D-Von Dudley has reflected on racism in the pro wrestling industry.
As one-half of the famed Dudley Boyz alongside his longtime tag partner Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von has seen firsthand how the wrestling business has grown when it comes to diversity and inclusion over the past three decades.
During an appearance on Good Karma Wrestling, the WWE Hall of Famer recalled that racism was “alive and well” when he broke into the business in the early 1990s.
“It’s grown a lot. I remember when I first broke into the business in 91, racism was still alive and well. Just like I feel like racism is still alive and well today. I like to say what Malcolm X used to say, ‘A lof the Klan traded in their white sheets for suits,’ walking around and doing what they’re doing.
“It’s still relevant in the wrestling business, it is, but we have come a long way since then. It’s going to be hard to stop us from doing what we love to do. We watched this sport, we love it, want to be a part of it. We’re coming in there and doing exactly, not what we want to do in a disrespectful way, but doing what we want to do to pay homage to those who have come before us that we watched and idolized for so long. I’m very proud.
“Sometimes, I speak to guys like Koko B Ware. When Bad News Brown was alive, we talked anytime we went to Canada, he pulled me aside and gave me tips on how to survive as an African American in this business. Something Tony Atlas said on Junkyard Dog [episode of] ‘Dark Side of the Ring’ was, ‘a black man in this business has to understand that we can’t do what the white man does and expect to get away with it.’
“You still have racism in this business, and if they gave you enough rope to hang yourself, and you hang yourself, there is nothing you can do about it. You’ve never heard about me being in no controversy, drugs, anything like that. I’ve kept my nose clean for 30 years. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done things before cameras came about, but I’ve never been in trouble with the law or given them a reason to want to mess with me in any way.
“Whenever I disagreed with something in the business, I always had a Plan B in case I didn’t like Plan A. I couldn’t go, ‘I don’t want to do that, I’m not going to do that.’ I always said, ‘I don’t feel comfortable, here’s what I think we can do.’ Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. I went in there with a smile on my face, did it, and if they told me I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. That was fine.”
“There was a prominent figure in WWE who basically told me he didn’t like me because I was black” – D-Von Dudley
D-Von continued, saying there were people in some companies who were open in their racism, including one “prominent” WWE figure who he didn’t name.
“I do understand that we have come a long way since I broke into the business in 91. I remember coming into certain locker rooms, and there were certain people that didn’t care if it got out how they were treating you.
“There was a prominent figure in WWE, he was office, who basically told me he didn’t like me because I was black. Two occasions told me. Bubba was there on one of them, and he was there on the second one, along with Paul Heyman, Tommy Dreamer, and Spike [Spike Dudley].
Understandably, Dudley has no respect for that particular individual to this day and continues to stay away from him. He later made clear in a different interview that this person was not JBL, Michael P.S. Hayes or Vince McMahon.
To this day, I have no respect, nor do I like this individual. I’m not going to go put him on blast, but I don’t care for him, so I stay away from him.
Fortunately, despite those obstacles, D-Von and Bubba Ray went on to become regarded as one of the greatest tag teams of all time.
The pair were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 and it was recently reported that they have signed a legends contract with the company.
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.