H Jenkins on October 29, 2025
The pro wrestling world is full of rumors, and now one of those has been put to rest. D-Von Dudley is a WWE Hall of Famer, but he didn’t end up in AEW. There may be a reason for that, but he’s speaking out to smash one rumor.
D-Von Dudley recently addressed a rumor that resurfaced following his viral comments about not signing with AEW. Appearing on the Duke LovesRasslin podcast, D-Von responded directly to the rumor that Tony Khan passed on hiring him after allegedly catching him sleeping backstage. D-Von has spoken out about Tony Khan in the past, and he’s not finished.
The story was brought up, and D-Von had no problem addressing things. According to the rumor, Tony Khan decided not to hire him based on this incident. D-Von pushed back on the claim and offered his side of what happened during those visits to AEW events.
“Did I get caught sleeping? Probably. I’m sitting up there all day. I got there like—what—I think it was like 11 o’clock. Did I close my eyes? Yeah. Of course I did. I was tired.”
“Was I in some kind of working capacity when that happened? No. No pen to paper. I wasn’t producing any matches or anything like that. No. I was sitting around waiting to have the meeting with Tony on three different occasions.”
“I get there at 12:00. I didn’t wind up seeing him till about 2:00, maybe 3:00 in the morning—on all three occasions. So, yeah, I’m bored. I’m saying hello to everybody that I know there… and then once I’m sitting down watching it—yeah, I closed my eyes.”
“Was I sitting up there, snoring and all of that? No. Was I sitting there with my eyes closed? Yeah. Because Jordan, who was my agent, was right there next to me. So no. I wasn’t sleeping like I took a pillow and just went to bed. No. I was sitting up there waiting for this man [Tony Khan].”
D-Von said this rumor was planted through wrestling media. Only time will tell if the whole story comes out about this one, but Dudley isn’t copping to sleeping backstage at AEW, but the did have his eyes closed for a bit.
The legendary tag team wrestler also made it clear that there was no formal role during those visits and that any downtime was due to waiting long hours for meetings that kept getting pushed. He noted that he was not actively working backstage or under any contract. So, things were painted in an unfair way by someone who wanted to spread a hit piece on him.
What’s your take on D-Von Dudley sleeping backstage at AEW? Do you think he’s better off not working for Tony Khan? Let us know what you think in the comments section!
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
October 29, 2025 2:48 pm
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