Wrestling Lockup with Brandon Special Edition: Diamond Dallas Page

By Brandon Albright, @B_Rock1978

What's up gang, Brandon from Triple Threat CLE back with another special edition blog for you. This time it's all about Diamond Dallas Page, who if you haven't heard has just been announced to enter the WWE Hall of Fame this year. So my question is and you can get my top five answers below....

"With Diamond Dallas Page going into the WWE Hall of Fame, which DDP moment was your favorite?"

I would love to hear what everyone's favorite moment is and I'm actually curious to know if the man himself DDP has one favorite moment that sticks out for him in his huge career.

1.) DDP Swerves The nWo: With the nWo running things in WCW they were looking to recruit more members into their faction. DDP was just beginning to make a mid card name for himself at the time, was great friends with The Outsiders, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash and even nWo/WCW President Eric Bischoff. Many considered DDP to be an automatic lock in the group and it looked like everyone was right the night Hall and Nash confronted DDP. DDP hugged Hall and Nash, accepted the nWo t-shirt and even put it on to a mixed reaction of cheers and boos from the fans. What happened next no one expected, as DDP dropped Hall with a Diamond Cutter and escaped into the crowd to celebrate with the fans and staying a loyal WCW follower in the process. DDP became public enemy #1 to the nWo and would go on to have a great feud with the nWo's Macho Man Randy Savage.

2.) Feuding With "Macho Man" Randy Savage: Savage and DDP began their feud when Savage helped Hall and Nash attack and spray paint DDP, then later revealed that DDP and his valet Kimberly were really husband and wife, which was a huge secret at the time. DDP got revenge on Savage at Spring Stampede with a victory, but that didn't stop Savage. Savage, with the help from Scott Hall would defeat DDP at The Great American Bash in an Anything Goes, Lights Out Match. Hall and Savage would again defeat DDP at Bash At The Beach after DDP's partner Curt Hennig turned on DDP and sided with the nWo. DDP would battle Savage and Hall again two months later at Fall Brawl, teaming with Lex Luger and winning in a No DQ Match. DDP pulled off one of my favorite swerves during this time frame as well. Savage battled the masked La Parka and ended up getting upset by La Parka after he hit a Diamond Cutter, unmasked and revealed himself as DDP in disguise. DDP and Savage would battle one more time in a Las Vegas Sudden Death Match at Halloween Havoc, which saw Savage come out victorious after Hulk Hogan attacked DDP dressed as Sting.

3.) Feuding With Bret "The Hitman" Hart: DDP began feuding with the Excellence of Execution, Bret "The Hitman" Hart immediately following his feud with Randy Savage. Hart was in his "is he or isn't he a member of the nWo" stage of his career at this time and was the reigning WCW United States Champion. DDP would defeat Hart on an episode of Nitro to capture the WCW United States Championship and would grant Hart his rematch at World War 3. DDP again came out victorious at the pay per view, but his reign as WCW United States Champion didn't last much longer as Hart would win back the title at the next Nitro in a No DQ Match, after The Giant attacked DDP and helped Hart come out victorious.

4.) Winning Battlebowl,

Becoming Lord Of The Ring: In May of 1996, WCW held Battlebowl: Lethal Lottery at WCW Slamboree. If you're not firmiliar with this event, WCW would pair two unlikely guys together in a series of tag matches. The winning team would move on to a battle royal to decide a winner of Battlebowl. DDP drew Barbarian as his partner and went on to defeat Meng and Hugh Morrus. DDP and Barbarian would next defeat Rick Steiner and The Bootyman to advance to Battlebowl. The battle royal came down to DDP and his partner Barbarian, with DDP hitting two Diamond Cutters and securing the Battlebowl Lord of the Ring victory.

5.) Facing Goldberg At WCW Halloween Havoc: This match was voted WCW Magazine's "Match of the Year" in 1998. I remember ordering this pay per view and being disappointed that I didn't get to see this match...why?...because Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected which resulted in cable companies blacking out the end of the Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior match and all of the DDP vs. Goldberg match. Thankfully WCW aired the entire DDP vs. Goldberg match on Nitro, which won Nitro the ratings war for the week. Though DDP came up short in winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, the match was definitely a five star match and had an awesome spot where DDP countered the Jackhammer into a Diamond Cutter.

These five moments are just the tip of the iceberg on DDP's career, which also included The Diamond Exchange in AWA, managing Badd Company to a AWA World Tag Team Championship, managing The Freebirds, Managing Hall and Nash before they were Hall and Nash, breaking into wrestling professionally as a 35 year old rookie, his battles with the nWo, WCW Television Championship runs, WCW World Heavyweight Championship runs, losing and then winning back the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in the same night, teaming with NBA great Karl Malone and Tonight Show Host Jay Leno, creating a faction with Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon, arriving in the WWE and finally starting DDP Yoga and helping Scott Hall and Jake Roberts better their lives after knocking on death's door.

In closing I just want to say congratulations to Diamond Dallas Page on his Hall of Fame Induction into this year's 2017 WWE Hall of Fame Class and please go back and check out some of DDP's great matches on the WWE Network, you won't be disappointed!

Self High Five! BANG!!!