The WCW Conspiracy Iceberg EXPLAINED!
25. Diamond Dallas Page Only Got Pushed Because…
Diamond Dallas Page got over in 1997 - and he got over big, and he got over on merit.
He was a good babyface. He was a grafter, and the crowd sensed it. He probably doesn’t get enough credit for his pose-and-catchphrase “Bang!” schtick. In an era that would become defined by the call-and-response, DDP was quicker than most to grasp it. His Diamond Cutter finish was also a sensation. A cool and at that point in time rare move, his creative ability to transition into it from virtually any position cast him as a smart babyface - as did the brilliant, iconic angle in which he cosplayed as La Parka in order to get one over on the New World Order’s Randy Savage. This was key; WCW Nitro in 1997 was dominated by oppressive nWo heat angles, which were both plentiful and pointless, since the heels were over as babyfaces. That was one of very few flaws at the height of the storyline - but Diamond Dallas Page was smarter and equally as cool. Getting over as a babyface in opposition to the nWo was tough, and DDP managed it - which makes a bit of a mockery of the following conspiracy theory.
Some people contend that Dallas only ever got a push in WCW because he was both very close friends and neighbours with Executive Vice President Eric Bischoff. There might be a kernel of something to it. DDP was in his forties in 1997, and had only started training in his early thirties. He wasn’t exactly somebody you’d have in mind to push to the moon, and yet, somehow, he was.
Ultimately, this is a conspiracy theory - someone of influence might have controlled events in a shadowy manner so that a fellow conspirator benefitted - but Diamond Dallas Page ruled, so who gives a sh*t?