>>5241159>PW Torch (Jan 99)Dallas Page: The guy’s headlined most of
WCW’s pay–per–views in the past six months.
Buyrates haven’t been anything special, but he’s
done a good job in a variety of circumstances in the
ring. He helped make the Jay Leno match watchable,
he worked with Karl Malone to make him passable
in his match, and he brought out the best match
Goldberg has had to date. But his character is getting
stale in some other ways. He seems obsessed about
himself and getting himself over. His gimmick is
that he’s the common man, yet he seems more
wrapped up in himself than all but a few other
wrestlers. That’s been the subject of locker room
snickering for more than a year, but now it’s
starting to come across on TV and fans may be
catching on. He seems to have an unhealthy,
almost desperate need to be the most popular kid in
the class and sometimes he seems desperately
worried his stardom will all be taken away from
him at any second. His interviews have sometimes
been inspired, but other times clichéd (I mean, how
many uses are there for the word “scum”?). He
hates when people bring up that he’s “friends with
the boss”—and, granted, he and Bischoff have
butted heads—but the fact is Page has benefited
from his long relationship with Bischoff in a way
that Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, and even Ric Flair
haven’t. It’s not a knock on Page, but it is the truth.
Page has been given every opportunity to reach his
potential. He has. But not everyone would be given
the chances he has been.
>Jan 2000He had his run on top, and he deserved it, but he has settled into a more long-term natural role for himself as the top guy in the second tier. There is no shame in being the guy who overachieves and sets an example for the young wrestlers in the locker room when it comes to drive and determination. There is shame in gloating about it all the time and being so insufferably self-centered, but that's another story.
