Diamond Dallas Page Says David Arquette Is Back In Wrestling Because He Wants To Earn Respect From The Fans

DDP provides some insight on why David Arquette is back.

In the year 2000, World Championship Wresting had just finished wrapping up the filming of ‘Ready To Rumble’ which was a movie based on the company itself. One of the leading characters in the film was played by actor and producer David Arquette and the decision was made to bring Arquette into the real WCW and have him become WCW World Heavyweight Champion. During an episode of WCW Thunder, Arquette teamed up with Diamond Dallas Page to take on Eric Bischoff and Jeff Jarrett and the man who picked up the victory in the match would become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

18 years later and David Arquette has returned to the sport of professional wrestling and the man who was there to witness Arquette capture the WCW World Heavyweight Title, Diamond Dallas Page stated that the reason Arquette has been making the rounds on the independent wrestling scene is because he wants to earn the respect of the fans for that World Title win that many thought and still think was a not a bright decision. DDP sat down with TMZ Sports for an interview and reflected on the decision to put the title on Arquette and spoke about why Arquette is back in the business.

“Yeah, twenty years ago they put the World Title on him after we had done the movie Ready To Rumble, and it was stupid to do that, but the fans reacted in a way where they were furious, and David loves professional wrestling and he gets vilified over the last twenty years – like it just never stops because they put the World Title on him, and I don’t wanna spoil this for anybody but wrestling, sports-entertainment is pre-determined.” DDP said sarcastically. “The bottom line [was] it was a storyline and the fans who were really mad, there’s not one of them, if they were ever given that opportunity, they wouldn’t have done it.” He continued, “David, he came to me and talked to me about this. He wanted to get some at least some kind of respect back so I was like, ‘Dude go pay your dues’. I got him doing my DDP Yoga program because you’re gonna need it. You’re gonna be so beat up, and I just gave him some insights on where to go. I said, ‘You gotta go put the work in. You wanna get respect from our fans? You gotta put the work in’. This isn’t gonna be his life’s work. He isn’t trying to get to the WWE. He’s just trying to get out there and work and have some fun and just get some respect from the fans, and it has been working.”

The WWE Hall Of Famer went on to say that his D.D.P.Y. program is keeping the ball rolling with Arquette’s second run in wrestling much like it is helping stars like the current IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho.

“He came down to Mexico with me – did my DDY program and that’s a part of keeping him healthy enough to keep going. If you look at a guy who’s 47, Chris Jericho, who’s one of my main guys – one of my biggest supporters because, he’s in the ring and does what he does because of my program so it can help you hold back the hands of time and David, he’s gonna be sore as hell. He’s gonna pay through a lot of this later so have fun now.” DDP said.

David Arquette will soon be making his IMPACT Wrestling debut because a match that he was a part of for the ‘Border City Wrestling’ promotion which is owned by IMPACT Co-Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore will air on the Global Wrestling Network as a part of their ‘One Night Only’ series.

If you are going to use the quote above, please credit TMZ Sports with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.