Steve Carrier on February 17, 2018
Garcia welcomes D-Von Dudley to the show.
D-Von informs that he was thrilled to hear that The Dudley Boyz were going to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2018. He and Bubba were told a while ago that they were going to be inducted this year, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up because he knows how quick things can change in the wrestling business. Once WWE announced their induction publicly, he figured it was safe to start getting excited.
He talks about how important Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon have been to his career. He says that Heyman created The Dudley Boyz, but Vince McMahon moulded them into the Superstars they turned out to be. He has a tremendous amount of respect for both men, referring to McMahon as the “Yoda” of the wrestling business while pointing out that Heyman changed the course of the business in the 1990’s.
D-Von talks about the success of the attitude era. He informs that locker rooms were very tight back then, and while performers could fight amongst themselves, nobody from the outside stood a chance if they tried to get involved. This is why ECW and WCW stars faced such backlash when they first arrived in WWE.
He admits that most talents didn’t really understand how big and influential the attitude era was while they were living it, but once it ended they started to understand it’s importance. Wrestling had a huge impact on popular culture at that time, and some of the business’ top stars crossed over into the mainstream, resulting in The Rock becoming the highest paid actor in Hollywood years later.
D-Von mentions that their popularity during this time was hard to handle on occasion. He always had gratitude towards the fans, but after flying or driving all night, it was often very difficult to spend time in an airport or a hotel lobby signing autographs. He points out that Michael Jackson received a lot of criticism during his career for the way he isolated himself, but if the popularity they felt during the attitude era was even a fraction of what Jackson experienced, he can completely understand why Jackson did what he did.
D-Von informs that he grew up with his Mother in Brooklyn, but would travel to live with his Aunt and Uncle during the weeks. His Stepfather was a Preacher, and was the inspiration for his “Testify” catchphrase and Preacher character. His Stepfather, along with his Aunt, Uncle and Grandmother instilled a lot of good traits in him, and he’ll be forever thankful for that.
His biological Father was never really in the picture due to his struggles with drug abuse. His Mother gave birth to him at 15 years of age, and luckily by the time he was a few years old he had strong Father figures in his life such as his Grandfather and Stepfather.
He adds that his WWE Hall of Fame induction means a lot to him because it solidifies his legacy. He had to deal with so many challenges during his life, but he was able to keep his head down and push through all of it. He hopes that his kids understand how important it is to push through life’s difficulties, and his Hall of Fame induction is proof of that.
He informs that for 5 and a half years he worked three jobs while trying to raise his two young twin boys. He worked at a post office in the morning, unloaded trucks at a Supermarket in the afternoon, and then bounced at a bar in the night. He’d often leave his bouncing gig at the bar and walk straight to the post office to start his 2:30 AM shift. He did what he had to do and eventually everything paid off.
D-Von mentions that he actually stepped away from the business for a while during this period. He had so much going on in his personal life that he just figured it’d be easier to start a full-time career with the postal service. Luckily, after hearing about a new upstart promotion called ECW he decided to return to the business.
After working at ECW for some time WWE came calling, and D-Von got butterflies again. He and Bubba Ray actually got into a heated argument on the phone one evening as Bubba Ray tried to convince D-Von to make the jump to WWE with him. After hanging up on Bubba Ray once, D-Von soon realized he was wrong and he called Bubba Ray back and apologized. They went to WWE together and the rest is history.
D-Von says he really enjoyed The Dudley Boyz’ last run in WWE. He didn’t like the way he and Bubba Ray left the company originally, and he doesn’t think he would have ever been content if he didn’t get the chance to come back. He admits that it would have been nice to get the 10th Tag Team Title win, but it didn’t really bother him that they didn’t because he was more concerned with passing the torch to the new generation.
He informs that he and Bubba stepped away from WWE again in 2016 because Bubba had other things he wanted to pursue outside of WWE. D-Von says he wasn’t ready to leave WWE again so he simply moved behind the camera. He doesn’t knock Bubba for leaving because life is too short, and everyone has to chase their own dreams.
That sums up today’s episode of Chasing Glory. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!
February 17, 2018 9:35 am
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