D-Von Dudley Claims Vince McMahon’s Inner Circle Sabotaged His Solo Run

D-Von Dudley worked for Vince McMahon for many years and knew very well how McMahon functioned and what it was like to work with him. With that said Dudley has now claimed that McMahon’s inner circle sabotaged his solo run in WWE.

While speaking on the 1 of a Kind podcast, D-Von Dudley talked about how upset he was with the Reverend D-Von character because things were going really well. He was doing promos with Vince McMahon, standing right next to him, feeding off each other’s energy. He noted that McMahon was even telling him he was doing a great job.

“Me personally, I was upset with the Reverend D-Von character. Yeah, uh, because we were doing so well with it. I was doing promos with Vince, standing side by side with him. Uh, he’s feeding off of me, I’m feeding off of him, we’re doing great. And he was even telling me I was doing good.”

One day D-Von arrived at work and asked Bruce Pritchard, who had been involved in the character’s direction, what the plan was. Bruce told him to ask his boss and D-Von asked if he meant Vince McMahon, but Bruce told him to ask his “former boss.”

When D-Von asked if he meant Paul Heyman, Bruce confirmed it. At that time, Paul had taken over as the head writer for SmackDown. D-Von was shocked because he didn’t understand why Paul was now in charge of his character.

D-Von was later told that Bruce Pritchard was no longer handling it and that Paul Heyman was now in charge. Suddenly, Vince McMahon no longer saw the character as successful. D-Von believes that someone convinced Vince McMahon that he wasn’t ready.

“Then, I came to work one day, and because Bruce Pritchard was behind a lot of it—you know, Brother Love, things like that—I basically came to work and said, ‘Bruce, what are we doing?’ He goes, ‘I don’t know, ask your boss.’ I go, ‘My boss? Vince?’ And he was like, ‘Nope, ask your former boss.’

I’m just like, ‘Paul Heyman?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah.’ Because this was when Paul had the book for SmackDown. And I was like, ‘Why would I ask Paul? Paul has nothing to do with it.’ And he goes, ‘He does now.’ And I was like, ‘Excuse me, what?’ I was like, ‘What the hell’s going on?’

That was when I was told they were taking Bruce Pritchard off it and putting Paul on it. And for some reason, it just seemed to—didn’t—I don’t know. It wasn’t good anymore in Vince’s eyes. Somebody got to him. Somebody told him, ‘I don’t think D-Von’s ready.’“

D-Von remembered a moment with The Rock that confirmed this. After working out together, The Rock offered him a ride to the hotel. It was around a big pay-per-view, likely WrestleMania 20 in New York City, where Brock Lesnar faced Goldberg. In the car, The Rock revealed that he had asked Vince McMahon if he could work with D-Von because he liked the character and wanted to help make it more popular.

However, The Rock said that Vince told him, “D-Von’s not ready.” D-Von was shocked because everything had been going well and he really didn’t understand what had changed.

“I remember— and The Rock can probably confirm this—I was leaving the gym with The Rock, and as we were leaving, he goes, ‘D-Von, need a ride to the hotel?’ Because it was some major pay-per-view. It might have been—we were in New York City—it was Brock and Goldberg, so it had to be… yeah, you’re right, that was 2004.

So I go, ‘Yeah, Rock.’ We get in the car, we start walking—I mean, we start driving—and he goes, ‘I just want you to know that I had asked Vince if it was okay…’ Because this was after he’d done a couple of movies, so he had left us for a little bit and started doing his own thing.

And he said to me, ‘I just want you to know that I asked Vince. I want to work with you. I like your character. I like what you’re doing out there. I’ve been watching, and I really want to try to help you get this over.’ I was like, ‘Man, thank you! If you do that, that’d be great.’

And he was like, ‘Yeah, but I tried. But then Vince told me that you’re not ready.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, he’s not ready.’ I was like, ‘Vince told you that?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah.’ I was like, ‘What the hell’s going on? We’ve been doing everything good together!’ I didn’t understand what was happening.”

Eventually, some wrestlers warned him that people he thought were his friends might actually be working against him. D-Von later realized that someone in the office was sabotaging him. He believed that Vince could have big plans for a wrestler, but if someone close to him said they weren’t ready, Vince would quickly change his mind.

D-Von noted that even if Vince McMahon liked someone, all it took was a trusted person, like Bruce Pritchard or someone at his level, to say otherwise, and Vince would listen to them instead.

“And then, you know, a couple of the boys came to me and were telling me, ‘Friends who you think are your friends are not your friends. Be careful, D-Von, man.’ And at that time, I didn’t know what they meant.

There was somebody in the office stabbing me in the back. And the thing is—and Rob can attest to this—Vince can have high hopes for you, but let somebody within his inner circle say, ‘I don’t like D-Von here, I don’t think he’s ready,’ Vince will go and believe that. Even though he’s been thinking, ‘This guy is ready.’

But let somebody like Bruce Pritchard—or, and I’m not saying it was Bruce—but let somebody of that caliber who’s very close to Vince tell him, ‘You know, this guy’s not ready,’ and Vince will change his mind like that.”

D-Von Dudley previously blasted Vince McMahon for making wrestlers feel small. D-Von Dudley’s solo career ended too soon, and many think he never got a real chance to succeed. In the end, D-Von’s experience shows how backstage politics and McMahon’s close team could decide a wrestler’s future.

Do you think D-Von was unfairly held back in WWE? Should he have had a longer solo run? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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