10 Things We Learned From DDP On Stone Cold’s Broken Skull Podcast
2. He Didn’t Know WCW Was Hated
Wait, what?
It's true. DDP told Austin that he knew things were ultra-competitive between both companies, but he didn't realise that he'd have automatic heat coming into the WWF simply because he'd been on Team Atlanta. That was an eye-opener to him back in 2001, and it took a minute for him to adjust.
The "no brainer" jump (as he called it) was something he figured would happen eventually anyway, so Page wasn't too bummed out when Vince McMahon came knocking. Both Dusty Rhodes and Kevin Nash advised him not to walk away from guaranteed AOL/Time Warner money though, which is interesting.
Dallas says he might've listened had he been younger. At 45 years old, he knew he didn't have a lot of time to work with. It was pretty much now or never for a WWF run, and he wanted it now. Then, McMahon pitched the stalker angle with 'Taker and he realised things wouldn't be so great.
Live and learn.