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Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey
The professional wrestler known as "Diamond Dallas Page" recounts his boyhood on the New Jersey shore, his experiences in the nightclub business, his struggle to succeed in wrestling, and the many changes in his life
443 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
2 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Diamond Dallas Page
10 books24 followersFilm and television actor and personality Dallas Page has been entertaining millions of fans for over 20 years. The athletic, 52 year-old Page knew at an early age that he was born to entertain. His grandmother called him “energetic”—truly an understatement. Whether it was barreling through his grandma’s kitchen on his tricycle, swinging from chandeliers at the babysitter’s house, or cannonballs at neighborhood pool parties, Page knew how to grab an audience and have them eat out of the palm of his hand.
With his size, strength and natural ability, Page excelled in multiple sports high school and college. After college, Dallas Page followed his calling to entertain, entering the nightclub business and quickly established himself as one of the south’s leading club owners and promoters. But he still had the pro wrestling “itch.” On a whim, Page sent a tape to the AWA (American Wrestling Alliance), one of the country’s premiere professional wrestling organizations. The AWA promoters immediately offered Page a contract to “manage”—escorting and doing all of the ‘over-the-top’ talking—their top stars. With his long, curly hair, conceited manner and ever present “Diamond Dolls,” “Diamond” Dallas Page was a natural at working crowd intofrenzy and became the man fans loved to hate.
Word of Page’s talent began to spread throughout the wrestling establishment. Unlike most wrestling managers that could only talk a good game, Page had the size and athleticism to go with it. Established superstars such as Dusty Rhodes and Magnum, T.A. convinced Page to expand his role and learn to be a complete wrestler. At age 35, Page entered the fabled WCW “Power Plant” and soon after became the oldest rookie in pro wrestling history
Page’s incredible work ethic, training regimen and preventative maintenance along with unmatched personal focus and determination, enabled him to battle the hands of time and stay healthy enough to wrestle men half his age for years to come. His uncanny ability to create and re-create his character propelled him to national notoriety and made him one of the hottest merchandising commodities in professional wrestling, first for WCW, then, the WWF which now have merged to become the WWE.
During Page’s fourteen year pro wrestling career, he captivated audiences and became a three-time world champion. His matches with wrestling legends such as Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, and Bill Goldberg became legendary. And as networks, actors and professional athletes became more interested in the fan base and ratings that professional wrestling was attracting, Diamond Dallas Page became the unlikely tag team partner of late-night talk show host Jay Leno, basketball great Karl Malone and movie star David Arquette. Pay-per-view and charity match appearances versus Hogan and perennial “bad boy” Dennis Rodman are memorable to both fans and non-fans alike.
Throughout Page’s wrestling career, Hollywood has recognized his ability to be more than just a pro wrestling icon. Never one to settle for just being “good enough,” Page sought out renowned acting coach and theatre director Howard Fine in order to hone his acting skills. “Diamond Dallas Page is one of the most fearless and intense actors that I have ever taught,” said Fine, whose list of acting students includes Brad Pitt, Michael Chiklis and Salma Hayek. “He throws himself into every performance and never fails to compel attention. He can play a wide range of characters and is actually quite adept at comedy but give him a psychotic killer to play and you can expect fireworks.” Page easily bridged the gap between sports entertainment wrestling and mainstream entertainment, starring in feature films including director Rob Zombie’s, The Devil’s Rejects. “DDP is a true professional.He is as dedicated in the acting ring as he is in the wrestling ring,” said Zombie. Page’s other film roles include Driftwood, Ready to Rumble, First Daughter, Rat Race, Splinter and Snoop Do
With his size, strength and natural ability, Page excelled in multiple sports high school and college. After college, Dallas Page followed his calling to entertain, entering the nightclub business and quickly established himself as one of the south’s leading club owners and promoters. But he still had the pro wrestling “itch.” On a whim, Page sent a tape to the AWA (American Wrestling Alliance), one of the country’s premiere professional wrestling organizations. The AWA promoters immediately offered Page a contract to “manage”—escorting and doing all of the ‘over-the-top’ talking—their top stars. With his long, curly hair, conceited manner and ever present “Diamond Dolls,” “Diamond” Dallas Page was a natural at working crowd intofrenzy and became the man fans loved to hate.
Word of Page’s talent began to spread throughout the wrestling establishment. Unlike most wrestling managers that could only talk a good game, Page had the size and athleticism to go with it. Established superstars such as Dusty Rhodes and Magnum, T.A. convinced Page to expand his role and learn to be a complete wrestler. At age 35, Page entered the fabled WCW “Power Plant” and soon after became the oldest rookie in pro wrestling history
Page’s incredible work ethic, training regimen and preventative maintenance along with unmatched personal focus and determination, enabled him to battle the hands of time and stay healthy enough to wrestle men half his age for years to come. His uncanny ability to create and re-create his character propelled him to national notoriety and made him one of the hottest merchandising commodities in professional wrestling, first for WCW, then, the WWF which now have merged to become the WWE.
During Page’s fourteen year pro wrestling career, he captivated audiences and became a three-time world champion. His matches with wrestling legends such as Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, and Bill Goldberg became legendary. And as networks, actors and professional athletes became more interested in the fan base and ratings that professional wrestling was attracting, Diamond Dallas Page became the unlikely tag team partner of late-night talk show host Jay Leno, basketball great Karl Malone and movie star David Arquette. Pay-per-view and charity match appearances versus Hogan and perennial “bad boy” Dennis Rodman are memorable to both fans and non-fans alike.
Throughout Page’s wrestling career, Hollywood has recognized his ability to be more than just a pro wrestling icon. Never one to settle for just being “good enough,” Page sought out renowned acting coach and theatre director Howard Fine in order to hone his acting skills. “Diamond Dallas Page is one of the most fearless and intense actors that I have ever taught,” said Fine, whose list of acting students includes Brad Pitt, Michael Chiklis and Salma Hayek. “He throws himself into every performance and never fails to compel attention. He can play a wide range of characters and is actually quite adept at comedy but give him a psychotic killer to play and you can expect fireworks.” Page easily bridged the gap between sports entertainment wrestling and mainstream entertainment, starring in feature films including director Rob Zombie’s, The Devil’s Rejects. “DDP is a true professional.He is as dedicated in the acting ring as he is in the wrestling ring,” said Zombie. Page’s other film roles include Driftwood, Ready to Rumble, First Daughter, Rat Race, Splinter and Snoop Do
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 23, 2025
DDP writes a great autobiography. I read this book a long time ago, and my memory fails me in every aspect of the book. However, what I do remember being inspired by DDP.
One of the stories of this book that has stayed with me all these years is a conversation between Page and a friend of his. Page was telling his friend how great the nightclub he was running was going to be. His friend said here is another guy all talk ignored Pages "bluster", 6 weeks later he visited the club and he words were
"That was the absolutely last time ever though Page was full of shit."
Page is one of those marvellous human beings that, with hard work, not only overcomes but conquers whatever he puts his mind to. You tell him no, he will just work harder not to prove you wrong but to succeed. He did it with in Basketball, Night clubs promoting, most famously wrestling, now Yoga (that was not mentioned in this book), and even Dyslexia. Obviously, Pages WWE years are not in this book, but if that is all you remember him for in his own words
"You are not a DDP fan then."
This is a book in an inspirational story about how hard work can overcome any obstacle. No Page did not change the world but he, but he started from very little and made his mark on the world of entertainment. I was luckily to meet Page at an event, and I can personally vouch for the fact that every story about how friendly Page is to his fans is true. He spent time talking to everyone who was in the line to talk to him, for taking smaller lunch breaks to meet disabled fan who had been waiting longer, to treating every fan as a person not an extra £10 in his pocket.
One of the stories of this book that has stayed with me all these years is a conversation between Page and a friend of his. Page was telling his friend how great the nightclub he was running was going to be. His friend said here is another guy all talk ignored Pages "bluster", 6 weeks later he visited the club and he words were
"That was the absolutely last time ever though Page was full of shit."
Page is one of those marvellous human beings that, with hard work, not only overcomes but conquers whatever he puts his mind to. You tell him no, he will just work harder not to prove you wrong but to succeed. He did it with in Basketball, Night clubs promoting, most famously wrestling, now Yoga (that was not mentioned in this book), and even Dyslexia. Obviously, Pages WWE years are not in this book, but if that is all you remember him for in his own words
"You are not a DDP fan then."
This is a book in an inspirational story about how hard work can overcome any obstacle. No Page did not change the world but he, but he started from very little and made his mark on the world of entertainment. I was luckily to meet Page at an event, and I can personally vouch for the fact that every story about how friendly Page is to his fans is true. He spent time talking to everyone who was in the line to talk to him, for taking smaller lunch breaks to meet disabled fan who had been waiting longer, to treating every fan as a person not an extra £10 in his pocket.
November 18, 2018
The life of Page Falkinburg or as he is more commonly known Diamond Dallas Page is truely inspiring. His positive attitude through the “yo-yo” that is life is something that is truely inspiring. Anyone in need on motivation should read this book of a truely special individual!!!
October 25, 2020
If you're a fan of DDP, you should seek out this book as I learned some new things about him. However, I think the book suffers from the narrative format. At times you have DDP telling his story, at times you have the ghostwriter and at times you have quotes. It distracts from the story. Also they could have used an editor, some spelling errors like Lex Lugar are repeated multiple times throughout the book.
November 5, 2019
Such a positive guy. Dallas' career from start of life to the start of this millennium was a fascinating read. Looking forward to reading his next book.
October 14, 2024
An interesting first look at the importance of being positive and how it brought a wrestler to the height of his career, even in the face of catastrophic injury.
May 11, 2016
This book is the opposite of Page's life, it's starts off quick but fizzles out at the end.
The first two-thirds of this book is wonderful, as it chronicles the rise of one of the most interesting wrestlers, inside and outside of the ring who has ever lived.
The back third of this book really falls off, with the second to last chapter being a twenty page list of thank you's that could have been condensed to one page in the front of the book. Page thanks everyone that he doesn't in the book, from random fans to wrestlers to morning radio jockeys to bankers who hire him to do commercials. He caps it off with a two page essay by Lex Luger on how famous people get tired of fans. It's some of the most unnecessary and completely boring pages of a wrestling book that I have encountered.
Otherwise, the book is great. I love the little mini interviews with the people involved in DDP's life, although I would have liked to hear more from the man himself and less from his co-writer Larry "Smokey" Genta. Smokey's chiming in on every other subject became confusing and frustrating as the book went on.
Read until about Chapter 20, and then put the book down.
The first two-thirds of this book is wonderful, as it chronicles the rise of one of the most interesting wrestlers, inside and outside of the ring who has ever lived.
The back third of this book really falls off, with the second to last chapter being a twenty page list of thank you's that could have been condensed to one page in the front of the book. Page thanks everyone that he doesn't in the book, from random fans to wrestlers to morning radio jockeys to bankers who hire him to do commercials. He caps it off with a two page essay by Lex Luger on how famous people get tired of fans. It's some of the most unnecessary and completely boring pages of a wrestling book that I have encountered.
Otherwise, the book is great. I love the little mini interviews with the people involved in DDP's life, although I would have liked to hear more from the man himself and less from his co-writer Larry "Smokey" Genta. Smokey's chiming in on every other subject became confusing and frustrating as the book went on.
Read until about Chapter 20, and then put the book down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2012
After reading all of the reviews of Diamond Dallas Page's "Positively Page", it seems that readers either loved the book or detested it. I have also read many wrestler biographies and while this wasn't the best one I've read, it certainly isn't as bad as many reviewers claim. I found the most interesting part of this book was his journey into the wrestling world and where he actually decided to become a wrestler rather than just a manager. I can't think of any other performer that has made that kind of transition and I doubt that there will be another one with the absence of manager characters in the wrestling world today. My only complaint with the book is that as it moves into the NWO storylines later in his career, he tends to fade in and out from "shoot" to "storyline". Prior to that, the book was primarily a shoot. All in all, not a bad book and it really makes you respect the hard work he put into going from a manager to a top of the card guy. (originally posted on Amazon.com)
March 13, 2011
Being a man named Page there was no one else (outside my family) whom I knew named Page. Until I watched WCW. DDP's book is 100% positive view on life. I really don't have much to say on the details, but his up and down ride in wrestling gives perspective and a better look on my own life. I still remember watching his title win while deployed to Turkey in the late 90s.
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February 20, 2016Truly inspirational!!! I'm a DDP mark for life now!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews