Diamond Dallas Page
(Photo: Dominic DeAngelo)

DDPY Workshop At Starrcast: A Family Affair In Which Everyone Feels At Home

The following review was written by Dominic DeAngelo. We encourage you all to discuss Dominic’s thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this post and follow him on Twitter @DominicDeAngelo and listen to his Get The Tray Tables podcast exclusively on WrestleZone Radio.

Las Vegas may be the time for sinning and winning (and believe you me, I dabbled in a bit of degeneracy throughout my five-day Vegas residence last week), but when you mix the Strip atmosphere with the party-down lifestyle of pro wrestling, the last thing a fan may think of is personal wellness and self-accountability.

Leave it to DDP to turn that notion on its head for many folks looking for a reprieve when it comes to embracing vices. The master of the Diamond Cutter brought his DDPY Workshop to the halls of Starrcast II and over a hundred parties of interest partook in a four-hour session that included an in-depth discussion of DDP’s backstory, an hour-and-a-half workout that focused on all the basics of DDPY and ended it with a Q&A for the attendees.

The session itself was a beautiful blend of self-wellness, pro wrestling and perhaps indirectly, a strong sense of family as Dallas wasn’t the only Page in attendance. Both his wife Brenda and his daughter Lexi played vital roles in making the whole operation run smoothly. Dallas also brought a good deal of his team with him to the Tuscany Suites that included his social media man Garett Sakahara and other instructors both locally and from the DDPY Performance Center in Atlanta.

Dallas has been dealing with vocal chord issues since late last year, and even Page himself said that his voice is the only bad situation on his plate at the moment (which he stated he was extremely blessed for), so he flew Lexi in to help with instruction during the workout portion, but that didn’t stifle anyone’s passion for the program. Along with DDP, Brenda and the other instructors were helpful to the attendees throughout the whole session, making specific points to focus on the individual by correcting positions and postures.

As someone who grew up watching DDP and is also an active user of DDPY, the workshop was a very surreal experience for me as I bet it was for others. You had two factors going on: first, hearing all the positions and phrases that one’s used to with doing the program chanted back to you live and in color is something wild in itself. Second, you have in the back of your mind that THAT is the guy who feuded with Raven, stood up against the New World Order and gave Goldberg a run for his money at Halloween Havoc 1998. Now he’s showing you all about dynamic resistance with his own unique take on it. It’s something that is truly a one-of-a-kind experience for a wrestling fan, even if you’re not familiar with the program, but you just want to get your punk ass in shape.

Unity wasn’t just with the Page family, however. Many participants in the workshop shared a bond with one another, not just over wrestling (in which I’m sure there was that), but absolutely over their own journey of development and success. I met an individual who was working out beside me who just started DDPY earlier this year and already he was down 50+ pounds. Even talking with him for that brief moment really exemplified that strong sense of fortitude and drive that the people in attendance shared at bettering oneself.

Dallas and Brenda’s Q&A session may have been the most informative and intimate part of the DDPY Workshop. Anyone who had a question about the program (or DDP’s wrestling career for that matter) had the opportunity to pick the brain of Page and see what was good physically, mentally and nutritionally (which the latter was Brenda’s expertise). Dallas took time before and after the session to interact with attendees one-on-one before he made his exit to make his presence known at AEW Double Or Nothing that evening.

DDP mentioned that he embraces the idea that gyms and personal trainers all across the world incorporate DDPY into their regimen and atmospheres. It is without a doubt that his passion lies within his program and if you ever get the chance to attend a workshop, the proof is in the pudding.

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