Early life[edit] Page as a child. Page Joseph Falkinburg, the oldest of three children, was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (née Seigel) and Page Joseph Falkinburg, Sr.[6][7] Page was raised by his father during his early years, after his parents divorced. The name Dallas came from his love of the Dallas Cowboys.[8] His brother and sister were raised by their maternal grandmother.[8] Page lived with his father from the ages of three to eight. His father took him, at eight years old, to live with his grandmother, who raised him. Page admitted in his autobiography he is dyslexic.[6] He had many challenges hit him throughout his childhood and educational years.[8] DDP attended St. Josephs High School (now Monsignor Donovan High School) in Toms River, New Jersey) for his freshman and sophomore years, spending his first season on the JV basketball team and making the varsity squad as a sophomore.[9] He transferred to Point Pleasant Boro High School in Point Pleasant, where he was a star basketball player with the Point Pleasant Boro High School Panthers.[7] Professional wrestling career[edit] Early years and American Wrestling Association[edit] Main article: Diamond Exchange DDP, Curt Hennig and Diamond Doll Tonya in 1988. Pages first wrestling match was in Canada in 1979. However due to poor initial training and a subsequent bad knee injury he gave up wrestling shortly afterward. Page ran a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida called Norma Jeans (known for its Pink Cadillac) while he was working as a wrestling manager in the American Wrestling Association (AWA).[10] He started managing in 1988, where he handled Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), a team he led to the AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19.[11] Badd Company, was often accompanied by female valets known as the Diamond Dolls (Tonya, Jennifer and Torri). During his time in the AWA, Page also managed Col. DeBeers,[12] Curt Hennig and Madusa Miceli as the leader of the Diamond Exchange stable.[1] He worked for the AWA at 12 dates over a period of nine months, where they filmed all the television shows in one day. He also worked as a color commentator in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) where he worked alongside Gordon Solie, before finally debuting as a professional wrestler. In 1990, Dallas received a tryout with the WWF as an announcer, but never got the job.[10] At WrestleMania VI, he drove Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine) to the ring in his pink Cadillac.[1] At this time, he was virtually unknown in the World Wrestling Federation.[13] When FCW went down, Page was still involved in the club business until Dusty Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes started booking and brought Page in on a small contract in early 1991.[1] World Championship Wrestling[edit] Managing the Freebirds and the Diamond Mine (1991–1992)[edit] Main articles: The Fabulous Freebirds and Diamond Mine Page came to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 as manager of The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S. Hayes).[1][14] Page managed the Freebirds to a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship where they defeated Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) on February 24. Before that match took place, Page unveiled the stables new road manager, Big Daddy Dink, formerly known as Oliver Humperdink, who interfered in the match. During this match, Page introduced the Diamond Dolls. Page added Scott Hall to the stable under the name of Diamond Studd.[1] Page also worked as a color commentator for WCW with Eric Bischoff.[1] With rumors that the WCW wanted to take the Diamond Studd away from Page,[10] he decided to take the advice of Magnum T.A. and begin to wrestle himself. He headed to the WCW Power Plant where Buddy Lee Parker, The Assassin, and Dusty Rhodes trained the 35 year old rookie. He debuted as a wrestler in a tag team match later that year. With the Diamond Studd, he faced Kevin Sullivan and his partner. He was relegated to the jobber list. He made his wrestling pay-per-view debut at Starrcade in 1991, teaming with Mike Graham in a losing effort to Jushin Liger and Bill Kazmaier.[1] In regards to this period, he stated: “ [Bischoff] gave me the job as I was a good example of work ethic, passion and someone that cares about the business. Since they wouldn’t really book me, I went down to the WCW Power Plant every day I wasn’t working. That’s how you adapt to adversity. Even when I started to make it, I still kept going back. Until I was on the road 260 days a year-plus, I was still going to that Power Plant. For five years I went there, because that’s how long it took me to get to the top.[15] ” Page continued wrestling and brought other wrestlers into his stable, The Diamond Mine, such as Scotty Flamingo (Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash).[16][17] The relationships between DDP, Flamingo, and Vegas were used in many angles over the following months. Page went in the corner of Scotty Flamingo, at Clash of the Champions XXI on November 18, 1992, when Flamingo fought Johnny B. Badd in a worked boxing match. Flamingo won this bout with a little help from Page who filled Flamingos glove with water. The following year, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable, Page teamed with Vinnie Vegas as the Vegas Connection.[16] However, the team was disbanded shortly after its debut when Page suffered a torn rotator cuff in a match against Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce toward the end of 1992 and was later fired, while Nash left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.[10][14] Singles competition; feud with Randy Savage (1994–1997)[edit] Page determined to continue improving his character, sought the help of Jake Roberts who advised him on the psychological aspects of the business.[14] After his injury had healed, Page returned to WCW television in 1994, with his wife Kimberly[14] as the Diamond Doll, and an on-screen bodyguard,[14] Max Muscle. He held open arm wrestling challenges to win Kimberly, but Max always helped him win or arm wrestled for him. He was also involved in an angle where he was said to have supposedly amassed the sum of 13 million dollars through victories in arm wrestling competitions, a fortune that he would later lose. He also had a long feud with Dave Sullivan because Sullivan gave Kimberly gifts (and largely because Page was defeated by Sullivan in one of the arm wrestling contests, which earned him a date with Kimberly).[1] At Fall Brawl, Page won his first championship when he defeated Renegade for the WCW World Television Championship.[1] In the build-up to his first title defense at Halloween Havoc, there was growing dissension between Page and Kimberly. Johnny B. Badd defeated Page for the TV title and again at World War 3 on November 26, winning Kimberlys freedom from DDP.[1] At Uncensored on March 24, 1996 The Booty Man with Kimberly as The Booty Babe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Loser Leaves Town match.[1] DDP. Page returned on the May 18, 1996 edition of WCW Saturday Night as a tweener defeating Billy Kidman. On May 19, Page participated in the Lord of the Ring Tournament (Battle Bowl) at Slamboree. Page was victorious when he defeated The Barbarian with two Diamond Cutters. The winner was to be the number one contender for the World Title which at that time was held by The Giant.[1] However, he never received the title shot that he earned that night. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the New World Order (nWo) was formed. Since Nash and Hall were both former partners of Page, they assisted him in his matches in the tournament being held for the vacant US Title. Believing their help was not appreciated, however, Hall and Nash attacked him during the tournament finals, therefore handing the belt to Guerrero.[1] After demonstrating the benefits of the nWo, they asked him to join. He responded by giving them Diamond Cutters on January 25, 1997 at Souled Out, starting a face turn and a feud with the nWo.[1] Page began a feud with Macho Man Randy Savage in 1997.[1] On an episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Savage, aided by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, attacked Page and spray-painted nWo on his back. A few weeks later at Uncensored, Savage and Miss Elizabeth broke (a worked shoot) by revealing to the world that Page and Kimberly were, in fact, married. Savage then proceeded to beat up Page, ensuring a future match between the two. At Spring Stampede, in Pages first pay-per-view main event, he and Savage battled in a match where Page emerged victorious, but it was the not the end of conflict between the two.[1] A few months later at The Great American Bash, they squared off again in an anything goes, lights out match. This match ended with Savage defeating Page with help from (then) Tag Team Champion Scott Hall.[1] At Bash at the Beach, Scott Hall and Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig, who Diamond Dallas Page had recruited personally to join WCW and team with him, turned on DDP during the match.[1] Hennig defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Grudge match at Road Wild.[1] At Fall Brawl, Page teamed with Lex Luger to defeat Scott Hall and Randy Savage in a No Disqualification match.[1] Page even dressed up as masked wrestler La Parka and beat Savage. Around this time, Page also started fighting nWo leader, Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Page and Savage battled for the last time at Halloween Havoc. The match was billed as a Las Vegas Sudden Death match, where Savage pinned Page after Hogan, dressed as Sting, came out and hit Page with a baseball bat in his already injured midsection, resulting in Savage picking up the win.[1] On an episode of Nitro shortly after Halloween Havoc, Page fought Hogan, but was again beaten down by the nWo. United States Heavyweight Champion (1997–1998)[edit] DDP and his one-time tag team partner Karl Malone in 1998. At Starrcade, Page won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig.[1] The following year at Uncensored, Page defended the title in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere contest against Chris Benoit and Raven, putting Raven through a table with a Diamond Cutter to retain the belt. Page later lost the title to Raven at Spring Stampede.[1] Later in the year, Page tagged with Karl Malone against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, losing due to interference.[1] Page tagged with late night talk show host Jay Leno at Road Wild, where they defeated Hogan and Eric Bischoff.[1] DDP and Jay Leno in 1998. At Fall Brawl, Page won the WarGames main event, and got a World title shot against the undefeated Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Page did not win the match,[1] but the match was voted WCW Magazines Match of the Year 1998. Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected resulting in a number of cable companies blacking out the end of the Hogan versus Warrior match and all of the DDP versus Goldberg contest. WCW decided to air the Goldberg versus DDP title bout in its entirety on the October 26 edition of Nitro, which proved immensely popular in the ratings and resulted in a ratings win for Nitro over Raw – the last win Nitro ever had. Despite this setback in the World title picture, Page rebounded this same following night of Halloween Havoc, on the October 26 edition of Nitro, with a win over Bret Hart to capture the United States Heavyweight Title. The two headlined the following months World War 3, in a title match which Page won.[18] Page lost the title to Hart on the November 30 edition of Nitro in a No Disqualification match, when he was assaulted by The Giant.[19] World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Champion (1999–2001)[edit] Main articles: Jersey Triad and The Insiders Page became WCW World Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, at Spring Stampede when he defeated Sting, Hogan, and Ric Flair for the title in a Four Way Dance with Macho Man Randy Savage as Special Guest Referee. Page pinned Flair after giving Flair the Diamond Cutter.[1] Pages attitude changed drastically following his title win, as the fans had started to grow tired of his hero character and he began hearing more and more boos than he had heard since his turn in 1996. The decision was made to turn Page heel, and the turn took place on the Nitro following his title win in a match against Goldberg. During the match, Page knocked Goldberg out with brass knuckles and repeatedly struck his leg with a steel chair as it was propped against the ring stairs, then taunted the fans by saying boo me now repeatedly. He only stopped when Kevin Nash, an ally of Hogans who was angry at Page for (kayfabe) injuring Hogans knee during the match at Spring Stampede, came back from injury and chased him away. On April 26, 1999, Page lost and regained his title in the span of two hours. Sting challenged him to defend his title in the first hour of that nights Nitro and defeated him to regain the title he had last had a year earlier. This ended Pages reign at 15 days, but he gained an opportunity to get the title back ninety minutes later. Nash came to the ring and made a challenge for a four-way match for the title, and the just-dethroned Page joined defending champion Sting and Goldberg in the match. Page regained the world title by using a foreign object to hit Nash and take the win and regain the title without actually defeating the reigning champion.[1] Nash became the number one contender shortly after and vowed to get revenge on Page for his friend Hogan, culminating in a match at Slamboree in May. Page originally retained the world championship after Savage interfered and hit Nash, but the match was ordered to continue by Eric Bischoff and Nash pinned Page to win the title after a powerbomb.[1] Page dropped out of the title picture shortly thereafter. DDP and Kevin Nash as the WCW World Tag Team Champions. Shortly after Slamboree, Page entered into an alliance with fellow New Jerseyan Bam Bam Bigelow and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from then champions Perry Saturn and Raven on May 31, thanks to Chris Kanyon turning heel on former ally Raven and costing the team the championships. Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon became known as the Jersey Triad and through their alliance with WCW President for Life Ric Flair took advantage of the Freebird Rule in their subsequent matches (meaning any combination of the three could defend the championship). The Triad held the titles until June 10, when Saturn and Chris Benoit (now stablemates in The Revolution) took the title from them. They regained the belts at The Great American Bash three days later, and lost them to Harlem Heat at Road Wild in August.[1] Later that night, Chris Benoit defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the United States title.[1] The group broke up shortly thereafter and Page began feuding with Hogan again, joining Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner in a team effort to take on Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg. Soon after that feud ended Page turned into a hero again and feuded with both Kanyon and Bigelow before the year ended. In 2000, with WCW under new management, Page earned a shot at the vacant WCW World Championship Belt at Spring Stampede against Jeff Jarrett. In a surprise twist, Pages wife, Kimberly, turned on Page and helped Jarrett become the new WCW World Champion.[1] Page got the better of Jarrett on the April 24 edition of Nitro, where he defeated Jarrett in a steel cage match to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion for the third time, then lost the title to his tag partner, actor David Arquette, three days later on Thunder; the rules stated that whoever got the pin would win the title, and Arquette pinned Jarretts partner, Eric Bischoff. Page attempted to win the title back at Slamboree later that month in a triple cage match against Arquette and Jarrett, but lost after Arquette hit him with a guitar. Page then entered a feud with Mike Awesome, who defeated him in an Ambulance Match at The Great American Bash after Kanyon turned on Page.[1] Page took some time off shortly after this, but returned in late 2000 as a full-time wrestler. After Page came back he formed a tag team with Kevin Nash called The Insiders, and the team won the tag team championship on November 26 at Mayhem by defeating Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo).[1] The team was temporarily stripped of the titles but won them back at Starrcade defeating Stasiak and Palumbo again. Page and Nash lost the titles to Palumbo and Sean OHaire at Sin in January and broke up shortly thereafter. After his tag team run Page briefly feuded with the returning Kanyon, which saw Kanyon defeat Page at SuperBrawl Revenge, and Page defeating Kanyon the following night on Nitro, ending their feud. Page then moved into the World Championship picture again by facing Scott Steiner. Their feud hit a climax at WCWs final PPV Greed, saw Pages final match in WCW and a semi-burial type defeat as he passed out in Steiners finisher, The Steiner Recliner.[1] World Wrestling Federation (2001–2002)[edit] When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the WWF on the June 18, 2001 edition of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertakers wife, Sara.[1] Page revealed he didnt care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the biggest dog in the yard. Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion.[1] At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the August 6, 2001 edition of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on August 9, 2001 edition of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.[1] The feud with the Undertaker went on for the best part of three months and ended when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001 in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where Page got injured which kept him out of action until late October 2001.[1] He became known for his catchphrase Yo! Its me, its me, its DDP! While Page was injured he developed a new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. The name came from the title of his autobiography that was published during his WCW days. The character, who Page developed after attending the Tony Robbins Results 2000 seminar in October 2000, involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase Thats not a bad thing... thats... a good thing. His return televised match was on November 3, 2001 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members kayfabe lost their jobs. Page eventually won his job back by defeating The Big Bossman on the January 17th, 2002 edition of SmackDown! and also competed in the Royal Rumble match on January 20, 2002 but did not win it. Page became the European Champion on the January 31, 2002 edition of SmackDown, when he defeated Christian, a former follower of his positive philosophy.[1] At WrestleMania X8, Page retained the title in a rematch. However, he lost the title to William Regal on an episode of SmackDown that aired March 19.[1] At age 46, he had nagging injuries, including a neck injury he suffered in a match with Hardcore Holly on the April 18, 2002 episode of SmackDown, so his WWE contract was allowed to expire.[1] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2005)[edit] On April 1, 2004, Diamond Dallas Page announced his return to the ring. After working for several independent promotions, he debuted with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on November 12, feuding with Raven and Erik Watts.[1] Page received an NWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot on March 13, 2005 at Destination X, but was defeated by reigning champion Jeff Jarrett when Monty Brown turned heel and hit Page with the Pounce.[1] Page left TNA shortly thereafter. Juggalo Championship Wrestling (2009)[edit] On August 9, 2009, Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance with JCW aligning himself with the jWo. He hit his trademark Diamond Cutter finisher on Trent Acid late in the match. Page retired from the ring shortly thereafter. Return to WWE (2010–present)[edit] In late 2010, Page agreed to work on a DVD for WWE, titled The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, after being approached on the project due to his ties to WCW. Page hosted the DVD, which was released on June 7, 2011. On the June 27 edition of Raw, Page made an appearance promoting this DVD with Booker T. In 2012, Page appeared on WWE Classics on Demand in Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: Renegades along with Jim Ross, Michael P.S. Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Gene Okerlund. Page also appeared alongside Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2012. On July 2, 2012, Page made an appearance on Raw, where he hit a Diamond Cutter on Heath Slater. He also appeared at Raw 1000, accompanied by other WWE Legends, during Slaters match with Lita. On January 6, 2014, Page again appeared on Raw, along with a number of other legends, as part of the shows Old School theme. On April 5, 2014, Page inducted his wrestling mentor and noted DDP Yoga practitioner Jake The Snake Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of WWEs WrestleMania XXX weekend festivities.[20] Life after wrestling[edit] DDP Yoga[edit] Page wrote Yoga for Regular Guys Workout after recovering from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998, and discovering the health benefits of yoga, through his former wife, Kimberly Ross.[citation needed]. His favorite kind of yoga (according to his Yoga for Regular Guys book) is Power Yoga, an Americanized version of Ashtanga Style yoga. Page worked with Dr. Craig Aaron, the Yoga-Doc [21] and developed the Yoga for Regular Guys Workout.[1] Page developed the book into a series of workout videos titled DDP YOGA (formerly YRG), directed by Mason Bendewald. DDP Yoga was featured in a video about Arthur Boorman in May 2012.[22] The story was picked up by the mainstream media,[23][24][25] including Good Morning America.[26] The video describes the journey of Arthur Boorman, a disabled war veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After 15 years on crutches[27] he lost 140 pounds in 10 months and regained the ability to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces. On February 21, 2014, Page appeared on the ABC series Shark Tank, in an attempt to get one of the prospective investors (or sharks as theyre known on the show) to invest in DDP Yoga. He was ultimately unsuccessful in doing so.[28] Lawsuits[edit] Page is commonly associated with the Self High Five as well as the Diamond Cutter symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion. He created the symbol in 1996 and later trademarked it. In December 2005, Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, who, he claimed, had illegally adopted his trademark hand gesture. Page accused Jay-Z of trademark infringement, and sought a prohibitive injunction and monetary damages.[29] It resulted in Page dropping the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money. On August 31, 2010, Page filed a lawsuit against American electronica musical duo 3OH!3 for infringement of his trademarked Diamond Cutter hand gesture.[30][31][32] Other ventures[edit] Page also hosts a radio show titled DDP Radio.[33] Personal life[edit] On December 1, 1991, Page married Kimberly. In 2003, Page had his name legally changed to Dallas Page.[4] On July 3, 2004, the two announced that they had amicably separated.[1] He and Kimberly officially divorced in December 2005. Page has a 26 year old daughter named Brittany Page, who is also a DDP Yoga instructor.[34] He has another daughter named Kimberly Page who is 20.[35] In wrestling[edit] Finishing moves Diamond Clash (Belly to back inverted mat slam) – 1994–1995; used rarely as a regular move thereafter – [36][37][38] Diamond Cutter (Cutter)[1] – sometimes from the top rope, or while applying a fireman carry or an overhead gutwrench
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 05:53:32 +0000