1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,400 Love this podcast? Support this show through the A 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:07,000 Cast Supporter feature. It's up to you how much you give 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:08,640 and there's no regular commitment. 4 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:11,720 Just click the link in the show description to support now. 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,080 The River City Wrestling Con is happening June 8th and 9th at 6 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:22,480 the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, FL Visit 7 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:27,920 rivercitywrestlingcon.com For more information and tickets. 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,560 I'm telling you right now brothers and sisters, this is 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:35,280 going to be the biggest and best River City Wrestling Con ever. 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:42,640 Guests scheduled to appear include The Icon, Sting, Trish 11 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:52,600 Stratus, Devon Dudley, Big Vito, Legrazzo, Lita, Booker T, The 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:58,080 Hardy Boys and so much more. But get this, it will also be 13 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,680 live wrestling action. Fishing Pro wrestling champion 14 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,720 Tiffany Nieves takes on Ruthie Jay. 15 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:12,600 We also have Scotty Sosa going to be taking on the TNA Knockout 16 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,800 champion Jordan Grace. We also have the gold medalist 17 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,480 herself, the Suplex Queen herself, Tiny Funnelly. 18 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,160 She'll be in action once again folks. 19 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:29,400 World Golf Village St. Augustine, FL June 8th and 9th 20 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,600 The River City Wrestling Con River City Wrestling con.com For 21 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,560 ticket information, check it out. 22 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:45,200 That's right. You're locked in. 23 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:46,680 Look. At what we have here, folks. 24 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:51,120 To the only show that matters, the queen of the crop do gloves 25 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:52,760 wrestling. And there is no. 26 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,120 One that does it better than your house. 27 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:02,600 I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass and I'm all out 28 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:11,680 of bubble. Brothers and sisters, welcome 29 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:13,840 back to the Duke Loves Wrestling podcast. 30 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:20,080 In fact, we have the debut of a special series within Duke Loves 31 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,680 Wrestling World and every Sunday you are going to hear 32 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:29,640 conversations with one of the most accomplished wrestlers of 33 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:34,360 all time. Someone who legitimately is one 34 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,400 of the most decorated wrestlers of all time. 35 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,360 Considered one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time. 36 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:49,880 The WWE Hall of Famer himself, our favorite brother, Devon 37 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:51,080 Dudley. How you doing that, Devon? 38 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:52,160 I'm. Doing well. 39 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,320 How you doing my man? I am doing fantastic. 40 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,000 It is always great to touch base with you, man. 41 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,800 It's, it's, it's funny, over the past couple of months, you and I 42 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,120 have really developed a special relationship with each other. 43 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:07,520 Just shooting the breeze all the time. 44 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,920 Absolutely. I mean, it's been an honor and a 45 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:12,320 privilege to talk to somebody that actually knows what the 46 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:17,440 hell they're saying. Listen, don't put me over too 47 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:18,920 much, man. You know, somebody going to come 48 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:21,560 out of the woodwork and say, no, we can't stand him, Come on. 49 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,160 Listen, damned if you do, damned if you don't. 50 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,040 If you do everything good, somebody's still going to hate 51 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:28,760 you. If you do everything wrong, 52 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:29,680 they're really going to hate you. 53 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:31,880 So you know, you got to do what you got to do. 54 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,120 And don't worry about the the haters. 55 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,000 The haters will be haters regardless. 56 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:38,640 That's right. And if they're not talking about 57 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:40,640 you, then you might not be doing enough good. 58 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:42,200 So there, there's that. I love it. 59 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:43,920 Exactly. I love it when people, you know, 60 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,960 if they say bad things or do bad things, you know, like the, you 61 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:49,600 know, the dirt sheets and things like that. 62 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,200 You guys don't get it. Even if you don't like me and 63 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,440 you're sitting there saying bad things about me, you're helping 64 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,520 me to stay in social media. It's like or, or with the young, 65 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,000 with this new generation of wrestling fans, it it's just, 66 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,560 it's ridiculous that they don't figure that out. 67 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,880 And some of a lot of them don't like me, which is fine, but keep 68 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,360 saying the stuff that you're saying about me keep me in the 69 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,560 limelight and that that's going to happen. 70 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,839 Absolutely, because out of sight is out of mind. 71 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,440 So as long as they keep you, keep talking about you and what 72 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:25,520 have you, you stay on folks mind. 73 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:27,120 Can't go wrong with that. I love it. 74 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,200 I love it. Speaking of staying on folks 75 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:36,480 mind, the Dudley boys, you know the, the historic, the, the well 76 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,120 accomplished, the the Hall of Fame tag team that you formed 77 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,840 with your brother Bubba Ray Dudley. 78 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:49,000 You fellas were a trending topic this past week and you know for 79 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:54,280 an interesting reason on the Pod Meets World podcast. 80 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:58,280 OK, this is a podcast that was developed by some of the stars 81 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:00,720 of the Boy Meets World franchise. 82 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:07,520 The original version one Danielle Fishel, AKA Topanga. 83 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:14,760 She had the following to say, quote, I do have a real, it's 84 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:19,040 kind of a secret goal. At some point in my life, I want 85 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,280 to be put through a table in a wrestling ring. 86 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:28,320 End Quote. So she said that and literally 87 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,200 all over social media, folks latched onto that. 88 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,720 The Dudley boys were trending. So many people were talking 89 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,040 about it. I mean it, it's a big deal. 90 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,920 So I got to ask you, the Hall of Famer himself, 1/2 of the Dudley 91 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:45,200 Boys, Devon Dudley. What do you have to say in 92 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,480 response to Topanga? Well Topanga, I've been a very 93 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,560 big fan of yours since you know the TV show and thought you were 94 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:57,120 always a beautiful young lady and you still are to this day. 95 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,520 Most people in Hollywood who start off beautiful don't 96 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:04,280 normally end beautiful. But she's done her job very 97 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:06,960 well. She's again a fine young lady. 98 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,120 Stayed out of the media any negative publicity. 99 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,840 So this came as a complete shock to me when I heard about this. 100 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:19,320 All I got to say is I have a training facility in Winter 101 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,240 Park, FL with a ring and we have tables. 102 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,680 So, you know, if she's ready to get put to a table by the Dudley 103 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,680 boys, come on down. It'll be our honor and our 104 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,120 pleasure to do that. Have you come down, bring the 105 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,320 cameras, bring everything you possibly can to put it out there 106 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,000 that the Dudley boys put you through a table. 107 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:42,240 We would love to work with her and make that dream a reality. 108 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,960 So depending if you're listening, then you'll come on 109 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:46,160 down. Give us a call. 110 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:51,040 Follow me on Testify Devon Instagram and Twitter getting 111 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,800 excited here and let us know what you want to do and we'll 112 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,000 definitely, you know, do what we got to do to make that dream 113 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,080 happen. I love it so. 114 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,640 So there you go. The the gauntlet has been laid 115 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,080 down. The challenge has been put out 116 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,000 there. Danielle Fishel AKA Topanga Pod 117 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:14,080 Meets World folks, you can follow Devon that testified 118 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,840 Devon on your social media, Twitter and Instagram. 119 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,560 In fact, you know what, I will send a special message to you 120 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,400 folks as well just to try to bridge that gap a little faster 121 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:23,800 here. Let's make it happen. 122 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,400 You know, bring you, bring your crew out there to Devon school. 123 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,360 Let's make it happen. It would be fantastic to to give 124 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,560 Topanga her ultimate dream of being put through a table, 125 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:36,240 especially by the Dudley boys. I love it. 126 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,760 Celebrities, they're just regular people just like anybody 127 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,000 else. I mean, you're a celebrity, so 128 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,600 you can you can attest to that and what have you here. 129 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:49,040 But for you, as someone who's been a famous TV star, excellent 130 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,480 in your field, you're a Hall of Famer and what have you, who are 131 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,000 some celebrities that not only were you surprised to to learn 132 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,680 or wrestling fans, but who you've personally had really 133 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:05,560 good experiences meeting? The 86 Giants, the Championship, 134 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:12,600 Super Bowl, 86 Giants met them in New York City probably about 135 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,840 six months after being in WWE. And was it Bill Banks, I think 136 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,280 his name was? They were there at this, an 137 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,080 event that we were doing the same club that P Diddy got in 138 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,400 trouble for in New York City, which was right around the 139 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:34,200 corner from the the restaurant, the WWE restaurant at the time. 140 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:39,720 And we did an autograph signing there and the just about 141 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:45,960 everybody from the New York Giants 86 championship team was 142 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,040 there. And it kind of blew me away 143 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:49,440 because you know, I watched those guys. 144 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,760 I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, I was a Jet fan. 145 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,440 But we also, if The Jets didn't win, we also went with the 146 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,280 Giants. So I knew who they were. 147 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:04,320 And so to actually go to introduce myself and for them to 148 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:07,960 tell me I know who you are, me and my kids, we watch you all 149 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,280 the time. It blew my mind because you're 150 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:14,960 not thinking that guys that you idolized or you looked up to or 151 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:19,080 you watched would know who you were without even introducing 152 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,960 yourself to them. So that was completely honored 153 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,720 there. LL Cool J was another one when 154 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:31,880 he came to Smackdown and I believe this, if I'm looking 155 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:36,920 correctly in my mind, where this building was, I think it was in 156 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,000 Virginia, we had did a Smack Down taping. 157 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,520 He was promoting. I know, I think he was promoting 158 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:48,520 his album and a movie that he was doing. 159 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:52,080 And WWE of course, was helping him do that. 160 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,760 And I remember meeting him and him being a huge wrestling fan, 161 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:59,880 still kind of chilled, you know, LL, you know, didn't really show 162 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:03,000 excitement, but expressed it when you talk to him and how 163 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,320 much he followed, like during the Hogan and Andre era, the 164 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:10,240 Dusty Ric Flair era. I mean, he he was a definitely a 165 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,240 wrestling fan. But you hear stories about this 166 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:14,600 all the time. You hear about it with Mike 167 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:20,520 Tyson coming into WWE, doing things with the WWF and then 168 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:24,120 coming in and expressing his love for all of the people that 169 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,240 he's watched over the years. I mean, it's been truly an honor 170 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:32,960 to meet so many people over my years that have been wrestling 171 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:37,920 fans and actually showed you and told you how much of A wrestling 172 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,640 fan they were, especially of you, the individual they're 173 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,160 talking to. That's awesome. 174 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,800 And like you said, the the 86 giants who were talking about 175 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:47,360 Carl Banks. Carl Banks, Yes, I'm sorry. 176 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:50,280 He was a linebacker there. No, you were, you were right on 177 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:52,320 it there, man. And that was one of the greatest 178 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,400 defenses of all time. I mean, they had, you know, the 179 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:59,760 the man literally considered one of the greatest football players 180 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,000 of all time at any position, Lt. Lawrence Taylor. 181 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:04,040 Right. Yeah. 182 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:06,600 But Lt. too. Yeah, he was great because, you 183 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,880 know, he had the experience with Bam Bam Bigelow in WrestleMania 184 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,320 coming out and doing his thing. So, you know, he was a huge 185 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,160 wrestling fan even before he did that. 186 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:20,280 So, you know, he said it was an honor for Vince at the time to 187 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:22,280 have asked him to be a part of WrestleMania. 188 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,560 How all of that went down. And that's one of the greatest 189 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,360 matches of all time. I mean Bam Bam Bigelow for for a 190 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:34,520 guy his size to be able to put Lt. in a position to look that 191 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:36,320 good in a match, that was incredible. 192 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,040 Well, again, I mean, I, I don't think people gave Bam Bam the 193 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:43,960 credit that he actually deserved and what he did in the ring. 194 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:48,680 I mean, I noticed him really in the things that he was able to 195 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:53,120 do to help people was when he was in ECW, you know, when he 196 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,120 was part of the triple threat, Shane Douglas, Chris Candido, 197 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:01,760 the original triple threat, the original guys that held up the 198 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:05,240 three fingers, which is where Bub and I got it from. 199 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:09,800 And then of course, John Cena took it and now Bianca Bel Air 200 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,320 and Jay Conwell, they're doing it now. 201 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:17,480 So, you know, it's amazing how you know, it starts way back 202 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,880 when and still now relevant to this day. 203 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,000 That's right. That's you talk about telling 204 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:23,400 the history. That's that's awesome. 205 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:26,640 I didn't even realize that you got that from the triple threat. 206 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,640 You know, that's that's amazing. Absolutely. 207 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,040 I remember, you know, in the very beginning I I looked at I I 208 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,600 would see Shane Douglas like, look, I hope you don't have an 209 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,840 offense to us using the, you know, please and this. 210 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,880 And I think Bam Bam had already passed and Candido had had 211 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:45,080 already passed. He was like Devon. 212 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:46,640 No, he was like, he's like, it's an honor. 213 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:52,760 I think anyone who gets mad or goes on social media, and I'm 214 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:58,440 not saying any names that gets mad about people using things 215 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:02,160 that you might have used back in the day that made it popular, 216 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:06,560 Why get mad, feel honored. Well, they didn't ask me if it 217 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:08,320 was OK. Really. 218 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,160 If they've never met you or seen you, why would they? 219 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,400 How would they do that be honored that they're paying, you 220 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,360 know, homage to you and that's I've always thought that even 221 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:26,240 with, you know, people using 3D, the Usos, Cesaro and Seamus 222 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:30,600 during a house show one time that I was producing at that 223 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,760 time, you know, asked me he's like, do you mind if we use 224 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,320 three DI was like, absolutely. Please, by all means, do it. 225 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,200 Because you know, again, you're introducing this new generation 226 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:47,600 that might not even know who the Dudleys are, but they know who 227 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,400 Seamus and Cesaro are. They know who the Usos are 228 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,040 because this is their generation. 229 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:56,120 So by all means, if you can introduce that to them, yes, 230 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:58,200 please. It's my honest, my privilege, 231 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:00,400 and I'm sure Bubba feels the same way. 232 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:06,040 You don't knock the new generation for paying homage to 233 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:10,520 yourself and what you've done over the years, because that 234 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,200 could backfire very easily. Sure. 235 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:14,840 Again, out of sight and out of mind. 236 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:19,280 If you, if you knock the the new generation for picking up the 237 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,680 baton and carrying it, you put yourself in a position where 238 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,920 maybe they never make reference to you. 239 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:30,080 The fact that you just said that you got that those three fingers 240 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,280 from the triple threat. For all these young folks who 241 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,600 are listening right now who did not grow up watching ECW, they 242 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,400 weren't even born when it was happening, They may go back and 243 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,000 Google what the triple threat is. 244 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:45,800 And. Now you just exposed them to a 245 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:51,040 whole point in time in his in history, right where they can go 246 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:52,760 back and learn more about Bam Bam. 247 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,320 Learn more about Chris Candido, 2 great wrestlers, learn about 248 00:14:56,320 --> 00:15:00,040 Shane Douglas who at one time he's one of the the best. 249 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,320 In fact, I think he was rookie of the year when he first broke 250 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:05,280 into the business. Not only that, and on the mic, I 251 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,760 mean, he really developed his craft in CW. 252 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:12,800 He didn't, you know, he had his falling outs and whatever 253 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,440 happened in WWE when he was the Dean. 254 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:21,560 But when he left there and pretty much went to ECW W Paul 255 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:26,720 Heyman gave him the privilege to be able to go out there and be 256 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,560 Shane Douglas. And that's exactly what he did. 257 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,600 He was able to go out there and really, you know, create that 258 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,760 character. And it was probably at that time 259 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,040 during an ECW, probably one of the most hated villains next to 260 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:44,320 the Dudley's at the time, Yeah. Yeah, hated so much that he 261 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,520 ended up becoming beloved, you know, just like the Dudley's. 262 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,400 That's that's that's an irony in that there, folks, definitely 263 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,240 don't don't hesitate. Go out of your way to check out 264 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,760 some of Shane Douglas's stuff, especially from those ECW years. 265 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:01,400 He, he made the promo that sparked the Revolution, where it 266 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:07,560 went from, you know, an N.W.A affiliate to a standalone, you 267 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,680 know, remember that, remember that. 268 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,080 You know, it's, it's funny when we think about these, these 269 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:18,920 moments in history and how it can affect what happens going 270 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:23,240 forward. One move that the WWE made. 271 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,640 And I wanted to get your thoughts on this, Devon. 272 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,920 They decided a few years back that they were going to start 273 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:33,320 doing business in Saudi Arabia. And that was at a time where 274 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:35,520 they received a lot of criticism for that. 275 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:37,720 You don't want to do business with them. 276 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,120 And how can you do that? And, you know, politically it 277 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,280 may not be good and that might hurt business and yadda, yadda, 278 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:44,680 yadda. All these naysayers and what 279 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,160 have you. Despite the fact that the 280 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:51,480 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in terms of a nation, they have been an 281 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,440 ally with the United States for for years and years and years. 282 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:59,000 When you go back, you look at that history, they legitimately 283 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,760 are one of our strongest allies. And we make a lot of money doing 284 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:07,119 business with them as a country. But you want to criticize a a 285 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,560 company for doing business with them that that never really made 286 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:15,480 sense to me, but it was a shrewd business move that the WWE made. 287 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,560 And Russell Nomics, you know, Brandon Howard Thurston the 288 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,319 third, he has that that brand and I want to shout them out. 289 00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:24,760 Folks, definitely check this stuff out on social media. 290 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:26,560 They have a podcast you can listen to. 291 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:31,160 Brandon does a lot of hard work in in analyzing the economics of 292 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,760 pro wrestling, especially WWE, since it's a publicly traded 293 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,080 company. Wrestlnomics put together a 294 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:43,720 graphic in which they showed how much money WWE has made in the 295 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,840 40 year history of WrestleMania. So they gathered a lot of 296 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:53,120 information from various sources here and it says every 297 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:58,200 WrestleMania ticket sale ever in its forty year history, adjusted 298 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:04,600 for inflation, WWE has made about $338 million. 299 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:09,400 OK, that's the estimate on that. In 40 years of Wrestlemanias all 300 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:15,960 ticket sales and what have you in comparison, since 2018 when 301 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,800 WWE has been going over to Saudi Arabia and hosting these events, 302 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,520 which is sponsored by the government of Saudi Arabia. 303 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:30,200 There's been eleven of these events, $550 million have 304 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:35,080 already been raised from going over to Saudi Arabia since 2018 305 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:39,400 of putting on these events. So, you know, that's over $200 306 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:43,640 million more from 11 events as opposed to WrestleMania, which 307 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:47,960 in over 40 years they've gotten an estimated $338 million. 308 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,600 I want to ask you, Devon, just what are your thoughts about 309 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,760 that? Do do you feel that WWE made the 310 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,160 right move starting to do these events over in Saudi Arabia? 311 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:03,560 You know, my thing is, why not? We're not at war with Saudi 312 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:09,120 Arabia, you know. So if the Saudis have all that 313 00:19:09,120 --> 00:19:12,480 money that they're willing to burn for us to come over there 314 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:17,000 and to entertain the people of Saudi Arabia, why not? 315 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,440 I thought we were in the business of making money, not 316 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,720 holding grudges about what you think, you know? 317 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:29,520 So why not go over there and make some money? 318 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:33,240 Why not go over there and be able to feed your families and 319 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:35,280 to make history with numbers like that? 320 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,160 I mean, look, wrestle Mania did an excellent job over the years 321 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,600 over the 40 wrestle Manias that we've had. 322 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,280 But look at the little bit of shorter time that we've been in 323 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,600 Saudi Arabia, the money that we've made over there. 324 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,520 I mean, think of the the payday when people have come in The Who 325 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:58,000 were past legends and made one huge payday just off that one 326 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,080 night being in Saudi Arabia. Hell, I wish I would have you 327 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:05,040 know one person I read somewhere. 328 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:10,160 And it was about the whole Vince McMahon thing that's going on, 329 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:15,280 got on somebody and I got to try to make this the statement 330 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,680 accurate. I'm almost positive when I say 331 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:19,080 this, This is exactly what was said. 332 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:24,960 They basically got on the person that basically worked for the 333 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,800 company during Vince's time. And when a question was asked 334 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:34,040 about Vince McMahon, you know, the person said, you know, well, 335 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,280 I don't have any ill feelings towards Vince. 336 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:43,080 If these accusations are true, then yes, he needs to pay for 337 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:44,960 his actions. In other words, he needs to go 338 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:46,240 through whatever he's going through. 339 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,720 But if it's not, then he needs to be vindicated and get out of 340 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:52,960 this. So my thing, but the one and 341 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,240 then somebody said, well, you know, you would say that about 342 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,560 this guy 'cause you worked for him and this and that you didn't 343 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,000 care about the money when he was raping all of these people. 344 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:04,480 Number one, we don't know about these allegations, whether 345 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:07,400 they're true or not. It still hasn't been to trial 346 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,320 yet. Everybody's waiting and 347 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:13,080 anticipating, you know, biting your fingernails, hoping to get 348 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,480 the actual truth on what's going on. 349 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,680 No one has that thought yet. But you can't knock somebody for 350 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:24,400 working for someone who made them money to help feed their 351 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,320 family, put food on the table, clothes on their backs. 352 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,960 I mean, that person that said that that got on the person for 353 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,840 not wanting to bury Vince and said, oh, well, I guess not. 354 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,240 I mean, you would, you know, you took his money and blah, blah, 355 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:39,600 blah. And if you were in that 356 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,600 position, you would have done the same thing as well. 357 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,880 You would have taken the money even in those accusations at 358 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,880 that time weren't even out yet. These accusations are brand new. 359 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:56,080 So whatever was done in the past, we didn't know about it. 360 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,280 You know, we're working for the company of the WWE. 361 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,680 That was our dream. Anybody who's been in the 362 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,440 wrestling business or has watched the wrestling business 363 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,360 and wanted to be a part of it, your ultimate dream was to work 364 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,280 in the WWEI don't care who you are. 365 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,240 That's what you wanted. And if you say you didn't, 366 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,280 you're lying. I'm not saying you didn't want 367 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:21,000 to go to Japan or WCW or any other places, but the ultimate 368 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,080 goal was the WWE. That's the grandfather of them 369 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,880 all. It's foolish to put it on 370 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:30,640 somebody in terms of saying because you took the money in 371 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,240 the past because he paid you a good amount of money, so of 372 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:34,360 course you're going to defend them. 373 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:39,200 No, wait until the accusations are proven without a shadow of a 374 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,440 doubt and then make those assumptions. 375 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:48,600 So leave the WWE alone. Going over there and wanting to 376 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,200 make money and provide for the company as well as the talent 377 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,400 that's over there. You know, they open their doors 378 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,120 to us and they have welcomed us with open arms. 379 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,280 And the one thing I love about the Saudis is that they love 380 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,520 nostalgia. They love the older wrestlers 381 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:10,800 because that's what built this company today was the blood, 382 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,400 sweat and tears in the back of yesterday's wrestlers. 383 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:20,160 So you know, before you fans sit up there and make these comments 384 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:24,720 and say the things that you say, understand what's going on, 385 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,160 understand the business aspect. It's not just what you see on 386 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,360 TV, but it's all the stuff that's behind the scenes as 387 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:33,720 well. Get your biz, get your facts 388 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:36,280 straight and know what's going on before you open your mouth. 389 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,080 And that's the sad part about today on social media. 390 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:42,680 Well said. Well said. 391 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,920 And I mean, listen, I'll, I'll piggyback a little bit on that 392 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:46,720 there. There's a big difference between 393 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:52,320 rumors and blind items as opposed to someone literally 394 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:56,080 bringing a lawsuit, putting their name on it, pursuing legal 395 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:00,160 action, and even there, there's a difference between a lawsuit 396 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,880 and a conviction. So no one is out here trying to 397 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:06,240 defend or make excuses or anything like that. 398 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,840 Certainly not. But I will say this, in the 399 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:13,400 United States of America, we have a Constitution that says 400 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:15,960 everyone is innocent until proven guilty. 401 00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,440 But you don't, you were going there with that. 402 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,360 But I have to say this and you and I both know in the United 403 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:23,320 States that is not the case here. 404 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,360 You are guilty until you are proven innocent. 405 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,720 And that has seems to be the key always here in the United 406 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,600 States. With that being said, you know, 407 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:37,320 again, I'm not defending at all anything that has been alleged 408 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,000 about the man. I'm just saying let it go 409 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,400 through the court system first. Let it be proven before you make 410 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,040 these accusations and before you condemn people. 411 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:54,160 Then, and only then, will you be justified in what you're saying 412 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,760 verbally. Well said, well said. 413 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:01,280 And I agree 100%. Again, you know you, how would 414 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,520 you want to be treated? That's what I always say. 415 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:08,240 You know, if if you're in a position and you're saying 416 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:10,680 something is true or something is not true, how would you want 417 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,280 to be treated? And that should apply to how you 418 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,160 treat others and, and how you look at others. 419 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,280 And, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll leave it there. 420 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,000 Certainly, you know, next time we get together, Devon will 421 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,080 definitely talk about King and Queen of the Ring. 422 00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:26,720 You know, the latest event happening in Saudi Arabia. 423 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,360 It's it's going to be an exciting event. 424 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,080 People are very excited about that to see what happens next, 425 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:34,480 because the winner of King of the Ring and the winner of Queen 426 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,640 of the Ring will get the title shot at summer Slam. 427 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,360 So, you know, stakes are high. Hey, I think it's great. 428 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:48,280 You know, the king of the ring has always been, in my opinion, 429 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:56,120 a pay-per-view that hasn't really given the right, what's 430 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:59,000 the word I'm looking for publicity that it should be 431 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,600 because, you know, it's been known in history that if you won 432 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,160 the king of the ring and now the queen of the ring, you were 433 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,240 gonna be pushed to the moon. You were going. 434 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,520 That was your ticket to saying, OK, this person is now the 435 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:16,560 person that we're gonna put the rocket on and we're gonna fly 436 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,720 him out there and see what what what goes on. 437 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,280 That is such a huge pay-per-view. 438 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,600 Just the fact that, you know, it's taking place and it's out 439 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,880 in in another country by any means. 440 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:32,200 I mean, that's huge, you know, and I can't wait to see the 441 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,400 numbers. I can't wait to get the reaction 442 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,680 from the fans and just the world in general. 443 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:43,440 You know, WWE is doing great things and it's no secret I've 444 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,840 always been a WWE guy and an ECW W guy. 445 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:48,880 And I said this last time on your podcast. 446 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,400 You know, I've always been, that has always been my home. 447 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,880 Even when we said farewell to the Dudley's on Monday Night Raw 448 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:03,600 after our second run, I made it clear that the WWE is my home 449 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:09,280 and it will always be my home. So yes to all the 8 AEW strong 450 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:14,320 hearts yes, it is my home. It is the place where I grew up 451 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:19,400 watching pro wrestling and it's the place that I would I'd love 452 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:24,600 to end my career in. You know, a lot of AEW fans 453 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:30,360 don't understand that it's gotta be a EWAEW yes, a EW is a good 454 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:32,840 organization. I, I love the talent that's 455 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,400 there, but for me, I've never worked for them. 456 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:41,920 So I don't know what that organization is all about. 457 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,960 I do know the organization that I do know, which is the WWE and 458 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,480 very happy that I've been a part of them for over 20 years. 459 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:55,480 Whether it been talent OR whether it had been a producer, 460 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,000 you know, I had a tremendous time there and hopefully that 461 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,360 time will continue. We'll see what happens, but in 462 00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:06,120 that aspect, and that's as a producer, that is, as a 463 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:08,400 producer. The WWE is a young man's sport 464 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,040 now, so I can't get my old butt in that ring no more and play 465 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:14,360 with those guys. I mean, I could, but I don't 466 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:17,760 think the people want to see that as much, you know? 467 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,200 Besides, I wouldn't want to take anything away from the younger 468 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,080 talent. You know, again, I would love to 469 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:25,760 help out as much as I can, whether it be in the ring to 470 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:30,800 help them with their matches to get over or definitely as a 471 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,960 producer for them. I had so much fun as a producer 472 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,560 in WWE. I can only imagine what it would 473 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:43,120 be like being under the ruling of Paul Levesque, Triple H. 474 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:47,120 Well said, well said. And listen, you, you brought it 475 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:48,760 up. This is a great transition here 476 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:50,520 'cause I did want to get your thoughts on this. 477 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:59,280 AEW, they continue to have these challenges with their ratings. 478 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,680 And you know, folks, Full disclosure, you know that I am 479 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:04,880 one of the people who have led the charge. 480 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,400 The Nielsen ratings are not completely accurate. 481 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,280 They have a small sample size of people that they get their 482 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,720 information from. They have lost their 483 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,920 accreditation in the past because they were, they were not 484 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:21,440 accurately counting black and brown households. 485 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:23,040 You know, I've been on the record on that. 486 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,400 I was actually a a Nielsen household myself. 487 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:28,320 So I could speak from experience on how that goes. 488 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,800 But with that said, Tony Khan, who's a big numbers guy, he's a 489 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,600 big analytics guy. He has always pointed out that 490 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:40,440 his key audience, the folks that he's trying to attract the most 491 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:46,120 are the key demo and they're primarily who, who's the quote 492 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,320 UN quote key demo. They're white males. 493 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,880 So there's no, there's no challenge there in terms of 494 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,920 being, you know, inaccurate with how many people are watching AEW 495 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,400 because if you're getting that information correctly, they, 496 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:00,400 they never mess up that information. 497 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:05,200 And unfortunately for AEW, this this past Wednesday, their 498 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:12,040 flagships show Dynamite, it did 713,000 viewers on average. 499 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:19,080 Now that's up from the previous week, which was only 672,000 500 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:23,000 viewers. But you know, currently they're, 501 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,200 they're in bad shape, man. I mean, when you compare where 502 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:31,240 they were just a year ago in May, 847,000 viewers is what 503 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,800 they were averaging a year ago. So they're down about 17% 504 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,520 because they're only pulling in about 700,000 on average for the 505 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:42,440 month of May and in in quarter two, you know, they're, they're 506 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:47,920 only averaging about 727 thousand as opposed to 855,000 507 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:52,680 viewers in quarter 2 of 2023. So that's, that's 15% drop 508 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,240 there. All this is according to 509 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,440 Wrestlnomics. Once again, I'm plugging them. 510 00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,760 Check out their, their podcast, check out their social media 511 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,440 Wrestlnomics there. But I want to get your thoughts 512 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:07,160 on this, Stevonne, at a time in the wrestling industry where WWE 513 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:11,760 is making money hand over fist, they are actually expanding 514 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,760 partnerships everywhere. Everyone wants WWE on their 515 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,720 their television networks. Everyone wants to do business 516 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,560 with them. They they got a show on Twitter 517 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,040 called Speed. So they're doing all these 518 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,760 innovative things here. AEW continues to drop. 519 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:29,400 They continue to lose market share, lose viewership and what 520 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,200 have you. What do you think of that just 521 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:33,960 from a general standpoint there, Devon? 522 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:39,600 Well, you know. Wrong time, wrong place for Tony 523 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:48,280 Kahn to make the analogy about AW being a Pepsi of the pro 524 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,240 wrestling business and WWE being a Harvey Wolstein. 525 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:53,880 Wolstein, how do you say his name? 526 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,920 It was the wrong time. And you know, a grant you 527 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:05,600 because of somebody who wants owned the company who no longer 528 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,640 works in the company or owns or has any shares in it no longer. 529 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:15,000 And they've done a great job in trying to erase all of that. 530 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,160 There was no need to bring that up. 531 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:22,400 Now to me, if you ask me, I think it actually backfired in 532 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:27,240 his face for saying that. Because now look at what WWE is 533 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,640 doing and look at what his show is doing. 534 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,560 Now, who's the Pepsi of the wrestling business? 535 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:39,680 Although I like Coca-Cola, but still, who's the Pepsi of the 536 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:41,720 wrestling business? Now, if you want to say that the 537 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:48,840 numbers don't lie, Ken AEW. And I was thinking about this. 538 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,600 Because I heard a podcast, Ken AEW, you have WWE who does 539 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:58,520 back-to-back sold out events at WrestleMania and then goes and 540 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,880 does Monday Night Raw the. Arena right next door. 541 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:05,520 To it and sells out there. Can AEW do that? 542 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,320 Can you do 80,000 two nights in a row? 543 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:14,800 80,000 plus whatever the number was in Philadelphia back-to-back 544 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:19,040 at WrestleMania. Can AEW go do that twice in a 545 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:23,120 row and then go to Monday Night Raw and fill up that arena where 546 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,680 they had to make the screen a little smaller on the titantron 547 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:31,480 just to add more seats to sell more tickets and sold it out? 548 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:34,840 They're doing great numbers. They're doing great things. 549 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:39,960 Instead of worrying about taking shots at the WWE, maybe you 550 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,440 should concentrate on your in house. 551 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:47,000 Maybe you should concentrate on the inmates running the asylum 552 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:51,080 because there seems to be a lot of turmoil going on within the 553 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:53,800 company where certain people aren't happy. 554 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,640 How about fixing that first before you start making cracks 555 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,680 at somebody else? And again, I like a W I I you 556 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:06,560 know, I think it's great. Every business football. 557 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,719 Business. Basketball, baseball, NHL. 558 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,840 We all need competition. Competition is great. 559 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:18,000 Competition is what's going to keep the WWE on their toes and 560 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:21,080 vice versa. So as long as you're trying to 561 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:26,600 outdo each other in a fair and respectful way, then it's good 562 00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,000 for business because you're going to always try to top it. 563 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,719 And that means you're going to give the people great 564 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,560 entertainment, which is great across the board. 565 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,600 But the minute you start name bashing and doing all of that 566 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,080 crap, it's going to come wind up biting you in the behind. 567 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,480 And correct me if I'm wrong, I think that's what I'm seeing 568 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:45,880 right now. You know, there was no need to 569 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,159 say that it was the wrong platform to do it on this. 570 00:34:48,159 --> 00:34:51,840 Let's get the NFL draft. What were you thinking? 571 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,320 You know, and again, I met Tony Khan on three separate occasions 572 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:00,200 and he's not a bad guy. I just think that he doesn't 573 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:03,480 have the right people in order. Look, I don't know who's running 574 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,600 the asylum in terms of the in house. 575 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:08,960 I don't know. But all I know is if you don't 576 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:12,920 have wrestling minds, great wrestling minds that have made 577 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:18,360 money, made history and that has done things in this business to 578 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:23,000 produce history and to make people know that that company is 579 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,400 going places, you're not going to make it. 580 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:27,840 It's just as simple as that. I'm sorry. 581 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:32,040 You know, you had Pat Patterson and Vince is there, you know, 582 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,960 Michael Hayes, Triple H, the list goes on on. 583 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,280 You had students of the game that has made money and has done 584 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:43,640 things that has been able to create history and things that 585 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:49,000 we still talk about to this day. You know, I don't see that on 586 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,040 that side. Not people that made money or 587 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,400 made history like they have on the WWE side. 588 00:35:55,680 --> 00:36:00,360 So again, what are you bringing to the table by listening to 589 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:03,920 people that haven't done that? You got to stop doing that. 590 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:05,800 I mean, that's that. I think that's first and 591 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,000 foremost. And again, I think everybody 592 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:13,040 wants to see AEW succeed. I think everybody wants them to 593 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,760 definitely be in direct competition with WWE 'cause 594 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:21,160 everybody, you know, knows how much fun it was to flip back and 595 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:25,840 forth from your TV sets when WCW was going at it with WWE during 596 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:29,080 the Monday Night Wars. It was a good time back then. 597 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:32,200 Business was up, people were happy, they were entertained. 598 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,480 You know, whether it be Devon get the tables, you know what's 599 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:41,800 up, or you know, Degeneration X Suck It, or you know, rest in 600 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,200 peace, it doesn't matter. We were entertained. 601 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:47,320 We knew the catchphrases, we knew the people, we knew the 602 00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:52,000 people from the opening match. To the main event. 603 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,520 To the close of the match. And that's what you have to have 604 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,480 nowadays. So Tony needs to concentrate on 605 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:01,960 how to get that company back to where it once was when it first 606 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:04,760 started because it seems like the helium has been let out of 607 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,040 the balloon. And it's a shame because you 608 00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:11,600 have so much talent in that company that is that are that 609 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,800 are great. And again, I said this on your 610 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,120 podcast before. If you have somebody like Paul 611 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:21,240 Heyman over there running it and doing it, there's no telling 612 00:37:21,240 --> 00:37:22,720 where that company would be right now. 613 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:28,280 He would have everything in order, everything, just like he 614 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,600 did ECW. He took a bunch of nobodies that 615 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:40,320 nobody wanted and ECW at the time when WCW and WWE were in 616 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:44,440 existence, nobody wanted us. He took us and made us into 617 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,400 somebody. He did what nobody else could. 618 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:54,040 Can you imagine what he could do with a company like AEW and all 619 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:58,560 of the die hard AW fans? You could sit there and disagree 620 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:00,880 with me all I want and say that I don't know what I'm talking 621 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,760 about, but I've been around this business over 30 years. 622 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:05,960 I've seen the UPS and I've seen the downs. 623 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:07,920 I've been behind the scenes. I've been in front of the 624 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,200 scenes. You're looking at it from your 625 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:12,880 TV set at home. I'm looking at it from a 626 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,320 business aspect of it. Look at what Paul Levesque did 627 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:19,800 with NXT. He took nobodies that were on 628 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:22,360 the Indies and made them into somebody. 629 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:26,560 You need minds like that that's going to be able to turn that 630 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:30,080 place around and make it what it should be because there's no 631 00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,720 reason in hell why that company should be doing those type of 632 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:35,640 ratings with the talent that they have. 633 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:39,120 Oh my God, it is. It is incredible, the talent 634 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:42,640 that they have, so they should be able to do things the way 635 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:46,240 they should in terms of being on top of the world right now. 636 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,520 They just aren't. It's true, you know you. 637 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:50,320 You. Kind of sparked an interesting 638 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:54,280 discussion that's happening right now and starting to notice 639 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:59,920 a trend here because you talked about meeting with Tony Khan and 640 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:05,200 AW officials 3 separate times and just how inconsistent and 641 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:09,280 bizarre the whole experience was there on, on his podcast. 642 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:11,440 And I'm going to do it another plug here, an old friend of 643 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:15,120 yours, Bill Alfonso, he has something called the right down 644 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:17,600 the middle podcast that he just recently debuted. 645 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:22,080 And on his second episode, he talked about the fact that he 646 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:32,000 had met QT Marshall at an event and QT on behalf of AEW said 647 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:33,800 something to Fonzie. In fact, I'm, I'm going to read 648 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,400 the quote from Fonzie here. Quote. 649 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:42,000 So I was doing a show for CCW and QT Marshall was on the show. 650 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:46,480 He came up to me and he said, Fonzie, I'm QT Marshall. 651 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:50,360 I'm kind of an agent. I work for Tony Khan. 652 00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:53,520 Your name came up in production meetings. 653 00:39:54,720 --> 00:39:57,440 I said, well, what do you, what do I do? 654 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:02,240 Do I call Tony? He said no, no, just hold on, 655 00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:05,080 just hold on. I said OK. 656 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:10,920 Nothing happened. A month later I see QT Marshall 657 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:15,040 again and he says, Fonzie, your name came up again in a 658 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:19,920 production meeting at a EWI said, wow, that's great. 659 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,280 So what's what's that? What do I have to do? 660 00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:27,200 He said hold tight, let's see what happens. 661 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:31,160 So I'm holding tight. End Quote here. 662 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:36,600 So, so here we go again, where AEW officials are speaking to 663 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:42,400 folks with name value and I, you know, for lack of a better term, 664 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:45,000 it almost feels like you're stringing people along. 665 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:48,080 But at the end of the day, there's really nothing of 666 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,360 substance that is coming out of this. 667 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,480 I wonder demon, do you do you know QT Marshall? 668 00:40:55,360 --> 00:41:00,160 Well, he trained at my. School in 2008 I believe it was, 669 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:03,440 or maybe even 2009. He trained for a little bit 670 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:11,480 until Bubba threw him out. I do recall him being there and 671 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,600 his attitude and demeanor was not very light. 672 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,880 And it was a couple of times where I had to rest, not 673 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:22,640 physically restrain him. But you know, as Bubba, please 674 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,400 don't do anything crazy. Don't knock this boy in his head 675 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:27,640 and this and that 'cause you're gonna kill him if you do that. 676 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,920 You know. And because at the time, you 677 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,760 know, a lot of people back then thought he was a little pompous 678 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:39,120 kid. And you know, I kind of saw 679 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,040 certain things, but I kind of ignored it. 680 00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:45,400 Cause back then I wasn't the type of person like to call 681 00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:48,600 people out on certain things. But you know, I never really had 682 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,360 a problem with him up until recently. 683 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:55,720 He was the one. Exactly what Fonzie said is 684 00:41:55,720 --> 00:42:00,160 exactly what happened with me. In other words, my sons reached 685 00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:03,840 out to me. I never ever had any desire to 686 00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:12,320 go to a EWI know when I was at my ends with, you know, with WWE 687 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:15,640 at the time, working with Vince, I was stressed out. 688 00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:20,080 I just wasn't happy. I had asked was there any 689 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:22,600 producers role and I was, I was told no. 690 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,000 And I was like, all right, not a problem. 691 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:30,640 I was like, I'm not going to jeopardize my job with the WWE 692 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:37,000 to go somewhere else and, you know, not get what I'm, you 693 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:41,640 know, rightfully deserve. And so sometime it went by, I 694 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:44,800 think it had to be about maybe a good almost six months. 695 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:50,080 And I basically got a phone call and a text from my sons, 696 00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:56,080 Terrance and Terrell TNT saying Dad, QT Marshall wanted me to 697 00:42:56,080 --> 00:43:00,120 get in touch with you because they were talking about bringing 698 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:03,440 us in and having you as our manager. 699 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,520 And I remember saying to the boys, this was at the time I had 700 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:09,440 said I was not going back in the ring. 701 00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:14,400 I said, well, you do know that I don't want to wrestle anymore, 702 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:19,600 that I don't know if I can physically handle it anymore. 703 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:23,360 And this was right after I was having, I had the stroke and 704 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,760 then I, it was like might have been just after the back 705 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,320 surgery. And I was like, I thought I was 706 00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:31,240 done. You know, I, I really thought I 707 00:43:31,240 --> 00:43:35,360 was done at that point. But the rehab and all of that 708 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,360 did really wonders for me. And now of course, I got to plug 709 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,120 this guy. DDP Yoga is incredible. 710 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:45,480 We can get on that little later. But I told my son that said, I 711 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:47,200 don't know if I want to do that full 10. 712 00:43:47,240 --> 00:43:48,680 I said we have to sit down and talk. 713 00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:52,840 So they went back to QT and they said my dad said he would be 714 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:55,640 interested, but he needs to talk to you first before anything. 715 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:59,960 And so they said, all right, have your dad, you know, tell 716 00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:01,760 him. I said, you know, let's talk in 717 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:03,440 Orlando. We're going to be in Orlando 718 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:08,680 where TNA used to do their television show. 719 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:12,040 Same sound stage, everything and. 720 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:14,680 I said OK. I said, you know, so I I went 721 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:18,880 and I went down to Orlando, spoke to QT. 722 00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:22,920 He says, yeah, Tony, we have this idea to bring you in as a 723 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:26,200 manager for the boys and, you know, help get them over. 724 00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:30,280 I said like Billy Gunn is doing his sons and he says, yeah, I 725 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:31,800 said, OK, And I said, that's great. 726 00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:35,560 I said, I don't mind doing that. I said, you know, just as long 727 00:44:35,560 --> 00:44:37,680 as you guys know I'd rather be a producer. 728 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:40,600 I don't want to wrestle. I just rather be a producer. 729 00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:43,720 But if you want me to come and help out my sons, then I'll do 730 00:44:43,720 --> 00:44:45,400 that. I have no issues with that. 731 00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:49,560 But I am not trying to get in that ring full time and go hard 732 00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:52,840 like I used to. And he said, OK, he. 733 00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:54,320 Said, no, I completely understand that. 734 00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:57,480 We don't want that. We just want you to come in and 735 00:44:57,480 --> 00:44:59,000 help the boys out. I said perfect. 736 00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:02,000 And if you, if you want me to do that, then that's a done deal. 737 00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:06,840 And he he was like, yeah, he was like, we're going to speak with 738 00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:10,400 Tony later on tonight. He's just got a he's doing a 739 00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:13,200 couple of the show is going on now. 740 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:17,720 He's actually on headset now. So when we're done, we're going 741 00:45:17,720 --> 00:45:19,520 to take a break and then we'll meet with Tony. 742 00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:23,120 I said OK, fair enough. So I'm waiting and catering, 743 00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:26,440 waiting, waiting, nothing. Finally I get up. 744 00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:29,840 I walk inside the sound stage and I look around saying hello 745 00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:32,200 to everybody that I hadn't seen in a long time. 746 00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:35,160 People were asked me what's going on. 747 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,840 I said well they wanted to meet with me, so I don't know what's 748 00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:39,520 happening right now. I said, well, we'll see. 749 00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:43,720 Went over. QT brought me over to Tony. 750 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:46,680 Tony gets up and he says, hey, Devon, He's like, how you doing, 751 00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:47,680 man? It's great seeing you. 752 00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:50,160 I haven't seen you in years. He was like, I'm a little 753 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:51,720 different now. I'm all grown up. 754 00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:53,840 I was like, yeah, I see that said you all grown up with a lot 755 00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:56,480 of money now behind you. And he kind of laughed and this 756 00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:58,160 and that. And he was like, yeah. 757 00:45:58,160 --> 00:45:59,960 I was like, well, listen, I'll let you get back to doing what 758 00:45:59,960 --> 00:46:01,800 you're doing. We're going to talk later, 759 00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:02,720 correct? Oh, yeah, we're going to 760 00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:06,720 definitely talk later. I said, OK, not a problem that 761 00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:09,880 took place. And that that that incident just 762 00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:10,960 happened. So I was like, all right, so I'm 763 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:12,840 waiting and waiting. And then QT comes to me and 764 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,560 goes, hey, Tony's just really busy right now. 765 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:19,440 He was like, you know, maybe we can talk later. 766 00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:22,400 I said, look, that's fine. I was like, anything that's 767 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:26,200 going to help my sons out. You know, I'm I'm all for. 768 00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:30,200 It he says, all right, great. He was like, what are you 769 00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:33,560 looking to make? So I told him and he was like, 770 00:46:33,560 --> 00:46:35,360 all right, I don't see anything unreasonable about that. 771 00:46:35,360 --> 00:46:37,880 I said, you're handling this. He goes, yeah, pretty much. 772 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:40,080 I'm kind of like the, you know, leeway into it. 773 00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:42,320 I was like, all right, I said this is what I would like and I 774 00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:43,680 said I'm not asking for anything crazy. 775 00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:45,640 I just want to be here to help my sons out. 776 00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:48,160 He says OK, yeah, there's. Enough. 777 00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:48,960 He goes. I like it. 778 00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:51,320 He was like, OK, I'm going to go back and talk to Tony and then 779 00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:53,480 I'll call you back. I'll call you later on this 780 00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:54,320 week. I said OK. 781 00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:59,440 So I waited, waited, nothing. So I was talking to the boys, my 782 00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:02,360 sons, because they were going down to their training facility 783 00:47:02,680 --> 00:47:06,400 and QT was heading, heading the training facility with Billy 784 00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:09,640 Gunn. And I trust Billy, you know, So 785 00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:14,160 I wanted, even when my sons moved to Georgia, I wanted them 786 00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:18,280 to have full capability of a great mind in the business like 787 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:21,800 Billy Gunn. Cause Billy, like I said before 788 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:25,080 in your podcast, he helped run my school when Bubba and I were 789 00:47:25,080 --> 00:47:29,520 on the road lot. And so with that being said, I 790 00:47:29,520 --> 00:47:31,760 was very happy that they were going down to that school 791 00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:36,640 working with Billy Gunn. I let 2 1/2 weeks go by. 792 00:47:37,480 --> 00:47:41,200 I didn't hear anything, so I contacted QT and I was like, 793 00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:43,360 hey, QTI was like, what's going on? 794 00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:47,160 You guys still want to do business or not let me know. 795 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:49,600 Oh, yeah, we'll we'll get back to you. 796 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:51,760 We'll we'll get back to you. We're still waiting on Tony. 797 00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:55,280 I said, all right, whatever. I mean, you just let me know. 798 00:47:56,400 --> 00:48:01,280 And that was it for that in about a month and 1/2 went by me 799 00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:05,640 and my sons were talking and I said, had anything occurred? 800 00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:08,960 He's like, no, not at all. I'm like, let me give QTA quick 801 00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:12,480 text and see if this is on the table or not 'cause if not, then 802 00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:17,280 I'm just going to make plans. I'm not gonna you know, do 803 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:21,560 anything that's going to be in a waiting pattern for me. 804 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:25,600 I'm going to continue to do what I'm doing and that's it. 805 00:48:26,960 --> 00:48:29,360 And so I texted him again. I said, hey, I was like, any 806 00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:32,560 news yet? And he goes, no, nothing yet. 807 00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:35,920 He was like, but you know, give me your availability and things 808 00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:37,520 like that. So OK, I'm booked pretty much 809 00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:39,080 every week. I was like, but I'll send it to 810 00:48:39,080 --> 00:48:41,920 you. So I sent it to him and it 811 00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:45,000 started kind of like a little beef with my sons and I because 812 00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:48,200 he went back to my sons and said, you know, your dad keeps 813 00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:50,280 calling me, keeps texting me and all about. 814 00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:52,800 And I'm like, I told my son, I said, wait a minute. 815 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:59,320 I said the man is asking me to come into the company and to 816 00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:02,960 help you guys out. That's the only reason why I 817 00:49:02,960 --> 00:49:06,400 entertained this stuff. I said other than that, I can 818 00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:11,080 care less about going to a EWI said if I do go to AW, it'll be 819 00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:14,480 because of you two. No other reason. 820 00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:18,480 I said because if anything, I'd rather go back to WWEI said 821 00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:22,200 that's my home, not a EW, not Tony Kahn. 822 00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:26,720 And my son was like, no, I understand, I understand. 823 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:30,640 I was like, you know, the thing about it is I'm not sure will Q, 824 00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:34,360 will QT gets off on saying this. I'm bugging him. 825 00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:37,120 I was like you contacted my sons. 826 00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:42,160 To get in touch with. Me to come in to the company to 827 00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:45,120 help them out and now you're saying that I'm bothering you 828 00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:48,680 and I'm like, are you serious right now? 829 00:49:49,200 --> 00:49:51,280 I was like, damn it, I should have let Bubba whoop your ass 830 00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:55,160 when he wanted to and but I you know, I didn't say anything like 831 00:49:55,160 --> 00:49:57,120 that. I just, you know, I just, I kept 832 00:49:57,120 --> 00:50:05,240 to myself and some time went by and then I remember talking to 833 00:50:05,240 --> 00:50:08,200 my agent at the time who was good friends with Tony. 834 00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:12,360 And I said, do me a favor, find out if any of this is legit. 835 00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:14,040 And I told him everything I just told you. 836 00:50:14,320 --> 00:50:16,600 And he says I'll talk to him about it and see what happens. 837 00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:20,040 I said, OK, so he talked to him, he says, and Tony told him, he 838 00:50:20,040 --> 00:50:22,920 says, yes, let's meet with Devon in Montreal. 839 00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:26,360 We did want to talk to him, but I'm not sure what happened with 840 00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:28,040 that. And I said, I'll tell you what 841 00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:31,560 happened. QT Marshall happened and my 842 00:50:31,560 --> 00:50:34,280 agent goes yeah, yeah, but he wants to meet now, so I said OK, 843 00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:39,080 so we met in Montreal. And it seemed like a very. 844 00:50:39,080 --> 00:50:45,440 Positive and good meeting and then, you know, I gave some 845 00:50:45,440 --> 00:50:48,560 ideas what I would like. But he kept pursuing the fact 846 00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:51,600 that he wanted me to wrestle even after I told him. 847 00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:54,320 I said I'm not really interested in wrestling like that. 848 00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:58,760 I'll come in, do a couple of things like my son's with my 849 00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:00,080 son's. I said, but I'm not really 850 00:51:00,080 --> 00:51:03,000 interested in doing that. I was like, you know, but I'd 851 00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:05,560 rather be a producer. And he says, well, right now we 852 00:51:05,560 --> 00:51:07,560 don't have any producers roles open. 853 00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:11,560 He was like, but I'll be more than happy to, you know, check 854 00:51:11,560 --> 00:51:14,120 and see what's going on. I said, OK, I said not a 855 00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:15,480 problem. I said we could do that. 856 00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:18,640 I said you just let me know. I said, but understand, I don't 857 00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:21,080 want to go full time. I just want to be like a manager 858 00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:25,600 slash 6 man tag. Anything like that is good, I 859 00:51:25,600 --> 00:51:28,120 said, but not, you know, full time wrestling. 860 00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:30,560 Not a problem at all. You're good to go. 861 00:51:30,560 --> 00:51:31,600 Yeah, we're good. We're good. 862 00:51:31,640 --> 00:51:33,720 Thank you. I even told him I said let me go 863 00:51:33,720 --> 00:51:39,040 around and help out with like, ambassadorship, like going 864 00:51:39,040 --> 00:51:41,920 around when you need somebody to help plug the company and go 865 00:51:41,920 --> 00:51:44,400 down there and help you. You know, I can go down and, 866 00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:47,200 and, and go to these places, sign autographs and do whatever 867 00:51:47,200 --> 00:51:48,920 you want me to do to help do this with you. 868 00:51:49,680 --> 00:51:52,560 And he pretty much says, I thought it was a great idea. 869 00:51:52,560 --> 00:51:55,080 Oh yeah, it's great. And I said also I have a 870 00:51:55,080 --> 00:51:58,560 training facility in Winter Park, so if you need somebody to 871 00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:04,000 have extra training without being like one-on-one type of 872 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:09,200 training, I said send send him to me and in Winter Park and 873 00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:11,800 I'll work with him. Oh, I think that's fantastic. 874 00:52:11,800 --> 00:52:13,120 Great, great. I love it. 875 00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:16,840 Alright, great. Shook hands and that was it. 876 00:52:16,840 --> 00:52:20,200 Thought the meeting went good. Then he was like let's meet in 877 00:52:20,200 --> 00:52:22,560 Orlando. So it's another show in Orlando. 878 00:52:23,200 --> 00:52:26,560 And I said, OK, let's do that. And I was like, why do we need 879 00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:31,120 to have a third meeting? I was like the first one, the 880 00:52:31,120 --> 00:52:34,160 second one looked pretty good, so why not just go up for that? 881 00:52:34,160 --> 00:52:38,920 But I didn't say anything. So we met in Orlando and I 882 00:52:38,920 --> 00:52:43,240 basically was told at that point we don't have anything as a 883 00:52:43,240 --> 00:52:45,920 producer and blah, blah, blah. But I'll get you some dates to 884 00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:48,720 bring your sons in and, you know, we'll get some dates for 885 00:52:48,720 --> 00:52:51,200 you to clear your schedule, and that'd be great. 886 00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:53,120 And then we can get your boys rocking and rolling. 887 00:52:53,600 --> 00:52:55,760 And I was like, all right, you know, fantastic. 888 00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:59,800 But yet when he told me there was no producer's role 889 00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:03,280 available, he had already hired three people that I know of in 890 00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:06,520 that producer's role, which I was very happy for them. 891 00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:08,320 But at the same token, don't lie to me. 892 00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:12,480 And when you go and hire people that I know, but I said, 893 00:53:12,480 --> 00:53:14,920 remember, I didn't come to you asking for a job. 894 00:53:14,920 --> 00:53:17,840 You came to me asking me to come to your company with my sons 895 00:53:18,240 --> 00:53:20,040 because you were talking about getting my sons in. 896 00:53:20,640 --> 00:53:23,880 I had not wasn't even thinking about you guys know where you 897 00:53:23,880 --> 00:53:28,080 are, my radar. And all of a sudden, you know, 898 00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:30,840 this goes down and then nothing happened. 899 00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:34,000 And so I called my trainer, I called my agent. 900 00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:35,960 I said, hey, listen, I was like, what's going on with this thing 901 00:53:35,960 --> 00:53:37,200 with Tony? He was like, I don't know, let 902 00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:38,840 me check. And it will always seem to be 903 00:53:38,840 --> 00:53:42,320 like there was a run around. So finally I said. 904 00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:44,800 Look, Terrance and Terrell I. Said I'm sorry, I said I can't 905 00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:46,000 deal with business with this man. 906 00:53:46,040 --> 00:53:48,120 I was like, he's all over the place. 907 00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:53,360 He doesn't have the right people guiding him or helping him. 908 00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:57,040 I can't be a part of this. I was like, I'm sorry, I really 909 00:53:57,040 --> 00:53:58,960 am. I said but I'm going to have to 910 00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:00,640 decline on this. And I told my agent, I said if 911 00:54:00,640 --> 00:54:02,800 they come to you, give you dates, tell him I said thank 912 00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:05,680 you, but no thank you. I'm not interested anymore. 913 00:54:06,040 --> 00:54:12,120 And I walked away. That is, that is as. 914 00:54:12,120 --> 00:54:15,080 Detailed as a telling of a stories you're going to get 915 00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:17,920 folks and again, this is somebody who is speaking from 916 00:54:17,920 --> 00:54:21,840 first hand experience. This isn't rumors this isn't he 917 00:54:21,840 --> 00:54:24,200 says she said this is legitimately this is what 918 00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:25,720 happened. I was there. 919 00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:28,880 This is what happened and if if if Fonzie. 920 00:54:28,880 --> 00:54:32,480 Is saying this and I believe it because it was done to me, you 921 00:54:32,480 --> 00:54:34,960 know, don't come again. You're having people that work 922 00:54:34,960 --> 00:54:38,320 within your organization that is talking on your behalf, but yet 923 00:54:38,320 --> 00:54:41,000 that shouldn't be and they should not be in the position 924 00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:44,120 that they're in. This is why the company is not 925 00:54:44,120 --> 00:54:47,320 going to make it as far because you've got to stop this 926 00:54:47,320 --> 00:54:49,480 nonsense. You got to stop the growing 927 00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:53,680 pains in order for you to get ahead and to be even in any way, 928 00:54:53,680 --> 00:54:57,760 shape or form directly in competition with the WWE. 929 00:54:57,920 --> 00:55:00,160 You got to clear house. You got to do what you got to do 930 00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:02,680 to get people that know what they're saying and know what 931 00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:05,000 they're doing and how to handle business correctly. 932 00:55:05,480 --> 00:55:06,880 Well said. Well said my. 933 00:55:06,920 --> 00:55:08,560 Goodness gracious. Listen folks. 934 00:55:09,160 --> 00:55:12,120 Yvonne Dudley, like he said before, there was a period in 935 00:55:12,120 --> 00:55:14,040 his life where he didn't like calling people out. 936 00:55:14,800 --> 00:55:16,520 He was trying to take a different path. 937 00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:19,800 He's learned through experience that sometimes, you know what? 938 00:55:19,800 --> 00:55:22,280 You just got to stand firm and just say, say the thing. 939 00:55:22,760 --> 00:55:26,800 And certainly here on these special conversations, you're 940 00:55:26,800 --> 00:55:30,000 going to hear Devon Dudley like you've never heard him before. 941 00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:35,840 Say the things, OK, Unfiltered, straight to the point, no games. 942 00:55:36,080 --> 00:55:38,520 Still a gentleman, though, when he says it, which I, I 943 00:55:38,520 --> 00:55:40,440 appreciate there. You, you, you have a way with 944 00:55:40,440 --> 00:55:42,720 words, Devon, that folks really enjoy. 945 00:55:43,000 --> 00:55:45,520 We've gotten such a tremendous response since you've been 946 00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:48,320 coming on the show here and, and it's pretty cool there. 947 00:55:48,720 --> 00:55:51,400 You know, in fact, what's the best way people can reach out to 948 00:55:51,400 --> 00:55:52,600 you, Devon? If they want to follow you 949 00:55:52,600 --> 00:55:55,600 personally, what have you? Well, they can go to testify. 950 00:55:55,600 --> 00:55:59,040 Devon on Instagram. I just started going back to 951 00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:03,160 Twitter a little bit here and there, not too much, but I'm 952 00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:06,360 really on Instagram a lot, so you can inbox me there. 953 00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:10,440 And all you AEW hate fans out there that like to hate on 954 00:56:10,440 --> 00:56:13,200 people that don't agree with everything that you hate. 955 00:56:13,520 --> 00:56:15,760 Sure, you can come on my you can come on my Instagram and talk 956 00:56:15,800 --> 00:56:18,160 too. But again, I'm not sitting up 957 00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:21,320 there burying the company. I'm just sitting up there saying 958 00:56:21,360 --> 00:56:23,080 we want to see the company succeed. 959 00:56:23,080 --> 00:56:27,880 We want to see them become either the number, the number 960 00:56:27,880 --> 00:56:30,920 two company or I don't think they'll ever be #1 because 961 00:56:30,920 --> 00:56:35,480 again, WWE has been around for so long and has held that 962 00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:38,160 position for so long. I just don't see it happening. 963 00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:41,240 But we would love to see you in direct competition with the 964 00:56:41,240 --> 00:56:43,360 company. But you know, you have to clean 965 00:56:43,360 --> 00:56:45,680 your in house first. You got to clean in house first 966 00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:48,040 in order to make that happen. That's all we're saying. 967 00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:53,960 So let these guys who the talent that's in AW, let them shine the 968 00:56:53,960 --> 00:56:57,440 way they should because you have some great talent there. 969 00:56:57,440 --> 00:57:00,720 Let them shine. Let them be who they are, give 970 00:57:00,720 --> 00:57:04,680 them good storylines, give them great matches and let them 971 00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:07,200 flourish the way they should. And I guarantee you won't have 972 00:57:07,200 --> 00:57:09,320 that. So sure, we can talk about that 973 00:57:10,080 --> 00:57:13,080 and you know, love the, you know, shoot the shit or what 974 00:57:13,080 --> 00:57:15,360 have you with you guys. So again, testify Devon on 975 00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:17,360 Instagram and testify Devon on Twitter. 976 00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:22,120 Monday is Memorial Day. I know that you're a person who 977 00:57:22,120 --> 00:57:25,600 has never been shy expressing yourself about our veterans and 978 00:57:25,600 --> 00:57:27,520 your love and appreciation for them. 979 00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:30,960 So do you have anything to add about Memorial Day? 980 00:57:31,560 --> 00:57:33,280 Absolutely. You know it's a day to. 981 00:57:33,280 --> 00:57:38,360 Celebrate the fallen soldiers and the people that are in the 982 00:57:38,360 --> 00:57:42,560 special services now, not just hot dogs and hamburgers and 983 00:57:42,560 --> 00:57:44,240 going to the beach and doing all of that. 984 00:57:44,240 --> 00:57:47,240 But really pay tribute to those who have allowed you to be able 985 00:57:47,240 --> 00:57:51,360 to enjoy that type of freedom as opposed to just using it as a 986 00:57:51,360 --> 00:57:53,240 holiday where you can drink and eat. 987 00:57:53,680 --> 00:57:56,720 You know you wouldn't be able to do that if they didn't give 988 00:57:56,720 --> 00:57:59,680 their lives and sacrifice. Think about even the people that 989 00:57:59,680 --> 00:58:04,000 have survived the wars who come home and not they are not 990 00:58:04,000 --> 00:58:07,320 mentally right because of what they've seen or what they've 991 00:58:07,320 --> 00:58:09,480 done. But yet we take advantage of 992 00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:12,880 what we do every single day and not think about those who have 993 00:58:12,880 --> 00:58:16,800 fallen or who has, who was hurting in that sense, whose 994 00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:20,000 family is going through what they're going through because 995 00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:22,960 their loved ones have come back from the wars and they just 996 00:58:23,040 --> 00:58:26,360 aren't the same. You know, let's give, you know, 997 00:58:26,360 --> 00:58:30,080 praise to those guys, you know, and, and honor them in a way 998 00:58:30,080 --> 00:58:34,800 that they should be honored. And again, not through alcohol 999 00:58:34,800 --> 00:58:38,800 and hot dogs and hamburgers, but honor them the right way. 1000 00:58:39,080 --> 00:58:41,360 You know, every time you see a soldier or what have you, or you 1001 00:58:41,360 --> 00:58:44,880 know someone who's been in the Special Forces or city special 1002 00:58:44,880 --> 00:58:47,920 services, give them a salute, shake their hand, tell them 1003 00:58:47,920 --> 00:58:52,120 thank you because without them, you would not be here right now 1004 00:58:52,120 --> 00:58:53,720 enjoying the lifestyle that you have. 1005 00:58:55,080 --> 00:58:56,320 Well said. Well said. 1006 00:58:56,320 --> 00:58:59,800 That is the hall. Of Famer Devon Dudley showing 1007 00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:02,560 love to our veterans. Great guy here. 1008 00:59:02,560 --> 00:59:06,920 Listen, Devon, as always, man, I enjoy touching base with you and 1009 00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:09,960 and the fact that we can share this with the world like we're 1010 00:59:09,960 --> 00:59:11,680 doing man, it's very, very special. 1011 00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:16,440 And folks, every Sunday you can check us out here special 1012 00:59:16,440 --> 00:59:19,040 editions of the Duke loves wrestling podcast. 1013 00:59:19,040 --> 00:59:21,760 I think for now we're going to just call it Devon and the Duke. 1014 00:59:22,040 --> 00:59:24,880 You know, we'll be talking about current story stories in 1015 00:59:24,880 --> 00:59:28,280 wrestling and also Devon will open up and share about his 1016 00:59:28,280 --> 00:59:31,800 experiences in general there. So it's good stuff there but 1017 00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:34,480 until next time folks, this is the Duke signing off. 1018 00:59:34,480 --> 00:59:37,760 Devon, give us the last word. Oh testify. 1019 00:59:41,680 --> 00:59:45,600 Mr. Tony Cavani and we're. Definitely out of time on Duke 1020 00:59:45,600 --> 00:59:46,400 Love Wrestling.