During a recent interview with WrestlingInc.com, Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) commented on All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and said that he thinks the time is right for them. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On if he’d consider an in-ring return: “People always say, ‘Do you miss it?’ Well a little bit, but not really [laughs]. To watch the way the kids work today, they are athletes on a different level. Ricochet, A.J. Styles, Hangman Page, Kenny Omega – they are athletes on a different level. The stuff they can do with their bodies and the punishment they can take. The Young Bucks – I watch their matches and I get sore watching their matches. “I was at All In and was standing next to Jeff Jarrett. We were watching and these guys were doing such high-impact matches, that I looked at him and went, ‘Man. I’m sort of glad that I’m not doing it anymore.’ I get sore watching these matches. It’s kinda like what the X-Games brought in. Everything just got more extreme. Thank God they changed the way they hit each other in football because they are bigger, stronger, faster.”
On why the time is right for AEW: “For me, there’s not a better time to be a wrestler right now except when I was doing it. Because when we were doing it, it was red-hot. But also, it created more money to be made. If anybody needs to be taken care of, it’s the wrestlers because we don’t have unions or retirement built in like the NBA, MLB, NHL. They all have that. We don’t. I think the business is in a spot right now where maybe they wouldn’t have got it a couple of years back, but I think they’re ready for it now. His outlook on the business is unique and it’s not what the WWE is doing. The WWE has its own niche. Wrestling is cyclical – it comes up and goes down all the time. The WWE may not be at the highest ratings right now, but their matches look amazing.”
On the difference between Cody and Dusty: “You can’t compare a young man who is just starting out in this spot. He’s been around and sat at the foot of the master and has a lot of knowledge. But when you think about Dusty, you think about Dusty in the 80s, 90s and 2000s. He is one of the greatest minds in the world for what he did. You can’t compare a young guy who is just starting out.”
On helping others with DDPY: “The same thing happened to Chris Jericho eight years ago when he blew his back out. Three different spine specialists told him his career was over. He said, ‘Dude, you tell me what to do and I’ll do it.’ Three months later Chris was back and headlining WrestleMania. Now, he’s gonna headline Double or Nothing and the cat’s gonna be 49. Chris works in some MMA training, but his hardcore base is DDPY and that’s what keeps him in the ring. You can listen to any podcast and he’ll tell you that you need to do the program.”
On Starrcast: “My buddy Conrad Thompson puts on a hell of a deal with that whole Starrcast phenomenon. There will be a lot of legends there doing signings and autograph sessions. It’s gonna be a great weekend – Memorial Day Weekend, May 25th. ‘Inspiration Meets Perspiration’ Double or Nothing workshop and after that we’re gonna see the show.”
