DDP Says Vince McMahon Had No Idea Who He Was When He Joined WWE, Reveals How Eric Bischoff Helped Protect Him After a Chris Benoit Situation

– Chris Jericho recently interviewed WWE Hall of Famer DDP for the Talk Is Jericho podcast. Below are some highlights (transcript via WrestlingInc.com).

DDP on how he always wanted to end up in WWF: “For me, growing up on the Jersey Shore with the WWWF, like, everything in my soul was [saying] ‘I’m going to end up in the WWF.’ So, for me, personally, I didn’t know [going to WWE] was going to come with the heat that it did. If I’d left when [Jericho] left or right after [Jericho] left, it would’ve been a whole different story. WCW had a lot of heat rolling in there. Everybody came in there. I did not understand it.”

DDP on the money he made when he was on top in WCW: “I never made money. I worked on top for two years. I made $275,000, bro. Yes, [in WCW] ’97. In ’98 I made $295,000. I was holding out for WWE. I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

DDP on how Bischoff helped protect him in WCW: “Here’s what Bisch did for me that I never really appreciated until I was in WWE: he protected me. And what I mean by that is when I was being buried. I wanted to help Chris [Benoit] with his promos, so Disco [Inferno], he had a really unbelievable understanding of our business. Like, what to promo or what to do, he couldn’t really do it himself, but he was a good teacher. Like, there [were] things he said to me, [where] I went like, ‘oh yeah, I’m going to use that.’ So I wanted to put him with Benoit. He’ll help you become a great interview. And when they heard that, the bookers, they buried me! And Bisch is sitting in my driveway and we’re having beer just like we’re sitting here having a couple of beers and he tells me, ‘why would you have Disco help Benoit?’ I go, ‘because he [has] got a really great mind for the business and he really understands the art of interviewing.’ He goes, ‘it looks bad. It looks like you’re setting Benoit up to fail.’ I go, ‘that’s the last thing I’m doing.’ He goes, ‘yeah, I get that and that’s what I told them.’ He said, ‘but also, you have to stop being so honest with everybody. So stop helping people and stop being so honest!’ And I said, ‘well, I’m not going to do that because that’s not who I am.'”

DDP on how Vince McMahon had no idea who he was when he joined WWE: “Dude, in the beginning because I was treated so well, I didn’t see it coming. But once I got in there, I realized Vince has no idea who I am. I mean, I was like, ‘please let me show you the Goldberg match.’ I had no idea because of the way I was talked to and what they wanted.”

Page on his WWE run: “I only wrestled there for six months and for a month of it, I tore my meniscus and I was back in four weeks! Torn meniscus! Maybe not the smartest thing, but I wanted to get away from the stalker thing and I was bringing back the ‘Feel The Bang’ guy and the smiley guy. And the smile got over! And then, they were letting me go back to being myself and I know I had that match with Christian at WrestleMania [18] and the one goal I always focused on was, ‘I’ve got to work a WrestleMania’ and we had a hell of a match. Christian, Jay Reso, I think he’s one of the most underrated guys. I mean, what an amazing hand in the ring and a great guy too. I had signed a three-year deal, but they wanted out of it after one and I thought I had that million dollar policy I had been paying for four years with Lloyd’s Of London. I had one of those deals.”