D-Von Dudley: "Get The Tables", Dudley Boyz Reunion, One More Match, TLC Matches, Hardys

D-Von Dudley (@TestifyDVon) is a professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Orlando, FL to discuss The Dudleys reuniting at Impact 1,000 and why a reunion looked to be out of the question at one point in time, losing 85 pounds with the help of Diamond Dallas Page and DDPY, being open to one more match with the Hardys, his time in WWE as a producer, The Usos using the 3D as their finisher, the creation of "D-Von, get the tables!" and "Testify!", his scariest moment in ECW, the success of his YouTube channel, saving Maven from disaster and more!
 

Subscribe to D-Von's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@d-vondudley

Quote I'm thinking about: “The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.” - Vince Lombardi
 

On how much weight he has lost:

“I would say about 80 something pounds. Yeah, I was almost 300 pounds, and basically what happened was I had an issue, even after the back surgery, where everything was tight, I could barely walk. I was walking with a limp, like some of the old timers used to see, who never really took care of their bodies, and they paid for it in the end. It got to the point where I couldn’t even go out with the family without hanging onto something. Then someone told me, maybe you should try to call Dallas. Look at what Dallas did for so many people, and he basically helped out Scott Hall, Jake Roberts, so many people. Butterbean was the last one that I saw before I called him. I said, You know what? Let me call him. I called him and I said, ‘Dallas, I’m in trouble. The back surgery was supposed to make me walk straight, make me do things, and it’s not doing it.’ He was like, ‘D-Von, I’m going to send you something. I’m going to send you the DDP Yoga. I want you to do it, but I want you to watch it.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, what am I watching?’ He said, ‘There are two documentaries on food, and I want you to watch it.’ And I watched it and realized just how bad food is nowadays, how we think what we’re doing is healthy, but it’s not, even when we call ourselves being on a diet. Some of the foods, because of the HMO that’s inside the foods. When I started watching the documentary, I said, Man, all this stuff leading to cancer, elderly dementia, all of that stuff. I didn’t realize it how much even stuff as simple as corn, because corn is not when you eat the corn, and I hate to say this, it sounds disgusting, but you ever eat corn and poop and it’s still in a solid state. Same coming out. It’s like, it’s not real. So you think it’s healthy to eat that, and it’s not. I cut out so much stuff, wheat, dairy products, fried foods. I don’t eat it no more, and I don’t go out to fast food restaurants anymore, because the meat is not real meat. So everything has to be organic or grass-fed. And I enjoy it. It’s hard, because not everywhere is going to have that. So sometimes you do have to sacrifice and get a burger with nothing on it. Even though you know that meat’s not good, you still got to do something.”

On his kids:

“Everybody knows about the twins, Terence and Terrell, who are doing extremely well. They’re in Booker’s division now. They’re working with Booker now at Reality of Wrestling. They’re doing very good there. I have my son Matthew. So the twins are 30. My son Matthew is 23, my other son, Preston, he’s 17, going on 18. And then I have the three younger ones. I have Taliyah, who’s 6, about to be 7. I have Amaya, who’s 6, and my 17-month-old son. As far as I’m concerned, if I was 10 years younger, I’d have nine more kids. I just love kids. I love the stages. People go, oh my god, I can’t handle this stage. I love that stage. So it doesn’t bother me at all when I had seven. Now I understand, four are already grown and out of the house, so all I have left is three. So when you hear the word seven, it’s not like I have seven at one time, or what have you. It’s just that I spread it out, which was great for me.”

On why a Dudley Boys reunion looked unlikely at one point in time:

“No, it wasn’t my health. It was two reasons. Number one, it was the back surgery and that I didn’t know if I could, because the back surgery was supposed to make things so much better, and the rehab helped, but it didn’t help as much as I thought it was going to help.” 

What kind of back surgery was it? 

“They had fuse L4 and L5, and S1 when they fused L4 and L5 they cut open some more, and they saw S1 was collapsing. So they didn’t even tell me they were doing three. They saw it collapsing, so they fixed it.”

On how effective the procedure was:

“It made the pain running down the leg better. The hamstrings weren’t pulling as much, but the awkwardness of walking and doing things was very [painful]. For instance, you know I can swim. I got in the pool, and this was maybe four or five months after the back surgery, and I couldn’t move my legs. Couldn’t do it. It was so hard. It was like somebody had an anvil on my legs and was holding me down. And it was only until about maybe four months ago, after doing DDPY for almost two years, that I was able to get in the pool and start moving my legs where I could swim. It was very hard at one point. So that was a factor. That was a major factor. The stroke really wasn’t a factor like everybody thought it was going to be, because that was stress-related.

I was so stressed when I was a producer in WWE because, number one, I wasn’t ready to become a producer. I didn’t want the producer’s job. And I remember when the final night, when they said farewell to the Dudleys, Triple H pulled me aside, and he says, ‘Listen, we want to bring you in as a producer. Would you like that?’ And I looked at him, and I said, ‘Well, Hunter, thank you, but I’m not really ready to be a producer. I still have more to take.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, but the old man, he wants both of you…’ and this and that. I said, ‘Okay, I get that, but at the same token, I’m not ready.’ I said, ‘Let me ask you a question. What happens if I say no, I don’t want to be a producer?’ And he says, ‘Well, we gotta let you go, D-Von.’ And I went, damn. And at the time, I was going through a divorce, my second marriage. I was going through a divorce, and there was a lot of stuff that was going on during that time, and I did not want to have to go to Japan and make a living and fly all over the place, so I just said, okay, and I took the producer’s job. It worked for about a good year and a half or so. In other words, I didn’t really care for it. Let me retract that statement. I didn’t care for it at all. I didn’t want to do it, but it held everything together, and I’m still getting a paycheck. I got benefits, I have insurance. I got everything. A 401K now. I’ve got everything.”

On whether he would consider a return to producing:

“I would do it again. I’ve never worked with Triple H in that part of the business, but yes, I would come back as a producer and I would do it again. I spent seven good years as a producer in WWE, had a great time, and great moments. But there was always that urge to get back into the ring and to do something one more time. I don’t want to be in the ring at 60 years old or 70, but I just wanted that one send off, something that would put the final nail in the coffin and say okay, I did this. I’m complete, now it’s time to just enjoy retirement. So again, to go back to the original question, the health wasn’t a concern so much. It was more of what I wanted, because I got comfortable in that producer’s role. I got comfortable with not taking bumps, getting paid without having to be in the ring, and that was just a rewarding feeling.”

On the Impact 1000 reunion:

“Well, Bubba called me as usual. ‘D-Von, let me ask you a question, could you go again? And of course, my ego, ‘Yeah, of course I can. I can do it, not a problem.’ And when he said it I said, ‘But why are you asking?’ He says, ‘Well, TNA is doing a 1000 episode, and we were thinking about maybe doing one more match for the Dudleys.’ I said, I could do it, it’s not a problem. But I’m going to tell you right now, I don’t want to do the wazzup, I don’t want to go up on the top rope and jump off the top rope into some guy’s crotch. Either you do it or we’re going to find another way of doing it. [He goes] ‘Can you go on the second rope?’ I go ‘No, Bubba I can’t go on the second rope. I’m not doing it.’ And of course, you know, when you watch the match, I did it anyway. I remember when I did that I went Oh, I ain’t doing that no more.” 

How did he convince you to do it? 

“It was more of him saying and asking, and then the adrenaline at the time, it was like my ego got in the way. And I was like, Okay, I’ll do it. Yeah, I can do it. I remember looking down at my family, and I went sorry before jumping. [Do you regret doing it?] No, I don’t regret it. Because, I mean, again, nothing happened. If I would have got hurt, then yes. Is there moments where I feel like if I get back in the ring, I’m gonna get hurt? No, I don’t. I have the wrestling school in Winter Park Florida, which is doing extremely well. And the great thing about that is that I roll around with some of the guys sometimes in the ring, so every once in a while, I take bumps, and I feel good when I’m in there. So there’s no hesitation in how I think or feel about what I do in that ring now. But at 50 years old, I don’t want to go in here and do it, like I said, until I’m 70 and 80. That’s not going to happen. If we were to do one more match, it would be the last one, and that would be it. There is no one more can you come back one more time? No, because, and I tell this to everybody when they ask, I go every time I do one more time, that one more time is over. Let a year go by. Hey, you guys look great. You can go another match. No, we can’t, stop.”

On how many more matches he has left:

“I would say, if I was to do one, it would be one. I would say one more.”

Would it have to be in WWE?

“I don’t think the powers that be would let that happen. Because the way WWE is now, they go through so much to get somebody to a point where you have to prove that you’re healthy. I mean, there’s guys that have a cracked rib, and they gotta go through hell and back to try to get the okay to be able to come back. Would it be WWE? I would do it definitely for WWE. WWE is my home. It always has been, just like ECW, those two companies have been my life. No other company would come before that.”

On the opponents being The Hardys or Edge and Christian:

“If I was to do anything in the ring again, it would have to be with Matt and Jeff. I would say Edge and Christian too, but they’re in the other organization, AEW, and I don’t think that would ever happen. When the opportunity came, when Edge left WWE and went to AEW you had Christian and Edge there, and then the Hardys were there, and it was like we were wondering why Tony, who is a huge fan of the business and always has been, why wouldn’t he take the opportunity to be the one to put those three teams together and to do that? But he never did. So I think that opportunity is lost. But you know, if I was to come back and do something, it would have to be with the Hardys, and those are the only two I trust, even though I think Jeff is out of his damn mind. But those are the only two I would trust for my body on the line, and go in there one more time.”

On the Swanton Bomb being the most painful finisher he took:

“Jeff, and you know it to be true. Oh God. You know sometimes Jeff can overshoot it a little bit where his back, his upper back, and his neck and stuff lands on you, which takes a lot out of you. But the man, when he gets his whole back and his ass and it just comes down on you, good night. You’re either sh*tting on yourself, farting or passing out.”

On ‘D-Von, get the tables!’

“Because it was my mess up. It happened, and I don’t know why Bubba always is like, every time I tell a story, he’s like, really? I’m like, Yes, I remember. We were somewhere at Raw and I had forgotten in the match to get the table. And he goes, ‘D-Von, get the table.’ I was like, oh sh*t, and I ran outside and got the table. I had, you know, a little bit of those moments where I would forget certain things. I had so many things going on in my mind, not to mention just a match. But just everything in WWE, and he would say it again. ‘D-Von, go get the tables.’ Alright, I got it.

So then the next few times he was saying it over and over again, I was getting mad. And I was like, ‘Okay, the first couple of times I get it, but now you’re overdoing it. I’m not a kid, I’m not a baby, I can remember things, so don’t tell me to get the tables.’ So we got in the back, and he goes, ‘Why’d you get so mad?’ I said, ‘Because I understood get the tables when we talked about it in the back at what part of the match I should do it in. So stop telling me to get the tables.’ He was like, ‘Alright, fine. Just know that I’m telling you not to get on you, but I’m telling you to just so you don’t forget.’ I was like, ‘I don’t forget, I’m fine! Stop!’ And he basically said, Okay. And then the next night, what happened? I forgot. I go, okay, okay, I got it. And then some nights after that, Bubba started listening, and I guess it was picking up on the cameras that he was saying, ‘D-Von, get the table.’ And he goes, ‘D-Von, I think we got something here.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He goes, ‘I’m going to try something out, and I want to see if it works.’ And we did something to where we did the What’s up spot. And then all of a sudden he went, ‘D-Von, get the tables! Then it was like, people would pop the crowd. He was like, ‘I think we got something.’ I was like, ‘I think you’re right.’ And it started from there. It was all because of a mistake that I forgot to get the tables.”

On The Usos using the 3D:

“The Usos wanted to do the 3D. I was producing one of their matches, and they had asked me about it, and I was like, ‘Well, you want to do it tonight?’ They were like, ‘No, not tonight, but we want to know if we can go forward doing it?’ I was like, ‘Hell, me and Bubba don’t do it no more, I’m retired, so why not do it?’ Then WrestleMania, I think my last WrestleMania where I produced, and I can’t remember which one it was. It might have been in Dallas, okay, so had to be 38, because Bubba and I were in 32 against The Usos. I believe Jey had said something about ‘Man, I would love to do 3D. Would you be okay if I did?’ I said, ‘Jey, I told you before we would love that for you to do that. You’re paying homage to us, and you’re keeping us relevant. Because you know people are going to say that’s the Dudleys. So for those that might have forgotten about us, will now remember us.’ So we don’t get upset, they’re paying homage. They’re giving you respect. So I don’t get angry or mad about that, neither does Bubba. We actually like it that they do that because, again, they’re giving us respect, they’re paying homage. And we were proud of it.” 

On helping Maven out:

“I saved his life in England. We were basically out drinking at a party and whatever, and Maven had way too much to drink. I had to take him to his room, and he passed out. I said, ‘Maven, where’s your key? Give me your key, just in case you’re not downstairs when the bus leaves and I have your key in my pocket, I’m coming in to get you.’ He gives me his key. He’s passed out, just face-first, right in his pillow, passed out, arm spread, everything. So I go to my room. I don’t even go to sleep because I’m wired. Even though I had been drinking, I was wired. I just couldn’t fall asleep. But I knew I had to get up in two hours, three hours. So I went, took a shower, packed my bags and everything.

I’m sitting down at my table in my room watching the news, and next thing, okay, it’s time to go. I get to the elevator, I go Maven ain’t downstairs. So because he’s like three doors down from me, I go check. I go in. I put the key in, and he’s still the same way I left him. I said, ‘Maven, get up!’ He said, ‘Huh? What?’ I said, ‘Let’s go now! We gotta be downstairs in 25 minutes.’ He said, ‘Alright, D-Von. Let me take a shower.’ I said, ‘You’re not taking a goddamn shower. You’re going to get up and get your stuff.’ I’m throwing stuff in his suitcase and everything, because I’m trying to make it downstairs before he’s the last one down there, last one down there on a WWE bus back then is the wrong thing to do, especially when you’re a rookie. I just remember throwing everything in his suitcase. He goes, ‘D-Von, I gotta take a shower.’ I go, ‘No, you’re not taking a shower. Let’s go.’ He goes, ‘Well, can I at least brush my teeth?’ I said, Fine, go. So he goes. He gets in the bathroom, he’s leaning over the thing. I’m like, ‘Maven, if you don’t brush your teeth faster, I’m gonna brush them for you.’ And he’s like, okay, D-Von, okay, okay, okay. And he’s still not brushing fast. I said, ‘Give me the goddamn toothbrush!’ I took it. I start brushing him. Blood’s coming out because I’m hitting him. I’m brushing his teeth. He’s like, ‘D-Von, okay, okay. Can I just spit this out?’ I was like, ‘Fine, spit it out.’ So now we get to the elevator, we get downstairs, the door opens, we have to go to the front desk to handle all of our incidentals from the room. Who’s there? JR. He says, ‘Hello boys.’ As I grab Maven I go, ‘Don’t you open your goddamn mouth. Don’t you say a goddamn word. I swear to God, I will drop you right in front of JR if you open your mouth.’ He [Maven] goes, ‘I promise I won’t say a word.’ I was like, ‘If he says hello, just nod your head.’ And that’s exactly what happened. He [JR] goes, ‘Boys out last night?’ I go, ‘No, JR. We had a couple of drinks and we went upstairs to our room, and that was it.’ He goes, ‘Okay. Maven, how you doing?’ I said, nod motherf*cker, nod. JR’s like, ‘What’s the matter? You can’t talk?’ I was like, ‘He lost his voice, JR.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, okay. Are you going to be okay to do the promo tonight?’ I said, ‘He’ll be alright. Just the less he talks, the better. We’ll get him some tea and lemon. He’ll be fine.’ He goes, ‘Alright. Well, I’ll see you guys on the bus.’ I said, Okay. Maven goes, ‘D-Von, thank you.’ I go, sh*t, this ain’t over yet. I said, Now we gotta get past JBL, so we get his stuff on the bus. JBL is not on the bus yet. I put him way in the back. I put sunglasses on him. I said, Just act like you’re sleeping. He passed out.”

On the worst bump Spike Dudley took:

“I think it was two. One was in WWE on SmackDown when we set the table on the outside and we whipped him off and launched him from the inside of the ring to the outside through the table, and he landed perfectly through the table. There’s no way in hell I can have anybody convince me to take that bump, but he did it. And then I think the second craziest bump was the first 3D. We nearly killed him because we were trying to perfect that move ourselves, and we hadn’t gotten it down yet. After we saw what we did to Spike, I was like, Okay, I know what I have to do on my part and Bubba knew what he had to do.” 

What’d you do wrong in the first one? 

“I held him up too long. In other words, I get him up, and instead of going to get him and start falling backwards, I just stood him up like this, and then I started going backwards. But it was too slow. Bubba was already coming down as he starts to come down. Now, I gotta force him down quicker. And Bubba grabbed him at the last minute and jacked his neck right into the mat.”

On actually being ordained as a reverend:

“Yeah, got my collar and everything downstairs. I’ve married people. I think I was about to do a christening, and it got canceled. But, yeah, I’ve been doing all of that. I go around, when I teach at schools, or what have you, it’s kind of like I’m doing my sermon in a sense, you know, I haven’t done it in a real pulpit yet, but I’ve done little things here and there.”

On the origin of “Testify”:

“That actually came from Paul Heyman, because Paul Heyman knew my background of being a preacher’s kid. I’ve said this numerous times, he took my character from Pulp Fiction, Samuel L Jackson and Mr T because I love Rocky III. So he combined those two together, and that’s when he said, ‘You know what, let’s make your tagline testify, because it coexists with your background and your beliefs in God.’ And I said, Okay, Let’s do it, and it just took off from there with the commandments as well. Because I had a little bit of problem doing the ‘Thou shalt not F with the Dudleys’, because, you know, biblically speaking, I shouldn’t say that. I remember when I told my father, I said, ‘You know about the gimmick?’ He said, ‘You know what? Let me tell you something, son, don’t listen to anybody. You go do what you’re doing, but when you’re done hooping and hollering in that ring, bring it to where it really counts, and that’s in the pulpit.’ I said, okay, and I hope I made him proud, because again, I go around speaking the Word of God. Am I a man that has followed every rule in the book when it comes to the Bible? No, I’ve fallen just like the next man, and I’m still falling in certain aspects, but my belief is strong. When I do mess up, I repent and I ask God for forgiveness, and I try not to make the same mistakes.”

On being in a TLC match despite being scared of heights:

“When you have Vince McMahon in the back, he’s writing those paychecks, and you know the world is watching, you suddenly get over your fear real quick. You just go, you know, if I’m gonna die, then I’m gonna die.”

What is D-Von Dudley grateful for?

“My family, health and my faith in God.”

Please support our sponsors!
PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux

SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount

PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup!

TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insight to get 10% off your order of Mitopure!

VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv

ROCKET MONEY: Download the Rocket Money app and enter “Insight With Chris Van Vliet” in the survey 

HUEL: Get 15% off plus a FREE Gift for NEW customers with the code INSIGHT at https://huel.com

MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF

ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight

BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv

BLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for free with the code CVV at https://bluechew.com

PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at https://plunge.com