Transformation Tuesday: Page uses DDP Yoga to train his ex-wife's ex-husband

Diamond Dallas Page has made a living out of helping others.

The World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famer has been changing lives for over two decades with his DDPYoga program, a fusion of yoga for men who “wouldn’t be caught dead” doing yoga.

He developed it after he suffered a broken back, and soon realized that his workout regimen couldn't just enhance lives, it could save them.

Since 2004, Page has been seeing his program work miracles. We'll look at this Jersey Shore boy’s most inspirational stories through our Transformation Tuesday feature. All have a story of how DDP YOGA changed, and in many cases, saved their lives.

• Josh Nair 

• Hometown: Abington, Pennsylvania

• Age: 54

• Highest weight: 270

• Lowest weight: 208

While not every DDPY transformation story begins with someone being a big "Diamond" Dallas Page fan, for Josh Nair it was kind of the opposite.

As it turned out, DDP had married Nair’s ex-wife, so the 3-time WCW Heavyweight Champion was stepdad to Josh’s two daughters.

While Nair had known who DDP was as a wrestler, he wasn’t immediately thrilled about him as a father figure to his girls.

A former college basketball player and star athlete at Abington High School, Nair was a sports fan, and he watched Page tag up with Karl Malone to wrestle Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman when Page was a huge star in World Championship Wrestling.

“In some respect, I tried to avoid learning about all the great things Dallas was doing, because I was trying not to feel insecure about his accomplishments,” Nair admitted. “The books, the movies, Shark Tank. There was a lot to avoid."

Nair heard bits and pieces about Dallas from his daughters and would see photos on social media, and up until he finally met Page in person it was only natural that he wasn’t all that comfortable with his kids’ “second dad.”

However, the first time they met in person, Nair was surprised at how much of a “regular guy” DDP was. Or as much as you can consider a professional wrestler who goes by "Diamond" Dallas Page “regular.”

“He never gave me Hollywood vibes,” Nair said. “I worked for NBC as a director of sales and had been around celebrities before, but what you see with Dallas is what you get.

“He’ll talk with anyone without the ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ vibe.’ I left the first meeting thinking we could be friends.”

Nair was surprised to have felt that way about the wrestler who was now stepdad to his kids.

Feeling the bang! DDPY, created by Jersey Shore's Diamond Dallas Page, pays dividends

Then when DDP was about to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Nair was surprised to get a phone call.

“He showed me a ton of respect when he called me to ask if my daughters could come out with him and his daughters Brittany and Kimi when he was inducted,” Nair recalled. “He said ‘I am getting inducted into the hall of fame. But I’d like to ask you if the girls walked out with me to do the speech.’ To me, he didn’t have to do that. As a father and a man, it was extremely respectful. And we were never adversarial. He was just a great guy. Until then I didn’t know who he was, really.”

Nair knew that DDP brought something to the table for his girls that he couldn’t, and that was OK.

He felt that Page wasn’t there to try and replace him, but could give them opportunities they didn’t have before, and he was all for it.  Now, having mutual respect for one another, both Page and Nair got along as well as a father and stepfather could.

“Even though we were very comfortable with one another, I still kept a good distance away from what Dallas actually did for a living, because I didn’t want to be jealous,” Nair said. “I knew about his fitness program but I really wasn’t about to dive into it, and I really had no idea about the motivational side of his persona.”

With both his daughters Lexi and Rachel living in Atlanta with his ex-wife and Page, Josh wasn’t in the greatest headspace.

The truth was that in his early 50s, Nair wasn’t happy with the direction of his life.  A former athlete who was now more than 40 pounds overweight, in a sales career that he found little fulfillment in, it was a legitimate mid-life crisis.  His daughter Lexy remembers hearing the unhappiness in his voice when they spoke, but didn’t know what to do.

And then one day Nair had a conversation with Diamond Dallas Page that would change his life.

“I had brought an idea I had to Dallas because I knew he had more connections and resources than I did, but to me it was just a distant dream. I was really insecure about sharing it, but he didn’t scoff at it — he spent six hours talking to me about what was possible, and I don’t remember the last time anyone told me my ideas were great,” Nair said. “In that short amount of time I came to understand much more about who Dallas was.”

Page did for Nair what he has done for a lot of people — he believed in him.

When DDP believes you can do it, you kind of start believing you can too. He became Nair's biggest cheerleader.

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘did we just become best friends?’” Nair jokes.

Around this time, Page’s marriage came to an end, and so he and Nair now had the same ex-wife.

Dallas was still a big part of his stepdaughters’ lives, and he and Nair seemed to become even closer.

Real life can sometimes be stranger than professional wrestling.

Nair would stay with Page whenever he came to Atlanta to visit his kids, and this played a major role in fitness journey.  Over the years, Page would encourage Nair to try DDP Yoga, but his ego prevented him from giving it a chance. Now that they were truly friends, when staying with Page he was much more willing to jump in.

“Up until then I was kind of a gym guy, and I played a lot of basketball,” Nair said. “But I was too beat up to keep doing that, so I finally caved in. I was at his house and he put me next to Jake ‘the Snake’ (Roberts) for a workout at the back of the room. I knew how much Dallas had done for Jake, who was a decade older than me. I was struggling just standing in one place. It was very humbling.”

It wasn’t easy.

Page now could encourage Nair as he does with all his DDPY proteges.

“I really felt after my first, second and third workout with Dallas, I found my thing. I’ve been looking for this forever. I remember joking with Dallas saying ‘I think this stuff really works!’”

All this happened during the COVID lockdown, and Nair was hooked.

He did DDPY every day, and it completely transformed his body. Whenever he came back to town, Page would be amazed at how much Nair was changing, and it pushed him even more.

Not only did it transform him physically, it completely changed his perspective on everything.

Not long after when their daughter Lexy (now a TV correspondent for All Elite Wrestling) was visiting Page in Atlanta, she expressed to him, “I don’t know if you know this or if you’re aware, but you changed my dad’s life,” as she broke down in tears.

They hugged, and Page was overcome with emotion too, because as unlikely as it was, it was so profoundly special.

Nair and Page were like brothers.

What Page and DDPY have done for Nair has been so life-changing that he wanted to pay it forward and help others discover their own potential. Nair now works for DDPY as one of a select few of DDPY Master Trainers, coaching others on getting certified to teach and coach others.

“My body has certainly changed, any exercise discipline this long, and eating what you're supposed to eat, but the program has done my body so well because I continue to be a student,” Nair said. “It worked for me, so I wanted to do the same thing that (Page) did for me for others. It’s an amazing feeling to see someone do things they never thought they could.

“Modern families can learn a lot, like I did. It doesn’t have to be the stereotypical family. Dallas is my brother. We have so much in common even before I started with the company. We’re both sports fans from the same part of the world. I went to Jersey beaches my whole life.”

In his 50s, Nair rediscovered himself. With the help of his new friend’s program.

“DDP Yoga has fundamentally changed my body, has helped me with broken joints,” he said. “Best I’ve felt since I was 17 years old. You can push back the hands of time, I’m not on supplements, I eat right. Life can be really hard, not every day is sunshine and rainbows, but it’s about surrounding yourself with positive people, let things go and focus on things you want to focus on.”

Nair helps develop new programs for DDPY (such as DDPY Physical Therapy) and also stands in for Dallas whenever he’s too busy.  Nair played a huge role in helping former professional boxer, Eric “Butterbean” Esch reclaim his health and mobility.

“I think Dallas trusts me to work to teach in his place because we now share the same passion for DDPY and I know first hand the power of what’s possible,” Nair said.

Clearly for these two dads, anything is possible.

Nair will be teaching yoga classes on the beach on Saturdays and Sundays beginning May 25. He's working with the Island Beach Bar and Restaurant on South Beach, Hutchinson Island Florida. Class starts at 10 a.m. More information available on Nair's social media page.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: DDP Yoga strengthens Pa. man's core, family