WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley recently shared some interesting anecdotes from his time in the wrestling business over the past few decades.
D-Von Dudley sat down with Signed By Superstars for a virtual signing, and disclosed a shocking story about his TNA Hall of Fame induction. Here’s what he had to say:
“TNA gave me a Rolex which I lost. I took it with me to the gym, I put it in my backpack. That was probably worth five grand, but it was used. They gave it to us and something happened to it where I took it to the place to go get it fixed and a guy goes, ‘Whoever did the work on this shouldn’t have messed with these parts.’ I go, ‘What do you mean did the work on this?’ I said, ‘This is a brand-new watch.’ He was like, ‘No, it’s not. The parts in here are used’ and I just went, ‘What?’ I remember calling Bubba [Bully Ray], I go, ‘You’re not gonna believe this’ and I told him the story and he goes, ‘That’s why I took the money (instead of the Rolex gift).'”
D-Von also opened up about how he almost jumped ship to WCW, and what prevented it from happening, disclosing how WCW tried to essentially raid the ECW locker room in the 1990s. He said,
“Yeah, I did (get an offer from WCW while I was with ECW) … Raven called me. Scotty called me… I don’t remember the years but I remember he left a message on my answering machine. My wife says, ‘Raven called you.’ I was like, ‘Raven?’ So I called him back, I was like, ‘Hey Raven, what’s up?’ And he was like, ‘Hey, are you under contract with Paul?’ And I said, ‘Well no. Why?’ And he says, ‘Well I was wondering, maybe you’d wanna come to WCW and be part of The Flock?’… Just me (and not with Bully Ray) and I was like, ‘Well what about Bubba?’ Because I’m very new. I’m brand spanking new in ECW. This is when they’re doing the invasion (of ECW talents) and he goes, ‘Think about it. How much you making now?’ And at the time, I was making $75 a match, $150 a week with the fourth week of the month off. So he was like, ‘We’re gonna give you $250,000. That’s more money than you’ve ever made.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s true’ and he was like, ‘Well think about it. It’ll take care of you and your family,’ and then I remember hanging up the phone, I told my wife.”
D-Von then revealed why he rejected the offer, citing conversations with his partner Bubba Ray Dudley, Taz and his wife:
“She was like, ‘What do you wanna do?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. Something’s not sitting right with this’ and I remember Bubba, Taz and Sign Guy [Dudley] called me and said, ‘Did Raven call you? Did WCW call you?’ I was like, ‘No. Why? What’s up guys?’ And they were just like, ‘Tell me the truth. Did anybody call you?’ I was like, ‘No! Why? What’s going on?’ And that’s when they finally told me. They was like, ‘Well, WCW’s trying to invade the locker room, this and that. We need to know who’s on our side.’ I was like, ‘Nah, nobody called me.’ I didn’t know what to say at that point and then all of a sudden, I called Raven back. I was like, ‘Raven, this is D-Von calling you. Call me back.’ He called me back. ‘I’m gonna pass on this. Something’s not right about it…’ That’s exactly what he said (questioning why D-Von would turn the offer down). He goes, ‘But that’s more money than you ever made’ and I was like, ‘I get it but, something’s not right about this’ and sure enough, it was probably one of the best things I ever did.”
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