DDP's heel turn in 1999?

[Jindrak Mark]

Was there a kayfabe explanation for it or was it just "because WCW"?

At the start of the year he's in a feud with Scott Steiner and at Superbrawl the crowd kind of turns on him and cheers Steiner who beats the hell out of him after spending weeks talking shit about his wife. He's taken out on a stretcher and is gone for a few weeks selling the beating.

He returns a month later on Nitro in Toronto and faces Hogan. He's booed again because Canada loves Hogan.

He then wins the world title at Spring Stampede 1999 but it's a muted reaction when 6-18 months earlier DDP winning the title would probably have gotten an insane pop and been an all-time WCW feel-good moment.

The next night on Nitro they go back to the Steiner stuff and he defends the world title against him. I'm pretty sure he's still supposed to be a babyface at this point. They even have Kimberly hit Steiner with a chair so they both finally get revenge for Steiner terrorizing them (he would continue to harass them both behind the scenes though).

The next week though suddenly he's a full on heel. He has a match with Goldberg and tries to destroy his leg with a chair and the ring steps. Nash comes out to save Goldberg to a babyface pop. Why Nash would help Goldberg when they'd been feuding since November is another question for another day. So now the next PPV is somehow heel DDP defending against face Nash.

WCW turned half of their upper card roster in spring 1999 and half of the turns really made no sense. Hogan/Flair had a double turn for reasons. Nash went face. Savage went heel. Piper went heel. Buff Bagwell went face. Rick Steiner went heel. DDP went heel. I'm surprised they didn't attempt to turn Sting and Goldberg too although they eventually did in September 1999 and June 2000, respectively.

[Ben Wyatt]

Sept 12, 2022 12:24:07 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

Was there a kayfabe explanation for it or was it just "because WCW"?

At the start of the year he's in a feud with Scott Steiner and at Superbrawl the crowd kind of turns on him and cheers Steiner who beats the hell out of him after spending weeks talking shit about his wife. He's taken out on a stretcher and is gone for a few weeks selling the beating.

He returns a month later on Nitro in Toronto and faces Hogan. He's booed again because Canada loves Hogan.

He then wins the world title at Spring Stampede 1999 but it's a muted reaction when 6-18 months earlier DDP winning the title would probably have gotten an insane pop and been an all-time WCW feel-good moment.

The next night on Nitro they go back to the Steiner stuff and he defends the world title against him. I'm pretty sure he's still supposed to be a babyface at this point. They even have Kimberly hit Steiner with a chair so they both finally get revenge for Steiner terrorizing them (he would continue to harass them both behind the scenes though).

The next week though suddenly he's a full on heel. He has a match with Goldberg and tries to destroy his leg with a chair and the ring steps. Nash comes out to save Goldberg to a babyface pop. Why Nash would help Goldberg when they'd been feuding since November is another question for another day. So now the next PPV is somehow heel DDP defending against face Nash.

WCW turned half of their upper card roster in spring 1999 and half of the turns really made no sense. Hogan/Flair had a double turn for reasons. Nash went face. Savage went heel. Piper went heel. Buff Bagwell went face. Rick Steiner went heel. DDP went heel. I'm surprised they didn't attempt to turn Sting and Goldberg too although they eventually did in September 1999 and June 2000, respectively.

Everything about it was dumb.  Page deserved the title, don't get me wrong, but they did it about 6-8 months too late.  The heel turn was the cherry on the shit sundae

[thegame415]

No, there was never a kayfabe explanation. At least to my knowledge.

A slow burn heel turn where he stops doing things like leaving through the crowd, acknowledging himself as people's champion and saying he did this by himself would've been great a setup for a payoff when he embraces the fans again. However, even that didn't make sense as he was too much of a moneymaker to turn heel.

I know people say he was getting booed a bit already, but I think Scott Steiner was mega over (that's another thread) and DDP looked like a wimp in that feud.

[4real]

This was when I tapped out of my WCW Nitro watch on the network after watching every episode after the formation of the nWo. Turning DDP heel & having Hogan as a face again just felt wrong so soon after the finger poke of doom as well. Had no interest in it at all. I think I stopped watching before DDP got the title.

[GodzillaIsMyMonster]

Sept 13, 2022 10:45:47 GMT -5 4real said:

This was when I tapped out of my WCW Nitro watch on the network after watching every episode after the formation of the nWo. Turning DDP heel & having Hogan as a face again just felt wrong so soon after the finger poke of doom as well. Had no interest in it at all. I think I stopped watching before DDP got the title.

The fans just started cheering Hulk. Like... it's almost forgotten how f***ing over Hogan was in 99. Idk what it was, but he was the most over guy on the WCW roster.

And WCW didn't fight it. They turned him face... unfortunately the turn didn't exactly make sense. But I understand why they did it.

[tafkaga]

Sept 13, 2022 11:22:36 GMT -5 GodzillaIsMyMonster said:

Sept 13, 2022 10:45:47 GMT -5 4real said:

This was when I tapped out of my WCW Nitro watch on the network after watching every episode after the formation of the nWo. Turning DDP heel & having Hogan as a face again just felt wrong so soon after the finger poke of doom as well. Had no interest in it at all. I think I stopped watching before DDP got the title.

The fans just started cheering Hulk. Like... it's almost forgotten how f***ing over Hogan was in 99. Idk what it was, but he was the most over guy on the WCW roster.

And WCW didn't fight it. They turned him face... unfortunately the turn didn't exactly make sense. But I understand why they did it.

I remember this well, and it was a weird thing.  The crowd was suddenly really into Hogan again, and he went back to hulking up and doing the classic Hulk routine, and the crowds were popping for it.  Then they went the extra step of putting him back in the red and yellow and kind of ruined it imo.

[tirtefaa]

I always thought the reason was that the brass at WCW thought DDP was no longer over and that the bloom was off the rose.

But everyone is correct in that Page should have won the title earlier. He should have been the one to dethrone Goldberg, which clearly would be an upset.

You then have Goldberg who shakes DDP's hand and offers a rematch at DDP's choosing. If you must turn Page heel, this would be the time, making it clear that while he won decisively, the chances of that happening again would be next to impossible, so you can get a screwy finish or something at the next PPV, helping stall out his title reign for a couple months before Goldberg obliterates him.

Afterwards, Goldberg losing to Nash doesn't sting as bad, especially if they move forward with the Fingerpoke of Doom...I think it definitely softens the blow.

[GodzillaIsMyMonster]

Sept 13, 2022 12:10:54 GMT -5 tafkaga said:

Sept 13, 2022 11:22:36 GMT -5 GodzillaIsMyMonster said:

The fans just started cheering Hulk. Like... it's almost forgotten how f***ing over Hogan was in 99. Idk what it was, but he was the most over guy on the WCW roster.

And WCW didn't fight it. They turned him face... unfortunately the turn didn't exactly make sense. But I understand why they did it.

I remember this well, and it was a weird thing.  The crowd was suddenly really into Hogan again, and he went back to hulking up and doing the classic Hulk routine, and the crowds were popping for it.  Then they went the extra step of putting him back in the red and yellow and kind of ruined it imo.

Idk. Id say Hogan returning to the Red & Yellow was one of the great last Niro moments.

[wrestlingrecap]

DDP was a victim of Goldberg's rise in '98. If Goldberg doesn't win the title in '98, I think DDP wins the title at either Havoc or Starrcade from Hogan. DDP had a similar level of over that Sting had the year prior.

His run took a hit when they (WCW) had him feud with Scott Steiner in early 99 and incorporated Kimberly into the feud. Plus, Scott was "cooler" and more entertaining than DDP. The title win was way too late and getting assistance from Savage, whom he had a heated feud with two years prior with no real reasoning was dumb.

Then, he loses and regains the title two weeks later on Nitro and then loses to Nash at Slamboree. It was not ideal booking for DDP.

[The Blue Nova]

Like others said DDP was most over in 1997 early to mid 1998 pretty much up to Halloween Havoc really. and winning the World title in 1997 early 1998 would of been a bigger deal. unfortuneatly like others have said He was a victim Goldbergs rise. and by 99 seem kind of stale as a babyface.

[tafkaga]

Sept 13, 2022 18:08:19 GMT -5 GodzillaIsMyMonster said:

Sept 13, 2022 12:10:54 GMT -5 tafkaga said:

I remember this well, and it was a weird thing.  The crowd was suddenly really into Hogan again, and he went back to hulking up and doing the classic Hulk routine, and the crowds were popping for it.  Then they went the extra step of putting him back in the red and yellow and kind of ruined it imo.

Idk. Id say Hogan returning to the Red & Yellow was one of the great last Niro moments.

I think it was a pretty cool moment, but maybe for a one off or something.  I think running with it for as long as they did killed off some of Hogan's edge and was a pointless rewind.  When Hollywood Hogan is so over that the crowd is turning him babyface, why trade in for nostalgia Hogan?