Formerly known as  D-Von Dudley on Between the Ropes Recap   by Richard Trionfo

This week on Between the Ropes, one half of the most decorated tag teams, D-Von Dudley joined Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci to talk about what is next for ‘Team 3-D’, the status of the battle over the ‘Dudley’ name, and other issues in the world of wrestling.

D-Von was asked if there was a problem using the ‘Dudley’ name in the interview, and he suggested that they might get a call for using the name, as well as some other things. It is not like the WWE is going to fire him. They cannot take the D-Von name unless they want to fight his mom.

During their time off, he did not think that they would not be brought back. They were keeping in touch with the writers and ‘unfortunately’ Johnny Ace. He does not think too many people like Johnny and he thinks he might have been one of the few who supported Johnny. They were going to return and they talked to Vince about coming back. Vince would ask them what they were going to do. D-Von expected to be back in three to four months. It was expected that they would be back after Royal Rumble, but the storylines were done through Wrestlemania. Things were set up for Wrestlemania, and it is one of the few things that is planned out by creative. The tag team division had not been boosted enough to warrant their return. Then it was decided that their return would be at the ECW pay per view. They got a call the Monday before they were in St. Louis that they were going to put Gene Snitsky through a table.

He was extremely surprised to hear that the WWE had cut off negotiations. They had been negotiating with Johnny Ace since January. There were some good moments, but there were a lot of bad moments. There would be times when they were lied to by Johnny. Vince had the final say on the renegotiation. Things were going smooth until the ECW pay per view. They thought they hit a home run and the fans had not forgotten about them. They got an offer from the WWE and it would have involved life altering changes. They were told by Johnny that they needed to talk to Vince. D-Von and Bubba wanted to meet with Vince since it was Vince and Jim Ross who hired them to the WWE. Vince wanted to be in there to negotiate so they could hear things from Vince because they did not trust Johnny. A date was set up, and they got an e-mail to discuss ideas for their return. He talked with Bubba about ideas and they had about a year’s worth of ideas to work with MNM as well as Hassan and Daivari. There were things to involve Road Warrior Animal as well. The meeting was cancelled and they were asked to go to OVW to do a show for them at Six Flags in Louisville. They had gone to OVW before to help with the talent. They had a blast every time they went to OVW. They went to OVW, but did not hear from Johnny. They got a call at 9:40 p.m. from Johnny on July 5^{th. If it was a business decision where they were not carrying their weight or they were not bringing in what they could. Things could have been done ten times better. If Jim Ross was doing the negotiations, the Dudleys would still be in the WWE. Jim Ross knew how to get through to the boys because he had respect. If he did not like you, it did not mean that he could not do business with you. D-Von saw Johnny talk about some of the wrestlers and at that time he was hoping that he would not get on Johnny’s bad side. Why did he have to get called at 9:40 when he was putting his children to bed? Why not wait until the next morning if it is a family situation. He had to tell his wife the news. Give him the opportunity to go to sleep without the news. D-Von said that there are some who have worse stories than what D-Von and Bubba had to deal with. He did not think that it would get to that point with him because of what the Dudleys did for the company. The only man who is untouchable is the Rock.}

They tried to contact Vince after the decision was made. He talked to some people in the office to try to get to Vince. Vince would not return the calls. Eventually they e-mailed Vince and they got a response from Vince, through his secretary. He said it was a business decision that was made and they were always welcomed back to do business in the future. D-Von understands that, but he has heard that Johnny convinced Vince that it was not in the best interest of the company to do business with the Dudleys because they wanted more money. They did not want to meet with Vince to demand more money or to rip Johnny. They wanted to meet with Vince to hear from him what the life altering decisions are. They were never disappointed with Vince until the issue with the names. He does not know if this decision has been made by Vince because he is so busy. He does not think Vince is sitting there to get the Dudleys, Justin Credible, and Billy Kidman to stop using their names. He thinks it is all because of the legal department and Johnny Ace. They probably went to Vince to convince him to do it, and he agreed to do it. Vince is probably told things that are not the truth and it is hard to see the light until it comes out that the person is full of crap. When it comes out, he wants to be there to smile.

He was asked why Johnny has the position and he does not know. D-Von mentioned that he had the same position in WCW. He does not know what Johnny is doing to make people believe that he can run Talent Relations for the company. He does not know who he has been able to convince. He joked that maybe Johnny has voodoo dolls at home. D-Von hated to see Jim Ross leave the position in Talent Relations. He butted heads with Jim Ross in the past, but it was never disrespectful. He always knew where Jim Ross stood. He would rather have someone come up to him to tell him if they don’t like him. At least he knows where that person stands. He does not know where he stands with Johnny Ace right now. Everything with Johnny Ace is not something he is bitter about any more. It is not a downfall in his career. He wants to thank Johnny for letting him and Bubba see the opportunities that are out there. They want to make the Dudleys as dominant as the Road Warriors were. They want to be able to go to Japan. If they re-signed with the WWE, they might not have continued after that contract ended. They have a lot of doors open for them.

He is getting people calling him and telling him that Johnny was going around telling people that the Dudleys were not with the company because the Dudleys were asking for more money. Then he was told by Johnny that he never said that. Why would so many people tell that to D-Von if it never happened? Johnny is doing nothing but covering up his mistakes.

He is looking forward to seeing the Dudleys make a mark elsewhere, and he has to thank Johnny Ace for giving them the opportunity. There is a very very strong possibility that they will appear in TNA. They have a lot of young talent that is eager to learn. It reminds him a lot of ECW because ECW was a company that was striving to be the third largest company at the time. The dedication of the boys was unreal. They wanted to make ECW the best. They would take blows, whether from Bischoff or financial matters, they stayed strong together. TNA has that. Vince might not acknowledge TNA or mention them, but that same statement was made ten years ago when WCW was not a threat. It is not a situation where TNA might blow WWE out of the water, but the WWE should not ignore them. TNA is focusing on wrestling now.

D-Von watched the WWE programming during their time off. They felt like they were watching an episode of Friends with all of the vignettes. He talked about how there would only be four matches on a two hour show. The people are telling them that they do not want all of this talking. TNA is giving them the opportunity. They might need some help telling stories, but they are learning. The main event at Unbreakable was excellent. It was one impact move after another and it made sense. They had great chemistry. That is something that they have throughout the roster. The WWE does not have young people who are willing to go all out. They have the veterans who are doing it, but they cannot do it by themselves. There are only so many veterans. He does not even know half of the people on television right now. The stories used to be told in the ring and you could tell by the way things happened in the ring. There might have been some stories told in vignettes. You would have a segment with Rock or Austin at the start of the show that was talking, but it was entertaining. The first segment set the tone for the show and it was followed with wrestling throughout the show. Now they are adding more talking into the segments that used to be wrestling. He hears from people about how they are turning it off because they don’t want to see the talking.

He is not able to talk in too much detail about the name situation. They were the Dudley Boys before they got to Vince. They were on national television with the name before they got to Vince. They made money with the name before they got to Vince. They feel that they have the rights to the name. D-Von and Bubba know that they have the rights to the name. If they want to think that, fine. It will be settled in time. It is strange to look at this from the outside. In the six years they were with the company, they were shocked to see them turn on them. He is entitled to say things about Johnny Ace, just like Johnny is able to say things.

The WWE has always been a singles territory with the tag teams being secondary. Tag teams have clawed its way to the top to try to get to the same level as the singles wrestling. Vince hit a home run with the Hart Foundation, the Rougeaus, and the British Bulldogs. Then they took it to another level because of the chemistry. It comes down to the people writing the stories. Everyone had a storyline. At the house shows, you knew why people were wrestling each other. The APA did drink, play cards, and beat people up. Too Cool liked hip hop and thought they could dance so they brought it to the screen and it worked. When you let the talent be itself that is when it works. They are throwing people together who have no chemistry or no characters and it will not work.

Most of the people have said that if Vince does not create it, he is not going to put much effort into it. The WWE was forced to push the Dudleys because before the tables, there was the stuttering gimmick. They were not taken seriously until they put Terri Runnels through a table. At that point, Vince ran with the Dudleys. Then they were in there with the Hardys as well as Edge and Christian. Those three teams made tag team wrestling. Tag teams never stole the show with matches like the ‘TLC’ matches. It was to prove to everyone that they belonged in their position.

They worked with MNM one time in OVW. Before they worked with them, they watched MNM on television. He saw that they had the charisma and wondered why they were not with the WWE. Then they wrestled and it was time for the WWE to call them up. What other people are ready who have not been called up now. It is unfortunate that things are happening this way. Things that work, they don’t do. Things that don’t work, they do.

Things have been relaxed since they left the WWE. The travel was a major issue. The bumps are brutal, but the travel is more brutal than anything else. Long flights followed by getting in the ring immediately is rough. They had been doing it for nine years straight. ECW was doing four nights in a row as they were leaving that company. Then they came to the WWE with their schedule.

Between the Ropes airs every Wednesday from 10:00 p.m. until Midnight on 740 The Team in Orlando, Florida with hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci. Check out www.betweentheropes.com to listen to the live stream of the show every week. Archives of past interviews with Paul Heyman, Mike Tenay, Terry Funk, A.J. Styles, Rob Van Dam, Tully Blanchard, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Matt Hardy, Jerry Lawler, Bobby Heenan, Steve Corino, Shane Douglas, Elix Skipper, Harley Race, Bubba Ray Dudley, and many more people in the world of professional wrestling can also be found on www.betweentheropes.com.