D-Von Dudley Reveals Why His Reverend Character Was Suddenly Scrapped

D-Von Dudley was ready to take the Reverend D-Von character to the next level—with vignettes, creative input from Stephanie McMahon, and crowd heat that had fans literally putting money in his collection box. But according to D-Von, all of that was wiped out with one sudden change of heart from Vince McMahon.

On Episode 55 of Devon & The Duke, the WWE Hall of Famer broke down exactly how close the Reverend character came to becoming a top-tier gimmick—and how it all collapsed out of nowhere.

D-Von says Stephanie McMahon was hands-on with the idea, giving him time to pitch layered vignettes that were inspired by the televangelist scandals of the early 2000s and Malcolm X, a movie D-Von said he watched “night and day” while developing the role. The plan was for him to play a crooked preacher, manipulating fans for money and power. Vince McMahon initially signed off on everything. Stephanie even had a team ready to film it. But that next phone call never came.

"Then come to find out that the whole project had been pulled. Uh they didn't want to do it no more. You know, I think it was one of those things where Vince woke up one morning and said, 'Ah, the Reverend Devon character isn't getting over. Ah, forget it. Scotch.' And I was just like, 'Oh, wow.' I was like, 'Okay.'"

D-Von says he didn’t find out the truth until years later—and by then, the window had closed.

"He just decided he didn't want to go that route no more. So the Reverend Devon character never got off the way it should have. And I was very disappointed 'cause I thought me and Stephanie could really work together... I thought the ideas that we both had, if we put our heads together, man, we could’ve did a good job on that stuff. And unfortunately, it never happened."

What makes it sting even more is the fact that the crowd—and the locker room—were completely behind it. D-Von recalled legends like Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, and The Undertaker showing support for the character backstage. And the fans? They were playing their part, too.

"I remember getting feedback from Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, even Undertaker—‘Man, Reverend, what’s the good word for the day?’ Taker told me he loved the character. Everybody in the back loved it. But it didn’t hit Vince the right way."

"The people was coming down from the cheap seats to put a dollar in the collection box. I mean, it was working really, really good. And you know, it just—it broke me in two to hear that they didn’t want to go further with it."

Vince McMahon ultimately shelved the gimmick and returned D-Von to the Dudley Boys tag team. The Reverend character faded into wrestling history, but not before launching the career of one Dave Batista—aka Deacon Batista, D-Von’s former on-screen muscle.

Looking back, it’s clear D-Von still feels the sting of what could have been. A gimmick that had the crowd, the boys in the back, and even Vince—until he didn’t.

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