Diamond Dallas Page aka DDP winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career was a huge shocker back in 1999. Nobody expected him to come out victorious that night.
It was the Spring Stampede PPV event of WCW in 1999. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defended his title against Hulk Hogan, Sting, and DD in a four corners match. Macho Man Randy Savage was the special guest referee for that match. Nobody thought Page could come out victorious from a match where wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Sting were involved.
Eric Bischoff Recalls The Infamous World Title Win Of DDP
But the unthinkable actually happened. Diamond Dallas Page pinned Roc Flair after hitting a Diamond Cutter to earn his first WCW World Heavyweight title.
Eric Bischoff recently remembered that famous incident and he expressed his feeling about it during an episode of 83 weeks. He said;
So excited that the vibration that it created within Diamond Dallas Page reverberates to this day. I say that with respect. It changed him. I don’t want to get heavy here, but it was a goal for DDP. It was something everybody told him was impossible.
There were a lot of things working against DDP, not the least of the fact that he was my friend and neighbor, but because he was older and people didn’t think he could pull it off. He had been a manager for so long, nobody internally took him seriously as a wrestler.
There was a lot going against him. To reach this level, particularly in a ring full of some of the talent he got to experience this moment with, clearly was life-changing for him. Look at what he’s done with his life since then. I think this was a pivotal moment for him, and it was a real moment for him.
He did really win the heavyweight championship of the world in a way that matters the most. He put in the work, he achieved the impossible, and he was getting recognized by his peers for his effort. There’s not a better feeling than that. I think he’s still experiencing it to this day because he believes in himself.
Page won the WCW World Heavyweight title two more times after that and he has been very famous in the WCW. He won many other big championships too from different promotions. WWE inducted him into the Hall of Fame Class of 2017. DDP will always be remembered by the wrestling world for his amazing career and his achievements.
Credit: 83 Weeks. H/T 411Mania.