DDP On Helping Lex Luger Walk, John Cena's Last Match, Turning 70, LA Knight, Cody Rhodes

We got a little worried when we saw that photo of you in a hospital bed:

The funniest part about that was I was just coming off that, got a little buzz going, and I was just stretching the back of my hamstrings. This is so important. If you're over 50, do not work out without a heart monitor. I wear my watch when I'm doing that, or my regular heart monitor. It connects to my app; there's no excuse if you're over 50. I'm working with a buddy of mine right now, Joe Gomez, it's all me on the phone back and forth, and he's going through rehab because he had a stroke, and he's like 55. He was overweight, and now he's dropped a bunch of it. Eventually, he'll come to my house and stay with me for a while, because he's one of the boys and I love him. He's an awesome human being, and he gives to everybody. So I will pull him in and we'll help get him back on track. But a stroke that takes away this arm and his leg. Now he's got to learn how to use those again. So I had afib, and I had it also three years ago. I got it again for the same reason, overtraining. I mean pushing myself. I'm gonna be 70 in four more months."

You look great. 

"Looking is great too. But I want everything to be looking great on the inside. That's why I developed the heart monitor so long ago. But I couldn't find it, and I didn't take the time to go looking for it. I just started working with my two brother-in-laws at a gym, and I'd already done the cold blood, I'd already done the hypoxia, where I'm running backwards with oxygen at 8%, and then doing sprints with that, then getting on the mat, doing DDP Yoga, and then finish it with power cuffs. Now I just knew I was training too hard. I knew it. Then later that friggin night, I was doing one of those yoga swings where you hang upside down, which is really phenomenal for your hips and everything, your spine. When I came back up, and I can do that for 10 minutes. I was only down there for like two [minutes]. I came up, and I was like, whoa, whoa. What the hell was that? I got off the thing, and Paige’s family was here. We're all on the porch, and she goes, 'Well, what's the matter with you? You're perspiring.' I go, 'I gotta tell you, I pushed myself too hard today, I don't know, I feel kind of weird.' She goes, 'Let's go upstairs and put a heart monitor on you.' So she got her watch out. Now my heart rate is stuck at 140 to 150 and normally it goes down to 42 up to 180, it goes all through that. I call my doctor, Dr Asgar. I don't care what time it is, if I call him, he answered the phone. I call him, he goes 'Go to hospital right now, they'll give you something to take you down.' So it brought me down there for a couple hours, and then I turned around, and now I gotta go see my cardiologist, who is the best. He'd already done a test for me. When you get afib, they hit you with the paddles, and they put you out to do that. So they hit you with the paddles, and you might go online, meaning your heart rate goes back, or it might take two times. They won't do more than three. Bottom line is, I went right on the first time, and when I was talking to him, he said, you don't really have to do the ablation, meaning where they're going to go up to your groin up into your heart and burn you. He said, you don't really need it. But it's way easier to do it to you when you're not in afib. So bottom line, he goes, 'The way you train, you probably should do it.' I said, Oh man, let's just do it. So that was three years ago. Now this time, the one you're talking about, when I got out, it was just stretching, and I was going, Hey, Paige, just hit record. I just said, I want to make sure you guys, if you're over 50, you're wearing a heart monitor so you don't end up like me here with afib. I want to get the ablation and but you're feeling good. But you only feel as great as you do right in this moment. So if you're pushing yourself too hard and the whole thing with no pain, no gain, especially as you're heading into your seniors, where I'm right on path, you got to be really smart."

When did you think it would be possible that Lex Luger would start walking again?

"I don't really know. I told you this story, when Lex went down, it was in San Francisco. I went to take this because I heard he was born again, and I had to see that for myself, because Lex is the one who taught me about the four degrees of celebrity. And I said, Really, what is that? Well, number one, anticipation. Back when I played for Green Bay, I wasn't a starter, or any of that. I was at the bottom of the totem pole, but is anybody going to ask me for my autograph? And then there's avoidance, you wear baggy shirts, you wear sunglasses, wear hats, you never look at anyone eye to eye in an airport, because it's going to be [attracting attention]. I said. So what's number three? He goes. That's where I'm right now. Back then he was married. He's like, My wife hates it, because recluse like I am. I don't go to the mall, I don't want to go out to dinner, I don't want to go anywhere, I have to do what I have to do to get on the road, to do what I do when I come home, I want to be home. I go, Okay, I go, what's number four? He goes, Well, we hope we never get there, but at one time or another, we all do. I go, what is it? He goes, aggression. I have this favorite story of mine. Me and Lex are going through Terminal C in the Atlanta airport, and it's 1997 or 98, paparazzi, and me and Lex are just power walking, and there's this one kid just clicking and clicking and clicking, and Lex goes, 'Okay, that's enough.' He just knocked the camera out of the kid’s hands. I go, 'What the f*ck are you doing?' He's like, 'I told him, that's enough.' And that was Lex back then, the Lex that I would later be with in San Francisco, complete opposite, like the antithesis of that guy. Now we still got Lex in him, but the bottom line is, he's one of the nicest human beings on this planet."

What did it mean to see Lex Luger inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame?

"A lot. It should have been Sting, because that's the real brotherhood of those two. But the bottom line is, we even tried to make it so we could both do it, because Sting is Sting. So being able to do that was strong. People have heard this story, but don't realize that down Panama City Beach, where we built Page's retreat, when you get off the bottom floor, there's four floors. So you would come around and come out the door, which you can just roll out, and then you roll right onto my boardwalk that comes around the house and then goes straight out to the beach. I did that for Lex so he could roll and get out there and then get up and walk the rest of the way. We had great footage of him just putting his hand on my shoulder and walking like 15 feet, 20 feet. We had that, and we were getting we were going to rehearse it like once we get to Vegas. And when Lex went to get out of the car in Atlanta, the Uber, the guy came around with the chair, but he didn't hold on to it. So when Lex went to sit on it, it slid, boom. He hit that concrete, and he felt so bad. He's like, 'D, I feel so bad I can't walk, and I want to do this for you.' This is about you, and we're doing a documentary."

So there’s going to be a Lex documentary at some point:

"That's the goal. And it's got to be when he's hit that spot where he feels really comfortable, his physical and mental action will tell us when that is, and we're not there yet, if anything for that hurdle. But he did get up those last, two steps and and he did stand up there. And that was, that was really special. And his bonus son, as I call him, Jonathan, was right there to roll him out. And it was a special, special, special moment. It's long overdue. I love Triple H. He made all that possible."

So when someone asks you for their help, what makes you say yes?

"I've been asked that a lot lately when it comes to legacy and sh*t like that, Why do you still do it? And this is my new line, because I'm selfish. Because you do something for somebody. You've read a lot of stuff that people, I don't even know them, but they're thanking me and like I say, it's not just me. I've got just an unbelievable team here, from Steve Yeu to Nadia to Dylan to Kimberly. I mean, we have so many people who really care about other people, and it's really good. If this is a simulation, I'm going to a good spot."

But this is the least selfish thing:

"Because it makes me feel good about me. I'd say going into my 60s, I really look at every decision. How does that make me feel about me? Because there are things that are heading my way that aren't rainbows and unicorns and stuff, and some of them were tempting, but nah, not gonna do that. I had a chance, I won't get into who was or whatever, but they wanted me to play a pedophile. It's an acting gig. But I wouldn't do it because one of the things, there's so much I learned on that little bit of run with WWE. One was know your worth. When someone really wants you, you can't be afraid to get up and walk away from the table. That's what Vince McMahon taught me, and I learned that lesson the hard way those first six months I was there, and then I was gone. But he taught me that, and it's a valuable, valuable, valuable lesson. The other side of it is make sure you really want to do it. If I spend time at four months from 70, and the reason why I say it like that, a lot of people are like don't tell anybody you’re 50. I was told so many times I could never make it in professional wrestling because I was too old. So I eventually stopped telling people how old I was. I remember I came up with this one day. Someone said, 'So DDP, how old are you?' I said, '29 again.' [They responded] 'Oh 29', and no one listened to the other part. And at some point I think I was turning 40, because my career hadn't taken off yet. I was just turning 40, and someone said to me, 'What's your birthday?' I said, '29 again.' He goes, 'You're not 29.' I said, 'I didn't say I was 29. I said, I was 29 again. I can't afford to think any older.' And from next year, my career exploded, at the end of my 40s, going into 41 it exploded. So then it became like, this is the 11th anniversary of my 29th birthday. I took that right up to 49, and when we had a party, and someone said, 'So how old are you now?' I said, 'I'm 12 months from 50.' He went, 'You're 50?!' I went, 'I didn't say that.' So that's why I lead him with four months now, once it gets to the six-month part, tacking it down, because every time I get older, so far, that's a positive thing, getting older, I'm still in really good shape, and I don't beat my body up. I'm smarter."

Have you seen the comparisons between your career and LA Knight’s career?

"I love that kid, man. I love the tenacity of the stick to it, it took him a long time to get to that character. And he was good before that, but now he’s great. Hopefully at some point he gets a chance to really get that ball, because he can run with it, give him that damn ball, because that cat, he's got it all. And people who say that he's mimicking this character, that character, that's so wrong. He's a piece of all that. He grew up on all of us coming up wanting to do what we do, and now he's doing it at its highest level. So I saw that article actually sent it to him, because it was really cool the way they [did it]. I thought it was just going to be a little blurb, but just comparing our careers."

You know there’s a good chance that Bron Breakker could be a World Champion in 2026:

"I would love to see that. I haven't talked to him probably in about a month or two, but humble, feet on the ground, and you got to know who you are. You don't forget that, but you want to always try to keep your feet on the ground, because that's the guys who continue to excel. You don't want to be too much of a headache. And we know part of stories about guys that I won't mention, that I've been a bit ahead of a headache to work with." 

Were it not for you, do you think Jake Roberts would still be here?

"Well, Jake would tell you that. It's pretty unbelievable. When I think about knowing Jake as long as I have, and as well as I have that Macho Man, Roddy, Scott, Hulk, Jake's outlived everybody, wow, and been sober for over 14 years right now. When I see him and Cheryl together, boy, it's amazing. Because you would think there is no way, but yeah, because when you have that real love, you just have to be in the right set of mind, and Jake is that guy now."

Change or Die is so powerful. How did you approach the Marcus Bagwell episode?

"There was only a certain time limit that I would allow myself to be with Marcus. I've always loved Marcus. I stopped calling him Buff because Buff’s an asshole. I don't want to be around him, so I would have my 15-minute meter. And the other night, a couple of weeks ago, my daughter, her boyfriend put together a dinner party. His real name is Rock, a great, great guy, but the last to come was Marc and his fiancée, Stacy, who is like Brittany's second mom. And I thought, oh God, how long am I gonna be able to handle Marcus? We're sitting right there, we can't help but talk the whole time. I called him up later. I said, 'Dude, that's the best time I've had with you since you were like 24.'"

Is he clean now?

"He's clean now, yeah. [He’s been sober] for three years."

I feel like you could get another Hall of Fame induction with all the work you have done helping people:

"That's flattering, and thank you. It was so funny, my first acknowledgement came from the NWA. They were the first ones to acknowledge me as a Hall of Famer. The next one was The Circle, Cauliflower Alley Club, and Brian Blair called me and he said, 'We want to put you in as the humanitarian this year, bro. We want you, it's the 50th year, it's coming up, and we want you.' I just remember saying to myself, at some point, what we're doing today is going to dwarf my wrestling career. I said that to Bryan Alvarez like, 16 years ago, 17, it was before DDP Yoga took off, and he's like, 'Bro, that's a bold statement. You had a hell of a career.' I said to Brian [Blair], 'God, Brian, how the hell am I not in your Hall of Fame as a wrestler?' He goes, 'Oh, you're in for that too. You're going to be the first one where we're going to give the awards to the same guy.' I was like, wow, I'll be there. And it was two different nights. It was great to be able to do that, because it was like, I consider the best thing I've done in wrestling is my Hall of Fame speech. Because the Cauliflower Alley Club was good, but it was the same speech, but not. It was so much better. It was like it was great for me to do that. Okay, I like what I did there, but this needs to go to a different level. I was bummed because I forgot Big Show, because we rode together, and he took care of me, looked out for me all the time. I forgot Medusa, I forgot Tony Schiavone, so I put them all but boy, I felt bad because they were pivotal people in my life. When I was with the AWA, I was managing Medusa. Medusa and Sherri Martel could have ran with these women today. So hard. Oh, my God, if you could have just pop them over and watch Charlotte Flair and Medusa. I mean, there's a lot. Mami vs. Sherri Martel, please show me that match. I mean, these girls are beasts today. There's some of those matches. I don't want to discriminate against guys, but some of those matches unbelievable. Whoever's idea was to do the all-women's Battle Royale, that was a legendary move."

Did you know you are the answer to the question who David Arquette won the championship from?

"Well, he beat Eric Bischoff."

But who was the champion heading into the match?

"I know, so stupid. That was stupid. I love David, go see You Can't Kill David Arquette. Pull that documentary up, because he really won the hearts of the wrestling fans. I'm an actor, I'm playing a part there. And Bischoff reminded me of that beforehand, because that's when him and Russo just came back together. That was the first big decision that they made. It is what it is. But, you know, look at it today. I mean, you got Jelly [Roll] out there. You got so many celebrities out there. I think if you go back and look at the match of me and [Karl] Malone against [Dennis] Rodman and [Hulk] Hogan, as far as celebrity matches, man, it's at the top of the heap, that Main Event spot. I was really proud of Jelly Roll though."

What is DDP grateful for?

"My wife and my kids, my health and that I’ve been able to have an impact."

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