D-Von Dudley knows exactly what it feels like to get hit with a contract offer that feels more like an insult than a negotiation. While discussing Kofi Kingston and Austin Creed walking away from WWE after being asked to take a massive pay cut during the Duke LovesRasslin podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer revealed TNA once tried to drop his own six-figure salary all the way down to $20,000 a year.
The subject came up after D-Von noted that Kingston had clarified WWE’s proposed cut was actually more than 50%. D-Von said hearing that immediately reminded him of his own negotiations with TNA around the end of the Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff era.
D-Von said his contract was expiring when Al Snow approached him with a new deal. He had been making six figures at the time, but the number waiting for him in the new contract wasn’t even close.
“My contract was up and Al Snow came. Al Snow was one of the guys came to me and said, ‘Hey, Devon, got your contract for you to sign. Excuse me.’ He said, ‘Take a look at this and see what you like.’ And go, ‘Dude, I went from making the six figures that I was making and they wanted me to take—oh, you know, I should say this. They offered me $20,000 a year with no incentive with anything.’”
D-Von made it clear there was zero chance he was accepting that offer. He said he looked directly at Snow and questioned whether TNA seriously expected him to sign it. He then sent an even stronger message back to Dixie Carter and TNA, calling the $20,000 offer “beyond an insult.”
“I looked at Al. I said, ‘You think I’m going to sign this?’ I said, ‘Are you crazy?’ He was like, ‘Well, Devon, what do you want me to do? You know, you going to sign with what you sign?’ I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not signing this.’”
“I was like, ‘You tell Dixie and TNA to shove it up their ass.’ I said, ‘I’m not signing this.’ I was like, ‘That is beyond an insult. 20,000 a year.’ I said, ‘Are you crazy?’”
D-Von placed the negotiations around 2011 or 2012, during the period when he was TNA Television Champion and just before the Aces & Eights storyline really got going. He said he rejected the offer and walked away.
“I think that was like 2011, 2012, somewhere around there. But that was right around the time—I don’t know if you remember—I was a television champion. Then I left. This is right when Aces and Eights first started. So it wasn’t a faction. And it wasn’t anything yet. They were just starting and they came and waved that off and I said, ‘Forget it. Nope. I’m done.’ And I walked away. I said, ‘Thank you, but no thank you.’ And I walked away.”
That wasn’t the end of the story. D-Von said Bruce Prichard, who was working in talent relations at the time, eventually called him with another idea. D-Von immediately warned him not to come back with another insulting number.
“I got a phone call from Bruce Prichard who at the time was working in talent relations. He said, ‘Hey, we have an idea for you if you would like to hear it.’ I told Bruce, I said, ‘Don’t call me if you’re going to insult me with them stupid numbers again.’ I said, ‘I’m not even having that.’”
Prichard convinced him to hear the company out, but D-Von said he still wasn’t willing to return unless TNA showed that it actually valued him.
“I told him, I said, ‘I’m done.’ I was like, ‘I’m not doing this with you guys. You guys don’t value me. You look at me as some type of second-rate indie guy.’ I was like, ‘Screw you.’ I was like, ‘I’m done.’”
The conversation eventually turned to TNA’s secret plan for Aces & Eights. D-Von said the company finally worked out a deal that got him the money he wanted, and he credited himself for refusing to cave.
“Finally he told me what he wanted with the whole Aces and Eights. Nobody was going to know, which nobody did. We pulled that off and then he offered me the money that I was going—that I had asked for. But I forgot how we did it. There was a way where I was going to get the money that I wanted, but I had to go through something. I forgot what it was.”
D-Von said holding his ground ultimately paid off. That experience is exactly why D-Von said he understands Kingston and Creed deciding to leave WWE instead of accepting a huge reduction in salary.
“I can’t remember. But I finally wind up getting what I wanted. I held out.”
“Long story short, so I understand Kofi and Xavier. I get it. You know, they walked away because, you know, why would they want to take under 50% of what they were making?”
D-Von’s story makes it pretty clear that he wasn’t willing to let TNA put a bargain-bin price tag on his career. He walked away from a $20,000 offer, held his ground when the company came back around, and eventually got the money he wanted while landing a major role in one of TNA’s biggest storylines of that era.
What do you think about TNA trying to take D-Von Dudley from a six-figure salary down to just $20,000 a year? Was he right to walk away and force the company back to the table? Let us know your thoughts and feedback.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
