Another title for this one could be “The Dismantling of Diamond Dallas Page.”
Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watchin’ The Undertaker’s Wife – WWF, 2001
History
On the May 28 edition of Raw, the show opened with Jim Ross informing everyone that he’d received a letter announcing that we would meet the Undertaker’s wife that night. Ross mentioned that this was odd because the Undertaker wasn’t going to be there.
Later in the night, we saw a strange video of a woman in a bathrobe brushing her hair. An unknown person informed us that this was the Undertaker’s wife Sara, and we’d be seeing more of her.
On Smackdown another video aired. This one showed Undertaker and Sara going for a ride. The mysterious person pointed out that they were having fun, and he was having fun watching.
On Raw, it doesn’t need to be said that the Undertaker wasn’t happy. Undertaker demanded that JR tell him anything he knew – which Ross claimed was nothing. Co-commentator Paul Heyman started to make a crack about the situation and Undertaker slapped the hat off his head. Ross continued to protest his innocence and finally told Undertaker he should go talk to Vince because Vince knew everything around there. Undertaker said that sounded like a good idea.
And then another tape started playing. This one showed Sara by their pool, playing with her dogs. When the tape ended a livid Undertaker charged up the ramp and into the back.
After the break, Undertaker caught McMahon backstage and demanded answers. Vince claimed he was innocent and pointed Undertaker after WCW owner Shane McMahon.
On Smackdown, Undertaker and Kane were backstage. Undertaker finally gave up pacing and told Kane he was going out back to wait for Shane.
The stalker retaliated with another video. This one showed Sara getting out of her car and the stalker said that he didn’t like threats.
Shane later went in search of the Undertaker and told him that he was innocent. When Kane backed him up, Undertaker released him.
On Raw, Shane thanked Kane for supporting him, and then said that he suspected Kurt Angle.
Later in the night, Angle was doing an interview and Undertaker attacked. As Undertaker prepared to hit Angle with the Last Ride, another video began playing. This one showed the stalker in Undertaker’s bedroom going through Sara’s dresser. He also added that he knew where Undertaker had hidden her. Undertaker dropped Angle and ran out.
After defeating Angle in a match earlier in the night, the Undertaker was doing an interview on Smackdown when another tape started playing. The stalker showed Sara again and said that although Undertaker was trying to protect her, his dreams would soon come true.
On Raw, we saw another video – this one showed the Undertaker and Sara in a garage. The stalker said that he was there that night and would reveal himself.
Later that night, a man in black came out on a motorcycle and entered the ringside area like the Undertaker’s entrance. He entered the ring and removed his mask to reveal Diamond Dallas Page. Page said that the reason he’d done everything was to go after the biggest dog in the yard to make his mark.
Smackdown saw Undertaker and Sara waiting in the back. Undertaker promised to make Page famous when he showed up.
Later in the night Undertaker and Sara came down to the ring and Undertaker threatened Page. That was when the screen lit up with another video – instead of coming to the arena, Page had gone to Undertaker’s home. Page pawed through Sara’s underwear drawer and then bounced on their bed. Page promised to be at the King of the Ring and the screen went black.
King of the Ring opened with Page taking his ringside seat with a big sign that asked Undertaker to make him famous.
Throughout the show, candid footage of Page began running – something he didn’t care for.
Finally Page had enough. He hopped the security rail and called out Undertaker. Sara was revealed as the cameraperson and out came the Undertaker. Undertaker assaulted Page while Sara taped it and finally Page jumped the rail and left the arena.
The next night on Raw Kane and Undertaker were facing the Dudley Boyz. After X-Factor’s Albert had cost them the match, Undertaker continued attacking the Dudleys. After that, Page hit the ring and started blasting Undertaker with a chair. Sara stopped him so Page grabbed Sara and smelled her hair before clearing out.
On Smackdown, Undertaker and Sara had a quick sitdown interview with Jim Ross. After that, Kane defended his Intercontinental title against Albert in a no-DQ match. Kane was getting ready to put Albert away when Page hit the ring and dropped Kane with a Diamond Cutter. Albert hit a Baldo Bomb on Kane and covered to win the belt.
Raw’s first match saw Undertaker facing Albert to try and capture the Intercontinental title. Undertaker had just planted Albert with the Last Ride when Page hit the ring and dropped Undertaker with a Diamond Cutter, earning Undertaker the DQ win. Page then started fighting with Sara only for Kane to come up behind him. As Kane attacked Page, he herded Page toward the Undertaker for a two-on-one beatdown. Albert attacked Undertaker and Page took advantage of the distraction to clear out.
Smackdown saw Page taking on Booker T for the WCW World championship. Page was getting ready to nail Booker with a chair when he saw Undertaker had hold of the chair as well. Page’s shock gave Booker the opening to roll Page up for the three, and then Page took off before Undertaker got his hands on him.
Afterward, Undertaker caught up with Page outside, where Mike Awesome, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Buff Bagwell, Lance Storm, Shawn Stasiak, and Chris Kanyon were waiting. The six of them demolished Undertaker and Page reveled in the moment.
On Raw, Shane McMahon was set to face Page in a street fight only for Undertaker to come out and tell Shane he was taking over this match. Undertaker was dominating until Sara grabbed a kendo stick and started swinging at Page. Page dropped Sara with a Diamond Cutter and Shane celebrated with Page. Shane gave Page the Undertaker’s motorcycle and he drove it off.
Smackdown opened with Vince McMahon making a deal with the Undertaker – McMahon made a match with Taker teaming with Kurt Angle to take on Page and Shane, and Undertaker agreed to be part of the WWF’s team at Invasion.
Their match turned out to be the main event. Undertaker wound up giving Shane the Last Ride while Angle trapped Page in the Ankle Lock. The brought out the WCW/ECW Alliance, who began attacking Angle and Undertaker. Kane and Chris Jericho came out to try to even the odds, but failed. The show closed with the brawl.
Raw saw Page and Rhyno taking on Kane and the Undertaker. Undertaker finally was pinning Page when Rhyno broke up the pinfall. Then Kane went after Rhyno. Then the rest of the Alliance’s team from the PPV went after Kane. Then the WWF roster went after the Alliance’s team. Finally, the rest of the Alliance went after the WWF guys.
Page took on Jericho on Smackdown. Jericho accidentally hit the referee with a forearm, and WCW referee Nick Patrick called for the bell, disqualifying Jericho. Jericho assaulted both Page and Patrick until they were able to drag themselves out of the ring.
That brought us to Invasion. Page and Undertaker were on opposite teams for the main event. As Page made his entrance, Undertaker attacked him on the outside and the two began brawling. The two would spend most of the match fighting and were busy brawling around the arena when Booker T pinned Kurt Angle for the win.
On Raw, we saw Kanyon and Page talking about the events of the previous Smackdown. Page just smiled and said that everything had been Steve Austin’s idea.
Later in the night, Undertaker had just defeated Rhyno when Page made his way to the ring. Undertaker and Page brawled (with Page getting the worst of it) until Undertaker picked up a chair. Page pulled Sara in the way and Undertaker clocked his own wife. Undertaker knelt to check on her and Page headed out.
After the commercial, Todd Grisham caught up with Page as he headed for his getaway car. Page confessed that seeing Sara get hurt turned him on, and then he drove away.
Page faced Kane on Smackdown. In the end, Page swung a chair at Kane who ducked and took it for himself. Kane then doubled Page over with a shot to the stomach… right in front of the referee. Page got the DQ win and wound up nailing Kane with another chair. Page called for the Diamond Cutter and Kane sat up, which persuaded Page to clear out.
On Raw the Dudley Boyz were facing Kane and Undertaker in a tables match. Of course, WCW referee Nick Patrick was backing the Dudleys, so he kept interfering to prevent them from losing. Undertaker finally had enough and was advancing on Patrick when Page hit the ring. Page nailed Undertaker with a low blow and then Sara came in. Page got her in a waistlock and passed her to Bubba Ray, who was waiting on the turnbuckle with a table at the ready. Kane saved Sara while Undertaker chokeslammed Bubba Ray and Page returned to the back.
Smackdown found Page sitting in a dark room with a shrine he’d built to Sara. He kissed a photo of her and blew out the candle.
Raw opened with Kane taking on Rob Van Dam. Kane was holding his own until Page came out, clocked Kane with a chair, and then positioned it on Kane for the Five Star Frog Splash. While RVD got the win, Page just got out.
On Smackdown, Page and Kanyon defeated Bradshaw and Faarooq to win the WWF tag team titles.
A week later, Undertaker and Kane were facing Chuck Palumbo and Sean O’Haire in a cage match for the WCW tag team titles. Page and Kanyon soon made their way to the top of the ramp. Page and Kanyon waited until the match was over and then they went after Sara, who climbed the cage to safety.
On Smackdown, Page and Kanyon defeated Edge and Christian. We then went to an interview with the Undertaker, Sara, and Kane. Undertaker and Kane talked about their cage match against Page and Kanyon at Summerslam, and both sets of tag team titles were on the line.
At Summerslam, Kane and Undertaker let Kanyon out of the cage and began obliterating Page. Undertaker finally put Page down with the Last Ride and they unified the tag team titles.
The next night Sara was scheduled to take on Page. Page dominated her until the referee went down and Undertaker destroyed him. Sara closed the match by pinning him.
And that was the last we saw of Page for a few weeks as he went out for knee surgery.
Analysis
And this is how you destroy a wrestler’s career. Diamond Dallas Page was a huge fan favorite in WCW. Page loved the wrestling business so much he accepted a buyout from Time Warner to be able to jump to the WWF after the buyout. And this was his reward.
The most memorable moment in the entire angle was when Page unmasked. It all went downhill from there. First off, Page was married to former Nitro Girl Kimberly. It took a huge suspension of belief to accept that Page was leaving Kimberly for anybody.
Second, the fans loved Page, and he was one of the two WCW main eventers that the WWF picked up. If the first WCW main event had been Page vs. Booker T for the title instead of Booker/Bagwell, the entire WCW saga could have seen a relaunching of the brand under WWF control. The problem with the Booker/Bagwell match was that it was bad. Very bad. Page and Booker may have flowed together better and pulled out the stops for a good match.
Another flaw was the booking of the matches. Page was never able to affect Undertaker unless superior numbers, a foreign object, or a low blow were involved. The ultimate effect was to make Page look weak compared to the WWF’s wrestlers.
The nail in the coffin came in the final match. Regardless of how the match went, it ended with a former multi-time WCW world champion being pinned by a woman who wasn’t even a wrestler. By that point Page’s credibility was shot and he could join the rest of the WCW wrestlers (who were being similarly neutered) in the WWF’s midcard.
And after all, in Vince’s eyes, they were always second-rate.
Where are they now?
Page left the WWE in 2002 when his contract expired. He resurfaced in TNA in 2004 and left there in May of 2005 after a massive change in the booking committee. Page has kept busy by formulating his own workout called “Yoga for Regular Guys†and selling a book detailing it.
The Undertaker remains with the WWE today on the Smackdown brand. He is currently fighting with Edge over the vacant World Heavyweight title.
Sara has not been seen in a wrestling ring since the angle ended.
