Love this podcast? Support this show through the A
Cast Supporter feature. It's up to you how much you give
and there's no regular commitment.
Just click the link in the show description to support.
Now Strictly for the Culture Brothers and sisters, you have
seen the T-shirts, the hats, the hoodies, the mugs in the hands
of some of your favorite pro wrestling stars, podcasters and
influencers out there and now it's time.
Visit strictlyfortheculture.ca and you too can be part of the
movement. Bigger than sweatshirts and
commercial success. Strictly for the Culture aims to
build with like minded people and elevate their position in
the world through knowledge, self love and desire to unite.
So what are you waiting on? Visit strictlyfortheculture.ca.
Do it for the love, do it for the knowledge.
Most importantly, folks do it strictly for the culture.
We're locked in. Look at what we have here,
folks. To the only show that matters,
the Queen of the. Crop Duke loves wrestling.
And there is no one that does it better than your house.
I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick.
Ass. And I'm all out of bubble.
Brothers and sisters, welcome back to another wonderful
edition of Devon and the Duke, the limited podcast series
hosted by your main man. Duke loves wrestling and of
course the five time Hall of Famer himself, the family man
himself, Mr. Devon Dudley. How you doing there Devon?
Good, good, not bad at all. Just sitting here with my baby
girl at home and just relaxing. You know, it's, it's funny, last
episode you were talking about cleaning up the the room and the
closet and what have you and I, we got so much feedback over
that. Like just say, man, Devon is
just a he's a regular dad, isn't he?
I say yeah, he sure is. I do it all, man.
I listen. I like my wife is cheap, she
likes to save money. So we clean the pool.
Anything that we got to do, we do it ourselves and I, you know,
I just make sure that everything is done around the house and try
to make sure that I free up my Sundays getting ready for month
for football. So as long as I do it during the
week I'm OK. Absolutely, absolutely.
Well, you know, you just open up a can of worms now.
Now I got to warn you, Devon, and this is probably going to
drive a little bit of a wedge between our our friendship here.
So I apologize in advance. Despite the fact that I'm born
and raised in Boston and we know that this is New England
Patriots territory, I am a die hard Dallas Cowboys fan.
So knowing where you come from, I'm pretty sure we're rivals.
But let's find out now who? Who's your NFL team?
The New York Jets. So how did you get to The Jets?
Well, if I can remember right, as a kid, 6-7 years old, I was
watching and I believe I'm, I'm looking at it in my head right
now. I was watching ABC and there was
a football game on and I just remember reading it said Jet.
You know, I was like I said I was like 6.
I was like five or six years old and I remember reading Jet and I
thought the green and white was like really cool at that time.
So I remember just saying to myself, the New York Jets,
that's my team. The New York Jets, that's my
team. And every week, you know, I
football was on. During football season, I would
look for The Jets and that's how it was won.
There was no rhyme or reason like I thought they were great
or good. I just like the colors and the
fact that I could read the jersey that said Jets.
I love it. I love it.
And ever since now you, I know you remember the, the Curtis
Martin years and all that. Those are some good years there
man. Absolutely.
Listen, Curtis Martin, Richard Todd Freeman, McNeil, Wesley
Walker, you know, I mean, the list goes on.
You know, Gaston or Klecko. I mean, that was, that was great
times in the 80s. You know, I also, I, I just
remember not really being a football fan until I became a
Jet fan. It was one of those things where
I was intrigued, like I said earlier, by the colors and the
fact that I was able to read the the word Jets on the jersey.
But most importantly, the fans in New York were phenomenal.
Even when The Jets sucked, they still were behind them 110%.
And I think that's what got me most importantly with that, you
know, I remember some of the coaches back then that coached
the teams. I remember Bill Parcell did it.
I think it was at what, right after the, the, the run with the
Giants. And we thought that our legacy
was going to be fulfilled and it didn't work.
I think The Jets are cursed. We have not been good since Joe
name it. And I, I pray to God that before
I leave this earth that I can at least see The Jets make it to
the Super Bowl and possibly win. That's my goal in life now.
Well, I hope you get it. I mean, at the very least, let's
hope that The Jets beat the dog mess out of the Patriots.
Because I'm going to tell you right now, there is nothing more
than I love than to giggle my backside off at the expense of
Patriots fans. I can't stand the Patriots.
OK. That's you.
So you and I are aligned. That's when you should have
jumped over the ship and come to New York, fan.
That's it, that's it, you know, but Dallas has my heart though,
man. I mean, Emmett Smith, I got to
blame him. I just, I find him to be such a
gentleman, classy guy, Always appreciate the way you played
ball. So because of him, I just stuck
with the team, you know what I mean?
That that's just the way it went so.
I feel the same way about The Jets.
No matter how many times they lose, I'll still be with them.
I love it. That's good stuff there.
And you know what else is good stuff?
All of you folks in Ottawa, Canada, the Ottawa Comic Con is
coming up September 6th through the 8th and guess what?
The five time Hall of Famer himself, Devon Dudley is going
to be there on September 7th and 8th.
So you've got to make sure you get your tickets, you got to
come out, bring everybody, OK? Bring your Mama, bring your
cousin, bring your girlfriend, whoever.
Make sure you come out and check out the Ottawa Comic Con so you
could see Devon Dudley. Are you going to have any
special merchandise up out there?
Up in. Well, I got the new T-shirts,
Team Dudley, and then it has a very cool logo on the back
that's done very well here in the States.
I got the old school ECW tie dye shirts I'm going to be selling.
So, you know, come on down and just really, really check out
the merchandise. Real cool stuff.
And you know, go from there. That's right.
Devon Dudley's second home.
What what do you think about the food up in Ottawa that Devon?
Have you had any, any good food up there?
Can't see that I have. It's always been chain
wrestling, chain wrestling, chain restaurants that I've gone
to, stuff that you already know what's in there, but yet it's in
a different country and you try it anyway.
But that, that's me. I don't really think outside the
box. Got it, got it.
Well, listen, any of you fans out there, especially up in
Ottawa, if you have any suggestions when I try to break
the bank here, but we want a good meal.
If you have any suggestions for Devon, send them in.
OK, Of course, testify Devon on on Instagram and Twitter, do
clubs wrestling on Instagram and Twitter.
Let us know what you think there.
I'm sure we can find something a little better than a regular
chain restaurant for Devon. I tried that Tim horton's coffee
man, and I'm I'm sorry, I'm still stuck to Dunkin' Donuts.
I just can't. Do it.
Really. You're the first one that said.
Yeah, man, I listen. Maybe it's just because that's
what I'm used to. In fact, the original Dunkin'
Donuts is not far from where I live.
Is this is the first one ever built.
So I I'm, I'm stuck to the original man, I'm sorry.
Wow, I don't have too many people say that.
You know, are you a coffee guy? Absolutely love it.
OK, all right, so, so, so here we go.
This is a big one. Now, what is the D Von Dudley
coffee? How how do you get it all fixed
up and what have you? Where do you get it from?
Dunkin' Donuts We don't have a Tim Hornet over here.
The Dunkin' Donuts Black 4 sugars.
There it is. OK, OK.
You sound, you know, my mom takes it.
She she has to do decaf these days, but she does a small black
decaf 3 sugars and that's a a former police officer, 37 years
on the job. And and she would always tell me
it doesn't matter if it's hot outside, cold outside, I want my
small black decaf 3 sugars Dunkin' Donuts.
That's the way to roll. I may have to be like mom and go
to decaf too. I really shouldn't be drinking
regular coffee. Hell, I shouldn't even be really
taking five hour energies, but I do it.
Yeah, yeah. You ain't supposed to have that
stuff. I know.
Is that is that your preferred energy drink though, if you do
have it? Is it?
Is it 5? Hour.
Yeah, I drink Monster or any of that stuff.
I drink 5 hour energy. Wow.
Some people like to say it's worse than the other stuff, but
I don't think so. But then each his own.
Listen, it's small but mighty. That's what we know.
It's small, but. Mighty.
You know, Speaking of which, there, Listen, we just had a
crazy week of pro wrestling action.
Of course, AEW had their all in pay-per-view.
This is the anniversary of when they had all that, all that
trouble last year, which ultimately ended up with CM Punk
leaving the company and coming back to WWE.
So they didn't have any controversy like that this year.
But what's interesting is that, you know, last year Tony Kahn
had claimed that they drew 81,000 fans.
The government out there, you know, they came back with a
figure that was close to 72,000. So we don't know, you know, Tony
may may have messed up his math a little bit.
But this year, surprisingly, they went down to a little over
50,000 people that were in the building.
That's a pretty dramatic drop. I mean, we're talking somewhere
between 25 and 30,000 people difference there.
What are your thoughts on that type of reduction in business in
just one year, same venue by the way, by the way, but in one year
they lost that well. Let me just say this going back
to what you said originally, you know about the numbers being
increased by Tony possibility. Listen, they there are some
talks that WrestleMania 3, you know 93,173 people were
exaggerated that the number was not that big.
It was big. It was definitely close to
100,000 people, but it wasn't that big that that was always
spoke upon years after Wrestle Mania.
So it's not unheard of for a company to take, you know, some
numbers and make it more appealing to make it seem like
they sold more. That's that's never been a case.
But in terms of the drop in the attendance, you know, when AW
first went out there, it was new, basically nobody really,
you know, they were excited for it.
You know, they knew what they knew from TV.
But now it was, it's kind of like they got that, they got out
there, they performed, they had a great show last year.
And it's like the suspense, the thrill is over in a sense.
So now you have to get those people back that only went there
to see it because they've heard of it, but they've never been
involved. They've never seen a real AW
match, so now you have to put that in perspective and then try
to go back to the drawing board and get those people that you
lost back. Absolutely.
And and listen, every venue that they perform in for the most
part, there is a significant difference.
They're not even trying to set up for more fans than or even
the same amount of fans they did last year.
You know, they're they're they're booking these venues
that hold 131415 thousand seats and yet they're only selling
2025 hundred. Yeah, you know, just crazy
numbers, man. The place is completely empty.
Well, I mean, we, we all, we all learned how to perform that way
when the pandemic happened, you know, where there was no crowds
in the arenas. But again, you know, it was new
the first time they went out there, the excitement was built
up and everything. So in my opinion, you know, I,
you kind of expect the numbers to drop in a way.
I'm not surprised, you know, because the, the whole, you
know, element of surprise with having AW over there was the
first time it was new. It was unique and you know, they
did what they did. So it doesn't surprise me.
Listen, I, I'll just say this, I think that's one of the biggest
mistakes that Tony Khan has made is putting so much emphasis on
these numbers and making claims that he was going to take on the
WWE and do this and do that. Now that they're in a
significant downturn, AEW and WWE is way up and, and the Sky's
the limit for them right now. It really looks silly on Tony's
part and all of his words are coming back to bite him.
Listen, the only people that were able to keep up at one time
with WWE was WCW, with the magic that WCW had.
It was, it was just that it was magic.
And nobody had ever seen a company that was able to compete
with the likes of WWE before. So, you know, Tony's still got
some growing pains. He's got to get out of his
company. I think once he does that and
then push the right people by his side, knowing what they're
talking about to help that company to be at the level that
it really should be, then and only then will you see the
success of AEW. You know, again, I'm pulling for
a EWI think a lot of people are pulling for AEW.
Hell, there are people in the WWE locker room that is pulling
for AEW because you don't want one company to have the
monopoly. It's just as simple as that.
And right now, it seems like AEW hit that high and now they're on
that middle ground. In other words, it's kind of
like, OK, we hit the high, where do we go from here?
This is why I think a person like Shane McMahon coming to the
company, I think would do great because Shane would actually be
able to use the knowledge that he learned from his father to be
able to help this company. Agreed, Agreed 100%.
And, and listen, if that's what the move is going to be, then
pull the trigger and let's go because they still don't have
that, that TV deal going into 2025, at least not in the United
States. I mean, they're in bad shape
when it comes to that. And again, you have the
insecurity. I, I talked to a lot of people
in that company and they are just as confused as anybody else
in terms of what the future of that company is going to be.
That is not how you want your team to be feeling right now.
You know what I mean? It just especially going into
the holidays, man. Duke, remember, be careful with
that, because then it'll all turn around.
They'll say that you said that. Good point.
Yeah, we got to watch out for
that. Yeah, we don't.
We don't want the snakes to get upset again like they have been.
That's right. So.
No, but in all actual, you know, Tony, I love your product.
I think it's great. I just think you need help and I
think you need people that's going to steer you in the right
direction. It's great that you have been
watching wrestling since you were a little kid and you know
you at the ECW Arena and probably countless Wrestlemanias
before you made the jump into wrestling.
I mean, you know, my hat goes off to you, but you just need
somebody that's going to be there and not just be a yes man.
But if they have to say no to you, then they say no
regardless. So if they lose good job or not,
that's a real friend, that's a real business partner.
Indeed, indeed. Now on the other side, we saw on
smackdown Jacob fart two, you know, he he was able to attack
Roman Reigns and and now business is really starting to
cook now because the entire new version of the bloodline that
beaten up on Roman. And the question remains now,
who is going to help Roman take on this this faction of young
hungry lions led by Solo Sokoa. What are your thoughts on that
there? I mean that the the hell of a
pop between Roman and the rock would be huge to have something
like that. Other than a rock.
I just don't know if you put the Rock Cody together, that's a
fraction right there that could help Roman overpass.
Plus you got the Usos already there on their side.
So I don't I don't know if anybody, I think the players are
already there from the Rock to Cody to the Usos.
They could all have, you know, Roman's back.
But, you know, again, I don't think there's anybody that can
come close to filling that void except for the people that are
already there. Well said.
I mean, again, it's just one of
those things where you have to tune in to find out what's going
to happen next because it's all action, it's all excitement.
And these folks, at this point, WWE is printing money they just
can't miss. It's crazy, man.
My hat goes off the hunt. My hat goes off to Paul Heyman.
My hat goes off to everybody that is responsible for the
growth and success of the WWE. It's truly amazing to see how
much they are doing right now and how much ratings are up,
attendance are up. I mean, it's, it's, it's
incredible. It sure is.
So again, once again,
congratulations WWE. Just keep doing what you're
doing. I mean, there's not much more to
say about it than that. Just keep doing what you're
doing because clearly it's working.
Diva, I want to ask you something because I know that's
you. You have a some things that tend
to outside here. So I want to ask you this before
you go. There is a a trend that's been
going on the last couple of years where we have independent
wrestlers who unfortunately they get injured at in the events and
then they go online and they set up GoFundMe to help try to pay
for medical bills. And I find this interesting.
Instead of getting the money from the promotion where you got
injured, you're asking the fans to foot that bill.
You as a Hall of Famer, as a person who has been on every
level of pro wrestling, you started from the bottom and then
you went all the way up to the top.
What are your thoughts on this trend right here?
Do you feel that the promoter should be responsible for paying
those medical bills? Or, you know, is it OK to be
doing these? Go fund me.
It's a it's a real tricky thing with those things because you
got people that make these go fund me accounts and then they
take the money and steal it and it's not used for what's
interpreted for what his intentions for using it for.
So it's a very, very sticky thing with that.
You know you have to be careful on on people on who you send
your money to and where. Make sure that you know where
it's going because if not, you can get scammed.
Absolutely, absolutely. All I'll say there is please, if
you are asking for GoFundMe money, please make sure you're
using it for what you're claiming you're going to use it
for. Because to, to be hitting up
these folks these days, the fans are already spending money on
the merchandise. They're already spending money
on the pay per views. They're they're seeing you live
at the meet and greets and what have you.
You can only squeeze so much out of a rock, you know what I mean?
So it's it's it's interesting. And we'll leave it at that.
Devon, if anyone wants to reach out to you, keep up with you.
Even if they want to check out the wrestling school, what's the
best way that they can do all that?
OK, we can go to Instagram. I am on Instagram at Testify.
Devon, I'm sorry, Devon Dudley Academy DDA short for and you
can check out all the information, check out what we
do there. And you know, if you feel like
you want to be a wrestler and you think that you can, you got
what it takes, then come on down and give it a try.
We'll be more than happy to help you come in and help you train
to be the next Roman Reigns, Cody Rose or whatever you feel
fit that you want to see yourself become.
We can help you do that. Well brothers and sisters, as
always, the five time Hall of Famer Devon Dudley, he is just
hilarious and and insightful and that's good stuff there.
Devon had some business to take care of.
But don't worry folks, we are just getting started because we
have a special friend of Devon's, a very special friend
of mine who took some time out of his busy schedule to come in
and speak to all of the Devon and the Duke listeners out
there. The man himself, the Don, the
true Don, the pro wrestling big Vito Lagrazzo.
How you doing there Vito? I'm doing fine, Duke.
Thank you very much for having me on your show with my good
friend Devon Dudley. Devon and the Duke.
Everybody should listen to this show.
It's got a lot of good content. Thank you for having me on.
You know, it's, it's a weird thing here.
We East Coast guys, we just can't get away from each other,
you know what I mean? It's, it's like we're, we're
pies on all the way, right? Yeah, I would tell.
I would tell. I would think so.
I mean, all our tans match, so I mean we're all good.
Folks, I I tell Vito all the time.
In fact, my mother even says this Vito is black whether he
knows it or not. You know, he's Sicilian, he's
black. It's just, it is what it is.
OK, so for. Anyone wondering?
So in Italy, and then listen, we dress the same too, you know, So
that's the best part. Vito's just a little bit taller
than I am. That's the only difference
there. Yeah, I mean, I shop at big and
tall you, short you, you know, you buy it short and short.
I mean, it's good. You're the only one who can get
away with that with me. OK, I'm just going to let let
this be known. You're the only one.
My goodness. What?
Listen, I'm letting you be Joe Pesci.
Joe Pesci was 55. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And he was always the toughest guy in in the in the whole
movie. So yeah, I'll take that.
I can deal with that all. Right, so I'm giving you Joe
Pesci and you still barking. It's not like you sent me a
fruit basket or, you know, a wine collection or cigars.
I mean, you know, you do it for Yvonne, but not me.
Oh, here we go. You see you, you in the fruit
basket. Listen, if, if, if somebody
wants to send you a fruit basket, let's get this
straightened out once and for all.
What is in the basket? Give me the rundown of what is
the, the, the Don big beetles fruit basket.
What has to be in there? There has to be Italian cheese.
There has to be some brijute, some olives, some wine, OK,
maybe some Italian pastries wrapped up properly, you know,
maybe a bottle of champagne, some after dinner, Italian
mints, you know, I don't know. I mean, Duke, you still haven't
come through. And you know what's funny people
is I know Duke Longing and Devon and there's a show called Devon
and the Duke. What happened to friggin the
Duke and and Cosmo show? I don't know.
I don't. Know we can't do that show
because it'll it'll it'll get pulled off the air because we'll
be talking about things that we're not supposed to talk about
and you know that thing with that happened with that guy and
you know I I'd listen you know I'm trying to stay on the right
side here. Come on now, VO.
Yeah, you're the guy that everybody wishes they could be.
You know what I mean? And I'm saying at reverse
psychology, you're the guy who sits there clean cut, mom and
dad, apple pies, sisters, brothers, brother Devon.
And then you got me, old Scarface.
You wish you can be me. You wish you could say things in
public and get away with it because I'm the guy you want to
be. Old Scarface who has some of the
best skin that you can find. I mean, clear as as a beautiful
day. This guy over here, Noxzema and
all these other skin care lines out there.
You should be doing business with this guy.
OK, I'm just going to put that out there.
It is what it is. My goodness.
Listen, Vidal, you have been traveling all over the place.
The fans have been excited to see you.
It's been really, really cool to see the resurgence of the Dawn
Big Veto. You know, we, we talked about
your time at the River City Wrestling Con and some of these
other places that you've been and what have you.
As we, as we turn the corner on 2024, we we look ahead to 2025.
I mean, hey, how does it feel to be in the shape that you're in
to, to have the excitement around you that you have?
How does it feel to be the Dawn Big Veto?
It has been a great experience, you know, being in shape, being
ready to go. People always say veto, you
always dress to the nines. You look great.
And the one thing that I always taught the young guys always be
ready. And one of the guys posted, this
guy is always ready, always be ready.
A spray tan away from going on TV.
But most importantly, you know, taking care of yourself for the
future of your life means a lot too.
So you can enjoy the fruits of your labor and enjoy, you know,
life maybe not on the grind, but enjoy things that you work for.
And that's what I stress to people.
You know, you got to take care of yourself.
You got to look good, feel good. If you dress like a million, you
feel like a million. You look like a million.
Indeed, indeed. You know, you're a Family Guy,
which is one of the main reasons why you and I are such great
friends. It's one of the main reasons why
you and Devon are such great friends because we, we all are
family people. We take care of our family.
We make sacrifices for our family.
This is this is what we're about.
That's how we were raised. That's what that's what is part
of our code as men. Why is that so important to to
live like that and to be about that, especially for you
personally? Well, I mean, you know, coming
up, I really didn't have it easy.
And well, my mom dying at 19 kind of cut the family life out.
So like you miss a lot of things.
You know, I didn't really get along with my old man too well.
But in the end, we were we were OK.
You know, my brothers, they had a tough too, you know, growing
up in a neighborhood where you know, you had to fight and
defend your turf and fight to be somebody.
And because who you were related to, that took into account of a
lot of things and the people you work for, you know, and, you
know, finally picking a profession that you know, you
had to stand up and be a man. And when you talk about family,
you know, not having, but then wanting to have people around
you loving, love for you and care for you.
And maybe it's not who you start out with, but it's who you
finish with. And what people don't realize
is, you know, that the wrestling business is a lonely life.
And you're on the road and away from your family.
But when you're not in it full time, what do you come home to?
An empty house? So I mean, like Devon, you know,
he rode the same roads and he had, you know, he's been through
his stuff. I've been through my stuff and
what you realize at the end of the day is having a family and
raising kids, enjoying the small things like going to a cigar bar
or hanging out in a jazz club and listening to music.
Or, you know, just being home and messing around with your dog
or going out to dinner with your wife and trying to live a
comfortable life and not have the struggle, you know, being
able to enjoy the people who you consider your family and, you
know, embrace them and include them in everything.
I mean, and watching kids grow and be productive citizens.
And, you know, you know, sometimes they say I don't want
to be like my mother and father, but the best traits do come from
your mother and father. And, you know, I've raised two
children that have my traits, you know?
And you know, they're doing, they're doing good.
They're doing good. Love to hear that.
Love to hear. And and yeah, you are a a dog
guy, a dog dad, so to speak as well.
What is it about you and your bond with animals?
Because legitimately you just turn into a big pile of mush
anytime you you have your dog around.
Well, I mean, with kids and dogs and animals, I mean, you know,
having to be tough every day of your life and having to go out
there and just look at the world.
No, it gets it gets draining. But when you could kick back and
just be yourself, your inner self, and you could hug your
dog. And like even when I go grocery
shopping, I talk to every little baby in a stroller, you know, I
talk to every little kid. I make friends and it makes me
happy. So I mean, you know, I like to
be happy. I like happy kids, happy dogs
and and kids and dogs can sense good people when they come up to
you and hug you and kiss you. That means that you, you are
good people. Your, your quality.
So I got that that quality and trait in me.
So on on that note, you know, I'm good.
Everybody fights with their wife every now and then, but that's
just normal living. So I mean, that's the way it is.
It's just household one O 1. Indeed, indeed.
And listen, shout out to your lovely wife Noel Best Buns.
We know that. We know she's she's Miss Best
Buns out there. She is a whiz online and all
that good stuff helps manage the big Veto brand.
And on top of all that, legitimately one of the nicest
people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Really respect and appreciate her and the bond that you 2
have. It's it's very, very special and
it's awesome possibly to call you both friends.
Thank you very much for that and you know, the same goes for your
family. Dude, I know I never met your
family or spoke to your wife and but we do speak about your
lovely mother and her fondness for me, which I greatly
appreciate. Don't start any trouble now.
She still has her handcuffs. OK?
I'm just going to tell you right now.
All right. That's what I'm looking forward
to, I'm telling you. You know, folks, we through the
years, especially on Duke Club's wrestling, Vito has just been an
awesome, awesome guest. He and I have shared so many
wonderful conversations online and offline and, and
legitimately this is one of my my true friends in life.
I really appreciate Vito and Noel very much, which is why I
was very disturbed, quite frankly, at some recent behavior
from someone who I have covered before, a guy by the name of
Eric Sims, who is a vendor in the wrestling industry.
I guess that's the best way to describe Eric.
He's a vendor. He sells memorabilia and he'll
book wrestlers to either do virtual events where they sign
autographs on on things or he'll actually bring them out to
events to do signings and what have you.
Eric's been at it for for years and everyone knows who Eric is
because of that. And he's a pretty polarizing
guy. You know, a lot of people do
business with him and Vito has done business with Eric through
the years. But there are a lot of people
who are not too happy with Eric because of his business
practices and and really his temperament, the way that he
treats people, which is not always savory, for lack of a
better term. So a lot of folks who have
listened to my shows through the years, Vito, they were alarmed
when they saw some a series of posts from Eric Sims.
And this has been going on for weeks now in which Eric has
disparaged you and your family. Eric has said a lot of things
that I know for a fact are not true.
Let's just call it what it is. I know it's not true.
And I will say, at least from my perspective, it looks like Eric
has taken a turn for the worse now where he has made some
threats. And it's scary for me as a
friend of yours and as somebody who respects the wrestling
industry and respects all of you folks who have sacrificed so
much to entertain us as fans. And knowing you personally veto
to this day, the sacrifices that you make for your family and for
the fans just to deliver on a great experience every chance
you get. It is disturbing that this guy
who's best known for being slapped by the iron Sheik over
not communicating properly and, and, and, you know,
disrespecting the Sheik, quite frankly, this same guy is out
here threatening you and your family essentially.
So I know that this has has made a turn to the legal field and I
know there are certain parameters where you can't touch
upon for legal reasons. And I, I'm not trying to drive
that. We're not going to go in that
direction per SE, but just from a general standpoint, based on
what you can say right now, how are you feeling?
I, I mean, are you folks are, are right, especially given the,
the threats that this guy's been making recently.
Well, dude, I'll tell you, it's been very hard.
And you know, this started out where a friend of mine, Tracy
Smothers, had passed, was in a hospital bed.
Mr. Sims had sent him photos to sign on his deathbed.
I didn't take kindly to that. And that's where the first thing
started, and I outed him online for it.
So he settled that. And then a gentleman who's
another friend of mine, Mantar, died in the early mornings.
And like about 8:00 or 9:00 AM, Eric came on his, his Facebook
and he says, hey, who would you like to see on my show?
Because he had a booking and Mantar was booked.
Mantar is not going to be able to make it very insensitive,
immoral, very, very heartless. I stood up for my friend.
I said that was that was low, you know, and Mr. Sims has had a
habit of praying on people's hardships and trying to act like
a savior, But in the end, he's looking to line his pockets as
best as can be. When it comes to my wife and I.
I came back to wrestling because I'm trying to pay medical bills
and everybody knows this. And I started wrestling again,
you know, I couldn't work. And she had major surgery.
Eric knew about this. So, you know, he, he booked me
on a show and you know, it turned out to be one of the
worst decisions I ever made in my life.
I'd go to the show. I was in an airport just to give
you guys an outline and how the weekend started.
I was in, I was in the weekend. I was in the airport for like 10
hours. I get to the hotel by 11:00.
I hadn't eaten nothing. And he says, well, everything is
closed. So I go to, I go to 711.
I get a couple of monsters. I didn't eat anything because I
don't like to eat when I travel. Get to the hotel.
All right, Why don't you come up and sign some photos?
I told him no. I said I just spent 10 hours
traveling. I didn't eat.
I went upstairs. He comes upstairs.
Oh, well, you know, I'm, I'm looking to get you something to
eat and take care of you, make sure you're all right, and then
maybe you could sign some photos.
I said I am not signing no photos.
You told me there was no food. So I knew the weekend was going
to start bad, you know, And quite frankly, I had a bad
feeling in my stomach when this happened.
So the next day, 9:00 I show up for photo OPS in a separate
gimmick Escolvancrush, you know, and I fulfill my obligations by
signing his memorabilia, his signing his photos because I was
there to sign his photos only not sign any other vendors
photos or a merchandise. So the next day, that day Johnny
the bull text me, he said, you know, I'm not going to be able
to make it. Now, the only reason Johnny was
coming was because he was trying to help me out because he knows
that I've been, you know, struggling.
Not because I can't pay my bills, not because I can't
survive in the world and Eric Sims gave me a booking, but
because I just had to pay medical bills and I have money
in the bank. I'm good financially.
I pay my bill. You never seen a big veto
GoFundMe or me begging for money online.
And dude, you know, I sold all my memorabilia that I had and I
didn't mind doing it because a family man takes care of his
family by any means and costs, which you know that so and I
never, and you know, Duke and I are personal friends and I'm
friends with Devon. Never once in the 10 years if I
ever asked any one of my friends for a dollar.
And Duke and Devon could always say that no, Vito's a stand up
guy, takes care of his family, never came to me begging,
nothing. Never once so Johnny the bull
text be I'm not going to be able to make it because I have a
family emergency. OK, I understand.
I tell Eric change the whole demeanor of the weekend.
All of a sudden he was unhappy, mean.
The first thing I he says to me is I'm sunk.
Val Venus was sitting right next to me along with his partner
Richie. Now what people don't know is
Richie acts as the Gopher, but Richie actually is the silent
partner and the money guy for Eric Sims.
But he allows Eric to treat him shabbily, humiliate him in
public. Now, if I was a partner to
somebody, he ain't talking to me like that or went better, yet
you're never talking to me like that in public because it just
ain't happening. So we go to lunch that day.
I'm going to tell everybody Val Venus and I made Eric Sims money
on that day. So we finally go to lunch and I
still haven't eaten yet. From the day before.
We go to a sushi buffet. Everybody eats the happy Eric
gets the bill. It's $150.00 again.
He turns more miserable, it's $150.00.
So we go to the next day. I get down there and he has a
face on and it's going to be a terrible day.
Not only is he miserable, but he humiliates his partner Richie.
He does it in front of Bill Hazelwood, who's the MC for T
Mark Promotions. Someone who can give credibility
to everything that I am saying. The rest of the day he's just a
miserable human being. And then he has a fight with the
photographer who was in the room doing photo OPS.
Then he has a fight with the vendor who was bringing in Big
Sal and Tony Mameluke. Now, grant you, this is kind of
strange. We're supposed to be doing AFBR
reunion, but everybody's sitting at separate tables, so it was
kind of stupid. So come the end of the day, I've
fulfilled my obligation to Eric Sims by signing all his photos.
Now, when you say sign photos, guys come up with 100, maybe
150. I signed 300 photos.
Talk about somebody taking advantage.
But I am a quality person. Anybody who books me and Dukes,
you notice for a fact, anybody who books me, anybody who does
business with me, anybody who has anything to do with me in
the professional wrestling business, Veto is one of the
most professional human beings that ever stepped foot in the
wrestling business. I dress like 1,000,000 bucks and
then when I'm not in doing my signing, I dress down.
I still look like 1,000,000 bucks.
I'm humble to fans, I'm humble to vendors, I'm humble to
everybody out there. And anybody who knows me knows
that when it comes to wrestling, I give 150% every time because I
do have a secret love and passion for wrestling and a
respect for all the people who took the time to teach me.
And it would be a slap in the face to them for me to act like
an ass because those guys, those superstars, those greats pass
the torch to me in letting me be in the business and teaching me
wrestling one-on-one. So come the end of the day, it's
still 226. Everybody is PO is closing up
shop. Eric asked me to sign some
Shinsky boards and some more stuff.
I said Eric, I'm done. I said I'm not signing anything
else for other vendors. It's not our deal so you can
make extra money. I fulfilled my obligation to
you, Eric. I'd like to get paid.
He starts to pay in front of Bill Hazelwood and a few other
people who was sitting there. I said, Eric, I said you're not
going to pay me in front of anybody.
I said we are going to go to a private room.
We go to the private room. I make sure the other person
leaves and it's just Eric and I sitting in that private room.
I let him know strongly how he treated me like garbage.
He made the he made the weekend miserable, I said, and I wasn't
taking it anymore. I would like to get paid.
Now, mind you, on this podcast, he went on and ranted and raved
on me. He said it almost came to blows.
No, I spoke strongly and Eric sat there quiet, didn't say a
word. So I come out after I get paid
and I said he says, OK, let's go to lunch.
I said, Eric, I say, would it be OK if you gave me if I could do
lunch later because I have to wrestle?
He says, fine, that's no problem.
When he went on and said on the podcast, it's like total
nonsense. So I I go and wrestle for
teamwork. I have a great match.
It's documented what old school, what old school tradition was
like from people like Barbara Goodish who I met, Karen
McDaniel and a lot of the other people like Bill Hazelwood and
the Southern wrestling community.
How great it was to see old school psychology in wrestling.
So I ended the night on a pleasant night.
Eric had left. Here comes the day where I got
to go home. So there was a storm back home.
And everybody knows I live in Florida and my wife is alone.
She's she's scared because she's she has her health issues.
So flight cancels. Now the driver Paul takes me to
the airport after I asked Eric about 50 times can I have the
name and number for this guy, which he didn't do until like
8:00 or 9:00 at night. So the gentleman Paul was so
nice and polite, takes me to the airport, flight is cancelled.
I called Paul, I said Paul, flight is cancelled, comes back
and picks me up. Now when I left the hotel, I
asked Rebecca who was the host behind the desk at the Hilton,
please keep my room open because I might be, I might have to
stay. She gives Vito.
No problem. She was also a big wrestling fan
of mine. She said, Vito, I'll help you
out as any way I can get back to the hotel.
I had already let Eric know that the flight is cancelled.
He calls up the hotel and tells Rebecca word for word.
Don't let him use my credit card.
He's got to pay for his own room.
Now, when you're a guest by a vendor, the vendor is
responsible for you getting you there and getting your hotel and
getting you home and paying for your hotel.
So I go back to the hotel and we're sitting there and we're
trying to figure out Eric is not answering his phone.
I call his partner Richie. He tells me Eric is not picking
up the phone. Now my wife then texted me and
said what's going on, why is there a problem?
Paul, the driver for Team Art Promotions puts the hotel on his
credit card. I repeat people a driver that's
not has nothing to do with me being a guest.
We had alerted T Mart Promotions that I was staying on.
He said he is a guest of Eric Sims.
I'm not responsible to pay for his hotel, which is right.
We finally get Eric on the phone.
I give the the phone to Paul. He says listen, I got Vito a
hotel. I pay for it.
Make this right. The hotel was not the same
Hilton that I stayed at, but I had to go to another hotel
because Eric didn't want to pay a $40 fee for an Uber driver to
get me back to the airport. He also stated in this podcast
he could have got me home on a Monday but made me stay over on
a Tuesday. All because Johnny the Bolt
didn't show up and he didn't get what he wanted and make the
money he wanted. He lost money.
So once this is all settled, he gets on the phone with my wife.
Well, he can go to the desk and get a voucher.
When someone buys a ticket for you guys, the refund goes back
to the person who buys the ticket.
The voucher also goes back to the person who buys the ticket.
It wouldn't go in my name, it would go in Eric's name.
So I was stuck. The fact that I had to spend 2
days out there with no ride. I was in the middle of nowhere
with nowhere to get food, grocery store, nothing.
It was tough. My wife is upset and she's home
alone during this storm in Florida which was a big storm
that was documented. So I finally get home and the
next day Richie the so-called silent partner calls me and says
Vito can you help me out? I said what's up?
He said well I'm partners with Eric on this and I lost $1100.
Can you call Johnny the bull to sign this?
I said you have the gall and the audacity to ask me to do this
after him treating me like shit. He says I just thought I'd ask
you no problem, fine. Eric goes on a podcast with
Monty and the Pharaoh, his buddies now.
He used a platform out of his friendship with these guys, not
knowing what had transpired the whole weekend.
So of course they took his side. That's fine.
Eric badmouthed me, tried to humiliate me, selling my
pictures online for a dollar, trying to devalue me, which has
led to other stuff that's going on behind the scenes.
So he started calling vendors, saying not to book Vito because
he's a prima Donna. I get a call from Dylan Hines,
which everybody knows is Bobby Fulton's son.
Now, what people don't know behind the scenes about Dylan
Fulton is when he was going through the roughest time of his
life and everybody knows he was going through a rough time.
I called him. I said, hey man, what's going
on? Not looking for a booking, not
looking to be get anything out of him, but the guy looks.
The guy looked in bad shape and he was having a rough time.
I called him, I talked to him like a mentor and like a friend
and I became friends with him. And I wasn't asking him for
anything. You just see somebody online,
you're in stress. And I've done this and Duke can
vouch for me. I have helped many of the boys
in this business when they were on the seat of their pants and
who goes to pick them up of Vito Lagrasso.
I saw somebody having a rough time and I want to help this
gentleman also. He tells me Vito, he calls me
Vito, can you do me a favor? I said what can you sign these
Johnny the Bull pigs who would help?
I said absolutely not. I says he already did a podcast
and he buried me, why would I do anything for him?
He says I totally understand, Eric asked me to call you.
So Eric asked his partner to call.
He asked Dylan Hines to call. The gist of it is Johnny the
Bull told him I'm not signing nothing until you make right by
veto for your actions. All he had to do was pick up the
phone and apologize. This thing would have been over
with but this thing escalated into something that is so
ridiculous for 56 year old man that it makes me sick.
And to think that wrestling is a make believe world and is not
real life. And you go on your Facebook page
and you post stupidity and then you get with your cronies who
listen to one side of the story and they boast about this guys
real life comes out. Eventually the truth comes out.
This has gone further than just real life.
There's a threat online, There's some other things online, and
Duke, I'll let you handle it from here because I haven't
heard your wonderful voice. I mean, it's, it's, it's
troubling. And like I said, the, the series
of posts that Eric has made, he's making reference to
murdering somebody, which is disturbing, you know what I
mean? And, and, and I again, I, I
understand that on Thursday the 29th on your TikTok channel, and
that's at the big veto brand on TikTok.
I know that you're going to be doing a live stream where you're
going to be going even more in depth about some of this stuff
and, and how it's affected you and your family from an
emotional standpoint and even from a safety standpoint.
The concern here. But I guess the main, the main
thing that I, I want to know Vito is how should the fans
interpret what the heck is going on with right now?
This guy is burying you. He's he's disparaging your
brand, he's threatening you and your family safety.
What's the biggest take away that the fans should have about
all this mess? Well, now that I've I have, I
have waited to make a statement and people have been wondering
why I have not made a statement. I have gone beyond Facebook,
Twitter, social media to handle this in a legal matter.
What people who participated in this slander are going to be
held accountable. And I say this as a scholar and
a gentleman. And in a business sense, you
don't do things like this to people who complete their
business transaction with you, which I have receipts in text
messages that Vito did fulfill his obligations.
So Vito fulfilled his obligations.
Why did you go to these great lengths to humiliate me, devalue
me and do all these things, especially with podcasters who
don't know the whole story? So he, Eric, put them in
jeopardy as well, as well as the sponsor for the show.
Everybody's going to be held accountable.
So if I was the people who are associated with Eric after
listening to this and tomorrow, I would be pretty angry at Eric
because I'm sure Eric didn't tell them the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. And this thing is LED into a big
giant facade. And for what?
Unsigned photos, folks. Well said.
Well said again. Check out Veto stream on TikTok
at the big Veto brand tomorrow. What what time should folks tune
in for that There Vito on on the 29th SO2O clock.
Now listen, if you miss it, that's OK.
We understand people got things to do and all that good stuff
there. Not everyone's going to be
available at the same time. So keep an eye on on the big
Vito brand on Facebook, on Twitter as well, because there
will be specific snippets and what have you that'll be
released after the main live stream.
But the main point is this, and I'm just going to speak pretty
frank to everybody out there. Everyone out there is is doing
what they can to survive on this planet.
And it is horrific that anyone would think it's acceptable to
threaten the lives of others, especially over something so
trivial and ridiculous. You're upset because another guy
wasn't able to make a booking? Come on, Eric Sims, come on,
man. And you go on some podcast,
which I'm not even going to give those guys any promo and mention
them because I I'm a little disappointed in them as well.
It's just ridiculous the way that there's such a lack of
respect and professionalism. And it makes me question just
how much these folks care about pro wrestling as an industry,
about pro wrestlers and, and really about Veto.
It's clear that you don't. And to take it to that next
level where you're threatening people's lives.
And Vito's going to talk more about that on, on his stream on
the 29th, once again, 2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, the big
Veto brand on Tiktok. He's going to talk a little bit
more about the threats and, and, and the implications of that.
I just don't understand how you guys think you're going to get
away with this stuff because I'm going to tell you right now
going the legal route makes sense and who knows what that
means for all of you. So I hope you have your ducks in
a row, folks, you and are in the pot that you pissing.
I hope you have your ducks in a row because you're you're,
you're sacrificing it when you do these things.
And back to Eric Sims in particular, you really, really,
in my opinion, you really need to take a, a long look at
yourself in the mirror, brother. You, you keep having these
issues where it's clear that you do not respect the wrestlers.
I don't even know if you respect yourself, Eric.
And you and I have had conversations personally and it
all amounts to the same thing. There is just something
disturbing about you, brother. It's wrong.
And again, to be threatening people and their family and
disparage them to try to hurt their brand.
I mean, let's, let's call it what it is, right?
I don't know how you think you're going to get away with it
the way that you've been carrying on, but we'll see.
And from a legal perspective, good luck to you.
You're going to need it. So I'm going to I'm going to
leave it there for now and table that because I really want folks
to check out Vito stream on his TikTok at the big Vito brand,
2:00 PM Eastern Standard Time 29th of August.
If you miss it, keep an eye out on all the social medias the big
Vito brand, because they they will be chopping it up and
making sure that the pertinent information is out there for
everyone to consume. So you know, Vito, my heart goes
out to you and, and, and your lovely wife and the kids, the
whole 9 yards, even the, the, the, the pets, the whole 9 yards
there man. I just hope that you folks stay
safe. I don't know a more stand up guy
in wrestling than you. You've always been nothing but
professional. I've had countless talks with
fans, with vendors, with convention owners, and it's been
nothing but positive when it comes to Big Beatle Lagrasso.
You know, Eric Bischoff was just on the show not too long ago
putting you over about, you know, how how incredible that
you addressed and how professional you are and the
whole 9 yards. Of course, Devon has put you
over here on the show, Devon and the Duke, the whole 9 yards.
You're, you're a guy that exudes class and sophistication and
respect. So for anyone to mistreat you,
it's just ridiculous and it's not right.
And somebody needs to stand up and say something about it.
And that's exactly why, you know, I'm glad to have you here
on the show to, to, you know, open up a little bit about it.
And of course, folks can check out your platform to get the
rest of the story. But all I can say is hang in
there, my friend, because, you know, God doesn't make mistakes.
And certainly, certainly every action will result in a
reaction. And in this case, from a legal
perspective, I can't wait to see the reaction, and I'm going to
leave it at that. Vito, you can have the last word
bro. I just want to thank everybody
here at Devon on the Duke and my two friends for having me come
on the show today and speak and be able to make of my first
statement since this whole thing has happened.
Coming on here as a gentleman and a professional means more to
me than anything. And for the people who know me
out there, they know me as just that.
And it's just very sad that this has happened over something so
minute as photos because someone didn't make enough money is just
is beyond belief because everybody struggles in this
world, you know, and everybody has hardships.
You might not know about their hardships, you know, from
Facebook or behind closed doors. But, you know, I've been
standing tall for a long time. They've been trying to knock me
down. And I keep getting up, you know
what I mean? And I just look at people and I
just, you know, I handle life as it comes.
But if they ever put me in A room and I had to fight my way
out of it, and they say if, you know, it's life and death, could
you do it? I put my money on me.
So I'll leave you guys with that, you know, and I got no
qualms about saying that I'm going to keep on chucking, keep
on moving, you know, take care of the olive oil business, you
know, and see my gumads on Thursday night, Tony Stevani.
And we're desperately out of time on Duke Love Wrestling.