DDP Explains How He Came Up With Diamond Dallas Page, Discusses First Meeting With Jake Roberts

– WrestlingInc.com recently interviewed WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page (DDP), who discussed a number of topics. Below are some highlights.

DDP on Mick Foley penning the foreword for his book: “He’s one of the best writers going. I think the forward is an amazing part of the book because when Mick tells a story of a ghost that comes 25 years back in time to tell him he’s gonna write a forward 25 years from then for a WWE Hall of Famer, the perspective he put on that forward is so funny and is so Mick, but it’s endearing and heart-warming as well. And Mick’s one the guys that I’ve helped, so I wanted that to be one of the people that wrote it. When I thought of the forward, I really didn’t think about anyone else but Mick.”

DDP on helping people eliminate negative feelings: “I think a lot of people want to see that, but the first thing they start to tell themselves is how hard it is. Once you start to change the meaning of the word and understand, it’s the ‘hard’ that makes it great. If you were given everything since you were a little kid, and you grew up with that silver spoon in your mouth, and your parents never taught you work ethic, you would take everything for granted… My point is, is that anything that comes easy, nobody respects.”

DDP on first meeting Jake Roberts: “Not so much crazy, just partying, drinking. But it’s funny that me and Jake meet each other in my bar and the first thing that I say to him is, ‘What are we drinking,’ and years later, decades later, I’m the one that got him to stop drinking.”

DDP on coming up with his Diamond Dallas Page character: “I tried to wrestle when I was 22 and it didn’t work out for me. And then having the boys come in and out of my club, because none of those guys were gonna pay for drinks, it just got my brain focused around that. I was just telling my buddy this story about how I came up with Diamond Dallas Page and the Diamond Exchange and the Diamond Dolls. I came up with it and I just couldn’t get it out of my brain, and those guys were in and around my club at the time.”