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Now don't you be late. Wrestling podcast never felt
this crazy. Brothers and sisters, welcome
back. Welcome back to another
fantastic edition of the Devon of the Duke podcast.
This is a limited edition series hosted by your main man.
Duke loves wrestling and of course the five time Hall of
Famer. Legitimately an icon, a legend
and word on the street a good guy.
We're talking about the what? The only brother, Devon Dudley.
How you doing that Devon? Good, good, not bad, not bad at
all. How about yourself?
Brother, I'll tell you right now, man, I, I, if I complained,
I'd be taking advantage. I, you know, the, the, the, I
got food in my belly. The lights are on and I'm still
walking on the surf, so I guess I'm doing all right.
You know, that's what people have to understand.
As long as you have a loop over your heads, food on the table,
clothes on your back, don't complain.
Don't complain, man, because it could all be taken away just
like that, you know what I mean? That's just the truth of it.
That's just the truth. You know what I find I I find
interesting and I enjoy it when it happens and it happens damn
near everyday. The amount of people who reach
out and genuinely say, Hey man, Devon is a really good guy.
Like I met him at such and such or, you know, I saw him here and
I talked to him and this and that.
He's a really good guy. And it's, it's, it's so
interesting how people feel compelled to say that out loud,
like that's a, it's a thing that matters enough to them that they
want to share it. And it makes me realize, wow,
how many, how many not so good guys do you run into who are
celebrities where when you finally come across a good guy,
it's something that you, you want to actually tell other
people about. So it's, it's, it's interesting,
man. I mean, how does it, how does it
feel? How does it feel to continue to
have that type of reputation? Well, I like to keep it because
I've been in this business long enough to know how it can change
overnight. And, you know, it's just
something that always, always seems to be the case.
You know, it's just, it's still funny how people can have their
own opinion on how other people are, but yet, you know, the,
the, the ones that reject the what they say is the ones that
need the most help, Those are the ones that cause the most,
you know, mischief. And then they wonder why their
reputation is the way it is. Great point, great point.
And in addition to that, we're all just one cell phone video
or, or you know, one negative review away from the world
believing that we're not such a good guy, right?
Oh, especially on social media. Yeah, yeah, it's true.
Especially on social media. I bring this up because Oscar,
Oscar, you know W I'm going to say it.
She's AWWE legend. We can, we can we can say that
she's won so many titles. She's accomplished so much.
I love the way that she wrestles.
I love the person that she expresses herself to be online.
You know when she's doing things other than wrestling.
She she has a really interesting YouTube channel where she's
eating different snacks and playing video games and stuff.
She's she she's a cool person. I like her vibe.
She was online because she's been out injured.
So she has some time and she's been interacting with the fans
and stuff and I think she finally has gotten her her
translator is accurate as it can be.
So she's making you know, she's communicating a lot more
recently than ever before. But I'm going to throw this at
you because she, she posted this earlier today and I quote, I
just learned about the existence of a review site called Cage
Match. I've never actually, I've never
actively searched for wrestling information online aside from
occasionally seeing it pop up on my Twitter timeline.
To be honest, I'm not interested in anything that I don't
experience in real life. I've never thought about
changing my wrestling style based on fan opinions.
The only thing that matters to me is whether my creativity
works or not. That's why I never bother
checking how my matches are rated by the public.
That sounds like a massive hassle.
I've never even thought about doing that before.
What I do think about after a match is what delicious food I'm
going to eat tomorrow. End Quote.
Is this Austin? Yeah, that's Oscar.
That's that's on her, her Facebook, I mean, excuse me, her
Twitter account. And and this is not unlike what
she's been tweeting recently. She's really been letting fans
know that she doesn't care about the dirt sheets.
She doesn't care about websites like cagematch.net, which track
matches that wrestlers had and fans, they rate the matches and
all this other stuff. She's letting the fans know
that, look, if you want to interact with me about life and
video games and food, you know, things that I'm actually
interested in, fine. But telling me how to wrestle
and let me know that only got a two star match, according to
Meltzer. And she's like, I don't care
about that stuff. That's that's the gist of what
she's been saying to people recently.
So I want to get your take on that, Devon, Right?
Well, good. I don't think any, I don't think
anybody should be worrying about what the fans say or dirt sheet
riders say because they're all full of shit.
Listen, if they could do what, if they could do what you do,
then they would be there doing it.
But they can't. So they live vicariously from
people who are in the business. And the thing about it is, if
you're going to be a mock and you know, then know your place,
know your role. Well, now I was going to say
that, you know, there's a fine line between being a consumer
and pointing out what you like, right?
I don't like flippy matches and stuff like that.
Every now and then it's OK, But for the most part, I want
matches that tell a story. That's what interests me, right?
There's a difference between saying something like that and
then going down the line of, oh, that was a one star match and
this one sucked and this and this and it's like, who the hell
are you again? What?
If you never done anything in the business, nowhere near what
that person should be, then don't open your mouth.
It's just as simple as that. Don't open your mouth.
You have no right to say anything.
That's the way I feel. Don't you know?
Don't. This person sucks.
That person sucks. I'm sorry you're nowhere near
the level that you're on. Someone once told me and it
stayed with me for a while and I thought about, they said, think
about it. The guys in the NBA, the ones
who sit on the bench who never really want to see time, they're
real good. But just think about how good
the person who's starting or go in and out of the games, realize
how good there are, how good they are.
So the people that are sitting on the bench, you know, it's
just unfortunate. They're great, but they got
people that are even better than them.
So, you know, they don't just put people on who sit on a bench
all the time. They don't just have them on the
team just to fill up space. They just wasn't good enough to
replace the guys that are on first string or second string.
You know, I, I've been fortunate enough that I've been to
basketball trainings during summer camps when I was a
youngster with guys like Dana Barrows taking the time to come
and show us, you know, basic dribbling and things like that.
Dana Barrows, you know, he was a starter for the Boston Celtics
and and he played for a bunch of other teams and what have you as
well. But you're absolutely right.
Now listen, Dana Barrows was never Michael Jordan.
He, he, he was never Charles Barkley.
He was never Larry Bird excuse. Me there was only 1 bird and one
magic and 1:00 Michael. Yeah, but Dana Barrows was
better than everybody else walking in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts at that time. Like, come on, You know what I
mean? So you're absolutely right.
It's like we have no idea how great a person has to be just to
even get on the bench, never mind be a starter in a superstar
or a legend. Let me just say this, I saw the
match between Gunther and Tazawa this past Monday.
Phenomenal, Phenomenal Gunter is very, very good, no question.
But people don't realize how good Tazawa is, how he added to
that match. And I always said people like
Tazawa and Funaki and Tajiri, and there happened to be all
three Japanese wrestlers, but how good they are.
They might not have been The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin,
but they were good at what they did in terms of making people
look good. That match between Gunter and
and Tavawa, my God, it was an I. My hat went off even more to
Tavawa. That's how good he is.
He made Gunter look like 1,000,000 bucks even though
Gunter didn't mean it, but he still made him look like
1,000,000 bucks. And and this is somebody in
Tazawa that you actually have been an agent for.
So you know first hand, top to bottom, how good that guy is.
Well I agent to valor when I was a producer and I worked with him
as talent. Some of my best matches, yes
they were the Hardy and edging Christian.
But single, single match wise, I've had single matches with the
Rock. I had single matches with with
Orton and Cena but nothing compared to Kanaki.
Funaki was one-of-a-kind. What, what was it so much about
Funaki that that makes you say that?
I mean, was it just the fact that he understood his role and
and how to keep himself over enough to get you over?
Not only did he understand his role, but he was very good at
his role. He knew how to put other people
over and make himself and make them look good, but he also knew
how to make himself look good in the process of it.
Deep, deep. Because if if you beat a nobody,
you beat a nobody, So what? But if you beat a guy who who is
somebody and and is able to keep himself somebody, then that's a
big deal. I agree 100%.
Well, definitely shout out to Shofunaki, shout out to to
Jerry, shout out to Tazawa, you know you guys and and shout out
to Oscar. I mean, legitimately, these are
these are legends in their own right on on many different
levels there. And I'm proud of Oscar in
particular for speaking up and letting these fans know that
they're overstepping their bounds and she ain't going to
put up with it. I love it.
I'll talk. Talk your stuff, sister.
Not to mention, you know, in terms of Oscar, I was a big fan
of Oscars, and when I saw her stuff in Japan, I was even more
bigger fan because how good Oscar really was.
Oscar is Oscar is very good. Yeah, you know what I'm telling.
Well, she is she is she she's tough as nails, no two ways
about it. And I I always pick up on the
fact that if she gets stiffed in the ring, she going to stiff you
right back and you going to feel it.
Oh, you know what it'd. Be well, you heard OO gonna hurt
your back, there's no question. Yeah, yeah, she ain't playing
that. And and I love that about her
because that's the way it should be.
You know, respect has to be the foundation of everything.
Let me ask you this, because this I am curious about this.
Devon, Oscar's not some skinny, you know, big breasted blonde.
She's not a diva. She, she's a, she's an actual
wrestler, Gorgeous as hell, obviously, but she's, she's also
one of the best wrestlers on the roster and has been everywhere
she goes. She won a lot of championships
throughout her career and she's been featured as a, as a top
star throughout and what have you.
A lot of people would say Vince McMahon.
You know, he the, the way that he would book people.
He would only go for a particular aesthetic.
Yet Oscar accomplished so much in her career while Vince was in
charge. What do you make of that?
Well, I think Vince knew just exactly how good Oscar was and
it to this day, there's nobody there.
You'd have to fill some big shoes in order to be anywhere
near in the same category as OO just that good.
And that's what a lot of people don't get or understand how good
Oscar really is. And you know, I was always a big
fan of hers and you know, I was in, I was really impressed by
her work and what she was able to do.
He will get some phenomenal wrestler and a phenomenal
individual. Very sweet girl, spending time,
loves her family, very respectful.
I had nothing but good words for Oscar.
Well said. Well said again.
Shout out to Oscar. You definitely check out her
YouTube channel when you get a chance, folks, if you want to
see something that's just completely different from what
most would expect because she's not she, she's literally trying
snacks and, and, and going shopping and showing her
experience and what have you and, and, you know, making
different foods, maybe stuff she's never tried before.
It's just interesting to, to, to get a glimpse into this, this
person's life and see that they're pretty normal human
being, you know what I mean? It's, it's the same notion like
what, what you Devon, where people love the life lessons
that you're always instilling. You know what I mean?
You can't help yourself. You're going to, you're going to
give life lessons when, when you're talking and what have
you. And it's always stuff that's
worth paying attention to. The man behind the persona, you
know, it's, it's, it's awesome. So that's, that's good stuff
there. Speaking of good stuff,
congratulations to TKO, the parent company of WWE and UFC.
They just put out their full year 2024 results and and also
their fourth quarter results for 2024.
And listen, the main idea here is revenue of $2.8 billion
billion would AB net income of $6.4 million, Adjusted EBITDA of
$1.25 billion. So the main idea is when they
purchased WWE late in 2023, that resulted in a loss on their
books, right? They were, they were actually
negative because you made a big purchase.
Well, they've recovered all of that money within a year and
added on top of it. So they got a 67% revenue
increase and all just just crazy, crazy stuff overall,
which translate into these guys are doing something right the
the way that they're running the WWE, the way that they're
running UFC, which really is let the let the people with the
experience. Dana White and the UF CS example
and you know, Nick Con and Triple H combined in, in the WW
ES case. Let the people with experience
do what they do best and just get the hell out of their way.
A system what they need assistance with, especially on
the business side. But other than that, just get
out of their way because they know what they're doing.
And when you do that, just watch the money continue to stack.
So what, what do you think about that there, Devon?
Just TKO continuing to show that they know how to make money.
Well, the bottom line is, if they're making that much profit,
can you please start giving comp tickets back?
Can you please lower the ticket prices for Wrestlemanias and all
these other events? Good God, it's almost impossible
now to afford to go to a WWE show.
Yeah, we're, we're, we're, we're reaching that level, you know,
because they, they've reduced their house show schedule, so
they're not touring as much on the House show front.
So because of that, you can charge more when they finally
do, you know, show up in your, your area.
But like you said, we're we're starting to get to a point where
we're pricing a significant amount of the fans out and
that's never fun to see. Yeah, the comp you, you brought
up the comp tickets. So I got to ask you this
because, you know, on a personal level, what's the story with the
comp tickets, man? Well.
Apparently they don't give any more comps anymore, and if they
do, it's got to be real special. Somebody, you know, like the
football players, the rappers, things like that.
But for ordinary people, yeah, they don't do it anymore.
So previously when I say previously, I'm not talking back
in the day, I'm talking let's say within the past six years,
let's say based on what you know, what's what's normally
been the policy before it changed.
Well you call, you know you call the office or what have you say
hey you know, you mind if I'll get like 3 comp tickets from
somebody? Shit, no, no problem.
What's the names? Believe them at will call.
They don't do that anymore. Wow, wow.
I, I mean, hey, why give it away if you can sell it and, and
somebody's going to pay for it? I guess that's the idea, right?
And that's, you know, that's, that's from a business aspect.
Absolutely. Well, you can't fault them on
that. Nope, Nope, not at all.
Not at all. And and listen, it's not as if
live event ticket sales are. That big of a deal for the
company. I mean, they're making their
money primarily off of their television deals and and now
their brand partnerships. I mean, they got, they got
sponsors on the mats and, and on the ring post and, and all over
the place. They're, they're doing all of
these different deals. They're expanding, they're doing
shows on Tubi now they're going to be expanding with Netflix,
they're on A&E. It's like they have all these
different revenue streams that are happening at the same time,
which is all new money, by the way.
This is not stuff that they were doing before.
So there's still a lot more juice to squeeze out of that,
even if the ticket sales start to go South because they've kind
of priced people out. It's, it's just fascinating to
watch the business of WWE and, and you know, now their parent
company TKO. It's fascinating to see the
shifts that they do in order to to continue to be able to say,
hey, we made record profits again.
So I don't know. But I'm with you brother,
because those, those average ticket prices are a little
steep. They're a little.
Steep Yeah, You know, I don't, I don't wrestle no more when I got
kids. So I'm just saying I'm trying to
make a dollar out of $0.50 and. And you can't just say I got
kids. You got a, you got a whole damn
basketball team of kids, man. So, you know, you, you out what,
2-3 grand if you were to try to take the whole family to an
event, right? Now we watch it at home for
Netflix 899. You won't see my black ass
there, I tell you that much. The the the the the beer and the
food is a lot cheaper at home anyway, so I you know it is what
it is. That's why you got to pay for
the tickets, pay for the parking and just pay for the food and
the drinks and all that because you know Junior, you know,
Junior's a big, you know, you're going to be asking for two and
three and four hot dogs. Bro the the at at AWWE event
here in Boston right? Even if it's just a raw or
something like that. The average cost for one hot dog
is around 10 bucks. 10 bucks for a single hot dog man.
Yeah. That is absolutely insane to me,
and I'm not even talking like a chili dog or one of them fancy
joints. I'm just talking about a hot dog
on a bun. Put your own condiments on top
of it that over there at the the open station where the onions
and the sauerkraut and all that stuff is.
But 10 bucks for a damn hot dog? Come on guys.
Yeah, that's the way. That's the way it is at
Madison's Green Garden. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, I mean, back in the day, they didn't check your bag
when you came in like that, you know, but I remember my mother
used to make all of these sandwiches, put them in her, you
know, what we thought was her purse.
And you know, it was her. It was her soup cooler.
You know, she would hide all the food up in there and all the
snacks and the Jesus walk in there.
We wouldn't have to buy anything.
But of course, you know, you see that popcorn running by, the
cotton candy or what have you, and you wanted it, you know?
Sure, sure. And you had to have a souvenir
cup, especially if it was the hologram cups.
You remember those? Right.
You had to come home with something now.
That was it. That was at least 15 bucks right
there. 15 to 20 bucks. Easily, yeah.
Yeah, that's 'cause it was the cup.
It was the cup. Yeah, yeah.
It's funny, you know, I don't, I don't collect a lot.
I'm not into the collecting the memorabilia, which I kick myself
for that because I've had so many things through the years
and I've given it away, whatever.
I gave all my action figures away, for instance.
But man, I still have some cups that are like at least 15 years
old just from going to live events and stuff like that.
And, and I, I make sure I still use them, especially during
WrestleMania, just because it just feels good to, to have that
memory. But if, if the cup is $20.00, I
don't know, you know, one plastic cup, I don't know, man,
I don't know. That's, that's a little tough.
But hey, regardless, once again, congratulations, TKO.
You guys are making money hand over fist.
Keep it going. But like Devon said, if you can
find a way to bring these, these ticket prices down, you don't
want to price out your core audience.
That's pro wrestling should never be a rich man's luxury.
So I'll just put it like that, you know, Speaking of a rich
man, absolutely Vince McMahon, there's speculation that he's
been calling some folks on the production side who, you know,
may not necessarily be shooting wrestling right now.
So calling different cameramen and, and people who do that type
of back of the house stuff and inquiring, hey, would you be
interested if, if I, if I launch another promotion, a wrestling
promotion, is that something that you would be interested in
being part of? So this is starting to gain a
gain a little steam here. People are whispering and some
credible people like Eric Bischoff have cosigned this that
he's heard the same whispers, so to speak.
So what say you here, Devon? I mean do you think the the
industry could handle another promotion?
What do you think of that idea? Well, I mean, my thing is, if
Vince opens up another one, who does he have with him?
Who are, Who's his Pat Patterson?
Who's his Michael Hayes? You know, don't get me wrong,
Vince built the empire, but he had help along the way.
You know, you know, you had to have those, those minds that
pretty much was able to tell Vince no, that, you know, he, he
wasn't, it wasn't a good idea what happened.
But you know, he doesn't have that now.
You know, Pat Patterson unfortunately passed away.
Michael still works for WWE, so he doesn't have somebody to tell
him no. So if he does open up another
company and he'd be as successful as he was when he was
with the WWE, there's a possibility he can be.
But I just don't know. I don't know, You know, we don't
realize how many factors that he had in his corner to help him
out when he did run the WWE. It wasn't just Vince alone.
Great point, great point. And how many of those guys are
even out there these days? So it's like it's, it's a, it's
pretty tough to be, to be able to find the creative minds that
can help you build from scratch. It's, it's one thing to have
something that already exists and they're just adding to it.
But to build from scratch on that scale, that's a, that's a
tough mountain to climb, man. That's a tough mountain to
climb, you know. So it'll be interesting.
Do you think if this actually continues to gain steam even
before it gets launched, if it even gets to that point?
But if it if the whispers keep happening, do you think that WWE
will start locking people down, especially their their creative
folks? You think they'll start locking
people down the longer term contracts?
Let me just say this, I think a lot of people were scared of
vents. A lot of people didn't like
vents and some of the things he was doing.
I don't know. I mean, if the money is good and
you know, they, whatever, I, I think people would jump ship.
It'd be like Ted Turner and Vince, you know, like WCW and WV
all over again. But there are a lot of people
that were still angry with Vince and how their career went and
things like that. And there's a lot of people in
WWE right now that that are really stinging the praises of
Triple H. And I'm happy that Vince is
going. So I don't know.
I don't know if he'll be able to pull it like that.
I mean, again, he might, he might not.
I don't know. But I do know, like I said, that
he's going to have to shut out a lot of money to convince people
that it's cool to work for him again.
Well said. Well said.
Listen, good luck to anybody out there who is serious about
launching a wrestling promotion and and trying to compete.
If you're going to create more financial opportunities for
folks, that's always a good thing.
But just make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.
Because if you show up and then you end up fizzling out, what
was the point of that? You know what I mean?
So it's it's got to be serious and it's got to be something
that you you intend to invest in for the foreseeable future and
beyond. So I'll just leave it at that.
But time will tell. Time will tell on that front
there. Interesting note here.
We had Naomi and Bianca Bellaire who were the tag team champs.
I think they held the title for what, 73 days, which is nothing
to sneeze at. Originally it was Bianca and
Jade, but Jade was quote, UN quote, attacked and she's been
out since then injured. Nobody knows who attacked her.
So that's still a storyline that has yet to be fully realized, so
to speak. But Liv Morgan and and Raquel,
they're now three time WWE tag team champions.
But for Naomi and Bianca, Bianca tweeted out, I'm so proud of us
after that loss, which I thought was interesting.
And she did an interview recently where Bianca was
talking about how Naomi has taught her take your ego out of
it, take your egos out of the whole WWE business and, and just
focus on, you know, helping others get over, keep yourself
strong and get over and, and, and, you know, just trying to
make the best out every situation that you have there.
What are your thoughts? What are your thoughts on on
these two women, not only as a team but individually, Bianca
and and Naomi. I like it.
I was getting used to Jade and Bianca, but now, now I'm using
the mix. I kind of like it.
I wish they had a six man tag team or six women tag team belt
so then all three of them can have that.
Like like the free birds. Did you know the six man and the
Von Erichs? I mean, that would be cool, you
know, they have something like that, but I don't know.
I like the combination of Naomi and Bianca, but I think people
are still wanting to see Bianca and Jade go back together
because they were very powerful. Two big, strong women.
When I say big, I don't mean it in a bad way.
I mean in a great way. Strong and athletic as hell, you
know? It's just hard for me to think
that we'd have it any other way. Yeah, I mean, you know, the, the
closest that we've gotten to something like this really was
was Sasha Banks and and Bailey, which they were the the first
iteration of the, the current generation of WWE women's tag
team champions. They they were the ones who
ushered in the belts back years ago.
The WWF had a a women's tag team division at one point and there
was a belt and all that good stuff.
And that got put to rest, so Sasha and Bailey brought it
back, so to speak. We and and they did a fine job.
I, I, I really love the way that Bianca has kind of transitioned
into an elder stateswoman where her, her position is, is solid.
She doesn't have to worry. She doesn't have to look over
her shoulder. She, she's a legend.
You know what I mean? You main event WrestleMania and,
and you do all these things, you form a women's champion now,
former tag team champion, like you're a legend, You're good.
You're, you're solid. History has you in the books.
So doing what she has to do in order to build up others around
her and make that division stronger and being a mentor, not
unlike what Charlotte did for her, not unlike what Natty did
for Charlotte. It's just very interesting to
see the way that Bianca has carried herself the last couple
of years and the fact that she's crediting Naomi for helping her
get her her mentality straight and understand, hey, this is
bigger than you. A lot of people, they had to do
a lot in order for you to be who you are today.
A lot of people lay down so you can get over.
Now it's time for you to start giving some of that back.
And Bianca being mature enough to, to receive that and then
apply it. I just think she's a, she's a, a
compliment to the business. I think she's fantastic.
And I've always loved Naomi. I think she has matured into a
true leader in her own right and I'm over the moon about her as
well, man. So I just, I don't know, I, I
got a lot of time for the both of them.
I think they they are doing it the way that it should be done,
very unselfish, very secure. And I just, I don't know, I love
it, man. I love it because because we've
seen the opposite so many times. Right when?
I we've seen the. Opposite, you know, and it's,
it's ironic because Devon, everything that I just said
about them is exactly how you carried yourself towards the end
of your last run, like your last five years in the business in
particular, that's exactly what you were doing, right.
Yeah, pretty much. I mean, it went by so quick too.
Good God did I feel old as shit. But still.
Oh my God, I'm like God, can we do it one more time?
Please, one more time, one more time 1.
More time. And then after that one more
time is over, I'm going to say it one more time again.
That's like when the fan came and said, Devon and you and
Bubba just go on the ring one more time with the harness.
I said, yeah. And you know what's going to
happen after the one more time, five years later down the line,
it's going to be said again. Can you go back in there again?
And again I'm like, y'all trying to kill me, you know, I can only
take so much. God didn't intend to us to get
in the damn ring and go all four corners to beat the hell out of
each other. Are you sure about that?
I'm. Positive because he made our
bodies a lot stronger than what it is.
Because, and I ask you that question because you know the
Hardy Boys, they were on NXT this week.
They showed up as a TNA Tag team champions.
They took on Miles born in Tabian Heights and let me tell
you something, the way that Matt Hardy was talking trash couple
weeks back about you and Bubba and and claiming that they're
the best and they're going to show you they're the best and
this and that and this and that. Now they show up in NXT and they
start smacking up some of them young boys.
Are you sure, Devon, that God didn't intend for you to go and
kick their ass one more time? I mean, I ain't saying that.
I'm not going to say never. I'm just saying, you know, the
Hardy's got hurt to be great on NXT and you know, there was
Rumble about us joining again. I told him.
I said, well, you know, we'll have to see.
I, I think, I think Matt Hardy is yellow.
I think he is an egg sucking yellow so and so because he want
to go and smack up the young boys.
I I thought you were supposed to be coming after the legends.
I thought you were supposed to be proving you're number one in
history. So So what are you doing
smacking up the young boys? You know what I'm saying?
I don't know, man, that that seems like a sleight of hand to
me. You know, step up to.
The big dogs bro, you might get your wish.
Oh, oh, oh. Breaking news here.
Breaking news. What, what, what, what is your
take on this? This thing with TNAI mean we've,
we've had enough time now, WWE and TNA collaborating with each
other and we're seeing not only people who remain under TNA
contract showing up in NXT, showing up in the in the Royal
Rumble, but we also see some of the WWE stars going over to TNA
and doing, in fact, Oba Femi, who is the current NXT champion,
he, he's going to be on TNA on this day that we record here to
get back in Moose's face. What what's your overall take on
the way that that partnership has been going in comparison to
the TNA and AEW partnership from a few years back?
Well, I'm going to say this. Honey knows how to do it, you
know, which shows me Honey knows how to do business.
And Tony, the other, let me ask you this.
And you AW Marks can say whatever you want to say without
the money that he has. In terms of Tony Kahn, do you
honestly think that he could run the AW, the AW, wait, listen to
me, AW, the way it's being run now, do you think it would
actually be around or even have the little bit of fans that they
do have? No, not, not at all.
No, no, no, no way. It's because of the money that's
even keeping him afloat right now.
So, you know, I just don't feel like Tony has the business
smarts to collaborate with somebody like a TNA to be able
to bring forth what Triple H is doing now with TNA, it's all
about business, making the right decisions and doing the right
thing in my opinion. Sorry, Tony, but you don't have
it. Not at all.
You're not. I mean, you're not Hannah.
Look at what what Tony is doing with Ring of Honor, which bear
in mind, folks, Ring of Honor is owned by Tony.
It's not owned by Shad. It's owned by Tony Kahn.
That's, that's the wrestling company he owns.
It's, you know, AW is technically owned by Shad and a
few other investors. Now Tony argues that, well,
that's technically his inheritance money that's being
used. So he's an owner too, but it's
not the same as what his, his, his actual business is with ROH,
where he truly is the owner of that Ring of Honor just
celebrated, celebrated 25 years of existence.
And, and listen, I was at the first Ring of Honor show.
I was, I was one of the people that they used to figure out how
to build that card because of the, you know, the tapes and the
DVDs and the chatter online. And, you know, they were using
US as market research in order to understand who we wanted to
see on that first card. The company today is a shell of
itself. It's a disaster and it's not
worth anything. Well, again, look who's running
it. Look who's running it.
Yeah, look who's running. It's got to be a tax write off.
It's got to be built to just be a loss leader because it really
doesn't make any sense. You, you could make that
something and you certainly got the money to do it.
So why aren't you doing it? You know?
You know, I know people are saying, man, Levi, I know Tony
Hunt, Tony Hunter, Tony Tony Khan doesn't like me at all.
And I don't, you know, I don't, you know, because I don't agree
with his way of doing business. I just don't and I'm not going
to if I don't agree with it, I ain't going to give you, I'm not
going to give you your props, especially if you're not good
enough. I just don't think he has it.
The only reason why he's even in the running of doing anything.
I think, and it's my opinion and again, I'm not trying to bad
nothing, but I just don't think he's I don't think he's able to
run a wrestling company. I just don't feel it.
So, so wait a second, are you, are you saying that you, we
shouldn't expect you to to be getting the Tony Khan hug
anytime soon? Is that what you're saying?
No, I doubt it. I doubt it.
I mean, look myself, Bubba, Eric Bischoff and the number one, Jim
Cornette. Yeah, I don't think he likes any
of us. No, no, no.
That ship has sailed. Yeah, that, that ship has
sailed. That ship has sailed.
You know, somebody, somebody told me recently that Tony has
heard everything we've said about him and he's not happy.
So take that for whatever you want to take it for.
Look, he can say whatever you want, but I'm telling the truth.
It ain't like I'm not. And he's not happy.
Why? The guy said he needs help.
I said he can't do this by himself.
Am I wrong in what I'm saying? No, I'm not wrong.
So you can, you can say whatever you want to say, you know, say
whatever you want to say. Feel however you want to feel,
but I'm telling the truth. It's it's the truth and the
whole truth. Yeah, nothing but the truth.
So Tony can be mad at me all he wants.
I don't give a damn. I'm not.
I don't work for him. What do I care to?
No, Yeah, he's got to get over it.
He's got to get over it. You better get over it fast.
I mean, again, I'm not trying to disrespect you, man, but I just
don't care, you know? And people say, oh, Devon's
kissing Triple H with their ass. Does he want to come back?
No, that's not it at all. The fact of the matter is I know
a man who knows how to run a company.
I know a man that knows how to run a wrestling company, and I
just don't feel like Tony does. Thank you, for what it's worth.
And I'm not the only one saying it.
So you want to get mad at me and get mad at me, but I'm not the
only one, so it is what it is. A prime example of all this is
last week, Thunderosa, she's coming out to make a save.
So you have Chris Statlander, who was was in a match with
Megan Bane and Penelope Ford was out there with her.
So that, you know, after the match, they're attacking
Statlander, Thunder runs to the ring, she's holding the chair,
and now Megan Bane and Penelope Ford are the heels.
So Thunderosa is a babyface who's coming out to save Chris
Statlander, another babyface. Classic wrestling.
We know what it is. Whatever Thunder gets in the
ring, she's holding a chair. She postures as if she's about
to swing it at the heels. And instead of the heels running
out of the ring, which is what they should have done, Megan
Bane stands firm and Penelope Ford, who's a lot smaller than
her, stands in front of her, and it's almost like they dare
Thunderosa to swing the chair at them.
It was embarrassing and unprofessional and clearly from
from, you know, the outside and everybody has been talking about
it, people in the business, outside the business, fans,
whoever, everyone's been saying, hey, that was on purpose.
They're trying to make Donderosa look bad in this moment by not
getting out of the way. And it puts Thunder in a bad
spot because if she swings that chair and she nails them when
that wasn't discussed beforehand, that you're supposed
to actually hit them and connect with a chair.
Now she's not being safe, even though they're going into
business for themselves in this moment.
And they probably do deserve to get whacked for it.
So I don't know if you saw it or not, Devon, but but the the
general concept of putting you in a position like that where
people are going into business for themselves and you got to
make a decision on whether or not you're going to hit them
with the damn chair or not. I mean, what do you think about
that? Well, again, it's the booking.
You know, what are you doing? What are you doing, man?
You know what are you doing? That's all I got to say.
Like what are you doing? I, I saw somebody speculate that
maybe the office had something to do with that and they're
trying to, and they're trying to send a message.
You know, when she gets in the ring and she's holding the
chair, don't, don't bail. Stay there.
No, I didn't. It's crazy.
I didn't know. I didn't know anything about it.
But I mean, again, am I surprised?
The man should not be running a company.
Shouldn't give the book to Jericho, you know?
I mean, I hate to say it. I mean, I know you shouldn't
give the book the talent, but damn, give it to Jericho, you
know? He's not going to do any worse
than what we're seeing right now, I tell you that, but it
won't be any worse. Exactly.
You know shit. Give it to the Young Bucks.
Give it to somebody other than him.
I'm sorry. It's not good.
And, and in comparison, when you look at how hot WWE is right
now, it is just insane to see the comparison.
You know, you know, there's a new show that's coming on next
week and it's going to be on Tubi.
It is the EVOLVE show, the WWE EVOLVE show.
So they're bringing back that that territory, so to speak.
And and they're going to be putting kids who were in NXT but
who are not getting a lot of TV time.
They're going to be on the EVOLVE show, And to be is A, To
be is a. Streaming app.
That is technically owned by Fox, so it is a Fox property,
but it's but it's it's own app that you can pull up and what
have you. It's free, it's going to air at
the same time Dynamite airs. So this is going to be like a
head to head competition with Dynamite.
This, this 4th show of these inexperienced wrestlers
basically is going to go head to head with Dynamite.
How do you think that's going to end up D1?
You said Evolve is going to go head to head with Dynamite.
Yep. I think you.
I think we both know. Don't say.
I just think, you know, and I've never been one to be vocal, you
know, but this is ridiculous. So you heard that he doesn't
like what we're saying. What are we saying that's so
wrong what I'm saying? So the fact of the matter is he
doesn't like it when people don't agree with his method.
It's like that little kid, you know, that has all the toys in
the world. The family's rich.
The minute you stop agreeing with him, he doesn't want to
play no more. He wants to take his toys and go
home. OK, then go home, you know, go
home. And I'm not trying to bury the
man. You know, I agree with a lot of
people when they say that he's a nice guy.
Doesn't mean that he should be running a wrestling company.
I just don't, you know, I mean, grant you people all, you know,
he's this, he's that. He's not really a bad guy, OK?
He's not a bad guy. He's a good guy.
I agree with that. But again, just because you're a
good guy doesn't mean you should be running your own company, you
know? Well said.
Well said.
So Tony, I, I, I already knew you listened.
So, you know, I'll, I'll say hi. Tony, you know, I like I told
you when you, when you jumped in my inbox talking crazy the first
time and I said you didn't even say hi to me, Tony, I'm saying
hi to you. Hi, Tony.
Look, man, we want you to stick around because you're a great
source of income for people that we care about in this business.
So it's not like we want you to go away.
We just want you to actually, you know, show that you care
about running a company, improving, growing.
Let me just say this. People do.
You said that he inboxed you a bunch of crazy stuff, right?
Because he didn't agree with things that you said, correct?
Yep, Yep, Yep. Let me ask you a question.
You think he inboxed Bubba and it's all crazy?
To him. You think he inboxed Cornett?
Fuck no he didn't. Especially Cornett.
He inboxing Cornett. He might have said some things
about him not appreciating what Cornett has been saying, but he
he can't he excuse my French and you know, I like the curse, but
he can't fuck with Cornett on the mic.
No way. I don't know too many people
that can. And Bischoff, no way.
How you going to talk crap? The Bischoff, he might not have.
Bischoff had the most successful company that almost took WWE out
of business, you know, with WCW, yeah, sure, he fit.
You know, he had his bumps and bruises.
He lost WCW, he lost the war. But you know what?
He took us all on a great ride, and we can't deny that.
So you can't bury Bischoff. Bischoff more than proved that
he could run a successful company to the point where he
scared the hell out of Vince, and not too many people can say
they've done that. So why is he talking mess to
you? Because you're actually saying
what should be said, because you're actually pointing out
things. That is obvious.
You know, it's all over social media what people think.
They love the product, but they just don't like how it's being
handled. And that's what we're saying.
We love the product. The the wrestling talent on AW
is freaking phenomenal, no doubt about it.
But the person who's steering the ship is not capable, I feel,
and a lot of other people feel, of running it.
I don't have, I don't have a bad bone.
But Tony, I don't hate Tony. I don't dislike Tony.
Tony's never done anything to mean anything to me to dislike
him except freaking make me wait around a goddamn arena for four
or five hours to get an answer that I knew that I was going to
get anyway. But still.
I mean, I don't give a damn about that.
But we're stating the facts. Listen, if everybody has the
same opinion and saying the same thing, then we all can't be
wrong. I actually liked him when I met
him. He was a nice guy, you know?
But I just thought, I didn't think he should be running a
wrestling company, that's all. And, and, and again, every
single day he proves you right. That's the scary part about it.
Every single day. It's like, what are you doing
this time, brother Jesus Christ? You know, anyway, what's the
best way that people can keep up with you?
Especially that huge hot white hot YouTube channel that you
got? Plug away bro.
Man, well, that's definitely one way, you know, thank you to
everybody for helping me to be able to get to 100,000 followers
in four weeks. That was truly incredible.
YouTube has actually sent me my plaque, which I've been waiting
for, and I can't wait to showcase it to everybody.
Thank you so much for that and the numbers are still growing so
thank you. You can catch me on the YouTube
channel at Devon Dudley YouTube channel or you can find me on
Instagram at testify Devon or Twitter.
Check out the wrestling school as well Devon Dudley Academy on
Instagram and Facebook and Twitter as well.
So, you know, take a look at us, if you're ready to take your
dream to the next level, give us a call and we'll definitely help
you. Are you are you seeing any
future world champions already? I know it's a little early in
the game there with this, this latest class, but are you are
you seeing some, some potential there?
I see a lot of potential and a lot of students.
We got guys in there that pick up stuff just like that, so
they're doing real good. I've I've seen some big names
and I'm not going to say any names right now, but I've seen
some big names and some big athletes that you got there.
Brother, you, you people, people are really taken to your
training, huh? I'm loving it.
I mean, thank God somebody wants to listen to me.
Thank God. I know your kids, your kids are
going to roll their eyes at that one now, so.
Listen, they're rolling their eyes, sucking their teeth, but
notice how they're not doing it in front of me.
Yeah, exactly. Well, hey, listen, they better
not they better one. One of my favorite things bad is
when when you say get your narrow behind over here, I'm
saying, geez, I haven't heard that in so many years.
Wow, I'm old school when it comes to discipline my friend.
Yes, yes, yes. I love it.
I love it folks. Duke loves wrestling on
facebookoror.xdukeloveswrestling@gmail.com. As always, let me know what you
think. Send in your questions, shout
outs, the whole 9 yards there. You know, listen, Devon Dudley
has never been harder. And the irony is there's so much
more on the horizon for the rest of the year.
So just keep tuning in, keep checking out the the YouTube,
keep sharing the show, the whole 9 yards because there's many
more surprises coming and, and we'll just leave it at that for
now. Any any big bookings coming up
over the next couple of weeks here or you want to hold on to
that? Yes, I'll be hold on.
So I'm going to be in Detroit this this week at a auto
convention. All the information will be on
my Instagram. Check it out.
If you're in the Detroit area, come on down and check myself
and Bubba out. Perfect, perfect.
Well folks, that does it this week.
Join us again next time. And before we go, Devon, give us
our word of the week, bro. Sure, when God gives you a new
beginning, remember, do not repeat old mistakes.
Testify. My brother, strictly for the
culture, every day stepping style in your unique way, pants
and colours. So define all about the perfect
life. Be yourself, let your spirit lie
in fashion. You'll touch the sky strictly
for the culture where it's so fine.
Dress to impress and show your shine strictly for the culture.
Every day sniff in sky in the unique way.
Visit www.strictlyforthaculture.ca.
Backstage whispers and the crowds roar from matching giants
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your seat. Tune in.