DDP has explained how the heat between himself and Ric Flair was resolved, revealing that in the end, all it took was a hug.
Speaking with Chris Jericho on the Talk is Jericho podcast, DDP (Diamond Dallas Page) discussed at length how he and Flair had gone from tensions between the two, to sharing a jet ride home together after the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
Me and Naitch, during my career and stuff, even afterwards, there was a little tension. And I always loved the Nature Boy.
About ten or 12 years ago whenever they dropped all the balloons for him, you know when they [WWE] retired him. I was watching it like, man, I never wanted to have this tension between me and him, because I grew up loving that guy.
The conversation around Ric Flair started when Jericho was wrapping up the podcast and asked about a collection of photos behind DDP – DDP himself grabbing one of him besides Ric Flair in front of a jet plane.
DDP would go on to discuss how the two had real heat together before that photo, and explained the moment the tensions between them was finally squashed.
So we’re both doing a signing, in Jersey, and of course he comes in to the green room, he’s swarmed by people, and I wait, until eveyone’s gone and then he goes “hey Diamond!” I go “hey Naitch, can we talk a second?” he goes “sure”.
So we walk off to the side, and I say, “Naitch I know over the years me and you have had a bit of heat together”… He goes “oh Diamond, don’t worry about that”. I go “I’m not worried about it, bro I want to fix it. I don’t know what happened, I know that I’ve said some sh*t, I know you said some sh*t, the last thing I wanna do is be in this spot. Man, I loved the Nature Boy, I would love to start all over again”.
And I put my hand out, and I said, “I’m Diamond Dallas Page”. And he grabbed me, hugged me, kissed me on the forehead and god bless ya! Then, I really felt like this is the beginning.
From that moment, DDP recalls the relationship blossoming, to the point that DDP landed Flair a job working on some promo material for the then upcoming film “The Wrestler” – something Page jokingly said would never had happened if they hadn’t had that interaction together.
Realising that he’d never truly thanked Flair for his influence on him as a wrestler throughout his career, DDP opened up about wanting to thank him when the time was right – that being during his own 2017 WWE Hall Of Fame inductee speech.
When I got up there [at the WWE Hall of Fame], and I got to my acceptance speech, I got to the Nature Boy. And I said, “man that day when I got in the ring with you, and Hulk and Sting and you put me over with that Diamond Cutter in the middle, I just can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. It’s not lost on me that that moment right there put me one step closer to this podium, I just want to thank you Naitch”.
Telling of the man Ric Flair is, the Monday following that speech, Flair and DDP ran into one another at the hotel bar. One drink led to another and the pair then shared a jet ride home which explains the picture that DDP was showing to Chris Jericho.
That Monday I am going to the elevator and Naitch yells from the bar “Diamond!” and I go and have a drink, he says “what time you flying home tomorrow?” I say 7.30. He says “what, who booked that s**t?” I go, not me, I tried to change it, I can’t.
He said “f**k that. I got the limousine, I got the jet, you’re still in Atlanta right?” I said yeah…he says “You’re coming home with me!”. I say Naitch, I got huge bags, he said “FedEx that s**t home, you’re coming with me, you’re a Hall of Famer now and I’m not taking no for an answer”.
We had a couple drinks, few more drinks, get on the plane. Naitch gets up and goes in the co-pilots seat! I am like “erm…Rick!”. Bottom line is, we landed, Brenda had told him it was my birthday and then he had to take me out to dinner and I mean it was just like, the completion of a dream that I couldn’t even make up.
It’s a great insight into the relationships formed and built behind the wrestling curtain, these two shared a ring with one another decades ago and only recently managed to bury their hatchets.
After many decades of wrestling, his last appearance on AEW in January 2020, we’re unsure what the future in wrestling for DDP looks like. But what we do know is that his DDP Yoga business is growing into one of the most successful Yoga programmes in the world – a nod to the work ethic of the man himself.