Hey Guys

I know you all want to hear about my trip to Iraq, which was a great adventure. But it is going to take me a few weeks to write all of that up.

In the meantime I have been flooded with questions on www.myspace.com/yrgworkout ,www.diamonddallaspage.com and even www.yrgworkout.com asking me about Ric Flair’s retirement and Wrestlemania. Let me address the Nature Boy first…many of you know by the comments of what Ric Flair thought about DDP in his book (I don't remember the name) and my response on youtube (you will have to search for it to find it), that Ric and Page’s relationship was never one of real friendship. Ric was always a class act and cool in my face but behind my back he never believed I had what it took to be a top guy. Early on in my career Ric ran the show at WCW and I was one level up from a job guy (a guy who loses all the time). To Ric’s credit why would he believe in a guy who started at 35, tore his rotator cuff at 36 and got fired…and came back at 37 would ever be a top guy... It had never happened before... Looking back I guess I understand why he thought I would never be anything in this business.

That being said, The Nature Boy Ric Flair , the leader of the 4 horseman, the limousine riding, lear jet flying, 60 minute man… is something I grew up watching and admiring in my early 20’s…who didn’t want to be the Nature Boy…Whooo! With what I achieved in the wrestling business and working with Ric from 1997 on I thought I had overcame all the hurdles of getting Ric’s respect. That is until someone told me what he wrote about me, Diamond Dallas Page , in his book…If I am not mistaken he also buried Mick Foley and Brett Hart so I guess I am in pretty good company. All that being said, I have pretty much always been able to separate Ric from the Nature Boy Ric Flair the TV character. To me the Nature Boy Ric Flair has always been the best of the best, he transcends the words Legend and Icon…just like Dusty Rhodes said the Nature Boy Ric Flair is a National Treasure. I thought he had a spectacular match with HBK at Wrestlemania. I also thought this was one of the best WM’s in a long time. That a guy could wrestle for 36 years and deliver that match at 59 years old is nothing less than spectacular.

In the 1980’s The Nature Boy helped change the face of professional wrestling. His charismatic passion and warmth ran through the crowd like a running stream of hot water. The Nature Boy loves and lived to wrestle!

HBK’s sendoff “I’m sorry, I love you” before he knocked him out was straight from the heart. It reminded me of the time I watched Larry Holmes send “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali off into the pasture. Shawn didn’t want to put Flair out but like Larry he knew he had to and if any one was one to do it ... it should be him.

Do I honestly think you will never see Ric Flair in the ring again? Stop it! Ha! Nature Boy and Vince left everybody wanting more… I'll believe the Nature Boy career is really over the day the Rolling Stones stop touring…

I thought that this was one of the best WrestleMania’s in long time. I was wondering how Big Show was going to make a match with a 5’7” 147 pound guy watchable…but he didn’t just make it watchable, I really enjoyed it. And if you haven’t watched it then find it or buy the replay…having done celebrities matches with Karl Malone, Dennis Rodman and Jay Leno I know what goes into these matches and it is a lot of work…Mayweather is a great showman and athlete but just because you have been watching wrestling since you were a little kid doesn’t mean you can get in the ring and do it. Big Show took care of him and the kid took some stiff bumps. I guarantee you his entire body was never that sore after a boxing match. Today Mayweather fights maybe twice a year…Big Show is on the road wrestling for more than 250 days…even Ken Shamrock said he got hurt more in wrestling ring than he ever did in the UFC.

I pretty much raised the Big Show in his early days in the wrestling business. I actually helped him get ready for his first match ever with Hogan and traveled with him his first 5 years….to say I am proud of him would be an understatement. The thing that I love most about this match is that the people were really behind Big Show, like they were behind Andre back in the day…if Show is handled properly he may finally be able to fill the Giants boots…he sure as hell has the talent and charisma to do it.


The Triple threat match for the WWE championship was tremendous as well. Great psychology and near falls. Like most of you I thought there was no way they would keep the title on Orton even though that is what I wanted to see. Watching that match unfold I could tell that, as always, HHH was the ring General. The match and finish was phenomenal. Even though Randy didn’t win with the RKO/Diamond Cutter…

It brought me back to June of 2002 when I called Randy Orton and told him I was going to retire and I told him I wanted him to take my Diamond Cutter finish…he was so respectful he said “No Diamond, that is yours, you came up with that” and I said “Randy, I don’t want some Jabroni ripping it off…I want you to keep it going and take it to another level”...and he has. I believe someday Randy will become the biggest baby face in the company.

But my favorite match was for the World Title with Edge and the Undertaker. Going in, there was no way I thought Taker would take a loss at WM being 15-0. But the story they told was so good that the last 5 minutes of that match they both had me actually believing at times that this was going to be the end of the winning streak with one tremendous false finish after another. For Taker being 6’9”, 280+ pounds and 43 years old he brought it the same way he did when he was 33 and I know how beat up his body is…damn he must have been sore the next day. A great wrestling match is all about creating the element of doubt. As a fan, you are so sure that this guy is going to win or lose and then BANG!...we flip it on you. I thought Edge losing to Taker moved him even further up the ladder. Reminded me of the time that Stone Cold lost to Brett Hart…which literally made Austin a made man. In other words, I really enjoyed WM. So those are my thoughts... in the next week or so I'll send out the email on my journey back to Iraq.


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DDP

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