DDP On The Finisher That Made Him Feel Like His “Guts Came Out”

On the latest episode of the DDP Snake Pit podcast, DDP, Diamond Dallas Page, talked about his famous feud with the "Macho Man" Randy Savage in WCW back in 1997. Page talked about taking the Elbow Drop from Savage, how surreal it was to take the legendary move and how much it hurt due to how much air Savage got jumping off the top rope.

"It was surreal to me," DDP said. "I didn't take it, like, I didn't start to overthink it because I wanted to go out there and do whatever I want to do with David, who is a hell of a worker, and then all the stuff that happens with Scott and Kev and all that. Now, I just know, I'm just thinking about the elbow. I'm like, I'm not even going to move. He knocks me out, I'm taking it.

"That's when I realized there was nothing fake about Randy Savage. When he would come off that top rope, he would get air. Even in his — he was 44 at the time, he would get air. You were his crash pad and when he hit me, I felt like my whole left side of me, like my rib cage splattered open and my guts came out. And I knew he was going to do it again."

As he has recalled many times over the years, DDP also detailed a conversation he had with now AEW manager/coach Arn Anderson about his chances of being a top guy in WCW. He recalled Anderson later apologizing to him after Randy Savage put him over.

"I love Arn, but back then, Arn and I did a lot of this for a while there," DDP admitted. "He had told I was never going to be a top guy because 'Savage, Flair, Sting, Luger, or Hulk are never going to put you over. You're not seen as a top guy.' And that beat me down here. But now we're in that locker room and Arn's the agent, and he comes in and no one's asking me what I'm doing. 'Randy, what do you want to do?' And he's tying up his boots and he goes, 'Think I want to take the Diamond Cutter.'

"And Arn just kind of looked at me and he goes, 'well Diamond, I hope you know what this could do for your career.' And I'm like, 'uh, yeah!' And really what it came down to, and I love Arn Anderson, man, he's a class act. But that was a moment between us, and later on, he would apologize to me for saying that to me."

One thing Page pointed out about his matches with Savage was how similar they were in laying out the story. Like DDP, Savage liked to have everything planned out ahead of time.

"The thing about Randy and I, and I got ridiculed by everyone for doing it, no one said sh-t about Randy," DDP said. "Randy laid out everything. So do I, but mine and his is preparation mixed with improvisation. Because I can talk, I never shut up in the ring, ever."

To quote this article, please credit DDP Snake Pit and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription