WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley recently spoke to Videogamer.com in an exclusive interview that covered a wide variety of topics.
An interesting subject that came up was D-Von's interactions with AEW President Tony Khan which took place after Dudley was released by WWE in 2023. According to D-Von, he sent some feelers to Khan about joining AEW as a producer/agent but Khan was insistent on getting him to wrestle matches or be a manager. Below are some interview highlights:
On his interactions with AEW's Tony Khan
"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 gonna try to do anything I could to help my sons out. I expressed to Tony that I didn’t wanna 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 wanna 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 wanna wrestle, I was literally when we had those meetings really fresh off a back surgery. I really couldn’t do it like that back then. It takes time for your body to heal and to be able to do what you got to do after back surgery."
"So I basically kept emphasizing that I wanted to be a producer. I did not wanna 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 wanna be a producer. I wanna help my sons out. I wanna help get them where they are.’ Like what Billy Gun 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!"
On his wrestling match against the Hardys in TNA
"I just wanted to end my career the right way and it had no bearing on where I did it, just as long as it was the right way. 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. "
