MAJOR Wrestling Stars Who Jumped Ship (...And FLOPPED!)
5. DDP (WCW > WWF)
When: 2001
Why He Flopped: Some might regard this one as cheating, because WCW was dead by the time Diamond Dallas Page signed on the dotted line with the WWF. The kicker? Page agreed to a cut price buyout of his AOL/Time Warner deal, and backed himself to succeed in the only major company left.
That proved to be a mistake.
DDP technically did jump ship before he had to, but wasn't allowed the chance to play up to his wildly successful 'People's Champ' persona post-WCW. That idea belonged to The Rock, and there wasn't room for two workers doing the same sort of thing. Instead, the WWF turned Page into a creepy stalker who followed The Undertaker's wife.
Yeah. Remember that, "...proved to be a mistake" line?
Creative eventually ended that hell for DDP and went mediocre babyface by booking him as a motivational smiler. Nothing on the WWF/WWE side could touch to Page's remarkable rise up the ranks in Atlanta. Not even close.