DDP
Diamond Dallas Page recently wrote an editorial for the Players’ Tribune called ‘Letter To My Younger Self’; you can read a few highlights about how Page recalls coming up with his famous ring name below:
“Wrestling, man,” you tell Smokey. “I tried it when I was 22.”
“Seriously?” Smokey will say. “You’re kidding. What was your name?”
“Nah, bro, totally serious. I was ‘Handsome’ Dallas Page.”
“Wheeew, well, you could never use that gimmick today,” Smokey will shoot back, and of course everyone will laugh their asses off — before going back to counting up money and drinking. But you … you’ll be in too deep now, kid. Now those wrestling thoughts will be in your head, and there’ll be no getting away from them. So while everyone else is focusing on their cash and booze (I think it was Goldschläger shots that night), you’ll start doodling in this blotter pad that you have in front of you — just sort of in your own world. They won’t even notice.
That is, until you pop your head up, and — like no less than a fucking bolt of lightning just hit you — say the three words that will change your life forever.
“Diamond Dallas Page.”
“Huh?” They’re confused. But you barely even notice — you’re on a roll now.
“I mean, I’m 31 — I’m too old to be a wrestler now. But you know what I could be? A manager. What if my name was Diamond Dallas Page!” And whether it’s the idea itself or just the fact that everyone is hammered at that point, you’ll never know … but the entire room seems to love it. So you’ll toast more shots — and now you’re really off and running.
“You know how Jimmy Hart has the Hart Foundation? Well, O.K., what if I had … the Diamond Exchange?” More cheers, more shots.
“And what if I had a whole entourage full of hot — I’m talking smoking hot — ladies, and I called them … the Diamond Dolls?” More cheers, more shots.
“Oh that’ll be a stretch,” Smokey says, and everyone laughs.
By now half the room is passed out drunk — and to be honest, you might’ve sworn that the entire night was a passed-out dream yourself. That is … if you didn’t happen to wake up with your face stuck to a notepad — the very same notepad where you had written it all down.
The Diamond Dolls. The Diamond Exchange.
Diamond. Dallas. Page.
Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
The Rock
The following video features The Rock sharing a personal story about Hulk Hogan giving him a headband as a child while doing promotional work for Jumanji:
This is an amazing story!
When I interviewed @TheRock for JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, I brought him my original JUMANJI ticket from when I saw it in January of 1996.
I asked Johnson if ever collected anything special as a kid and he told me this amazing @HulkHogan story. pic.twitter.com/o3sDERNfGn
— Kevin McCarthy (@KevinMcCarthyTV) November 30, 2017
