WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page has criticized a storyline that he was involved in with WWE, and how he would’ve rejected it in hindsight. 

DDP debuted in WWE in 2001 as the stalker of Undertaker’s wife, which he feels was a mistake. While speaking on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” the legendary star said that he would have preferred a feud with The Rock rather than the stalker angle.

“Would I have loved to have had a real run with ‘Take later? [I] Would have loved that. Would I have loved to have had a real round with People’s Champ versus People’s Champ? Absolutely,” he said. “But the thing that it taught me was you can’t be afraid to walk away from the table when you have something that you know they want. What I should have done when he [McMahon] said that, I should have just done my inner voice, which would have laughed out loud and said, ‘Vince, are you looking at my wife? Seriously? And of all people, I’m going to I’m going to go after Taker’s wife. Like, no.’ It was just a horrible idea.”

The WWE Hall of Famer stated that WWE had pitched the stalker role to another legend, Stone Cold Steve Austin, who reportedly rejected it, and which ultimately went to Page. DDP reiterated that the ideal scenario for his WWE debut would have been a feud with The Rock, which would’ve been dubbed “People’s Champ vs. People’s Champ.”

“People’s Champ versus People’s Champ, bro. That was the money,” he said. 

That feud ultimately never materialized, as DDP left WWE just a year later. His return to the promotion nearly a decade after that did not involve much in-ring action, with his only matches coming at the 2015 Royal Rumble and at WrestleMania in 2016.