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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 exciting
edition of the Devon and the Duke Podcast.
This is a limited edition series hosted by your main man.
Duke loves wrestling and of course the Hall of Famer
himself, one of the greatest of all time, Brother Devon Dudley.
How you doing that Devon? I'm good, man.
How's everything going? Listen, brother, I'm a I'm a
year older officially, you know what I mean?
I'm, I'm old enough to know better and I'm too old for this.
You know what? How about that?
That's right. Happy, happy birthday.
Happy birthday. I hope you celebrated it good.
Oh, man, I, I spent time with mom and my sister, you know,
took them for their holiday shopping and all that and picked
up some of my birthday stuff. And then my lady and I, you
know, we, we, we had sushi and we went to the movies and, you
know, relaxed. That was the main point,
brother. I just got a chance to just
unplug and relax. So absolute.
We were talking about that too. Man, you, the older you get the
more you you really appreciate sleep and rest, huh?
Listen, I appreciate it from the time I go to bed to the time I
wake up. Well, listen, you got a whole
gang of kids too, so I know that that for for many years sleep
hasn't come easy for you, right? Not really.
The kids go to sleep, like when I go to sleep, really it's I,
I'm, I'm really blessed and lucky to have that, especially
the baby, the infant, you know, he goes to bed.
He, he never gave us problems or anything.
Two months after two months of being born, he was going to bed
through the night. So we never had to get up in the
middle of the night to do anything.
He was. He's a very, very good baby.
Wow, wow. So.
So he done got with the program right away.
Right away, even to this day. And if he wakes up in the middle
of the night, that means either he got a diaper change or
something's wrong. I love that shout out to the
baby, Hey, doing the right thing.
You know what I mean, is that it's almost like working a job.
They, the baby knows when to wake up, knows when to go to
bed. Hey, can't beat that.
I love, I love that. Listen man, we got the holidays
coming up. So.
So how far along are you on on your holiday preparation, so to
speak? Have you?
Have you even started your Christmas shopping and all that?
Yes, I have, believe it or not, which I'm shocked, going great.
I'm gonna try to get it all done this week, this weekend coming
up because I've taken off for the next two or three weeks.
I'm not doing anything. I'm just going to be home.
No autographs, signings, appearances and nothing.
And I doubt if WWE calls Bubba and myself to do anything up and
from now until January. So I'm really going to enjoy the
time I have off and, you know, just relax with the fam.
I'll tell you man, for for years when I was younger, I had a job
at one of the malls and holiday season was always crazy because
usually you, you could always count on Mother's Day and
Christmas in particular, fathers, men, they would rush
the mall a day, two days, you know what I mean?
It'd be like December 22nd, December 23rd.
It's just a mall full of guys trying to grab whatever they can
doing that last minute shopping. And it will always just boggle
my mind because it was like, damn brother, you had all year
to figure this out. Now you hear it in the in the
midnight hour, try to try to scrape it together and figure
just just give them a gift card, give them some money and call it
a day. You know what I'm saying, right?
Yeah, yeah, that's what, listen, I I'd never, I'd never had a
problem when I get money for Christmas, that's that's the
best gift you could get. Shoot, Go get what you want, you
know? Exactly.
What what was the big Christmas gift for you?
It it when when you think about when you were younger, was there
one thing that when you finally got that thing, it was like,
yes, this is the this is it right here.
I'm going to say, man, oh gosh, what was the one?
I guess my electronic drum set that I got from my grandmother.
I was like an oar, you know, 'cause I always wanted a drum
set and never had really had one, that I had the electric
drum set and actually I still have it.
Wow, but. I still have it.
That's crazy bro, you still have your electric?
How old were you when you first got it?
Man, I was probably 1415 years old.
How I kept it with me all this time is beyond me.
Wow, that is something. So did you ever play drums in
church? Oh, absolutely.
I put stuff on my Insta. If you go back on my Instagram
with my videos, me and two other people were jamming upstairs in
my game room. That is amazing.
No, yeah, I played the drums for many, many years.
And you know, sad to say, when I had my stroke, I hadn't played
in a while. So I went up there for the first
time in about two or three years and tried to play songs that I
knew. And it was a little rough.
But, you know, if I, if I keep going at it, I'm sure I'll pick
it up again. And, you know, but it was to the
point where I could play with my eyes closed.
And now it was kind of like a little weird for me because
again, I had been out because of the stroke and everything.
So trying to get my bearings and everything was a little rough.
But it, it wasn't what I wanted. But I'm sure if I kept on doing
it, it'd be it'd be good. You know, folks, you you've
heard Devon say before on the show, he grew up in the church
and in fact, both parents were church leaders.
To this day, Devon's mom is still a well respected, well
accomplished church leader. In fact, she recently got
bestowed upon her A a major honor, right A.
Major honor. She's the mediator of all the
Baptist churches in New York City.
Incredible. And you could check her out on
Facebook, Facebook or Instagram. No Facebook, I'm sorry, Facebook
or look her up. Renee Washington Gardner
Memorial Baptist Church, Harlem, New York.
She took over my the church when my father passed away in 2003.
Who when he passed away, he was a Bishop but well respected man
Preston Robert, Washington senior.
And, you know, I'm like I told her in my Instagram post, my
grandmother and my father would be so proud of her because the
things that she accomplished, you know, after all the
tragedies she went through and all the, you know, setbacks, she
really, really, you know, blew it out the park.
I mean, it's, it's true. Not only is it a tremendous
honor for anybody to be, you know, somebody who's
facilitating the, the, all the Baptist churches in New York
like she is, but this is a woman, this is a female church
leader who gets bestowed that honor.
And that's not very common, right?
You know, and, you know, not to mention, you know, the first
black female on top of that. Wow, wow, huge deal.
Huge deal. So again, shout out to the Rev
that that is tremendous. And and that just goes to show,
you know, when God calls you, you got to answer, you got to
you got to get to it. And and certainly she continues
to do that, which is why she continues to be blessed.
That's good stuff. But diva on the drummer.
Oh my. So so where did you think you
were going to take that? Where you did you have
aspirations to have your own band or something like that?
Or was it were you just sticking?
With the church, I was just doing it, you know, I watched
people in the church play the drums.
I watched them play the drums and I was fascinated by it.
And I was just like, oh man, I would love to learn how to do
it. And nobody taught me.
I just watched. I learned by watching.
And it was the strangest thing. And then I remember in 6th
grade, my grandmother was giving me money to take a lesson to to
learn how to play the drums the right way.
And on my way, I had to ride my bike.
It was about maybe 6-7 miles from my house at the time.
I'm on my way to drum practice. Somehow another lost control of
my bike, fell and broke my arm. Oh man.
So I never really got to really learn the proper way.
I learned a lot by just watching.
You know, that's like sometimes you hear people with guitars or
piano, they don't really take lessons, they just learn by
watching. Yeah, you know, but.
Again, I encourage you to go to my Instagram, go where the
videos are and take a look at some of the stuff that I've
done. I love playing rock music
because it's very challenging to me.
And like Iron Maiden, I love Iron Maiden.
I'm a big Iron Maiden fan, love Iron Maiden and love playing
their music. Somewhere in time, The Trooper
Revelations. I really, really had a good time
in playing those, playing those song and I did it on my
Instagram. Wow, that's fascinating.
So I, I, I wonder about that because here you are, this this
kid growing up, you know, originally from the projects in
New York and what have you. How the hell did you get into
rock music? Well, the school I went to in
Long Island, New York was John Glenn High School in East
Northport, Long Island in Huntington.
And when crack first came on the scene in 83 and it became a
epidemic, basically, my mother and grandmother said we got to
get Devon out of here, you know, 'cause if not, he's going to
fall victim. And I wasn't getting in trouble
or anything, but they just saw the bigger picture.
And they said to me, you know, what do you think about going to
Long Island and going to school out there?
And I was like, yeah, I'll go, I'll do it.
I never thought in a million years it would happen.
You know, I was talking out of my behind.
And when they finally said yes, they were going to send me out
there 'cause what I would do is I would go to school in Long
Island Monday through Friday, but then Friday come back to
Brooklyn. And I just never thought it
would happen. And when it really did, I, I, I
became a little bitch and started crying.
I don't want to go, I don't want to go.
My, my mother was like you going, you going and, you know,
and I went to a school. It was like Saved by the Bell or
Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Do you remember that one?
Oh, absolutely. That's a classic, brother.
Absolutely. Yeah, that was that was my
school at the time in in East Northport and so I in Long
Island. So it was kind of like that was
the type of school I went to, you know.
And so I went from all black and Spanish school to now all white.
So it was like maybe 3% maybe. Now I'm not going to say 3%.
There's probably maybe 10% black and Hispanic at that school at
the time. And you remember this was in the
80s, you know, and of course, heavy metal was big back then,
and rap was just starting. It was, you know, Sugar Hill
Gang just hit #1 so that's how far back we're going.
That is I, I never knew that bro.
I never knew that about your history and it and it's it's so
fascinating because I have a similar story.
You know what I mean? I, even though I'm a little
younger than you, same concept you got, you got parents for
police officers and, and my mom in particular, she was very
serious about not wanting me to fall into gang culture and
things like that. So we moved and you know, as she
progressed in her career, we would move to different
neighborhoods. And more often than not, and
especially by the time I got to high school, I was living in a
town that was less than 2% non white.
It was over 98% white, which was crazy.
Now, the good thing about the school is that they had what's
called a school choice program. So they were bussing in children
of color from different neighborhoods surrounding that
that area. So, you know, the school was
only about 51% white and the rest was everybody else.
So there was diversity in the school itself, but same concept
that just, you know, the concern with the crack epidemic and the
gang culture and people shooting each other up all over the
place. I mean, absolutely.
I mean, I grew up in in Myrtle Ave.
Myrtle and Nostrand, you know, near Flatbush.
So it was rough and Coney Island, she said they and it was
rough, you know, And so, like I said, when crack first came on
the scene, it made people do things that were, you know,
ordinary, you know, citizens that went to work every day,
took care of their families. And after that first hit, they
were they were hooked and it made them it made them become
people that you do would never known or never thought that they
would become. And when my parents saw they
were like, we got to get them out of here.
We can't have them for victim. And that's what they did.
And so like I said, when I left to me was a culture shock, you
know, I went from, you know, being with all black and Spanish
kids to now the majority were white.
And I didn't know how to handle it at first.
I, I was miserable at first because it was a culture shock,
you know, I felt nobody understood me.
Nobody, you know, knew about where I came from or nothing.
It was just one big culture shock for me.
And eventually I started fitting in and starting adapt, adapting
and this and that. I did get in trouble along the
way in terms of fighting because, you know, kids back
then not understanding me or how I grew up and acting a certain
way with me. So it was kind of like one of
those things where I just said, you know, I'm going to have to
make sure that, you know, everything is good and and this
and that. So, you know, that was just the
way it was. Wow, that's that's deep.
I I wonder that experience of, of being taken out of your
normal surroundings and being dropped into a place where, like
you said, you had to learn how to adapt.
You had to learn how to make new friends, experience different
aspects of life and what have you.
How much did that help you and prepare you for who you would
eventually become as this this world famous figure?
Well, it allowed me, you know, because again, you're coming
from 1 diverse, you know, group of people, you know, and only
lowering their ways of being and all of that.
Now all of a sudden you are trying to learn a different way
and it's kind of like it's hard, you know, it was hard.
But because I was able to make that switch at a young age and
adapt, it was like fantastic, you know, it was, I was able to
adapt. I was able to do what I had to
do and you know, and be able to adjust accordingly.
So to me, I was good with it. You know, I, I basically, you
know, got along with everybody. You know, I fit in very well
When I had to make the change, I did.
And it was, it was, it was a good time for me.
I just, I, I think about your whole career, Devon and, and you
know, the, the, the Dudley family, not just the Dudley
boys, the Dudley brothers, Team 3D, the Dudley family was a
bunch of white guys. And then there was you, other
than the answers with Dudley, who was who was Native American.
But you know, you were the black guy in this mix, which is a
parallel to your real life. Exactly.
Wow. I mean.
That was me 100%, you know? Wow, Was that a happy accident
or, or, or was that because of how you grew up?
It was, it was thought, hey, you know, you would fit in with this
thing that we're doing here. Well, to me it, you know, again,
I fit it. I fit in because I was, I wasn't
close minded even at that age to be able to open up and to really
enjoy. And plus pro wrestling helped me
too. You know, seeing that and you
know, idolizing people of different races during that time
was huge. Because remember growing up in
Brooklyn, it was different time, different era.
You didn't see too many white people or, you know, people that
weren't the same as you. It was totally different.
Yeah, yeah, it's, it's it's more cosmopolitan today.
It's more commercialized today. Wasn't like that back then,
that's for sure. Yeah, good point.
Wow. Wow.
That's, that's a fascinating piece of history, man, which has
served you throughout your life. I mean, you know, you, you're
encouraging people to check out your Instagram at Testify Devon
and anyone who's paying attention, You have a common
post that you put up every so often of a very close friend of
yours. And you know, you and him get
together, have a, have a drink, have a cigar.
And, and, and you always put a nice message in there about, you
know, you've been friends with this person for years.
And that's, that's literally, that's like family.
That's your brother right there. And it's a white guy, right?
Are you talking about Henry Garlin?
I don't think it's Henry Godwin. It's somebody who's not in the
in the business. It's it's the other guy who who
wears glasses. I, I I don't know his name.
Oh, yes, yes, Scott. Yeah, basically him and I yeah,
he, he actually played for a band called, I think it was
Bonehead back in the 90s, very, very successful band out of New
Jersey. And I met him through the Blue
Meanie after the ECW show, went to one of his gigs and fell in
love with the band and the music.
And I had every time they were in the area.
I made sure when we were done with ECW I would go frequent the
shows. That's something else.
But you you've maintained that that friendship throughout all
those years. Absolutely, absolutely.
There was a point in time where we did lose in touch, in touch
with one another. But then he came to an NXT show
because of Jeremy Borash. They knew each other.
Oh wow. And he came down and I was
producing at the time, and I remember coming from the arena
part of NXT to the back where the producers are, and I ran
into him. I was like, Scott, what the hell
are you doing here? He was like, we hadn't seen each
other in such a long time, maybe 20-30 years.
And it was like we didn't skip a beat, you know, we took over
where we left off. Wow, wow.
Shout out to Scott. You know, his gimmick name in
the band was Scott Stanley. He's a bass player.
Scott, what is it? Pustelnick, That that's his
name, right? Scott Pustelnick.
Yep. With the band Bonehead Band out
of Philadelphia, that that's, yeah, you're, you're absolutely
right. Alternative rock band.
So folks out there, if you're on Spotify or any of those other
apps, definitely check out Bonehead to hear some of the
fantastic music by Scott and his and his band members there.
Wow, that's, that's, that's pretty cool, man.
That's pretty cool to to know your history and get an
understanding because you do maintain a diverse group of
friends even to this day. And it's interesting once again,
being plucked out of your surroundings in Brooklyn and
being dropped in Long Island and you have to figure it out out
there. That set the table for you and
it's never left you. Exactly.
Especially during that time, we're talking about the 80s, you
know, where at the time, you know, the majority of that area
was white, you know, and Brooklyn was black and Hispanic
all the way. You know, now even Brooklyn is
becoming diverse with, you know, white people and other
nationalized Chinese, Japanese or anything coming into the
area, even Harlem. Now, Harlem was known for just
being, you know, African American.
Now, you know, I remember dry, I hadn't been to New York in a
while. And I remember going to visit my
mother at church and I'm seeing all these white people walking
the street. I go, what the hell is going on?
And I didn't mean that in a bad way.
I was like, wait a minute, what it what is going on?
I was like, I've never seen so many white people in Harlem
before a day in my life. I was like, what is going on?
And my mother goes, yeah, they were like, you know, Harlem is
building up. It's not what it used to be.
And you know now why people feel uncomfortable coming into the
area and things like that. So I was like, oh, cool, very
cool. That's a trip.
That's a trip right there. Wow.
See folks, we, we just brought a full circle there.
Big history in a big understanding of Devon Dudley's
career when you understand his, his humble beginnings.
So that that says a lot there. Speaking of history, a a group
that you have a lot of history with the New Day, Kofi and
Xavier Woods just recently kicked Big E out of the New Day
officially. So I definitely want to get your
thoughts on this. Devon, how do you feel about
Kofi and, and and Xavier Woods? First of all, they turned down
Big E when he said he wanted to manage them.
They said they didn't want to have nothing to do with the big
man. He's out injured because of his
neck, so he can't wrestle. But how do you feel about those
guys kicking Big E out of the group and and turning heel
basically? Well, you know, everybody
eventually turns on somebody and you know, unfortunately that's
going on with the new day. You know, I'm sure maybe one day
they'll be able to has hands all of this and what is it hands all
of that and you know, basically, you know, come back together
because everybody does at one point in time.
But you know, it was a shock to me.
It was it wasn't really a shock to me because it seemed like the
writing was on the wall. But I thought we thought it was
going to be Xavier and Kofi. We had no idea it was going to
be kicking Biggie out, you know, So to me that was like a little
twist and turn for us. But you know, you need to make
these storylines compelling, and that's exactly what WWE is doing
right now. Honda's doing a great job.
I, I love the WWE. They have the hottest ticket in
town right now. And you know, it's only a matter
of time before WWE just takes over.
Period. Yeah, they, they can't miss
right now. It's, it's amazing to see and
to, to freshen up the New Day the way that they have.
I mean, recently on, on Raw this week, we had a situation where
Rey Mysterio kicked Kofi and Xavier out of the locker room.
Rey Mysterio as the locker room leader saying, yeah, we, we
don't want you guys, you guys got to dress somewhere else.
So Kofi and Woods, they complain the whole episode of Raw and
they had different segments where they were complaining,
going outside, complaining and arguing with the fans.
They took it online and they're complaining there as well.
Talk to me about that concept of, of telling somebody that
they can't dress in the locker room 'cause we know, you know,
that's something that really happens and has happened
throughout the years. The Miz has the most famous
story that we as fans know about being kicked out of locker room
for a period of time because he was, I guess he was eating
chicken over somebody's bag and that was considered
disrespectful. But in, in, in your career at
how often would you see people being excommunicated from the
locker room like that? I only saw one and that was it
because by the time I got to WWE, that stuff kind of stopped
in a way. But I only saw it one time and
it was, I don't want to say any names, but he was kind of being
bullied in a sense. So he really didn't do anything
wrong. But his attitude and demeanor
basically along with the boys made it like that.
So in other words, he kind of, he had a little pompous
attitude, very cocky and arrogant, especially where he
came from. It was kind of expected.
But the boys didn't care, you know, And one of the guys
basically, you know, made his help life a living hell when a
guy had a change in his car, freaking in what was it like 20°
outside, snow, ice, all of that and couldn't change in the
locker room. Wow, wow.
That's something. These, these customs, these
customs in wrestling, knowing the the right thing to do, shake
everybody's hand, look them in the eye, take care of everybody
in the ring, all that stuff. How much of that stuff to this
day is taught in the wrestling school?
So, so I know that you obviously you teach your, your, your
folks, right. But from a general standpoint,
how much that stuff is actually still taught in wrestling
schools? Well, if it's a reppable
wrestling school like, you know, somebody like myself or Booker
T, you know, you know guys who have been somewhere, they know
what it's like to be in a locker room.
They know what it's like to be on the road and in front of the
boys. If they have been, if they had
been, what's the word? If they had been put in a
scenario where they knew about stuff like that, they were able
to teach that at the rest of the school.
And I tell my, my students all the time because I bring up
scenarios like this, how to act, because it's very important to
know how to act in the locker room as opposed to learning your
craft. Really.
I mean, because that can destroy you if you don't know how to
act, right? It can.
It can literally take your part in this locker room.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, we and we see it and
we've, we've heard the stories throughout the years.
I remember something playing out on the TV show Total Divas,
which I found very interesting. And, and I don't think that it
necessarily was 100%, you know, on the level, I think it was
more showing you what could happen.
But there was a scenario where NIA Jax was having a
conversation with Maurice and she had mentioned something
about a match that she would had.
And, and she asked Maurice, hey, have you ever had a match like
that before? And Maurice was completely
dumbfounded and she felt disrespected.
She was like, listen, I was Divas champion, you know what I
mean? What how could you ask me a
question like that? I literally held the, the the
number one women's title in the company before.
Of course, I've done things like that.
And, and you know, and then you, you really think about it and
say, OK, Maurice hasn't wrestled in a long time, but that doesn't
take away from the fact that she did earn her stripes in the
ring. She she was in there.
She did win championship. She did have to go up and down
the road and what have you. It was and, and NIA was still,
she was only about a couple years in the business at the
time. So she just didn't know the
history. But I, I found that to be an
interesting commentary, just that, that whole scenario, how
it played out. Have you ever been in a
situation where maybe maybe you didn't know or even somebody
else, you didn't fully comprehend the the history of a
veteran and, and you're speaking to them and you may have said
something unintentionally offensive as a result of not
understanding how far back they went and what they've
accomplished? Well, I do know, and this is
kind of funny. What happened to me was we were
in Saskatoon and Bradshaw and Farooq were downstairs and the
bar slash restaurant and it was during a house show and I didn't
really know the history of this town.
I didn't know Dick Murdoch was from there.
And we were, we came downstairs because we again, we were
getting ready to get in the car to go to the live event.
And I remember going downstairs and saying hello to Bradshaw and
Farooq and I, I had a really bad headache.
I mean, it was, it was like pounding like a migraine.
It was a real bad. And I just wanted to get in the
car and just, I asked Bubba to drive.
He said not a problem. And I remember just wanting to
lay back in the car and go to and just close my eyes and try
to sleep. I think we had like a 45 minute
drive and I was just like, I just want to rest my eyes for a
little bit. And I remember Bradshaw goes,
we're going to have a, we're going to drink.
We're going to drink the Dick Murdoch, you know, and this
thing that we're going to have a shot.
And Bubba, you want, you want to do a shot of Jack in the honor
of Dick Murdoch. And Bubba goes, yeah, of course.
And he goes, Devon, you never shot.
I was like, oh, man, I was like, guys, I'm sorry, my head is
hurting, guys. I was like, it's pounding.
I'll just take a Coke. And Brad sure looked at me.
And he goes, you want to take a coke?
The man who helped put this business on the map, Dick
Murdoch, we're going to we're in his hometown of Saskatoon and
you're going, I might be wrong in terms of the area where he's
from. And so please forgive me if I'm
wrong with that. But he goes, we're in his
hometown and you're going to drink a Coca-Cola in honor of
Dick Murdoch. I was like Bradshaw.
I was like, my head is is really pounding.
I mean, it was really bad. And I was like, I don't think I
can I don't think I can drink Jack.
I was like, he was like, and Brett and Peru goes, well, I'll
be down. I cannot believe you, Devin.
I was like, I was like, guys, I am so sorry.
My head is killing me. He goes so Bradshaw goes, oh,
that's OK. He was like, when we get to the
building, we're going to talk to take about this.
We like this might be charges to bring you up in restless court.
And I went I was like restless court.
He's like, Oh, yeah, you want to drink a Coca-Cola in honor of
Dick Murdoch in his home hometown and you want to insult
him by drinking a Coke as opposed to taking a shot at
Jack. I was like, no, that, that's not
it. I was like, my head was my head
is really pounding and I just want to close my eyes and lay
down. He goes, you want to restless
court. He was like, see you at the
building, Devon. I was like, oh, fuck.
Bubba goes Devon, why did you just take the drink?
I was like, my Bubba, my head was, my head is pounding.
He was like, you should have sucked it up and just took the
drink and I was like, oh, I was like, what do I do?
Bubba goes, well, if I'm a betting man, what happened to
edging Christian when they went to Restless court?
You know Bradshaw and Farook are going to be the prosecutors and
you know that Undertaker is going to be the judge, so you
don't have a chance in hell and winning this case.
I was like, oh shit, what do I do?
He goes, if I was you, I'd go get some alcohol and get it
quick and try to bribe them. I, I knew, I knew Farooq like
Crown and Jack Daniels was for Bradshaw and Taker.
So I went and got three cases of it.
I found the nearest liquor store, got three cases of it.
We got to the building. I basically had this the, the
they called runners. I said, can you do me a favor?
Can you bring these into the locker room, please?
And they grabbed them. They brought them in the locker
room. So by the time Taker got there,
here comes Bradshaw and Farooq. Devin, you ready for the rest of
the court? I was like, not really.
He was like, well, you're going and we already told Taker what's
going on. And Taker can't wait to try this
case. So before they got everybody in
the room that you had to get all the boys and all of that, you
know, to be in the room before they got everybody in the room,
they basically I went to I went to Taker, Ron and and John.
I was like, guys, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to disrespect the
honor of Dick Murdoch. I was like in his home in his
own hometown. I was like, you know, but as a
peace offering, I'm hoping this can be accepted.
Here's 3 cases of Jack for you. And here's a case of Crown for
you. Farooq.
And Farooq looked at me. He goes, well, damn, Devin,
that's the best present anybody ever gave me.
And take a look at me. He goes, Devin, you might get
off on this one. He goes Bradshaw, what do you
think? He goes, well, hell, I ain't
going to turn down no alcohol. He's like, I'll take it.
I was like, oh thank God, because there was no way I was
winning that that that court case, my ass would have been
done. Jesus, that, that is a story
right there, brother. Wow.
Oh yeah, wow. That is a story.
So, so again, these, these wrestling customs, these inside
customs right here, they matter that much.
No. Damn.
Yeah, especially with the old school guys, you cannot break
tradition. And if you do, there's a price.
There was a price to pay. And you had to learn real quick,
you know, So the old school way of doing things was very
relevant back when I was there during the Attitude Era.
You might have had fun and you know a whole bunch of crap went
on back then, but if you didn't follow the protocol of how
things should have been, you were screwed.
How much of that stuff was important in order to bring
people together as, as as crazy as that sounds, They're, they're
reinforcing the notion of respect, respect for the
history, respect for, for, you know, everyone who you working
with today. If you, if you're going to
disrespect the people who laid the groundwork for you to exist
in this business, then how are you going to, you're not going
to respect me either. So we, we got to straighten that
out. How important was that for the
camaraderie in the long run? Well, it was big.
I mean, if you didn't have respect, then the veterans
wouldn't have respect for you and they can make your life a
live in hell. Now, today's wrestling
generation is totally different and in certain companies, I'm
not going to say any names, but we've heard the horror stories
about how the younger generation treats the the guys that have
come before them. The disrespect that I've noticed
in the locker room with some of the younger talent.
You know, when I was growing up in the business, I would have
never even dreamt about doing it.
And if I did, I would have woke up and apologized because that
was the respect When I was taught in this business, you
know, by Johnny Rods, basically, he would beat the hell out of
me. Even things that I wasn't even
my fault, I would get beat up for.
Big Veto would help out and whooping my ass in the middle of
the ring. And so did a guy named Larry.
Larry Briscoe, not Sabisco, but Larry Briscoe, who in my opinion
was way before his time when he came into the wrestling business
and he never made it. But he was a straight shooter
and he knew his stuff. And whenever there was a
problem, Johnny Rodge would beat me up, then Vito and then
Sabisco. So I got my ass handed to me on
many occasions. So it was one of those things
where I learned respect right away and I wouldn't have dared
open my mouth in the locker room or did anything inappropriate
because I was fearful of what was going to happen.
Wow, that's deep. And, and like you said in, in
this day and age, it, it, that whole notion just seems to, it's
not to say that people need to be beating each other up per SE,
but the notion of respect and honor and why that stuff
matters. It, it, it just seems like in a
lot of places it doesn't exist anymore.
And I wonder if that coincides with making it so easy for
anybody to quote UN quote, call themselves a wrestler these
days. Do you do you think that has
something to do with the erosion of the notion of respect in
wrestling today? I just don't think it's taught,
you know, you having these guys that never made it in the
wrestling business that will get a that will get a warehouse, put
a ring in it and say he has a wrestling school and you have a
lot of people that fall for it. Just because somebody gives you
the notion that they know what they're talking about doesn't
necessarily mean that they know what they're talking about.
If they knew how to get you where you needed to be, then
they would have been there. But if they didn't, then there's
your answer, you know, And that's, that's, that's the crazy
things. That's the crazy thing about
some of these wrestling schools and some of these people who
think they're good. Now, when you look at them
physically or when you look at them in the ring, yes, they
might know what they're doing and handle themselves very well,
but doesn't necessarily mean that they know what the hell
they're talking about. Unless you've experienced and
went through what we went through to get to the level that
we're at, we have no reason to open your mouth to say anything
disrespectful for those that have come before you.
Well said, well said. Wow, Devon dropping gems today,
You know. Speaking of gems, Saturday
night's main event made his triumphant return this past
Saturday. The main event was Cody Rhodes
versus Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship which Cody was
displaying the the Winged Eagle belts.
He brought back the old school belt for that match.
Cody ends up winning but at the end of the match Kevin Owens
attacks him and beats the hell out of him and then steals the
belt and it was so egregious that Triple H even came out and
cussed Kevin Owens out and pushed him a few times or what
have you. Owens gave Cody a package
powerbomb and WWE reported that Cody's having some cervical
issues as a result of that devastating maneuver, so to
speak. I'm using all the the old school
descriptions of these things. What what did you think?
The overall Devon Saturday night's main event coming back,
a little bit of nostalgia for us.
How did it feel to watch that? Well, to me, I loved it.
I enjoyed it. Now here's what I liked even
more. I don't.
I saw it on social media, so I don't know if they showed it on
NBC or even Peacock. Do you remember the old that
when Saturday Night's Main Event used to come on and they used to
have the promos with the music in the background and this and
that, and it was kind of like a drama thing?
They did that with The Bloodline.
And it was somebody else they did it with.
I forgot, but it brought back memories because you think about
something that happened forty, 30-40 years ago and how they did
it and they're still doing it today.
They reinvented it and did it today.
So it was kind of like, it was cool to see that it was the, you
know, again. Do you remember how those promos
were when you know, like for instance, when after Hogan,
after WrestleMania 3 settings main event came on and had that
music playing in the background. It was there was Andre and
Heenan standing there and you know, Heenan said something
like, you know, I'm going to prove to you that this man
behind me, Speaking of Andre is still undefeated and deserves to
be world champion and blah, blah, blah.
While the music is playing in the background, he goes, I'm
going to show you just why WrestleMania 3 was a victory for
this man right here. And Andre goes, I'm still
undefeated. And then it goes to Hogan.
And Hogan starts, you know, talking about saying his
prayers, eating his vitamins and how he slammed that nasty giant
in the middle of the ring with all his Hulk of maniacs and
blah, blah, blah. And he's like, what you going to
Andre when Hulka Maniac runs wild on you?
And you have that music that they played back then and they
did that. And I was kind of like, wow, you
know, 40 years later and it brought back memories.
But now I'm waiting to see Nikolai Volkov, the Iron Sheik,
Jake the Snake, Robbins, you know, the magnificent Morocco
because, you know, that was what I grew up watching Saturday
Night's Main Event. And that's what attracted so
many of us that are still wrestling fans to this day from,
from, you know, all those years ago, you know, and Hunter bought
that back. He kind of made you feel like
for the old school guys that you know, that error is still alive
and well and we still remember how things were back then and
bringing back Jesse the body Ventur.
Now don't get me wrong, Jesse's jokes were a little off.
I don't think. I think he got AI think he got a
couple of boos when he said something about Dusty Rose.
I'm not mistaken. Do you remember that part?
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, he sure did. Yeah, he got a couple of boos.
And, you know, 30-40 years ago, you know, people would have not
popped, but they would have laughed about it because it's
Jesse. You know, I don't think this
generation understood Jesse Ventura the way we did back then
and how he really did things. You know, This is why it's
important for the newer generation to watch the old
school, the old school wrestlers because, you know, things were
so much different back then. My God, it was just, it was
magical. And This is why wrestling is
huge in the way it is now, because we watched the growing
up and now it's kind of like we're trying to relive it all
over again or make it fun to watch again.
And This is why, you know, the attitude ever existed the way it
did and you know, and even after and so forth and so on, why
people are doing what they're doing now to me, you know, I
miss those days of having, you know, things like Senex main
event, the way they did it and how, you know, they went about
doing things back then because it brought back so many
memories. So as I go back and watch the
old school settings main event, I'm like, damn, I remember this.
I remember this promo, I remember that match.
I remember this, that, and it makes me feel like I'm a kid
again, you know, so I really enjoy it and love it.
And so to actually know that they're trying to do that now,
man, thumbs up. Yeah, same.
I did. The nostalgia was through the
roof. I loved it.
Those those vignettes you were talking about, those
introductions you were talking about.
I don't think they, I didn't see that played during the
broadcast. But yeah, it was online.
So you had the New Day and then even the women were doing
similar ones. I saw Liv Morgan wanted what
have you. So I yeah, I agree that that
just that got you pumped up for what you were about to see.
That's the whole point. So.
And not to mention the referees and the button down tie with the
big bow tie that brought back memories.
Now, how did you feel when you saw Ref Jess in that little
outfit? Because you trained her, right?
So how did you feel when you saw her like that?
I was very happy for her because, you know, Jessie, Jess,
Jessica Carr had been with me for almost almost 10 years and
she's definitely a student of the game.
If anybody would have lasted during the attitude ever, it
would have been her. She is, she absorbs things like
a book. I mean scream like a sponge.
And she's just, she's very old school.
She has an old school mentality. She has an old school soul.
So she respects those who have come before her and is willing
to ask questions, watch videos of old stuff, not necessarily
the new stuff, but the old stuff, to kind of get an
understanding of where all of this started and where it all
began. And so to see her doing that, I
can only imagine what she was feeling inside, the joy that she
had being a part of history. And to me, that was history, no
question about it. No question.
And she, she looked, she literally looked like an old
school ref, which I really enjoyed.
She did. She looked, she looked amazing.
She looked amazing. I was actually, I had.
I should have called her, but I want to give her some time, you
know, to come off the road and do what she's doing.
But, you know, I was very proud of her.
I've always been proud of Jess and I call her every so often.
I don't like to bother her because I know she's busy and I
don't want her to feel obligated to have to call me.
So every once in a while I'll hit her up and tell a great job.
I'm very proud of you and you know, I'm very proud that you
were my student. You know, she did everything she
was supposed to do. She sure did.
She sure did, and she did a fantastic job with that, just
like she always does. I got a lot of time for ref Jess
as she's known online and then Jessica Carr.
She's fantastic, just like Daphne, the show who was
originally ref Asha. She's another one that you know,
these these female refs, man, they're they're eventually going
to be the ones passing down the knowledge to the next
generation. And that is so cool to see.
I love that, I love that. And and I love to see that type
of diversity in the company because it matters.
It certainly does. Overall, what's your thoughts on
this feud with Cody and Kevin Owens?
I mean, it clearly is not ending anytime soon, huh?
No. And I think it's very good for
business. I think it's more storytelling
than anything, which is what I like.
I I, I like the fact if anybody can do it.
And, you know, Kevin Owens is very, very good, very, very good
when it comes to storytelling. Him and Sami Zane, both
extremely good putting the matches together with them.
They go, they cover ABC all the way up to Z.
They make sure nothing is missed.
And I was just telling somebody, I said my last match was with
Sami Zayn and Neville SummerSlam, you know, 2016 and,
you know, had a really good time with them.
And it was I told, I remember after the match was over, I told
Sammy, I said thank you. I said, if we don't ever wrestle
again, I just want you to know I appreciate everything that you
did, you know, tonight in this match.
And he was like, oh, no, thank you, Devon.
It was a pleasure. I said, I don't know what's
going to happen. I said, but if I don't come
back, I said, I just want you to know I thank you.
And you know, I came back about two months later as a producer.
But you know, that's something that me and Sammy, every time we
talk to each other, he goes, you got one more in you.
I don't know, bro, I don't know. I said the money's got to be
right. I don't know.
I was like because you nearly kicked my ass in that last
match. I, I don't, I don't know about
you taking that. That's that kick that he does
that you know, when he, when he runs across the ring in the
corner and, and, and, and kicks his opponent in the face.
I can't even imagine you taking that, brother.
Well, you know, I remember I would never put my hands up
whenever Kane, Kane would whip me off and put the big boot up
and I would run right into it full blast 'cause I didn't want
anybody to think what we were doing was fake.
And you know, I made sure that whenever Kane did it, I made
sure I would tell as he was whipping me off.
I said, Kane, brace yourself, I go, I'm coming.
And he would put his leg up and I'd run right into a smack face,
just right into his boot face 1st.
And I remember Taker one time said Devon, you can put your
hands up. I said, with all due respect,
take a fuck that. I'm not putting my hands up.
I was like, if I'm going to hit it, I'm going to hit it.
And take it would always get mad at me for not putting my hands
up because he was like, you're going to knock yourself out,
you're going to give yourself concussions and you don't want
that. I said, take it.
I get it. I said, but remember where we
come from, it's ECW. I'm not saying that we're the
smartest group of people in the world.
We're probably the dumbest for not wanting to do what you're
saying, but that was the way I grew up in this business.
You know, you, you took pain and you enjoyed it.
You never complained about it. You did what you had to do.
You know, nowadays you break your foot.
You got to be out for as long as you got to be out for it, as
long as the doctor tells you. Back then we put a boot on our
leg and went in there and wrestled.
You know, I wrestled with a torn Achilles heel.
I had 25. I had 3030 minutes to go in the
match and tore my Achilles heel 5 minutes into the match and had
to finish it. I remember Jeff Jarrett going,
how the hell did you do that? I said Jeff, I've learned to
ignore pain over the years and to me it was like hitting my
knee against a chair or something.
That's that's how, you know, tough we had to be back then,
you know, we had to ignore it. And how many times did I see
Tommy Dreamer wrestling in one of those boot casters or RVD,
you know, NECW wrestle like that.
You know, we didn't take time off.
We were very old school. We didn't take time off.
And I'm not saying it was the smartest thing in the world,
because it probably wasn't, but we didn't do that.
That was just the way that generation was.
And I was very proud to be that part of that generation.
Listen, thank God for DDP Yoga and rest, because the fact that
you can move the way you can move today given your career
says a lot, right? I'm very grateful, you know
through the grace of God, that I'm able to walk, whether I walk
with a limp or walk a little slow.
Like you said, understand what I've been through and where I've
been before. You judge me when you see me.
Damn right, damn right. Wow, that's a big one.
That's a big we got to put that on AT shirt or something.
That's a big one right there. Wow.
Tell everybody about the businesses, man, because you you
got the detailed business, you got the cigar coming out the
cigar line. You got the the wrestling
school. Let's plug away, man.
Yeah, so the wrestling schools in Winter Park, FL, 2720 Forsyth
Rd. Winter Park, FL And you know, we
are, you know, we've been up since 1919, since 2007, and
we're still going strong. Bubba left, of course, and went
to Connecticut. He has the school up there and I
kept the school in Florida, so we're still ready to go.
We got a lot of students at our school and we're just trying to
get them in and pump them out and getting ready for NXT or
whatever is next for them on the horizon after being in our
school. But it's going great.
I'm enjoying myself and every once in a while I get burnt out
and I'm thinking what the hell am I doing?
Maybe I should just retire fully.
But then I get that itch to come back at all every so often.
So I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.
The rest of the school is still there.
Give us a call or you can go online and go to
www.devondudley.com and and it's VEVON Academy,
devondudleyacademy.com. Go on there and get all the
information you need if you want to become a wrestler and you
want to take the take your school to the next level.
And what about the car detailing?
You have the car detailing business down in Fort
Lauderdale. It's mobile.
I, I did it with a friend of mine who I went to high school
with and we put things online and things like that.
If if you live in in Miami, Fort Lauderdale area, Orlando Winter
Park, we go as far as Daytona. If you live in those areas from
Daytona down to Miami, if you would love your car to be done
the right way, then check us out at Devon Dudley.
I'm sorry at 3D auto detailing on Instagram and as well as
Facebook. Check us out and we'll come to
you. You don't have to come to us.
And how about the cigars? Yes, the cigar is a work in
progress. I didn't realize how tough this
getting this cigar was that was going to be easy.
But no, it's, it's something that we're trying to organize in
terms of what the distributors and all of that.
So that's in the works. And again, as soon as that comes
out and we're ready to distribute, well, let everybody
know. So that way you can get yourself
a Devon Deadly cigar. I love it.
I love it folks. Duke loves Rossling on Facebook
on on X or Twitter as we know it.
Duke loves rossling@gmail.com. Let me know what you think of
the show. Sending your questions.
All that good stuff there. As we mentioned before at
Testify, Devon on Instagram and on X as well.
If you see Devon on Facebook, don't even try it.
That's for close personal friends and family.
That's the private stuff. But the public stuff, you can
hit them up on X and on on Instagram and really see some
cool stuff, of course. And that does it for this week.
Devon, what do you have for our Word of the Week?
You know, I really didn't have one.
I should have had one. Let me go.
Let me go back to something I said in the very beginning, and
this isn't, this is for life in general.
If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
So if you don't get your life in order in the very beginning, how
can you get your life in order for the future?
So prepare yourself in the very beginning so you can prepare
yourself for the future and be successful.
Can we get a testify on that? Oh testify.
Strictly for the culture, every day stepping style in your
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