DDP Comments On WWE's Current Product And How AEW Could Help Their Ratings

As one of the faces of WCW during the Monday Night Wars, Diamond Dallas Page knows first hand how competition can push everyone to be at their best. WCW pushed WWE to put out a better product and vice versa.

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Fast forward over 20 years later and now AEW is entering the market as a competitor to WWE. DDP foresees a similar situation between AEW and WWE that took place during the Monday Night Wars where the wrestling fan benefits from promotions battling it out.

DDP spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast about AEW's imminent arrival and WWE's current product.

"I appreciate a lot of the new guys and girls," DDP said of WWE. "I think women's wrestling is at an all-time high. I don't really understand the ratings, but it will be interesting to see what happens with AEW."

DDP talked about how when WCW went against WWE they didn't split the rating WWE was getting, they both just exploded in ratings and both companies benefitted.

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"The WCW fans came over too and they just kept increasing the ratings. I think what's happening all around with wrestling is gonna help the business," stated DDP.

Much like a younger wrestler can get the rub from working with a veteran established Superstar, Page was asked if the script will be flipped and if WWE will get a rub from AEW arriving on the scene.

"I don't know because WWE is the juggernaut. But AEW is doing something completely different," said Page. "WWE is rated G and is for families. [AEW] is not aiming for that, they are aiming for an older market, really...

"Cody's like my nephew, but I think it's great for wrestling in general and it's definitely great for wrestlers. In sports entertainment, when there is one dominant force and nothing else, you don't have to work as hard. Coke and Pepsi exploded because they were going against each other. Competition makes things better and I'm excited for the boys."

DDP held a DDPY seminar at All In and will be holding another one in Las Vegas during the morning of Double or Nothing.

"At All In, it broke the previous record as there were 169 people working out at the same time. So it will be around 100 people in Vegas, I'm sure," Page said before adding the motto of the seminar is "Inspiration Meets Perspiration."

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"It's a whole different level of confidence and it changes people's lives. Did you see the resurrection of Jake The Snake? That's a perfect example. Jake Roberts or Scott Hall ? turning their lives around? When I'm doing my workshop, I'm trying to get people so inspired that they feel like they can run through a brick wall."

The name of the company is DDP Yoga, but Page has branded it DDPY as he wants to distance it from what people think of whenever they hear the word "yoga."

"I call it DDPY now and I'm branding it that way because I'm trying to get people to stop calling it just yoga, because it's not. It's yoga for people who wouldn't be caught dead doing yoga. It will probably be like 70 percent guys while a yoga class is about 93 percent women," said Page who will take individual selfies and a group photo with everyone at his Double or Nothing seminar.

With the DDPY seminar taking place right across town from Double or Nothing, Page was asked if we could expect to see any AEW starts taking part in DDPY at the seminar.

"I don't know if you'll catch them, because it's the day of [Double or Nothing]. But a lot of the boys are doing it," revealed Page.

"I watched Raw last week and saw Ricochet, who's getting a monster push. He not only does my program, he came to the DDP Yoga Performance Center and worked out with me. He also brought the Viking [Raiders] and those guys have been doing it for the last five years. Lacey Evans has been doing my program for over two years and she's getting a hell of a push. There's like nine different guys that I saw on Raw [doing the program]. Drew McIntyre drove seven-and-a-half hours from Tampa to Atlanta to do two private workouts with me."

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DDP will be appearing at Starrcast II and will be hosting a DDPY seminar the morning of Double or Nothing. For more info visit Starrcast.com.

DDP's full interview with Wrestling Inc was included in today's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard in the embedded player at the bottom of this post. In it DDP discusses his DDPY seminar the morning of Double or Nothing as part of Starrcast II, WWE's current creative product, how AEW may help WWE's ratings, Cody Rhodes transitioning into a promoter and more.

Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.

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