D-Von Dudley is not against making an in-ring return but has to be cleared.
On January 19th, D-Von Dudley took to his social media to share that he finished up with WWE and would be leaving the company.
Dudley had been working with the NXT brand as a producer and coach after undergoing back surgery which took him off the road for WWE’s main roster shows.
Signed By Superstars hosted a virtual signing with D-Von and in part two of the signing, D-Von expressed how heartbroken he was about leaving NXT. He said it was a great place to be but he had to do what he had to do.
I’m gonna be honest with you, I loved NXT. Don’t get me wrong, I love the main roster but NXT was something special and if you have anybody who’s an inspiring wrestler and who’s on the indie circuit, you should really try to go to NXT. Try to get Matt Bloom and Shawn Michaels to look at you because when you get there, it’s not like anything else in the world. It’s a family-oriented deal, I love it, the kids are great, the producers are great. Just everything about NXT was wonderful so that was the one thing that broke my heart when I left was because I was gonna miss those guys… Norman [Smiley is] still there, Fit Finlay, Robbie Brookside. I mean there’s a whole host of guys that’s still there that are running the show. I loved it there. It was sad for me to leave but, you know, we had to do what we had to do.
2016 was the last time the 50-year-old D-Von wrestled. He is not against the idea of an in-ring return and said he’d have to get cleared. Dudley said he feels good and is back in the gym.
Do I have one more match in me? Possibly. I do have to get cleared by the doctor first… Because remember, I had back surgery on February 15th. I had three discs removed and put into bolts and screws so I’m definitely dealing with that right now. I feel great, I’m back in the gym, I’m doing what I gotta do and I just gotta be able to move around the way I used to in order for me to get back in the ring again.
The topic of the 2023 Royal Rumble came up and D-Von responded to a chat user who asked if he’ll be there. He said he will not but mentioned that February will be one year since since his back surgery and he’ll be “cleared” and good to go.
I’ll tell you where I’m not gonna be, and that will be the Rumble. No, I will not be at the Rumble. My back surgery, I just had February 15th so, February 15th of this year will be a year that I will be cleared and I’ll be ready to go.
Elsewhere during part one of the signing, D-Von weighed in on how Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque has done in his role as Chief Content Officer. He expressed how thankful he is to Levesque and reiterated the story about how Levesque believed in the Reverend D-Von character.
Great (D-Von said about how Paul Levesque has done at the helm of WWE). I have a lot to be thankful for-for Triple H. Here’s the deal, Triple H was the reason why I became a producer backstage… Triple H gave me my first big victory as ‘Reverend D-Von’ when he didn’t have to do that. Hunter actually believed in the gimmick and loved it… Hunter was always in my corner… And I had a really great time working underneath Hunter.
He was questioned about the differences between working for Vince McMahon and Levesque in addition to if there’s less stress being under Levesque. D-Von said he has nothing bad to say about either.
Let me just put it to you this way, I enjoyed my time with WWE. I have nothing bad to say. I think the job is stressful whether you’re with Vince [McMahon] or Triple H because again, it’s a live television show. You got a bunch of guys who can be primadonnas at times and if they wanna do something they feel passionate about, they’re gonna wanna do it and you gotta be the guy to tell ‘em no because this is what the boss wants. So in my opinion, working with both Vince and Hunter was great, I had a good time, I learned a lot and it made me the person who I am today so I’ve got nothing bad to say about either man. I know people have their personal opinions on what they feel about certain people who were their bosses but, I’ve got nothing negative to say.
The surgery D-Von underwent in 2022 was a spinal operation and his L4, L5 and L6 had to be fused.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Signed By Superstars with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
