Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s announcement that the state would start lifting restrictions on some businesses this Friday has been met with criticism by medical authorities, President Trump, and some business owners. Pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page is in that last group, and in an interview with Anderson Cooper, he explained why he won’t reopen his gym tomorrow.
Ex-pro wrestler and yoga instructor Diamond Dallas Page says he will not be reopening his gym tomorrow despite the announcement from Georgia Gov. Kemp.
“We have to err on the side of caution,” he tells @andersoncooper. https://t.co/D76QlFi8bR pic.twitter.com/yQtOvIetvk
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) April 23, 2020
DDP acknowledged that he’s “in a much better position than a lot of people” because his business has an online and DVD component and isn’t just the DDP Yoga Performance Center in Smyrna, Georgia. He explained that he won’t immediately reopen the gym because “For me, I’m going to err on the side of caution because first of all, I’m 64, so I definitely don’t want to be out there working with people and putting my hands on people or anything, so I’m going to apply what I’ve been doing since this first all hit the fan.”
Page explained that “For me, I have to see something change. Right now there’s been no vaccine. There’s been no cure. We don’t really know where it’s going to go.” This arguably makes DDP pro wrestling’s equal and opposite coronavirus reaction to that of Hulk Hogan.
He added that he thinks businesses will have to adapt to the changing environment, comparing the situation to Netflix changing the movie rental industry and the creation of TSA. “I believe the gym business is going to have to change the way they do business moving forward,” Page said, “and I know for sure when I open at some point I will definitely be changing the way I do things.”
