In a recent interview with Video Gamer, WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley claims that the Ku Klux Klan invaded wrestling and in particular, the WWE.
“I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. The Klan wore sheets on their heads. The Ku Klux Klan wore sheets over their heads and I felt that a lot of those Klan members made their way into wrestling, traded in their sheets for suits. It was definitely a behind the scenes thing. I’ve dealt with it with certainly higher ups like MVP said.
I dealt with that certain higher up that told me to my face they don’t like me because of the colour of my skin and they work for other organizations now and this person knows who he is. I have no respect for that person. I don’t really care for him. Now that he’s not in the position that he once was I just really don’t care for him,” Dudley claimed.
D-Von also revealed that he almost became a producer or an agent in AEW but Tony Khan wanted him to get back into the ring.
“I was looking to become a producer. I wasn’t looking to become a wrestler and the only reason why my agent even contacted them was because of the fact that I left WWE and I wanted to still do the agent role but my sons were there at the time and I was going try to do anything I could to help my sons out.
I expressed to Tony that I didn’t want to wrestle. He kept trying to push it. He would have loved me to go out there and do a couple of things, maybe be a manager and maybe even do a six-man tag match and I told him, I said, ‘If I do a six-man, let me know right now. I’ll be on apron and the boys are gonna do all the work.’ I told him I don’t want to wrestle anymore and he wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. He couldn’t get that through his head. He was like stringing me along and even though I kept telling him I don’t want to wrestle,” he said.
“I basically kept emphasizing that I wanted to be a producer. I did not want to wrestle. I wanted to work behind the scenes and he kept asking me if I wanted to wrestle and get back in the ring. And I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re not getting what I’m saying. I don’t want to wrestle. I just want to be a producer. I want to help my sons out. I want to help get them where they are like what Billy Gunn was doing for his sons, you know? I’ve done everything in my career. I don’t need that. He just wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer. I’ve had three meetings with him and all three were a bust!” he continued.
D-Von admitted he isn’t a fan of AEW as a whole. He would never have had his final match there.
“I would not have done it for AEW just because I don’t think AEW was ever a fit for the Dudleys. For other people probably, yes, but to me, not the Dudleys. I don’t know if I would’ve felt comfortable. There’s just certain things about the organization. I love the talent. I think the talent is great. There’s no question about that but there’s a feeling that certain people in the organization that call the shots. I’m not a big fan of them and Tony Khan lets that happen.
So, I don’t ever think that it would’ve ever been able to take place in AEW. I’ve got nothing against AEW as a company. I’ve got nothing against Tony Khan. I just don’t like the way the organization is run and that’s about it. Again, I’ve got friends in AEW. I’ve met new people at autograph signings like Will Ospreay, who is a great guy and a lot of the talent in AEW have the same frustration that I see. They just wish that certain people wouldn’t be calling the shots and that Tony would take more control but yet give it to somebody that knows what they’re doing,” he said.
D-Von also confirmed The Dudleys versus The Hardy Boys at Bound For Glory was their last as a team.
“You don’t take off your boots in the middle of the ring and then decide to come back. That’s disrespectful in my opinion so there’s your answer,” he confirmed.
D-Von is proud of how he retired and the final match.
“It would rank almost on the same lines as a TLC match. It’s the last match. It was the second table match between the Hardys and the Dudleys so definitely one of my all time favorites, especially considering mine and Bubba’s age, him 54 and me. Matt being 51 and Jeff being 48, we’re not spring chickens anymore but yet we went out there and told a great story with some physicality and made the match good.”
