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# DOWNTOWN As a world champion wrestler in the mid 1990s, the last thing Diamond Dallas Page
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/local-10-monday-november-19-2007-a-newspaper-with-issues-communityprofiles-diamond-dallas-page-from-one-mat-to-another-page-a-former-wrestler-turns-in/
- Published: 2007-11-19T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T04:00:02.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: local, Downtown, #archive-import

DOWNTOWN As a world champion wrestler in the mid 1990s, the last thing Diamond Dallas Page envisioned doing was one day trading the wrestling mat for a yoga mat.

“For the first 42.5 years of my life, I would not have been caught dead doing yoga,” Page said in an interview last week.

But what a difference nine years can bring in a former wrestler’s career. Today, Page heads a power yoga class at the Equinox Gym in Santa Monica, a workout that Page swore brought him back from a nearly career-ending injury and got him a world championship.

Though he has dedicated the past decade to building his YRG power yoga workout business, Page is perhaps known most for his time in the wrestling ring, becoming the oldest rookie in history when he became a wrestler at the age of 35.

In his career, which includes stints as both manager and wrestler, Page won numerous titles and appeared on countless talk shows and in a number of films, including “First Daughter,” “Rat Race” and “Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horrors.”

He was knocked out at least 20 times and swears he has knocked out at least 20 competitors.

The New Jersey native was 42 years old and at the height of his young wrestling career when he ruptured the L4 and L5 discs in his lower back during the filming of the movie, “Ready to Rumble.”

Told by several doctors that he wouldn’t be able to recover, Page was facing the impending end of his seven-year wrestling career. A number of questions swirled in his mind about his next steps, of what to do financially since a seven figure contract would most likely be revoked.

It was then when his wife Kim told Page about Brian Kest and his power yoga studio in Santa Monica. Page was resistant to the idea of practicing yoga, but was reassured by his wife that Kest taught a guy’s type of yoga.

Page started rehabilitation with several of Kest’s videos, surprised by the intensity of the workout. Three months later, Page was back in the ring and a few months after that, he claimed a world championship.

Power yoga became a regular part of the wrestler’s workout regime and as time went on, Page started incorporating changes into the style of yoga, making it his own.

In 2002, after he was dropped on his head during a match and nearly broke his neck, Page bid adieu to the world of wrestling. He began devoting his life full-time to power yoga, developing a brand called YRG — Yoga for Regular Guys/Gals.

“YRG uses the principals of power yoga and is mixed with slow motion Calisthenics,” Page said.

The reason why he doesn’t just call it Yoga is out of respect to the real yogis, Page said.

The workouts are often called “boot camp yoga.” His workout has been successful, selling videos and holding free and well-attended sessions at Playa Vista’s new Sports Park every week. Thanks to his now ex-wife but good friend, Kim, Page also landed a gig at the Equinox Gym in June, teaching the YRG workout every Monday evening. The class gets anywhere from 20 to 30 people every week.

The YRG workouts have also served as inspirations for many of its followers, Page said, noting one client who in the past three months has lost more than 80 pounds. Clients from all over the world e-mail Page after purchasing his video, telling the former wrestler of their stories. One such e-mail came from a former paratrooper who had very little walking ability before he started the YRG workout. Nearly one year later, the devout YRG follower is now running laps every day.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/111907-09_01.jpg)

YOGA FOR THE TROOPS: Diamond Dallas Page recently made a trip to Iraq to train the troops stationed there. (Photo: Photos courtesy Diamond Dallas Page)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/111907-09_02.jpg)

YOGA FOR THE TROOPS: Diamond Dallas Page recently made a trip to Iraq to train the troops stationed there. (Photo: Photos courtesy Diamond Dallas Page)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 19, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)