DDP On Much He Made When He Was On Top In WCW, Vince McMahon Not Knowing Who He Was, Chris Benoit
WWE Hall Of Famer 'Diamond' Dallas page was recently a guest on Talk Is Jericho. Among many other things, Page talked about his WWE run, what he was earning while he was on top at WCW, and WCW Executive Producer Eric Bischoff protecting him.
According to Page, ending up in WWE was always his goal; however, joining WWE after the heavyweight promotion bought out WCW caused a lot of friction backstage for Page.
"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." Page added, "WCW had a lot of heat rolling in there. Everybody came in there. I did not understand it."
During the podcast, Page revealed that he made $275,000 when he was on top at WCW.
"I never made money," Page claimed. "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."
Apparently, Bischoff protected Page in WCW and he did not even realize it till he made his way to WWE. 'DDP' shared a story where he wanted to pair quiet and dangerous Chris Benoit with the comedy stylings of Disco Inferno to help 'The Rabid Wolverine' with promos, which garnered Page backstage heat.
"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," Page recalled. "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.'"
Page divulged that there came a point in his WWE run when he realized that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had no idea who Page was when he was signed with 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.'" Page continued, "I had no idea because of the way I was talked to and what they wanted."
Additionally, Page stated that he signed a three-year deal with WWE, but the promotion wanted to end it after only year. In total, Page only wrestled for WWE for six months.
"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." Page added, "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."
Listen to the show here or in the audio player below. If you use any of the quotations that appear in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho