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Diamond Dallas Page’s heart was pounding as he crumpled at ringside after being knocked through the ropes on a 1997 edition of WCW Monday Nitro. The crowd at Boston’s Fleet Center had been animated and loud since Page—his blond, shoulder-length locks flapping against the collar of his black trenchcoat—stormed the ring to tussle with the New World Order, the most dominant unit in the company at the time. As fans focused on the action, Page managed to peek up at the ceiling, anticipating the surprise that had been planned earlier in the day.   He’d been involved in some big angles before, ...

“You’re never going to compete with Vince McMahon. He’ll kill you.”   So says Cary Silkin, owner of Ring of Honor until 2011, when the promotion that spawned such talent as CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Austin Aries and Seth Rollins was purchased by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. “I believe that there’ll only be one man in the wrestling business who’ll make money. We know who he is. He lives in Connecticut.” Still, the megalith of the mat world is facing challenges from a number of startups. No one is delusional enough to expect to put WWE out of business. The goal is ...

Dolph Ziggler showers and goes looking for his rental car. The former WWE world heavyweight champion may be alone or with his two best friends in the company, The Miz and Zack Ryder. A generation earlier, a group of fans—regulars on the circuit—would be waiting to chauffeur the guys to a series of clubs and buy all the drinks. A few hours later, there might be a call to the front desk of the wrestlers' hotel—from an irate guest disturbed by the sound of a woman’s shrieks reverberating through the hallway—followed by a visit from the police. But, to hear Ziggler explain ...

Scott Steiner and Booker T were supposed to be planning their match backstage.  The implausibly muscled Steiner—on interviews, he called himself “The Genetic Freak”—was the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) world heavyweight champion, while the diligent, charismatic Booker had been eclipsing much of the organization’s aging roster, with his best years ahead of him.   Within hours, the pair would be battling in front of a spring break crowd in Panama City, Fla. for the title on a live broadcast of WCW Monday Nitro, the promotion’s flagship show.  But Steiner seemed concerned about something far bigger than a wrestling match. “You think they’re ...

After roughly a dozen stints in rehab, Scott Hall is supposed to join Diamond Dallas Page on our Skype call and tell the now-familiar tale of how the former WCW World Champion’s yoga regimen is rescuing the battered souls of the squared circle.  But when the 57-year-old Page pops up on the laptop—manically flailing his arms and bulging his eyes, as he sermonizes about the perils of hydrogenated oils and artificial sweeteners—Hall is nowhere to be detected.  Has the wrestler once known as Razor Ramon suffered yet another relapse?  Page assures me that my assumptions are false.  After immersing himself in the DDP ...