You know, Devon, I know that everyone is waiting with bated
breath to hear what you have to say about the big announcement
that we're going to get one more time.
Probably the last time in history, the Dudley Boys versus
the Hardy Boys in TNA. What's your prediction for that
match? Prediction Pain.
Tails knock you off your seat, TuneIn.
Now don't you be late wrestling. Punk has never felt this great.
Tails, ladders, chairs, they tell it all.
From the highest highs to the lowest fall.
Great glory. Tails from the ring, every
chain, every cheer. They'll bring team One and the
two bring the heat. Wrestling tales knock you off
your seat, TuneIn. Now don't you be late.
Wrestling podcast never felt this crazy.
Brothers and sisters, it is with a heavy heart that I announce
that on Thursday, the 24th of July 2025, the immortal Hulk
Hogan took his last breath. Condolences to family, friends
and fellow fans out there. This is absolutely one of the
most traumatic and impactful losses that we've had probably
in our lifetime as it relates to pro wrestling.
So definitely my heart goes out to everyone out there and
really, you know, here on Devon and the Duke, the the honor of
being able to do a show with the Hall of Famer who grew up as a
wrestling fan and somebody who was great friends with Hulk
Hogan. It's it's tricky here to do this
episode because I know that it's pretty emotional.
So I I want to give a disclaimer for everyone.
This is not going to be a long one, but it is going to be
heartfelt, so just bear with me here.
So without further ado, my brother, the Hall of Famer
himself, the five time Hall of Famer, Devon Dudley.
How you holding up there man? I'm doing all right, you know,
hanging in there it, it was complete surreal and just
unbelievable. You know, we all have to go, we
all have to go to that other side.
And but when it happens, there's someone like this, it just seems
to be surreal, like you just can't believe it's happening.
You're always caught off guard. And I think this caught everyone
off guard because this is something that they weren't
really ready for. You had Malcolm Jamal Warner,
God rest his soul, and the drowning, you know, that caught
people, you know, for shock a little bit, and then Ozzy
Osbourne and now Hulk Hogan. You know, they all say they go
in threes. And I hate that saying.
And I say that because everybody's panicking.
Who's next? You know, when there's like the
first one or the second one, you know, there's a third one.
But if you really think about it, when people make that
statement, it's not that they go in threes.
It just happens to be somebody in the celebrity world that
goes, you know, if they go in three.
But I mean, that's just the way it is.
You know, Hulk Hogan was a bigger than life superstar.
I mean, he was bigger than the business.
I'm sorry, some people say no one person was bigger than the
business, but Hogan was. Hogan was the man that drew
asses and seats. You know, if it wasn't for
Hogan, none of us would be here talking about pro wrestling.
The collaboration between him and Vince McMahon in the 80s was
just unreal. It it came at the perfect time
and when that collaboration happened and Hogan came back and
left the AWA, it just Hulk Mania blew up and you can't deny that.
Not to mention, you know what he did in the AWA with Vern Gunya,
That's where it all started. People think it started with
Vince and Hogan and WWF, but it actually started in the AWA.
He was selling out seats, ripping the T-shirt, that
charisma. It was all in the AWA.
But like I've said so many times, when you have a mind like
Vince McMahon expressly back then, and I'm sure with the help
of Pat Patterson, 'cause he was back then too, when you put
those minds together, Hulk of Mania went to another level.
And that was just something that Vernon in and the AWA didn't
have at that time. He didn't have that.
I mean, he was very good and knowledgeable in what he did and
where he bought the AWA, but to have those other people backing
you and giving you ideas and stories for your character and
everything like that, he didn't pretty much have that.
What Vince had, you know, he had those people behind him that was
able to elevate and push Hogan to that level.
The first, you know, time I remember being Hogan was in
Rocky three. He did Rocky 3 and I remember
seeing him going, man, he looks familiar because as a kid, even
though in 1977 when I first started watching wrestling, you
know, I didn't really know wrestling like I did as I got
older into my teen years and stuff like that.
So when I turned it on and I saw it, I didn't know what I was
watching. I didn't know the people that I
was looking at. So I'm sure I might have seen
Hogan here and there. That's why he looks so familiar
when I saw him in Rocky three, especially when Hogan took on
Andre Shea Stadium. I remember at one point that I
remember they because it was such a big draw for them at that
time that they kept replaying it over and over again, sometimes
in little videos and stuff like that back then.
And so that's probably how and why he looks so familiar.
Rocky 3. And because everybody knows my
story with Rocky 3, how I basically my characters built
off of Mr. T. For me, it's one of the greatest
Rockies of all time. And it was the one that drew the
most money as well. I, I just remember seeing him
and going, good God, this is incredible.
You know, as a kid, I remember watching it in the movie theater
and then every chance I got, I wanted to watch it on VHS tape
or HBO, you know, or another one that a lot of people may not
remember only well, I know this new, I know this generation
wouldn't remember, but there was another cable station called WHT
those that was like HBO rivalry. And you either had one or the
other, unless you were rich, you had both.
But I remember trying to watch it every chance I got when it
was on HBO or like I said, WHT it was.
It was something that to me was special.
The best of Stallone casting Hulk Hogan at that time probably
didn't realize how what he was doing for professional
wrestling. Hogan again, to me was a bigger
than life star. He just basically was everything
that pro wrestling needed at that time.
Nobody drew more money back in the 80s, even in the 90s then
Hulk Hogan. I'm sorry, I I firmly believe
that because think about it, he didn't have social media.
He didn't have none of that to help him.
He did it all on his back with everybody else that was in the
company. And Vince McMahon, you know, he
didn't. He broke records that I don't
think anybody could have done. And Ric Flair said it best.
He was the biggest star. And if that comes from Mick
Flair, then he was, you know, that's Ric Flair putting Hogan
over, you know, even more than himself because everybody looks
at Ric Flair as being the greatest of all time with all of
his, you know, his catchphrases that he did back in the N.W.A,
all his promos and things like that, his matches with Dusty and
the list goes on and on. But even Flair, you know, pay
tribute to Hogan. And it was just one of those
things, man, where again, I am at a loss for words.
So I'm jumping all over the place with what I'm saying
because again, yet they say you don't want to meet your heroes.
I met him and was not disappointed.
There's going to be a lot of bad things that are said about
Hogan, especially because of the words that he used when he was
at his lowest. I didn't put anything up on
social media because of the haters that will sit there and
degrade him and put him down because of, you know, his when
he was at his darkest place and things like that.
Listen, the Bible says it best. He, he who's without sin, cast
the first stone. All those people out there,
they're saying negative stuff now that Hogan is no longer with
us. Look at yourself in the mirror.
What have you done in life that everybody could be proud of?
Or I should say, nobody would take offense to what you've done
because you can't. We, we all are guilty in one
way, shape or form of saying something, doing something that
wouldn't be appropriate or what have you.
I'm not condoning in any possible way what happened or
what was said at his lowest point because listen, I'm
African American. I get it, OK, If anybody gets
it, you know, us as African American people, we get it.
But at the same token, you cannot deny what this man has
done for this business. If it wasn't for Hulk Hogan,
there would be no WWE, there would be no AEW, there would be
no TNA, there would be none of this.
We wouldn't even be having this platform right now.
That what we're doing, we're able to still be relevant in
this business because of that man.
This business, the business right now is hot.
It's hotter than it's been in a long time.
And in my opinion, it never gets to that level.
If Hogan didn't do what he did back in the 80s, if Hogan didn't
generate what he generated, we wouldn't be here.
This would our world would probably be totally different.
There'd probably be no wrestling podcast.
There'll be no nothing wrestling probably anymore.
The way territories were dying out, you know, and how they
fizzled, not just because Vince McMahon went in there and you
know, rated all of the talent, but think about it.
Everything eventually folds in one way, shape or form.
Businesses, things that you never thought would go out of
business and things like that. It happens.
Who's to say that that wouldn't happen with the WWE and how
close it became so many times WrestleMania, the first one was
a hit or miss. If it would have missed, we
definitely wouldn't have been here.
WrestleMania 2, which I just found out from watching the
events documentary that some a lot of people can say that
WrestleMania 2 is being a flop in a sense because it didn't
draw the numbers or the ratings that the first WrestleMania did.
But then here comes WrestleMania 3 and who did that?
Hogan. The build up between Andre and
Hogan is something, if it's done right, it can be done again.
But I don't think it'll ever will be.
No one ever thought in a million years that Hogan would beat
Andre. They played that storyline to
AT-15 years being undefeated. Never once, Hogan, did you ever
give this man a title shot. Never once did you offer him
anything. The build up between Andre and
Hogan and with Bobby Heenan being the mouthpiece for Andre,
I mean, the three of them together, good God, you had to
be there during that time to feel what I'm feeling right now.
And again, I told you, I'm all over the place.
But let's go back to the to the early 80s when he first came in
the Rock and wrestling connection, the, the whole
collaboration with Cyndi Lauper and Dave Wolfe, Rick Derringer
and all of that. You know, you really had to be
there to understand what these guys were doing back then.
It was unreal. It was surreal.
It brought wrestling out of the closet and made it mainstream.
Captain Lou Albano, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Mr. Wonderful, Paul
Londorf, you know, Muhammad Ali, Liberace, you know, all of that.
All of those guys at the first Wrestle Mania just was
phenomenal. It'll never be forgotten.
I'm sorry, but it will never be duplicated.
It just won't. And as far as I'm concerned,
it's one of those things where, you know, those that were there
can reminisce and go back and remember where you were when
certain things happened during that time.
But this new generation will never, ever know what it was
like to deal with Hulkamania when it first came out.
Again, I refuse to go on social media to say anything about it
because it's something negative hate that I've seen out there
from some people, you know, still living, you know, in the
past about what he said or what he did.
Was Hulk Hogan a a stand up person all the time?
Maybe not. Are we all?
No. Again, there are things in our
lives that we're not happy, probably that we've done, but we
want forgiveness. Bubba said this best, too, as
well. He said when a guy, when someone
commits murder and he's convicted for 2530 years in
jail, when he gets out, he's given a new start.
He's given a new lease on life. Hogan never got that.
Some people say that what his remarks were when it got made
public, that there was not enough remorse or what have you.
OK, grant you, if that's how you feel, that's how you feel.
And I understand that, and I'm not denying how you should feel,
you know? But to denounce everything that
he's done and sweep underneath the rug is asinine.
There would be no Cody Rose. There would be no Rock.
There would be nobody that is big right now in pro wrestling
if it wasn't for Hogan. You know, Devon, you, you've,
you've nailed it on so many fronts and, and you're speaking
from the heart. So, so that you know, to say
that you're, you're all over the place.
No, you, you're, you're speaking directly from the heart man.
And it's, it's solid. It's also, it's the, the, The
thing is, we talked about Hulk Hogan and, and you know, the
racist things that he said and we expressed our feelings about
that. We talked about that earlier
this year. So folks, there's no confusion
about our position on that. With that set.
Devon, you touched upon a story, I think it was actually last
year when you did it, when we first started doing this Devon
and Duke show. You touched upon a story a
little bit, but offline, you and I, you know, you gave me a lot
more detail and what have you. So I'm going to, I'm going to
ask you to, to, to put this out online because this is not
something that most people know. Most people never heard this
before. You credit Hulk Hogan for being
a major help to you in TNA. And before you start to tell
that story, I, I want to, I want to set the stage for people out
there, especially the younger folks out there who may not know
the history. Devon Dudley and Bubba Ray
Dudley Dudley boys were, were already legends at ECW.
They already accomplished everything they could accomplish
there. They went to the WWE and became
legends in the WWE, right? TLC and all these different
things that they did working with The Rock, the whole 9
yards, they became WWE legends and basically cemented
themselves as future Hall of Farmers.
So they had already done all of that.
They signed the TNA and they go on a tear and TNA as well.
So now they become TNA legends, they go to Japan, become legends
in Japan, the whole 9 yards here as A tag team, they they pretty
much accomplished about as much as they could have at that
point. So you guys were split up in TNA
and Hulk Hogan had some influence over your career at
that point. So I'm going to, I'm going to
ask you, Devon, tell us the, tell us the TNA story and, and,
and what Hulk Hogan did for you just so folks can really
understand where you're coming from with all of your comments
there. Well, you know, back then when
me and Bubba slit up, it seemed like TNA, the powers that be
thought that I was washed up. I was done and they put me at
the wayside and they started pushing Bubba like there was no
tomorrow. And I couldn't understand for
the life of me why I did. I gained some weight, not
unhealthy, gained some weight and I wasn't moving his
whatever. But both of us were in that
pretty much that category. They gave Bubba the opportunity
to work and do what he was doing.
While he was in the process of losing the weight and developing
his persona as Bully Ray, they gave him the opportunity to do
that on camera while he was still relevant.
Where with me, they kept me home.
They didn't want to do anything with me.
Each week I would come in. Nah, Devon, we don't have
nothing for you. Or if we did, it was just to go
in here to put people over. And I felt like I was more than
that. So I got myself together.
I said, OK, I'm not going to cry about it.
I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to go home.
I'm going to get my thoughts together.
I'm going to get in the best shape I possibly could be in.
And I'm going to prove them wrong.
And that's exactly what I did. I remember I was sitting and
catering. Hogan came in and he goes, damn,
Devon, he goes, how much weight have you lost?
I don't remember the time. I was like 50, maybe 40 to £50.
And I goes, man, you look amazing.
I said thanks, Hulk. He goes, yeah, he was like,
yeah, keep it up. And then the next week, you
know, I think a couple weeks later, you know, he said, Devon,
you know, I've been watching you.
He's like, good God, you're moving like the old Devon.
I said, really? He goes, yeah, man, you go.
You look great in that ring. I said thank you.
I said, but they still not doing anything.
Yeah, I don't understand that. And then they kept me home.
They were still doing what they were doing.
Then all of a sudden I'm home and I remember I get a phone
call and I think it was either from Al Snow or or Bruce
Pritchett and said we need you here at the pay-per-view.
I think it might have been no surrender.
I'm not sure. I said, OK, I'll be there.
This is when we were filming at Universal Studio, so I was like
maybe 40 minutes away from my house, like I'll be there.
So I get there. And they said, yeah, Hogan
really pushed for you to come back, him and Eric.
And I was told by Dave Heppner because Dave was in the meet.
I'm not, I'm not, not Dave. I'm sorry, Earl, because Earl
was in the meetings in TNA and he goes, man, Hogan loves you.
I said, why do you say that? He goes.
He kept pushing and pushing for you and he kept saying how come
Devon's not there? Have you seen Devon?
Have you seen what he looks like now?
Have you seen what he's been doing in the ring?
I don't understand it. You guys are making no sense by
putting him on the back burner. You know, this came from Earl
Hebner and and his son Brian Hebner 'cause they were all in
the meetings with them and they both pulled me aside 2 separate
occasions and told me what was being said about me.
So they said, yeah, you have a match with Robbie E, who was the
television title champ. And he says, yeah, they were
debating back and forth on who should go over in this match.
And Hogan said, what do you mean who should go over again?
Do I have to say it? Look at Devon, look at what he's
doing. Why wouldn't you put him over?
Put him over, Let him have a title run.
I don't get it, nor do I understand what you guys are
doing. Hogan fought, both of them said.
Hogan fought tooth and nail. And finally they said, OK, we'll
get the title on Devon. And I just remember going in
there and doing that and then, you know, just having a
successful run with that television title.
And it was all because of Hogan. Hogan was in my corner left and
right when I was having contract disputes with them.
You know, they basically let me go and I had the television
title with me. They never took the title off of
me. So I went home with the title
and I remember they needed it because they were going to.
I was going. I had left.
I had no, I wasn't coming back. I had no plans on coming back.
And they said we're going to have a tournament for the
television title 'cause it's vacant, 'cause Devon is not
coming back. He left his champ.
I took the title home with me. I get a call from Al Snow.
Al says, Devon, how you doing? I said I'm good.
Al, what's up? You know, 'cause Al at this time
was office, so my guard was up with Al, which it shouldn't have
been, but it was. And he says, hey, we're gonna
have a tournament for the title and we need that title back.
Can you give it to him? Can you bring it to us?
I said I'm in Mexico right now, man, I'm on vacation.
He says you're in Mexico. I said yeah, I'm in Mexico right
now. He was like, alright, can
somebody come and get the title? I said no man.
I said I got 3 big ass Rottweilers.
Anybody steps on my property, I get the ass bit.
He was like Devon, come on. I was like, Al, I'm serious.
Nobody's at my home. And if they do show up there,
I'm telling you, I'm not going to be responsible.
I told you what would happen if they show up.
And of course, Alan knew I was full of shit, but I wasn't
budging. I felt that TNA did me so wrong
back then. Not this new regime TNA, but
the, you know, Dixie Carter's, you know, version of TNA.
And, you know, I was just like, yeah, no, I can't do it, Sorry.
I said, I'll give you the title after I come back from Mexico.
And of course the next week after the tournament, you know,
and I and I, it was Samoa Joe versus Ken Anderson.
And Joe knew what I was doing. Samoa Joe knew what I was doing.
I called Joe after and I said, Joe, I said, I'm sorry, man.
I said, but I I I can't give this title back.
I said, they screwed me. They messed with me.
They tried to cut my money. They they, they really tried to
destroy me in my career. I said I can't do.
He goes Devon. He goes, I knew you were full of
shit. He said I knew you were.
He goes When they told me what you was saying, he was like, oh,
he was like that. He yeah, my fucking lying.
But Joe didn't. Joe understood and Joe was like,
Devon, I don't blame you. He said if it was me, I would
have threw the freaking title in the damn ocean and told him to
go get it and tell him where I sit and put it.
And you know, Joe was understanding about it.
And this man, he just laughed. We both laughed about it.
But then Hogan went on his Twitter, which is X now, got to
be correct, and said I don't know why Devon's not here.
I think it's BS that he's not back in TNA.
They should have signed him. They should have did everything.
I mean he really went public and I remember he tweeted me, tagged
me in it. My Twitter file was went from
100,000 to 300,000 at that .0. Like good God, the power of
Hogan and then the the love and support that I got from the fans
back then was just unreal because of Hogan and Bischoff.
Don't want to leave Bischoff out.
I don't care what Bischoff did in the end and WCW and, and it's
net and the people that he did, whatever people claim that he
did wrong too and all, I don't care.
All I know is that when Bischoff was with me and we did business,
he was a complete gentleman. He was behind me.
Me and him have a great relationship now, but going to
Hogan, he called me and told me, you know, brother, I don't
understand this. He goes, I'm at a loss for words
with this company. He goes, it just doesn't make
any sense. Half the stuff that they're
doing. I said Hulk, I say it's alright.
I was like, you know what, It is what it is, man.
I was like, I've been dumped this card pretty much my whole
career with the exception of ECWI said.
But other than that, it is what it is.
And he just went, brother, listen, I'm getting you back in.
He's like, don't worry. That was when the whole idea
with the Aces and Eights came in and who was underneath the mask
and that was all Hogan's idea. And it just put another spark in
my career when, you know, we did that and it was like Devon was
reborn again. So there was 2 separate
occasions where Hogan actually saved my career.
So for people to say that, you know, the comments that he made,
I get it and understand why you're hurt by it.
I was hurt by it. But like the Bible says, forgive
because if you don't forgive your brother, I will not forgive
you. And that's exactly what the
Bible says. He apologized to me.
Pull me as I said, divine he goes.
I'm not that type of person. I'm not.
He was like, but they're killing me in social media.
They're making me feel like that I am.
I know it might have said things in the past or done through the
past. The brother, I love you.
And you know what? He didn't have to tell me that.
He didn't have to pull me aside and say that, but he did.
In his world. If you really think about it,
I'm not taking anything away from myself, but I'm a nobody.
And if you take care of what this man has done, he didn't
have to do that with me, but he did.
He goes, Yvonne, I love you, brother.
He goes. I love and respect everything
that you've done, how you've gotten yourself out of this
hole. And no matter how many times
they try to knock you down, you keep getting up, he goes.
I have so much respect for you. And that was that.
Let let's talk about the last conversation that you had with
Hulk, because you you spoke to him fairly recently, right?
Yeah, I spoke to him during WrestleMania week and I was
doing, I was doing the autograph signing, the con.
I have butt dialed him about a week or two weeks prior to
WrestleMania and it was like I would always butt dial him by
mistake. I don't know why, but I would
always butt dial him and he would always wait about a week
or two to call me back and I was signing and it said Terry
Bollea, Hulk Hogan on my phone. I went, oh, I said Hulk, he goes
and he always answered. Devon, what's going on brother,
how you doing? Sorry, I'm just getting back to
you, man. I'm like, Terry, you ain't got
to apologize to me. I said I made a mistake and butt
dialed you. I was like, you have to
apologize to me. He was like, Nah, but I want to
speak to you. I want to see how you were
doing. We, you know, it's been some
time. I was like, yeah, like I'm doing
good. You know, I told him about the
back surgery, talking about all of that, talking about Dallas
DDP, how he helped me. And he said to me, he goes,
yeah. He was like, Dallas has been
trying to get me to do that for years.
But you know, I just being me, being me.
I would just brush it up to the side.
He's like, it really worked for you.
And I said, Hulk, it really does work.
I said, I know it doesn't seem like things that you're used to
doing in the gym with the weights and stuff, but I'm
telling you, this works. It was like, yeah, he's like the
amount of back surgeries that I've had and this and that.
He was like, man, he's like, I need something right now.
He's like, I'm going to give Dallas a call.
And I don't know if he made that call.
I'm not sure he made a call at all.
But you know, I know we continue to talk a little bit and it was
time to wind it down. And you know, he said, Devon, he
goes, I want to I just want to tell you that I respect the hell
out of you. It was like you're very genuine.
You're this and you're that. He was like, I have a lot of
respect for you. He said, and I just want to say
I love you brother, for that. And I said, well, thank you,
Terry. I said, thank you for everything
that you've done for me. Thank you for everything that
you've done for this business. I said, if it wasn't for you, I
wouldn't be here. I said, I don't care what these
idiots say about you. I don't care how they portray
you as being, I know you. I know.
And I say that because I remember what George Foreman
said. I remember what Dennis Rodman
said. Hell, I remember what Carl
Malone said when all that stuff came out on him.
It said we still love Hogan. We respect him.
We know he, we people make mistakes.
People say things they're not supposed to say.
You know, they do things they're not supposed to do.
But he's asking for forgiveness, whether you think it's genuine
or not, or he's bullshitting around and he's asking for
forgiveness, you know, and you know, I, I remember, you know,
them saying this stuff, those guys about Hogan.
And I just remember going, you know, I ain't holding no grudge
against this man. I ain't holding no grudge at
all. I understand why people upset.
I get it. But again, sometimes you just
got to learn how to love and forgive.
And that's exactly what I did. And right before we left the
phone, he says Devon. Yeah.
I just want to say I love you, brother.
I love you very much. And I said I love you too, Hulk.
I said we'll talk to each other soon.
Thank you. Got it, brother.
Take care. I said.
Bye, Hulk. No.
The last time I spoke to him. You know, a lot of people have
been reaching out and they don't know which way to go because
they're still hurt by by what Hulk said.
Hell, I'm hurt by it. And again, you and I covered
this on the show. There's no confusion about that.
And I'm also hurt by the fact that one of my heroes, one of
the biggest pieces of my childhood outside of my
immediate family, is gone. I'm hurt because his friends
like you, Devo, have lost somebody Who, warts and all, he
had your back. I'm hurt over the fact that his
children lost their father. I'm hurt over the fact that the
industry that depended on this man so much.
And like you said, he set Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan set the
table for everybody. There's not a single person in
pro wrestling today that can say that they're that they made a
Diamond Pro Wrestling on their own.
What Hulk Hogan did in in in revitalizing the business and
making it larger than life and putting it in a position where
it can be mainstream forever. You know, everybody in the
Business Today owes Hulk Hogan a debt of gratitude.
That doesn't mean that we forget about the warts, doesn't mean we
forget about the negative things he said.
Doesn't mean we forget about that stuff, but you can't deny
the fact just like you said, this man had an impact on all of
us and it's OK. It's OK to to to mourn that
folks. It's OK and I don't give a damn
all the other folks who who just want to to stay stuck.
Well, he did something wrong and we just have to hate him
forever. You can be that way if you want
and good for you. But just like Devon said, you
know, at some point you got to let that hate out of your heart.
At some point, you have to be able to be a human being and
recognize that people are imperfect.
People are going to disappoint you.
People are going to also bring you a tremendous amount of joy.
Pro wrestling saved all of our lives.
And when again, when we talk about pro wrestling, we're
talking about Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon, Ric Flair.
We're talking about them. That's what we're talking about.
So I just say this to everyone, piggybacking on what D Bond
said, Sure, never forget that this person did some negative
stuff, some hurtful stuff. Never forget that.
That's OK. But damn it, don't pretend like
you weren't saying your prayers in eating your vitamins and
looking up to the man upstairs. Who the hell is the man up?
I didn't even know who the man upstairs was at at 3456 years
old. I don't even know what the hell
that meant. I just knew that Hulk Hogan said
we got to pray to the man upstairs.
OK, so I'm praying to the man upstairs.
Andre Giant ripped the the the crucifix off of Hulk Hogan's
neck. Everyone's upset about that.
Hulk of Mania is being attacked. OK, I'm being attacked because
I'm a Hulk of maniac. It's OK to go back to those
moments in your life where you experience those, those
tremendous levels of joy and concern and triumph when the
hero was able to to defeat all the evil people.
It's OK. You've got to be able to
separate things if you're going to be a complete human being and
an adult. Not making any excuses for what
the man has done wrong, but damn it that was our hero at some
point. The man is dead.
It's OK to mourn them. You know what kills me and hurts
me, Duke? And I'm not going to name any
names. And if you're listening to this,
you know who you are. You sat there and you buried
this man for the comments that he's made.
Yes, I get it. But I know these same people
have done things that if it was brought to light, that these
fans would not be happy with or the people I should say would
not be happy with, and you would probably be put in the same boat
as Hogan. But yet, you know, and you
buried the man when he was here. I get it, you were upset.
But now that he's in death, it's kind of like you're being
hypocrites. I'm not talking about these
people in the industry, but I'm just talking about people in
general. You're being hypocrites about
it. Don't say good things about him
now that he's gone. Try to correct how you felt and
how you couldn't let it go. One of the biggest things the
counselor will tell you is that in order for you to heal, you
have to let go. You have to let go because if
not, the hate in your heart will consume you, will consume you
too. Trust me, I know.
I've been married three times, so I know what that hate to feel
like. But the minute you let it go,
oh, I don't care. The minute you let that hate go,
it's a new feeling, It's a new world.
You see things a lot clearer. You know, here it is.
I'm an ECWI would this is when they have portable DVD players.
I would have the Hulkamania DVD. I would watch it before I went
out because the energy that that man drew when he came out
through that curtain was just unreal.
It was, it was energy that I basically never seen before.
The likes of Hulk Hogan when he would come out and how pumped up
that crowd would be. It would get me pumped up.
It would bring me back to when I was a kid watching it and I
would go out in the ECW Arena. I feel like I was a guy.
I feel like I was untouchable, not a God.
Use that. Not taking anything away from
the creator, but I felt like I was invincible because I would
be so charged. People be like, oh, you're such
a mock. You're damn right I am.
And I'm damn proud of it because it made me go out there and do
things I never thought I could do because I was so pumped up
watching that man. Before I went out there.
We were on Charlotte. We were on the charter flight
one time and I'm sitting there watching the Hulk Hogan's
greatest hits. And you tried, you know, flying
8 to 12 hours on a flight, landing, checking into the
hotel, only to come back downstairs and get back on the
bus after a 2 hour ride from the airport to the hotel.
To do that. Now you're driving an hour to
the arena and then put on the show.
I would take that portable DV player, I put the Hogan's
matches in, the promos, everything.
I would watch it. I got off that bus, man.
I was ready. Didn't need a 5 hour energy,
didn't have that at the time, didn't need a Red Bull, didn't
have that at the time, didn't need nothing but that DVD.
You know, the first time I ever met Hogan was at the Staples
Center was when they came back from when WCW was brought out.
They were bringing people in little by little to see how we
would all generate together when Vince bought the company.
Me and the Bubba leaving the hotel, we're driving to the
Staples Center to get to the building and do Monday Night
Roar and Bubba knew how much of a big fan I was at Hogan and how
much I loved that man. I had 370 something posters in
my room of Hogan, that's how obsessed I was.
And I just knew me living in
Brooklyn and the projects cracked, hitting the scene so
bad. I rushed home, not to be in the
streets, but to see what he was going to do.
I rushed home to the TVI told him, I said when I first met
him, I said you saved my life. I didn't get mixed up and all
that crap out there in the street because I was so in tune
and so intact on what you guys were doing.
My father, who's the reverend who I called my dad, didn't come
into the picture until I was about 1415 when my mother met
him and got remarried. So I had really no real father
figure growing up, I said, But you were the you were the
leader. Well, I looked up to you.
Everything you said I want to do, I was mesmerized.
I remember getting to the Staples Center.
But because, you know your boy is going to be here, right?
And I said who? He said Hogan and WO was coming
in today. I said, oh, OK, I was being all
tough and yeah, OK, yeah, not a big deal.
I remember getting into the building.
I went to the locker room. I dropped my bag off, I went
back to walk 'cause I was going to go to the to the ring and
then I'm going to the ring. There he is.
He's standing there with Scott and Kevin talking to Vince.
And I remember my body heated up and I went back into the locker
room. I ran back into the locker room
because I was nervous to meet him because I had never met him
at that point. I had met Kevin, I had met
Scott, but I've never met Hogan. And that just how that's how
strong it was for me. I said, Devon, get yourself
together. You gotta get yourself there.
Come on, come on now. Come on.
You're Devon Dudley Stop. And I remember going back out
there and I got myself together and I was like, hey, Hulk, I was
like, how you doing, Mr. Hogan? And I said, Mr. Hogan, you know,
that's the respect said how you doing?
I said, I'm the I said, how you doing?
I'm Devon. He goes, Devon, get the tables.
I said what he said, man. Me and my son Nick, we love you,
man. We watch you guys and that's all
we do around the house is go Devon, get the tables, man.
My heart was filled with joy. A man that I idolized, that I
felt saved my life, was telling me that.
It was something, you know, people are embarrassed to tell
stories like that because of where they are in the industry
right now. I don't care.
Make fun of me, make memes about it.
I don't care. I know what this business has
done for me and I know what Hogan's done for me.
And I remember telling him I said, brother, I will never turn
my back on you. I've done things in this life
even up to this day, I'm not proud of.
I've made wrong decisions. I've said things that have
probably been inappropriate that I would get ridiculed for and
maybe even put in the same category as Hogan.
But that's why I would never throw stones at somebody.
But I know I've probably done just as worse.
So all you guys that might listen to this, that wanted to
have something negative to say, go ahead and say it.
I don't care. It's not going to hurt me one
bit. I know the relationship I had
with him and that's a memory that I'll never forget.
It's like you don't know my struggle, you don't know
anybody's struggle but your own. The hatred that I've seen, I've
seen a lot of love. That's one reason why I don't go
on Twitter 'cause I feel like Twitter is kind of like it could
be the death of somebody or what have you.
But I just, I, I have Twitter for just promotional reasons for
what I'm doing in my career now. But other than that, I don't
like to go on Twitter. The people are nasty, they're
vulgar, they have no respect and they feel like they could just
say and do whatever they want. So I barely post anything on
Twitter. My thing is Instagram or my
personal Facebook. But the negativity that I've
seen on Twitter and some of the things that was said was totally
disgusting. That's somebody's father.
That's somebody's husband, that's somebody's brother.
How do you think they feel in the loss of their loved one who
actually go on social media and see this stuff?
Oh, but let me guess, you don't care, right?
You don't care. He came to you personally and
disrupted your life, so you don't care.
You're full of shit if you're going to sit here and denounce
everything that that man has done.
The reason why you're even still watching pro wrestling is
because of him. You're a fool.
You can act all big and bad and hope that somebody sees your
tweet or what have you and go yeah, you damn right.
Yeah, forget him. Yeah, yeah.
Somebody even said good that he's gone.
What type of human being are you?
It just kills me, man. It's.
Sad. It's sad, you know, Devon, I'm
going to, I'm going to put a button on this because we, we,
we're going places with this one boy again, such a major part of
our childhood. That's it.
And, and you being inspired by this man and then building a
Hall of Fame career and being able to meet him, get to know
him, build a friendship with him, make money with him.
I got it. I got it.
I know this isn't going to be easy, but you are the the
Bishop's son and the Bishop's son, the Bishop and the Bishop.
You are their son. You are the reverend, your own
damn self. So I'm going to, I'm going to
challenge you on this one. We always do our word of the
week. This might be one of the most
important words of the week that you'll ever do here.
So to dedicate this to Hulkamania, what is your word of
the week to take us out, brother?
I'm going to combine a couple of things.
You know, as you're talking, I'm just saying what am I going to
possibly say to end this? I'm going to combine a couple of
things. It's not going to just be one
thing. Number one, that he was without
sin, cast the first stone. John 316 You know, he gave his
only begotten Son so we could be free.
Let go and let God. It may not come when you want
them, but he's always on time. John 316 was something that
Hogan wore in countless interviews because he had given
his life back to Christ. And, you know, there was a
preacher on Twitter that Bubba had read, and he said it on the
show today about how he said Hogan gave his life back to
Christ. He got saved.
So he knew. He knew that he was going to
heaven. You got baptized and everything.
And I believe that brother will be there when that trumpet
sounds and we're all raising. He'll be there along with so
many others. I know it's not something
Normally I would say I would give you one thing and that was
it and we would go off. But I had to combine all of that
into one. It's a sad moment for a lot of
us and it's time to heal and that's what we're going to have
to do. And for those haters out there
that want to down me or make fun of me or what I'm saying, go
ahead. That's OK.
Can't hurt me and you definitely can't hurt that man anymore.
So good luck with you and your life.
You ready for this one? Yep.
Testify, Brother. Testifying D my brother testify.
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