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Brothers and sisters, welcome back to the most exciting hour that you're going to hear all week. I'm telling you this right now because the Hall of Famer himself, Mr. D Von Dudley, five time Hall of Famer, the Hall of Famer in the WWE and TNA, he is not afraid of any North Carolina puffed up overstuffed tag team wrestler who thinks he's hot stuff because he can shoot his mouth off on the Internet.
And I'm telling you on this week's episode of Devon and the Duke, we're going to get some things straightened out. Matt Hardy, turn the volume up, tell the kids, hold on a second. Quiet down. Uncle Devon has something to say. So without further ado, the Hall of Fame. I'm getting them in so much trouble. Oh, my God. I didn't even tell him I was going to do that. I'm getting them in trouble here. The Hall of Fame. Mr. Deepak Dudley. What's up, brother? What's going on, man?
Listen, I don't work too into a shoot now, now what you going to do? Oh no, I'm still trying to think. Listen, this, this North Carolina, this, this guy. And, and let me let me preface this little bit because Matt Hardy, he's been doing his media tour, him and his brother Jeff, who you know, you know them both very, very well. You have battled them all over the world. They're doing their media tours.
They're out there like there's some kind of singing group, their jagged edge 2 point O or something out there singing songs. You know, that song if I ever fall in love again and all that stuff, they harmonizing and stuff. I couldn't believe it. I could not believe these guys are doing this kind of nonsense. But this is what they've, they've done now, all right, to
generate some extra attention. And as soon as they get that extra attention, Matt Hardy starts shooting his mouth off, disrespecting Bubba, disrespecting Devon, disrespecting all of Dudleyville by saying the Hardy Boys want another match with the Dudley Boys. And since the WWE and TNA have announced that they're doing a partnership, Matt Hardy believes that this is the perfect time to to bring it back one more time here. So I got to ask you directly, Devon, because everyone's been
waiting to hear from you. You're, you're the only one they haven't heard from yet about this. Is it at least possible that the Hardy Boys deserve one more ass whooping from the legends? The greatest of all time, the Dudley Boys. You know the Hardys are going to do their thing. You know the Dudleys are going to do all things. But you know I can't. It's hard for me to believe that Matt was really shooting off at the mouth, you know? I, I, man.
And if he did, that hurts, you know, because I thought me and Matt were closed. So for him to start talking crap like that, if it means the Dudley boys, if it means me coming out of retirement, getting back with Bubba, lace up the boots one more time to whoop the Hardy's ass, then I guess it had to be done. Just like Madison Square Garden, Royal Rumble. Why not? If we if, if there's if there is an opportunity for it to happen, then I'll see why it shouldn't happen.
So you know, whoever wants to make that happen can make it happen. And we'll see from there. See this this North Carolina guy with his Bony backside as as you would say his narrow behind took himself online and had the had this to say. Well, good evening Bubba, thanks for listening. We would love to have another match or matches with you and Devon. I'm sure TNA and WWE would both be cool with it since they're
officially partners now. Otherwise, I tread lightly since we're undisputedly the most popular tag team of all time, the most influential tag team of all time. By the time we hang them up, we may be the most decorated tag team of all time too. Hell, I'll take two out of three. Jeff and I are fine staying in our lane because it's leading to a destination that no tag team has ever reached. Have a great night. This this North Carolina guy talking to you New York fellas
like this? I don't know, Devon, I don't know. Look, I in my opinion, the most decorated tag team of all time is the Dudley Boys. I don't see how Matt or Jeff can argue that. Every company we've ever been in, we won the titles and won them numerous times. We are 24 time world Tag team champion and you can't take that away from us.
So as far as I'm concerned, when they wrap it up, when they hang it up, they're still not going to be the most decorated tag team in the history of this business. I don't think I hear people going around saying that the Hardys are the greatest tag team in the business or that was ever in the business. But I do hear about the Dudleys.
You know, everything that we've accomplished has been something that the people recognize and respect and I think maybe the hardest need to learn how to respect that as well, especially the ass weapons that we have given them over the years. Now they want to come back and they want to talk crap. If Matt truly said that, then whatever has to be done has to be done. And we if we got to go one more time, then we go one more time. That's what has to be done.
That's what I feel has to be done and and get rectified in order to be known as the greatest tag team in the history of this business. You know, you know, the the problem is he's feeling himself. This Matt Hardy here, you know, he, he he's got the lovely wife, he's got the lovely children. Matt Hardy, you're not even he's not even the coolest guy in his own household, but he has the audacity to disrespect you and
Bubba this way. Look. I'm going to say this, say, Matt, I love you to death, man. I really do. But I don't think you want to do it one more time. Let's just call it a call it a day. And you and Jeff will be known as the second best tag team in the Business Today, not the first, but I've always said the first would have to be LOD, the Road Warriors. No question about that. And I've always said that, but, and we, we've come in #2 that nothing wrong would be #3 it's all right.
So you don't have to go out there and challenge the Dudley's and saying, you know, one more match will solidify everything. We've already done that. We've already beaten you and Jeff, so there's no reason to even remotely try to prove who's the better tag team. History tells the truth. Not only that, but our record speaks for itself.
So that you can go online all you want, but you cannot, and I'll say it again, you cannot deny who the greatest of all time is. No one has ever, and I mean ever, done what we've done in that ring and had the most championships that A tag team could have. Testify. My brother. We're going to move on from from this, this Matt Hardy nonsense here, Jeff. Jeff, your brother's getting you in trouble, man. You better talk to him because you know all that punishment that the Dudley's have dished
out to you over the years. You don't want that again. Stop it. But hey, Matt, I love you. Listen, this is 2025, man. We just started the year off and it's already coming in hot. I can't believe it. I can't believe it. But Speaking of coming in hot, we got a situation here where the WWE has just signed someone who previously was in AEW by the name of Penta. This young man, he was in Lucha Underground and AAA. Very well respected and appreciated wrestling star.
Made his debut on Raw against Gable. Wonderful first match and Gable shout out to him. He he is truly a specimen in his own right and just the fact that he was able to have a a fantastic match with Penta who never wrestle in the WWE ring, WWE ring before that was really special for both of those young men. But Penta before his match even happened, Devon WWE released his merchandise on the WWE shop website.
There not only shirts and things like that, but also masks and Penta has shot up to become the number one merch seller, at least for the time being in the WWEI mean the the response has been tremendous. So I want to get your thoughts on this. Because when he was in AW, they weren't able to do that with Penta. They weren't selling like hotcakes like that. So from a business standpoint, Devon, what's your thoughts on
that? Just the WWE having the foresight to know if we market this guy properly, we could start making money and start making that contract money back right out of the gate before the man even has his first match, before he even appears on WWETB for the first time, we can already start making money off of this guy. What are your thoughts on that? Well, you know, bent to.
I don't know too much about him. I know enough to know that being an AW was kind of like a place where he needed to start. Now he's left AW, he's come to the WWE now. This is this is it. This is, you know, this is as far as I'm concerned, this is something that every pro, every inspiring pro wrestler, when they get when they get in the business, that's the place they want to work. They want to go to WWEI don't know.
There's not one person out there that's in the business that can honestly and truly say in their hearts that they don't want to ever wrestle for the WWE. Now here's this he's been in AW didn't get quite the reception or response that he got when he entered WWE. But here's what I've we've always been saying. It's all in how you promote an individual. It's all in how you bring him out and show him and showcase him.
Because remember, the first impression is always going to be the one that stands out the most. And if I'm not mistaken, AW has not done anything in terms of merchandise and things like that with him. But then again, I've heard their merchandise stuff is not as good
as WWE. And listen, we all know, especially those who have been there and done it, that when you're on that gravy train with the WWE and you're able to get the merchandise, you got to figure video games, T-shirts, UPS, you name it, they're out there putting your likeness on it and making money for you and the company. So it doesn't seem like AW has that right now. I'm sure within time, hopefully they will be able to grasp the same thing that WWE does, but as of right now, it doesn't seem
like they have that. He's now, Pinta's now getting everything that he so wanted, not only bringing him brought in the right way, but most likely that they started T-shirts and all that already. Merchandise. So there you go, merchandise and just, you know, overall, we're going to have to see the third one in terms of how he's being used. But I'm sure he will be used correctly. But in terms of storyline wise, we're going to see what happens and how the WWE uses him in that
capacity. And I'm sure with the with the way they do things over there, very, very suddenly the WWE dropped the ball. They may drop the ball once in a blue moon, but with this guy, I don't think they will. I think they'll make him a bigger star then than any other company could have ever done with him. No doubt about it. And and right out of the gate, he's already there. I mean, his profile is through
the roof. That episode of Raw was number one on Netflix. So just think about all the people that have seen that episode. That's probably more people than have ever watched Penta ever in his entire career combined. So right out of the gate, you just got the most exposure that you've ever gotten and you're being presented as not only a star, but as a superstar.
So and, and you know what I like about it too deep on the the events happened in San Jose, CA and Penta's family, his wife, his kids, they were all front row. They all got to see his debut raw. Netflix sold out the biggest stage and you know, he got to win his match and it was a good match and what have you. He got to cut a promo after the match. His merchandise was put out earlier in the day.
Everyone in the in the arena, a lot of people wearing his merchandise already and what have you. I mean, you couldn't you could not set somebody else up for success any better than the way that WWE set Penta up for success. And so far so great. So, you know, Tony Kahn, Yeah, I, I know you're punching air right now, brother, but, you know, I I hope you're learning This is the way that you're supposed to do it. So, you know, take it for what it's worth.
I I'm sure that the, the other folks in ATW are looking at this and they're probably starting to, to wonder when's my contract up, because maybe I need to try to make a jump too. I mean, what do you think, Devon? You think that's possible? I mean, it's definitely possible. Not saying that it doesn't happen, but it's definitely possible.
I mean, you know, when someone leaves one company and goes to another and see what's going on over there for that person when he left and how good he's doing, Of course, it's only human nature that he's going to want to go see what's on the other side as well. Hey, if that guy can do it, then so can I. And that's probably exactly what's happening with a lot of people as they see the success of guys like him that come over from AW and go to WWE and see
their success. Look, CM Punk comes back, comes back to, AW, big big thing, big thing, wow, amazing. And then all of a sudden the troubles within started happening, which started affecting how he was being used and things like that. And you know, all the turmoil that was going on during that time, he could never, ever get back started again. He comes to WWE and it's a home run. It's a complete home run because again, these WWE knows how to take guys and use them and push
them. That's the difference. Tony needs somebody that's going to be on that type of level that's going to be able to help him to get to that level. Tony doesn't realize how close he is. He does not realize how close he is. He's got he got to do something quick or he's going to lose it. And that's what the consistency seems to be from everybody that I've talked to. And I really, I'm really not that involved like I used to be. But from all the talks I hear,
that's what I'm hearing. He needs that guy. He needs that Pat Patterson. He needs that Michael Hayes. You know, let me just say this. Maybe instead of throwing your money out at talent and trying to get them to leave or to come from Europe or what have you, maybe you should try to steal the talent away within. Like maybe try to get a Michael Hayes, you know, or you know, or Paul Heyman. Try to throw your money that way as opposed to throwing it towards talent that you already have.
In other words, you know, you have a great roster as it is. It's almost like you really don't need to go anymore. You got to be, you got to be able to, to, what's the word I'm looking for? You got to be able to handle the ones that you have before you go out and invest in others. I mean, do you agree with me on that?
Oh, 100%. But the the problem with with what you're saying, Devon, is the only way that a person does something like what you're describing is if they actually care about managing and growing a business. You know, I don't know what this guy actually cares about just based on the way that he moves it. It's it's really fuzzy math on his part. It never makes sense. He's not a a manager of people.
He's not a a good business manager and he sure as hell is not qualified to manage a wrestling company. Exactly what you said. Why wouldn't you bring in somebody who has the experience and, and, and not only bring them in, bestow upon them the responsibility and pay them to manage your wrestling? I mean like. Again, I don't know why. He, like I said. Michael Hayes, a Pat Patterson, find somebody out there in today's era that is more along the lines of guys like that that
can help you with your company. It's not just what we see on TV that's going to get you where you need to be. You need that storyteller, you need the right producers. You need all of that stuff to make this happen. And that's something that AW unfortunately doesn't have right now. It's not saying that it can't, but right now they don't have that. And that's the sad part because he has no idea the gold barn that he is sitting on right now. It this thing can explode at any
minute. He has the talent, he has the money. He just needs the brains. He needs the brains behind that. He needs the brains behind that's going to make that machine work the way it should work. You're absolutely right. And it's, it's really crazy to me.
I, one of the things that I learned very early on in my career because I, I've been in some type of leadership, just that every, about every stop that I've ever had since day one, I've, I've been groomed to be a leader, a manager, a person who not only trains other people, but's responsible, recruit, train, promote, sometimes fire. That's my skill set. And one of the things I learned early from an old timer is like, listen, you can't do it all
yourself. The best managers are the people who who are able to recognize talent and know how to delegate responsibility and then manage those outcomes. So if I'm not good at something with I can remember when I was a kid working in retail and I became a manager, I wasn't good at the back of the room stuff, maintaining the inventory and doing all of the, you know, the, the PNL reports and stuff like that. That wasn't my skill set.
I could sell and I could teach you how to sell and I could I could break record selling. So it's like, you know what, I need somebody who's a good back of the house manager and let me be the front of the house manager. And that's exactly what I I was able to do. And then when I brought people like that on, over time, I trained them on how to be good salespeople and they trained me on how to get better at managing the back of the house, managing
the the office work. And I eventually I developed and got better at that and they got better at that selling and and that was a, you know, match made in heaven. That's what a good manager of anything is supposed to do. And that translates to every single industry. So for Tony Kahn, who's not good at managing wrestlers, he does not understand how to format ATV show and to make it compelling overtime, episodic television and what have you.
Why wouldn't you bring in people who know how to do that? It's just crazy to me. It's completely nuts to me because like you said, all the talent is there. Well, it's not. And again, it's not that he needs to get new talent because he's got the talent. We all could see that. And now he needs, he needs within. Like I said, he needs a Michael Hayes, a Paul Heyman, you know, someone, you know, moral lines of that. That's what he needs. So it's not talent that he needs.
He just needs that power within the office, especially people that will be able to tell, especially people that will be able to tell them no, that this won't work, you know, and this and that because they've been there, they've done it, they've experienced it. When you got guys like that that can tell you no, I mean, it's great. Listen, there was a couple of times I was in the producers meeting with Vince and Pat Michael Hayes and all of that.
And the one and the other producers and the one person that would tell Vince no and Vince would actually respect it and get his opinion why he said no. And then nine out of 10 times that person would he would, he would accept that person's vision on it and go with it. It's Pat Patterson. That's how close Vince and Pat were. That's how much respect Vince had for Pat, you know, because of all his ideas.
I mean, Pat was just a genius when it came to that and Vince knew it. So if Vince had a crazy idea what have you, and Pat didn't see it and agree with it, Pat would say, Vince, I don't think this is going to work. I don't like it, This is why and blah, blah, blah. And Vince would respect them. He doesn't have that. That's the problem. He doesn't have a Patterson. He doesn't have a man that will be able to tell him no, and not only tell him no, but tell him why it's no and hey, he has an
option that might help. And maybe not only get your vision, but my vision how I see it to work. I'm going to tell you right now and, and, and tell me if this is not a crazy idea. Instead of pumping all that money that he did into the video game. I mean, the video game bombed. It completely bombed, right? That that Fight Forever AW video game that was on PlayStation and
a few other consoles there. The estimates are between 50 and $100 million that it cost to put that game together and put it out the way that they did. Tony Khan himself at least took $20 million out of his own pocket and put it into that. Can you imagine if he gave Triple H $20 million? Because WWE is not going to match that. Imagine if he gave Triple H 20 million or Paul Heyman $20 million and said, listen, you're going to run my wrestling.
I'm going to manage the business aspect of things. But as far as what people see on TV, as far as assembling and maintaining the roster, all that stuff, I'm going to hold you accountable to do that. I'm going to give you a 2 year contract, $20 million. Show me what you got. Can you imagine where that company would be? Tell you what. It would it wouldn't be a triple HI guess you mentioned it. He got Triple H That ain't working. I think Triple H is just fine
doing what he's doing with WWE. But I get what you're saying. If they, if he, if that was to happen, forget about it. Forget about it. You pay a person so much money they have no choice but to do a good job. I'm sure if he gave, if he called Heyman right now said listen, I'll give you $20 million. I will wire it to your account right now. If you come work for me when your contracts, I guarantee you Paul ain't going to turn down $20 million. Hell no. And he's going to want to get
another 20 million. So you're going to do a good job I. Mean you said people say Oh my God, $20 million Oh my God, it's not worth listen could you imagine if give payment $20 million yeah, that's a lot of money right or or Michael somebody with that capacity hell, I'll even throw it out there Bubba, because Bubba is very good at you know finishes and storylines and things like
that. If anybody gets it or is even close to the minds of a Pat Patterson, Michael Hayes or Paul Heyman, it's Bubba. If you hear him talk on his radio show Busted Open, he makes a lot of sense in what he says and how the business should, you know, be.
And he's learned that both of us have learned how to how to do business that way because of people that have come before us, how we picked their brains and wouldn't stop until we understood and got it. I mean, you know, Can you imagine if he did that, if he gave Haman $20 million to come, not only because, oh, well, you, you, you gave him $20 million, Now what? Where's your return?
I guarantee you you'll see here return within a year or two when ratings are up, house live events are up, the gates are filled. I mean, you're going to see a lot of it because people don't want to come see your product because of the storyline, because of what they're doing to help within the company. Not again, you cannot deny what
Payman had done for ECW. And you know, in my YouTube channel I did, I said that you know, you the brain that that's, you know, that Paul has for this business. It's incredible how he can have you in the palm of his hands just by the way he tells the story on what you're about to see on TV. And if you think that Paul Heyman doesn't have an influence on everything with the bloodline and what's going on now, you're crazy.
But imagine now look at this. You have Paul Heyman, you have Triple H, and you have Michael Hayes under one company. The problem? And thinking of those three minds right there, combine all three of them together, get the storyline up. What kind of, you know, you're going to get an Academy Award, which is what's been happening
storyline wise. Now, if you don't think all three of those minds are together, especially when 1 gets in trouble, in other words, when 1, you know, gets stuck in a rut and trying to figure out something. Hey, let's call, let's call, let's call Triple H Hey, let's call Heyman. You know, forget about it. I'm sorry, but it's a no win. It's a no win win there. Yeah, win. I mean, in other words, let me retract that. You can't lose. Sorry about that. Edit that out.
You can't lose, you know, it's, it's just one of those things that you got 3 great minds under the same umbrella. What do you think is going to happen? Dolla sign. Exactly what we see happening. You're you're on Netflix making money hand over fist. You're, you're, you're in Saudi Arabia making money hand over fist. You're you're, you're more popular now in making more money now than ever in the history of any wrestling company, in the history of the industry.
Not So. That's what's not bad. For the Harvey Weinstein, a professional wrestling or Weinstein or whatever the name is. Tony go live to regret that one boy, some people. Some people might say, now I'm not saying this so you dirt sheet riders don't fucking go and make sure that you print the
wrong shit. Some people might say well shit at this point in case I might want to be the Weinstein or Weinstein having to say his last name and not be Pepsi because look at what the hell WWE is doing right now. It's. Incredible. Yeah. They, they can't miss. They're at a point now where they just can't miss and and we haven't even seen the best yet. We got the John Cena farewell tour that's about to kick off. We got so many things. Goldberg's last match. There's so many other things.
The Royal Rumble alone scene is going to be in it. Roman's going to be in it looks like Logan Paul is going to be in. Who do you? Think is going to take it bad? Bunnies, Jesus. I I honestly think that you got to have Cena win it and then have Cena face Gunther win the title from Gunther and then however long it takes, wherever it is, you got to have Cena drop the title to J USO. The response that Jay USO has been getting from the fans is as strong as anybody in the company
and you got to reward that. He's too hot, he's too over. He sells merch handsome, he's marketable. I don't understand you. You got to find a way to put a belt on that. Now that that doesn't mean that he can't go through growing pains and have a big feud and Gunther certainly can still be a a a top challenger and all that good stuff. But I think Cena getting the title and then eventually putting over Jay USO is the best way to pass the torch. I was just about to.
Say that I was gentle when you said when you brought up those two, that's what was going through my mind. It'd be great. That would enhance Jay more than you can even imagine. They would pass that torch from Cena. Something happened to me on Monday when I was looking at Jay on the on TV on Netflix. I realized this guy is the closest thing that we've had to Macho Man Randy Savage since Macho Man Randy Savage.
That whole yeet stuff with the glasses and the and he's and he's colorful and the, and the way that the crowd responds to him and all that stuff, it's too genuine, man. He's he's this is not a fad. This is something that has staying power. But he still needs that extra something to just get him completely over the top to where he's in legendary status as a singles competitor. And I believe John Cena not only putting him over, but putting him over for a title. That's it.
Jay USO is truly a main eventer for the rest of his career after that. Yeah. So I, I, I think the company's got to do it, man. I think, and I want to quote his daddy now as, as Rikishi would say, the heat man, They they got to put the title on the heat man. So, you know, that's me putting my little Booker hat on there, Devon, you know, So Jay USO, make sure my check's in the mail, brother. I just put you over bid. Yes, you did.
We're going to move on from AW, growing pains, WWE continue to make money hand over fist and we're going to get into something very, very serious and, and, and sensitive. And I'm going to give a trigger warning to folks out there because we're going to be talking about mental health. We're going to be talking about emotional stability and things like that. Our next couple of topics.
I want to start with a scenario because this is something that you've personally experienced throughout your career. So I, I want to frame it this way. Let's say you, you came into the WWE and it's modern Times Now, Devon, you've already had your TLC series. You're solidified as being not just this outside ECW group that came in. Now you've made it over the hump, you're respected. You're not the legend that you are today because you still got a lot more career left to go.
But you're at that point now where you're establishing the WWE. You are the A tag team like the Dudley Boys are in right. You are going through the next level of company adjustments, this shifting the rosters like they always do, all that good stuff there. You've been on the the A show, you've been on Raw for a while. Sometimes you're on Smack down and that's OK, what have you. But suddenly without any notice, you're shifted to whatever the third brand is. For a while, ECW was 1/3 brand
in WWE. So let's just say that let's say you're shifted down to the new ECW instead of being on Raw and on Smack right now. Your money hasn't changed. Whatever you're you, you, you're getting paid, whatever your guarantee is, that stays the same. But it's just that you're not on the top shows anymore. You, you're going to be on this other show for the foreseeable future. Talk to us about the emotional and the mental aspect of how you handle.
It's not necessarily a demotion, although it can feel that way. How do you handle being shifted from the top shows to something that is still up and coming? Are you asking me my opinion on it? I'm asking I'm, I'm, I'm going deeper than that. I'm asking you how did you personally handle it? Because it is something that you
went through before. And I mean, I guess the closest thing that I can think of is when you went from being part of the Dudley boys to being Reverend Devon for a period of time, which when you had to do that singles right and you know you. Know the great part about it is not to get off the subject, but that happened and you know, it was a little bit of a dog time for me, I my career.
But yet when I look back at all the matches, all the promos, the comments underneath what people tell me when I see them at autograph signing and things like that, that gimmick was really good. It was WWE. We still remember it. Absolutely it we still remember my opinion at the time, it was WWE that dropped the ball with that one and they don't drop the ball.
They barely dropped the ball, and I said that earlier, but in this aspect, I think they dropped the ball with the Reverend Devon. It was getting over great. Promos were funny and that's what it was supposed to be. The character wasn't supposed to be somebody that was taken seriously. It was supposed to be it was a joke. It was like brother love, you know, the evil, you know, Reverend, you know, goes out there and tries to gather the money from the masses of
congregation. It was it was supposed to have been a joke And and you know, like a feel good moment getting back at crooked preachers. That's what it should have been and that's what it was. But you know, they took it another way and it was it is what it is. As far as the whole Corey Graves thing go, yes, there were times when me and Bubba even let's not talk about the Reverend Devon thing. Let's just talk about us being
AW Boyce period. We basically we basically touched on many times where we were on Monday Night War. We were on Smackdown religiously just going at it. And then at one point in time they put us on Sunday Night Heat. They put us on the second show, Velocity and you know they were like two or three weeks, maybe even 4 weeks where we did that show straight after doing all the smackdowns, all the money. I was, does it mess with you mentally? Absolutely. Did you like what did I do wrong?
Why am I put on the lowest show? But what me and Bubba gathered from that, even with all the years that we had built up in our career by that point, it was a night off for us in a sense. We would still go out there and give 110%, but then we'll go out there and just have fun because, you know, at T VS you're not known to be able to have fun because you're under time
restraint. You can only do it within a certain amount of time and this and that because they're trying to get ready for Raw Smackdown. You know, we learned that we can go out there and have a great match and even try to steal a show on something that heat or velocity, you know, why not? Why not have a knockout, you know, drag out great match, which is what I'm trying to say and I don't know because I've
never done commentating. Would that be on the same level as what Corey is going through right now? Why not? If he's going to NXT now to do that and it's going to be Booker and who's the other guy that's there? That's Victoria. Joseph Victoria. I'm sorry he's. Going to if you listen to this, he's going to kill me. He's, I forgot his name, sorry. Victoria. You know, you have a chance to be there with two people that you've had fun with in the commentating booth.
So just look at it as it's going out there having fun. I don't think he should be worried about him being taken off the main roster in terms of commentating. And I'm sure he's gone through that himself being, being talent. You know, it's really nothing wrong with it. I don't feel like it is. I feel like he can definitely grow even more than what he's already have and help, help, you know, teach something else, you know, that maybe Victoria doesn't know.
And even that damn Booker T. Especially that Booker T especially. That Booker T who's having, too. Much fun. Who's having too much fun at NXT, by the way? He's having a ball. This guy you know now books. My books, my boy. I love him to death. Go ahead, I love. It in book he's been on the show a couple times. I I I love book grew up as I actually have witnessed his
entire career. I've, I've pretty much have witnessed your entire career too, Devon, which is a very interesting thing to be able to say where your first televised match I've seen and I've seen your last televised match up to this point. Yeah. So that's I'm I'm very proud of that. To be able to say that. That's how long I've been watching you, brother. Since the beginning 19. 90191996 was the debut April 13th, 1996 Lost Battalion Hall, Queens.
I, I, I've seen it since then and, and all the way to the end. So you know, it's, it's interesting and, and, and again, you've been through so much, you've been through this type of situation many times over. And. It's all about perspective here. Here's what I'm saying for a historical perspective. Good for anyone who listens to this in the future who may not necessarily know what we're talking about. Why we got here?
WWE commentator Corey Graves, he was upset and started posting on X Twitter. That's the reason why he's not on Smack Down or Raw is because the company doesn't feel he's famous enough to be on either one of those shows. So that's it. That's why I stopped asking him because that's the reason, which is just wow, what a way to say it. Look, he's. Probably 1 of the greatest. He's probably one of the greatest, yeah. You know, young commentators out there right now. Not to mention he knows his
shit. He knows what he's doing. He knows what he's doing. He he's the new Jesse, the body Ventura, as far as I'm concerned, I would say. No, he reminds me of Jesse. Yeah, yes. Yeah. He he's not Bobby Heenan, but he's Jesse also. Anybody. Can be Bobby Heenan Bobby Heenan was one of the time. Exactly. But he's. Yeah, he's, he's definitely Jesse. Here's the issue, though, and here's where it it makes it kind
of tricky. Corey has always been very open about the fact that he suffers from mental health challenges, anxiety, depression, things of that nature. And and he had a career injury, career ending injury as a wrestler, which certainly compounds the feeling of having something important to you that you think is what you're going to do for the rest of your career taken away from you, so to speak. So I sympathize with that aspect
of things. Maybe the the way that we would react to stuff is a little different when you have somebody who has those additional challenges that they're working through. So I sympathize with that. And you know, those those issues are legal disabilities, by the way. So I want to make sure that everybody understands that we are aware of those facts and we are sensitive to those facts. With that said though, Corey and I'm talking to you directly, brother, you got to go to work.
There is too many opportunities, you work too hard. The company is in too incredible situation for you not to capitalize on whatever it is that they put on your plate. NXT is on CW, that's network TV. That is the only network TV television show that WWE has currently. For them to put you on that show where you get to get to know the younger stars and call their matches, what do you think is going to happen when enough of them get called up to Smack Down
or Raw? You're going to be the preferred commentator that they're going to want to call their matches because you actually know them. You know their moves, you know their tendencies. You know how to get them over by by painting the picture with words on what they're doing in the ring. So this is a golden opportunity, brother, to to go down and and help these young kids build them up. And then when it's time, you're going to be bumped right back up to help them on that that next
level as well. So don't look at you didn't lose any money. You just got a big raise and you got to keep that money. You still getting paid the same rate come on Corey, I get it. You had to blow some steam off. That wasn't the best way to do it. But it you know it happened. You take your lumps. Maybe you get suspended or something or you get a good talking to and that's fine but brother, it's time to go to
work. We better see you at work very soon, and I'm just going to leave it at that. Devon, you want to put a period on that one I. Want to say, Lori, Uncle Devon saying come on back to work, stop the nonsense and let's hear your voice up there again. Damn right, damn right, too talented and, and the company needs you. And, and I'm going to say that definitively. The company needs you. They've invested too much in you. Your development has been excellent.
The company needs you to continue to pay off for them on every level. You ain't got no business being at home at this point unless you're hurt. So let's go. Let's get back to work, yes? Please. There's that. Now let's let's let's move on to the next one here because this is another personal thing WWE legend Molina trended last week on XI heard about. That because some. Yeah, some promoter put out that Molina's unresponsive and hasn't returned their calls. So as a result, they deemed her
quote, UN quote, missing. And with the wildfires happening in California, they're very concerned that something's wrong and all this other nonsense. And unfortunately, the dirt sheets, instead of doing any due diligence, they just took that and ran with it. And that prompted even Fox News to report on this and report that Molina is been reportedly missing and all this other nonsense here.
Now Full disclosure. Well, yeah, in, in, in the end, she, she, she and her team got in contact and let the original poster know that she's perfectly fine. And they had to retract what they said, which caused a little bit of an avalanche of people having to walk back to the sensationalism because, you know, all the dirt it it trended, it was the number one topic. All the dirt sheets were saying, oh, just she's missing and she's unresponsive and Oh my God, and all this nonsense.
Here's what I'll say to this. Molina's been on Duke Loves Wrestling a number of times. And she and I have developed a very good rapport. We've spoken for hours on the show and, and even more hours offline and what have you. And, you know, I check in on her from time to time and she always tells me, in fact, right before Thanksgiving, we had a great conversation where she reminded me she was like, hey, you know, sometimes things get overwhelming and I just have to
step away for a little bit. I'm not ignoring you. It's just that, you know, that's the way I do. I process things or what have you. So just want to let you know, you know, there's nothing personal on you, but sometimes I step away and I and I told her, I said, look, you and I have already had this conversation many times. I get it. I understand and just stay safe. That's all we care about. But don't worry, you know, you don't got to apologize for
anything. Take your time away as much as you need to and, and, and focus on you and your family and what and what's most important. So when I saw that she was unresponsive to someone, that didn't surprise me because I know that that's how she rolls, right? And I reached out to her personally and I also reached out to her brother. And then not long after that they got in contact with those folks and told them to cut the bolt. They I almost swore there.
Jesus, cut the nonsense out. So here's my question to you, Devon. Can you imagine waking up and finding out that you're quote UN quote missing and unresponsive? How, how crazy would that be to you that you would be a number one trending topic even on Fox News that Devon Dudley is is missing and unresponsive? Well, you know, one of the things I will say about that is hold on. One of the things I will say about that is it's happened numerous times, not just with wrestlers or what have you.
We've had incidents where somebody said somebody was dead and they weren't in the wrestling world. And you know, and this and that more about there was even right after Vince bought the company WCW, I think it was the next week, there was a report when as soon as I got to the building, there was a report that Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross both passed away. And I remember I was like, what the hell is this world coming to? I was like, you know, this is crazy.
And then of course, we found out later on that that wasn't the case and that somebody had put that out there. They were looking to get a story. They were looking to get people to respond to a story, which wasn't true. And that's what you get a lot of times with these dirt sheet riders. You get that things that aren't true. So when you read this stuff, don't take it like, well, this is what the Internet said. This is what they said. No, because probably 65 to 75% of that, it's false.
Unless you hear it from the person's mouth themselves or you see whatever is going on yourself, that's when you take it. That is the truth. Hold on, do you remember when that rumor went around before those two passed away, that they were there? Absolutely. Absolutely. So you didn't? Remember that, OK, Yeah, 'cause I know it took, it took me like, 'cause you know, I'm like, damn.
Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross, both dead, who icons in the music industry, especially in the black community that that was, that would have been, that wasn't like freaking mind boggling. Then we had just lost Michael. No, we didn't. We didn't lose Michael yet. Well, and keep in mind that was early in the Internet, so that's why I was able to spread the way that it did exactly. You know. That stupid rumor that was not true. Absolutely. I, I, I remember that like it was yesterday.
It was crazy, you know, and I said it before my first media job, I was 13 years old and we were trained by some of the top media professionals at the time in the nation and, and honored with awards and stuff like that. So one of the things that was hammered into me early is that if you ain't getting it directly from the source, you got to be careful of how you're you're talking about stuff. And that's why even with podcasting, I'm not chasing rumors. I'm not chasing trying to break news.
I would rather have either somebody who has direct knowledge of what's going on to, to come on and talk about it or literally give the the actual subject, the person who's being spoken of to come on and and talk or at least give me a statement. So it mortifies me to see how these folks just run afoul. They've done it to you a million times, Steve, on where they just say things that are just not true. And because some goofball made it up, everybody takes it and runs with it.
And now it's it's they're getting their clicks off of that. It's disgusting and it pisses me off. And Molina, who already has her own challenges that she goes through to have to deal with that where she legitimately is trending as if she's dead. That is a pretty tough thing for a person to have to deal with. You know what I mean? And, and for and for their family more importantly, especially family who may be, you know, you didn't talk to them today or you haven't spoken
to them since the holidays. And then you go online and everybody's saying your family members probably dead. That's crazy. It's absolutely. Crazy. I do. Know that she had went through some personal stuff in her life where, you know, she kind of needed help. And so to, to have to go through that, you know, about 15 years ago now, to have this come up and for them to say what they said, that's got to be working on the nerves and, and, and the mind. It really does because you have
to a lot of trauma bro. Yeah, it's. It's a lot of trauma. It is, yeah. She she revealed on on my show that the first of about 10 years of her life, she was non verbal. This is a person who has been dealing with challenges since day one, so she she already didn't really talk much for the 1st 10 years of her life. Think about that. So then all the other things that she's had to go through and what have you.
And it's hard to even imagine that considering how flamboyant she was, especially as a wrestler. But she's playing a role, so it was easy for her to do that. In reality, she's a very quiet, unassuming, trying to stay out of the way kind of person. At least that's what's been impressed upon me through our conversations. So I don't know my. Yeah, You know, you, you, you worked with it, you know, you know personally.
So my heart goes out and to Molina and her whole family and and again to your dirt sheet folks. And to these fans. If you truly are a fan, don't contribute to somebody else's, whatever the opposite of their well-being is to somebody else's trauma. Let's say that. Please don't do that. If we love these wrestlers, we don't need to be inflicting upon these wrestlers and and I'll just leave it at that because it's it's I'm still pissed about it. Devo. I got to be honest.
I'm so pissed because it was crazy. And and the person who, who started the the nonsense, when they retracted the statement, they said, oh, she's been found. She was never lost. What do you mean she's been found? She was never lost. So it's like, brother, Oh my God, no wonder she wants to leave people alone for long periods of time because it's like this is what they do. You know, it's it's, it's sick. Speaking of sick. And we're going to we're going
to end on this note here. There was a report, a tweet that went out that Jada Parker who who's somebody who, you know, we both have a lot of respect for and appreciation for. She's doing a fantastic job in NXT. Wonderful young lady who's developing well as a solid pro wrestler. She has a great character. She cuts a fantastic promo. She looks amazing. Like she, she's a star. No question.
Jada Parker's a star. She had liked a tweet that had mentioned something about transgendered athletes competing in sports against, you know, side by side with and against women. And, you know, Jada had had liked the tweet that said that that shouldn't be, you know, women who were biologically born women shouldn't have to compete with transgender athletes in sport, in real sport. We're not talking wrestling or anything like that. We're talking competitive sport. She liked it.
Now, Full disclosure, Jada Parker is a former Division One soccer player. She was at the highest level and she was very well accomplished. And she's and she's been a winner her entire life as an athlete, an elite athlete, by the way. So she's an expert on this subject. She's a woman who's had to compete at the highest level and had to go through everything,
you know, as a competitor. And she doesn't feel that she should have to compete against somebody who biologically, according to the definition, according to the laws, was born a male. I think that she has enough experience to be able to, to have an opinion on that and to be able to say something about that more than anybody else who, who never comes from that type of background.
But there's been an avalanche of people trashing her and, and, and giving her a hard time about it and stuff like that. And it, and it's just so ridiculous in my opinion, you know, and in from a, from a societal standpoint, this is a subject that is going to continue to be a hot button issue. And this isn't anti anything. There's no anti trans people or anything like that. This is just a fact of we got to take a look at biologically born
women. Why should they have to compete with somebody who biologically likely has an advantage? And, and I don't talk to me about, well, they're taking pills and the hormones and you don't know. No, actually I do know I interviewed Alexander Allred, who she was one of the founders of the US Olympic bobsled team for women and ironically she competed while she was pregnant. She found out while she was competing as she was pregnant, and she is the foundation of studying.
How do you treat an athlete in competitive sport when they're pregnant, when they're early on in their pregnancies and when do they have to stop and what should they eat and stuff like that. Alexander Allred is the foundation of that. She is person #0 I would say where they had to learn from her and that's how they built the whole system on how to treat athletes like that. And, and Alex is an author now. She's a former martial artist as well. She's a huge legend in sports.
She's an International Sports Hall of Fame as well. And, and she's even said this is not something that women should have to deal with. So when you got an expert like that, I think she knows what she's talking about. And she's educated me on a lot of stuff and on my oldest show, Tell Us the Truth with iHeartRadio. We had a fantastic conversation about that a few years back and I still checking with Alex about the subject. So I say all that folks, just to say this, everything doesn't
have to be a fight. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. But when you're talking to an expert, I think you got to you got to put your pride aside and and mind your manners a little bit and recognize I think this person probably knows a little bit more about this subject than I ever will because I'm never going to be AD one female athlete. So I think I think those folks know a little bit of something more than I do on this.
So Jada Parker, I support you. Sorry that you're being given a hard time about this subject. WWE. It would be a shame if you gave her a hard time about sharing her opinion on something she's an expert on. That's my opinion and I'm going to leave that at that. I don't know Devon, do you have anything to add to that subject there? Well, you. Know this is coming from, you know, my brother who is gay and this had came up between him and I before.
And it was funny because when I heard about what was going on I said I agree with her in terms of that. And I say that respectfully, not taking anything away from the gay community or whatever they decide whatever agenda they would prefer to be called. My thing is this and I was speaking to my brother about this and he agreed with me 100%, but he was the one that actually said it. He said and again, he's gay. So he said here it is.
I'm gay. If I decide to be a woman and to transfer my body into being a woman, guess what? Biologically I'm still a man. So I'm still going to have that strength that I had growing up as a boy or as a man. If I go into a, if I go into a club, get into it with a girl who is gay and who dresses like a man or what have you.
If I, if I, if I, if I was the push or to hit that individual out of an argument or, or some type of disagreement or what have you, which sometimes guys do in terms of with other guys, you know, they get mad fights, break out and things like that. But if I was to do that to a woman, they would still look at her as being a woman, you know, not pretty much a, a woman trying to make a transfer over to a man. So again, I understand people are very, very, what's the word
I'm looking for? They're very, very careful on how they say this or approach it because it's a very sensitive subject with a lot of people. But again, I agree, I agree with her to the to the point where she's a Division One athlete. So you can't take men who are Division One athletes and put them in to a a program with Division One women, you know, And of course, if the women win and it's like, yeah, you know,
girl power. But if the guys win, it's like, oh, it's expected, you know, because of that it is. It's even like, say for wrestling, you know, you got to be very careful unless that person is very skilled and the other one isn't. That's pretty much the only way something like that could actually happen where if you take somebody with the strength of Brock Lesnar. Now, I'm not saying Brock, I'm just saying take a man that's kind of built like Brock has his same strength and this and that.
And let's just say he felt like he was born the wrong sex or what have you, and he wanted to become a woman and he did everything possible to make the necessary changes to do that. Grant you he has the right to do whatever he wants to do. But the same token, he still has that strength. He still has that ability that he's had before he made the transformation. So to go in there with a female.
And to actually go in there and say to wrestle or to be on the same level as AUFC fighter, to be able to fight them on that level, it's just that's impossible because he is still going to win regards or at that point she'll become a woman. So she will still win regardless. It's just to me, it's just that you just I don't know, it's just
very touchy. It's very weird when you go into that type of when you get into that type of subject because again, you understand what both sides are saying, but I understand more of Jada than I do the other side because again, the strength is still going to be there. So how are you going to be able to compensate for that? That's that's what I think she's coming from. Absolutely. And and again, she, she's an
expert on the subject. So she, I think she, she can be given enough grace to share her expert opinion without being beat up on about it. Folks are, are, are, there's too many of these fake activists. There's too many of these folks who who think they have an opinion on something and they really don't know what the hell they're talking about and they assume too much about everybody else. And again but and again, dude, I got to say this, no one is
taking away anything. Whoever wants to be whatever they want to be in terms of they want to change their sex, their gender, that's fine. No one's saying anything bad about that. No one's saying that they're prejudice or racist against that particular situation. All they're saying is that the, the is, I don't know if ability is the right word, but you know, taking on taking a man who wants to be a woman now and then put them in a direct a physical competition with an actual female.
Like I said, will it be wrestling? Even women's football, the the women's league that they have and things like that. Now, I'm not going to say basketball. I think basketball is a little because we've seen things where men and women have gone at it and a lot of times the women are pretty much victorious in that aspect. We we've all seen that at one point in time. But wrestling, MMA and even boxing I think would be totally unfair because again, you have
that, you have the I mean. From a, From a, from a physical standpoint, I mean even your skeletal structure, you know what I mean a bit. We are not the same. We are not the same. And, and, and that's biology. I don't care what your opinion is. I don't. And I'm not going to sit here and play games with any of these folks who want to sit there and act like they know what they're talking about. Let me tell you something. I'm in Massachusetts.
I fought for, for, for marriage equality and I and, and, and rights for everybody and all that good stuff. And I continue to do so. And. Yeah, and. No one's saying no one, no one's going against that. That's, you know, if that's what if that's what you would like to do, then so be it. But when it comes to a physical aspect of the game, whether it's wrestling, MMA, boxing, and I use those three because those are physical. That's where I think the advantage is unfair. Yeah, soccer too.
Men are generally faster and stronger, and when you're biologically born that way, I don't care what hormones you're taking. If I knock your ass over as a biological woman, you're going to probably get hurt more than when you knock me over, no matter what hormones I take, because my skeletal structure is different. Don't give me that nonsense, folks.
I don't want to hear that Well. Not only that, but the strength, the strength it's, it's, you know, it doesn't make any sense for that to even be considered not to be a factor in this. That's it. That's the. Thing and I'm going to. Tell people right now you want to cancel me for what I said. That's OK. My record speaks for itself. But there's nothing. No, dude. I'm not. No, no, there's nothing to cancel you for.
Nothing. Nobody's saying anything derogatory about them in any way shape or form. Or when I say them, I mean the people in the community that thinks that it's, it's wrong to even speak about it. It's a fact that it has to be brought up. No one should be cancelled because they have an opinion on how they feel about a certain situation. So in my opinion, for those that want to make a big deal out of what you and I are saying, then go to hell. That's it. That's it.
We're going to deal with it. And, and here's the worst part, we got a guy coming back in office with Trump who he already made it clear that from a legal standpoint, there's only going to be two genders. And I'm telling those folks out there right now who are giving Jada a hard time.
What are you going to do when from a legal standpoint that's all it is. So it's like y'all got to really sit down and think about what you're choosing to, to give people a hard time about and where are you getting your allies from? Because you're going to drive people away who generally speaking, are actually on your side and willing to, to to advocate for you. But you're going to nitpick over something like this and you're going to drive people away. And you don't want to hear that.
But I'm going to tell you that whole earthy crunchy, you know, your feelings are more important than the facts and all that. That's that's gone. The reality of situation is people have to start getting serious about how we're going to move forward as a society and what makes sense. And when an expert talks about something, you don't disrespect them as somebody who's never been and never will be. And I'll leave it at that. Big man, you got a lot to plug.
Let's start with that, that wonderful, fantastic YouTube channel of yours there. Plug away, man. What's the best way folks can check you out on YouTube? Well, they can definitely check me out on YouTube. Devon Dudley on YouTube, that which we are we're close to
60,000 subscribers. So thank you the fans and friends for making that number happen within a short amount of time It's been a great ride I'm enjoying everything the new video is up for this month, so check it out if you haven't seen it already and we have 1 coming out every Thursday.
So and we've got some good guests, I should say great guests coming up within the next 3 or 4 weeks one you're not going to want to miss so please check out the YouTube channel and be a part of it. Also, you can reach on Instagram Testify Devon as well as testify Devon on Twitter. I have a private Facebook. So it's it's for family and friends only. So I do not allow anybody from the outside to go on that site again, unless you're family or
close, close friends. So I do so in other words, I don't really have a Facebook for the fans, but again, reach me on those platforms and we can definitely talk. Also, I have the wrestling school in Winter Park, FL 2724 sites road right there in Winter Park, FL. It's literally 2 minutes away from Full Sail University, but yet three to four minutes away from the performance center. So come check us out if you're ready to take your, your, your
career to the next level. And also we have a detailing business out in Fort Lauderdale, which I'm always advertising on Instagram. So you know, if you want your car detailed, if you live in the Miami area and as far up as Daytona, give us a call and we'll come to you. It's a mobile detailing business and we're out there ready to clean your car and make sure it works for you. I love. It I love it. Of course, folks, Duke loves Rossin on Gmail on Facebook,
Duke loves rossin@gmail.com. Let me know what you think. Listen, before we go, a great friend of the show, Nick Butay, his dad's Sam. Sam had a major health scare. I don't know if you knew this before Devon, major health scare over the holidays. He was in the hospital for a little while. They almost lost him, but you know, Sam, he kicked out, he's on the mend. So he's back home with the family and he's and he's slowly
recuperating what have you. Can we give some kind of well wishes to our brother Sam from River City Wrestling Con? Yeah, Sam, listen, it's Devon here. I just want to say please get well and know that you have family and friends in your corner protecting and guiding you, and know that God has you and he's going to bring you back stronger than ever. So get well, my brother, and testify. That's right, Sam, we love you, brother. Hang in there.
Can't wait to see you at the 2025 River City Wrestling Con. You're always good for a great joke and what have you. So I can't wait to hear some of those, man. So get yourself ready for that because it's going to be a great time. That's right. All right, Devon, let's get our word of the week to take us out. Sure. Don't consider yourself to be wise. This will this will come from a biblical aspect. Don't consider yourself to be
wise. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding. Think about Him and all your ways and He will guide you on the right path. Testify. Testify indeed, 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 this fashion, you'll touch the sky strictly for the culture and so fine and show your shine strictly for the culture every day visit.
Www.strictlyfortheculture.ca. Backstage whispers and the crowds roar from matching giants to legends of your Diva's wisdom and Duke's keen view. Every episode feels like it's brand new. Diva and Duke bring the heat. Wrestling tails knock you off your seat. TuneIn.