13 Things We Learned From DDP On The Steve Austin Show Part 2

8. Getting Started In The Business

Due to the fact the was now in his early 30s, DDP had made up his mind that he was too old to make it as a wrestler, so he decided he would become a manager along the lines of Jimmy Hart, and The Diamond Exchange would be his Hart Foundation stable. DDP had gotten good at doing voices for ads to promote his club, and had even added in impressions of Jake Roberts and Randy Savage to go with the promos, as if they were going to be there, in addition to creating his own characters. This led to a sports talk radio DJ inviting him onto his show to appear alongside Captain Lou Albano and Sgt. Slaughter, and the DJ encouraged him to do something with all his charisma. At the time Page was making a lot of money in the club business, but he still had a passion for wrestling. The DJ put him in touch with a connection of his that worked for the AWA so that he could send in an audition tape. DDP sent in an audio tape featuring three different characters that he portrayed: Big Bad John, Rock Hard Rick and Ted E. Bear. Two weeks later someone from the AWA called him, and he thought it was a rib so he hung up on them. Can we stop for a moment and talk about how almost every single story about a wrestler getting a call from one of the major promotions initially has them thinking its a joke and hanging up on whoever it is calling? It's a wonder any of these guys ever had jobs in the business. The AWA liked the tape and wanted to bring DDP and his "stable" in for a tryout and now he's faced with having to attempt to explain the situation without making himself look like a liar or a nutcase. It didn't work.