDPY.com and it's all right there. There's no reason why anyone shouldn't at least give it a shot because our workouts now start literally in bed, if you can't get out of bed, I've got three workouts for you.
Then I'll put you in the chair, which I call Chair Force. You get eight workouts there. And then Stand Strong where you use a chair to get up and get down, and build your strength and your balance, and just take your body to a different level - and then you go to beginner. All the way to Psycho Extreme. Between that, the cooking shows, the Motivational Mondays, best bang for your buck.
All right, brother, great talking to you and we'll talk again!
A huge thanks to Diamond Dallas Page for taking the time to speak to me.
You can follow DDP on Twitter here and learn more about DDP Yoga here.
Now that you're done here, head on over to our main page and rate some of this week's TV matches!
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
