You know, with as much news and with as many stories that the internet wrestling world breaks for us, it was refreshing Monday night, and really quite wonderful, that the WWF still managed to somehow pull off a huge surprise with the revelation that Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) was the person who had been stalking the Undertaker's wife, Sara.
Come on, like DDP, or hate him, like WCW or hate it, that was a great surprise. No one saw it coming! No one! Not once was it reported that DDP or anyone from WCW would turn out to be the stalker. I read reports swearing that everyone from Big Show to Kane to Vince to Shawn Michaels to Steve Austin were the stalker. Never though, never was there any mention of DDP. And you can't say, "oh well, this was just a one night surprise, it was easy to keep it quiet for one night". Well, the decision on who the stalker would be may or may not have been made well ahead of time, but the fact is when it came time to reveal it, no one was expecting DDP, and this angle had been built up for some time now. In fact, some reports state that the contract disputes DDP had reportedly been a part of the last few weeks, may have actually been a planted lie by the WWF to throw fans off. If so, I say GOOD JOB WWF!
Shit, it's nice to be surprised every now and again. Hell, for a year and a half I refused to read Smackdown! spoilers in an effort to try and be surprised when something big happened on those shows. Only in the last month have I started reading them, and even now, only because I started working Thursday nights and was afraid that if my VCR fucked up I'd be clueless on Monday night because of the hole left by missing Smackdown!
My point? That as much bitching as I see about DDP wasn't a good choice, DDP doesn't make sense as the stalker, that the stalker's identity wasn't well planned out, yada yada, it just doesn't make sense to me. You mean to tell me you don't enjoy the suspense of not knowing for sure who will be under that mask when it was to be finally revealed? Then you're a liar. Because any TRUE fan, can appreciate what the WWF pulled off on Monday night. DDP himself said that no one saw it coming. And what a perfect way to build the WWF vs. WCW angle.
DDP made sense for once in his career on Monday when he said that in order to truly be famous in the wrestling business, you have to go after one of the big, established stars, and make it personal. It's so true. It makes so much sense. Think about it. Who was Steve Austin before his feud with Bret Hart? No one. Who was Bret Hart until he toppled Ric Flair? No one. Who was Shawn Michaels until he feuded with Bret Hart? Nobody. Who was Triple H before he feuded with Stone Cold Steve Austin? No one. Who was Mick Foley before his matches with the Undertaker? Nobody. And the list goes on and on. DDP may have been WCW champion, but he was never a household name. Now he's started something with the Undertaker, which may take him to that point. It makes perfect sense, and you never saw it coming.
It was terrific. DDP has never and probably never will be one of my favorites, but this is going to be one hell of a ride. This is the first major impact the WCW buyout has had on WWF shows, and it'll be interesting to see where we go from here. You know, whether you want to agree with the choice of DDP to be the stalker or not, whether you like it or not, the WWF pulled it off. This angle seemed totally ridiculous when it started, but now it is the talk of the wrestling world, and whether you'll admit it or not, every one of you will tune in on Mondays and Thursdays to see what the hell will happen next.
Until next time...
