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The queen of the crop do gloves wrestling and there is no one that does it better than your house. I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass and I'm all out of bubble. Brothers and sisters, welcome back to another wonderful edition of the Devon and the Duke Show. It's a limited podcast series hosted by your main man. Duke loves wrestling and of course the Hall of Famer, the five time Hall of Famer himself, Mr. Devon Dudley. How you doing there Devon?
I'm good. How you doing buddy? I'm doing fantastic, man. I'll tell you. Thank goodness we had a nice holiday weekend, you know, Labor Day and all that good stuff there because, man, I needed some rest, man, I needed some rest. I needed some BBQ ribs. I I just needed an extra day to just chill out, you know? How did your weekend go there? Devon IT. Went great. I spent it all day with my kids. I mean, we had a blast and we
went to the jump house. We went grocery shopping with all three of my kids, the infant who was who was eight months, my 4 year old and five and six year old. Good God. But it was fun. I'm telling you this, this this guy right here, you know, daddy daycare, so to speak, Devon Dudley. He brings the kids everywhere, always with the kids. Sometimes you hear the kids in the background of the show.
It's it's really special. It's really special it Devon's a family man and we appreciate all you fans out there reach out, talk about how much you enjoy hearing about the family man. Devon Dudley, for sure. That's awesome stuff there. And Speaking of awesome stuff, Ottawa Comic Con, it's time. Don't forget Devon Dudley's going to be there September 7th and 8th for the Ottawa Comic Con. He's bringing some great merchandise for all of you
wonderful fans out there. So definitely make sure you get your tickets. Bring the whole family, everyone from grandma to the babies and everyone in between. Devon is ready to see you up in Ottawa. Ain't that right, big man? Absolutely. I'm ready to kiss some babies, maybe even run for president or Prime Minister. They don't have a president up there, but they have a Prime Minister. Maybe I'll run for that. Well, listen, we, we, we, you could become the, the, the 1st president up there.
Maybe, maybe they'll have to make a position for you. You never know. You know what I mean? Hey, you never know. But certainly our fans up in Canada, especially Ottawa, make sure you come out and see Devon Dudley. Absolutely. Please come on down. Love to meet all of the fans that basically showed their support over the years. And, you know, let's just testify.
I love it. Now, folks, unfortunately, and I don't know, this is becoming a theme, unfortunately here, Devon, week after week, we have lost a few other folks in the pro wrestling fraternity. First and foremost, you know, rest in peace and condolences to the loved ones of Sonny King. Sonny King was the boxer turned pro wrestler. He won the WWWF tag team championship with Chief J Strongbow. So this is a man who, you know, he, he, he was a pioneer in his own right, one of the, I think
he might have been the first black wrestler to win a www.f championship. So that's a pretty big deal there. And, you know, certainly rest in peace, Mr. Sonny King. Any thoughts on that there, Devon? Well, you know, for somebody to make the transition from boxing to pro wrestling, that's huge. And you know, to be African American, especially during that
time, is even bigger. You know, I just want to say thank you to Sonny for all his accomplishments and everything that he's done for this business, and not only the business, but African Americans around the world setting the stage for us to be able to do what we've done and what we still do in the middle of that ring. I don't think we pay homage enough to people like him that have set the way for us to be able to go out there and to do what we do best and that's entertain.
My condolences go out to him and his family and the time and needs. And God bless you, Sonny, for everything you've done. I didn't really think about it until now, Devon, but man, this guy walked so you could run. You know, if if Sonny King is the first black person to hold the championship in the WWWF and and his championship was A tag team championship. We Fast forward to your career and it's like, wow, that's amazing, man. That's that's that's amazing right there.
Wow. OK, another sad thing to report there, folks. We we lost Sid Vicious AKA psycho Sid, AKA Sid Justice Sid Udi. He passed away according to his son, it was cancer complications with cancer. So you know, we got it directly from the family on that front there the cause of death. But man, Sid, definitely heartbreaking to hear that one of the most popular wrestlers of the past 40 years legitimately and a guy who pretty much worked on top everywhere he's been.
Devon, you knew Sid, you, you wrestled against Sid. And including that match where the Dudley Boys took on Spike Dudley and Sid at the ECW Living Dangerously 1999. What are your thoughts on Sid? You know, Sid scared me. He he actually scared me. He was a big, large man at the height of his career. And to see him come into the ECW locker room, number one, I was a big fan of his.
You know, I watched him, you know, in my teenage years, going into junior high and high school and just being fascinated at some of the things he could do as a big man really, really made me admire his work in the ring. You know, Sid was, he was a gentle giant. He really was. But when that camera came on, he was something, He turned it on. And I just remember him coming down the aisle way in Asbury Park, NJ, getting ready to step in the ring with me and Bubba.
And I'm just looking at this huge mass of man that is coming down the aisle way. And I'm like, good God, this man is huge, bigger than life, and probably one of the most gentlest souls I think I've ever been in the ring with. I was very honored to be in there with him. He really took care of Bubba, myself and you know, we made beautiful music together, although he beat the hell out of us, but still we made beautiful music together. And he's going to be missed very, very much so.
His contributions to this business was like no other. Thank you, Sid, for everything that you did for this business and for us and for entertaining us the way you did. There will only be one Sid Vicious, one Sid Justice, and it'll just he'll never be duplicated. For sure, it'll never be duplicated. And and it's interesting, you know, for a guy like Sid, intimidation was such an important aspect of the aura.
You know, he's one of the few people that just walking to the ring, you already knew that it was going to be a rough night. There was only one other guy that did that to me and that was the warlord. I mean, that man was huge, bigger than life. I mean, it was incredible on how big these guys were. And again, this was the time of the land of the giants, you know? And so for me to be able to bend in the rain with guys like that was just an honor and a privilege.
And I was just so happy to be a part of that. Even though they were on their last hurrah on their way out, I was just very happy to be a part of some sort of working with them in the ring in that capacity. I mean, again, huge, just bigger than life. And you know, my hat goes out to them. I can't express enough. You know, that's interesting. So you, you were in the ring with the warlord. Was it was it warlord and barbarian or or who was the warlord teaming with? It was just the warlord.
It was like, it was like an indie guy. Gotcha. Yeah. This wasn't in a major promotion, you know, This was, you know, an indie promotion. But I was happy to be able to do that with him. That's wild, man. You talk about a big dude. I mean, the Warlord, my goodness, what a monster he was. You know, he could have done anything that he wanted to do and there was nothing anybody else could do about it. So nothing, man. It's it's interesting tag team wrestling when we start talking
about the greats. I mean, obviously the Dudley Boys, you know, ARN and, and Tully, the Midnight Express, you know, but even going through guys like the, the Powers of Pain and, and the Heart Foundation and Demolition and the Steiner Brothers, you know, we've had so many great tag teams through the years. But it seems like there's been a period over the last decade where tag team wrestling has been less emphasized overall. What are your thoughts on that,
Devon? I mean for for pro wrestling promotion, do you feel that tag team wrestling can still draw in 2024 and beyond? Well, you have to understand during the Hogan and Andre era, you had teams like the Heart Foundation, the British Bulldogs. You know, you had those teams that the Islanders, the list goes on, the Killer Bees, the list goes on and on.
Demolition, trying to make sure I don't omit anybody, but you had so many teams that was so special back then that it made tag team wrestling what it was for that time. And even during the Attitude Era, you know, the Dudley's edging Christian, the Hardy Boys, too cool. The, you know, Undertaker and Kane, even though they were singles and they got put together, they were still a force to be reckoned with. Lorries and stunts, I put them
in the same category as well. You know, again, balls and axle, you know, Tanaka in balls, Spike in balls, Sandman and Dreamer. I mean, this goes on and on. You had these bigger than life personalities that stood out, which is what made tag team wrestling so special because both parties in that team had such a unique presence that it was kind of hard to over shout to to to out what's the word I'm looking for? It was kind of hard not to give them they're they're just do.
These guys were large and in charge. They knew what they were doing. They were seasoned and they knew how to work the people. They knew how to work the crowd. They knew how to entertain. And that's what you need nowadays. You need teams like that that I just mentioned that will be able to go out there and to captivate an audience and make you believe and invest in what they're doing. That's the biggest thing. There's room in the industry for variation from top to bottom,
including in tag team division. So you could have your giants, you can have your smaller guys, you can have in between, but that that variety matters. And and I agree. I mean, as a fan who, you know, I'm a consumer of this stuff. I spend money and time to consume this stuff. I want to see solid tag team wrestling like the stuff I grew up on. Absolutely.
So if you give me two great teams, I remember when the Usos and The New Day were having their feuds, then the Dudley Boys come back to the WWE and you guys get inserted in there. You know the Wyatts were doing their thing and and mixed in there as well. Tag team wrestling can work if you give us great teams, but real teams, people who really are a team that paired up together, not just two singles wrestlers who are going to be together temporarily.
Give me teams, man, and I will definitely pay attention. So you know, well said. They're literally the Hall of Famer, one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time. Devon Dudley for sure. But this past weekend, Devon, we had two PL. ES NXT no Mercy, which was Sunday and WWE bash at the at Berlin, which was on Saturday. So I'm going to work backwards here.
I'm going to start with NXT because I'm going to tell you right now, this young lady, Jada Parker, in my opinion, she pound for pound is, is, is probably one of the best young prospects to come around in the entire industry over the past five years. I mean, this young lady is in great shape. She has incredible presence. When she walks out to the ring, she cuts a promo that's better than 90% of the people out there with experience. And she's only been wrestling for less than two years.
So it's not and she and she comes from the WWE system. She's not some, some indie kid, literally she's one of the NIL prospects because she was a soccer player before WWE, but she battled Roxanne Perez, who Roxanne is doing a very good job as NXT Women's Champion, very credible, knows what she's doing in the ring, gets it done. This Jada Parker, although she lost the match, in my opinion, she was made a star in this match because she she looked like she could have won.
What are your thoughts on Jada Parker and, and really just her and Roxanne in general, you know? Again, the one thing I like about WWE is that they're always fishing for new and younger talent. You know, back in the day, they would just put their emphasis on the older talent and stay there for years. And then all of a sudden when the younger talent, I mean when the older talent couldn't do it no more, then they were stuck. They didn't know how to produce the new talent.
WWE is doing a great job in that and it shows with her. And you know, she's very good on the mic. She's strong, she's athletic, she's holding her own and she's only going to get better. The NXT brand, when I was there, I loved it and I praised it just because I knew that farm system
really worked. It was something that really generated, and the sad part about it is I don't think Vince really knew how to understand what Hunter was doing down there because there were so many times where there were people that should have been brought up a long time ago in that system that weren't. And now, you know, Hunter and Sean and Matt Bloom are doing great with picking the time and knowing when talent is ready to come up to the main roster.
And it's working. I don't think they really had any bad prospects that have come up that hasn't really done something now. Yeah, they might be teams that are on the back, back burner for now, but they're trying to find something for them to do. And I say that because I've been in the backstage area and I know how that works.
So that is something that I'm sure that they are trying to figure out what those that they have brought up and maybe they're not doing that much with, but eventually they will. And that's the thing. So I think people got to be patient and understanding and know that just because you think you have the answer doesn't necessarily mean that that's the right answer. And the WWE is doing everything that they're doing everything right. You know, look at the attendance, look at the ratings,
look at everything. Are there going to be some people that's not going to like Hunter's regime or like what he's doing? Absolutely. Just like there was a lot of people that didn't like Vince's regime. Somebody is not going to be liked all the time, and there are a lot of people that do like him. So apparently Hunter's doing something right. You're going to have that percentage, and it's a very small percentage that doesn't like what Hunter's doing. But that's OK.
Business still has to go on. And trust me when I say it. After being in TNA, you know, when Jeff Jarrett stepped down for a little bit because of his personal problems and Dixie Carter took over, it was a sad day in TNA, in my opinion, because Dixie wasn't a wrestling mind. She didn't know how to think like you should think, you know, when you're running a business like she was running, it was totally different and no one was there to tell her differently.
And I just felt like the company went downhill when that happened. And by the time Jeff Jarrett came back and was able to do what he had to do, I thought it was too late. And that part of TNA fell until, you know, Scott the Moore came in, changed the whole landscape of everything and really brought TNA and put them back on the map because we thought the final nail was in the coffin for a long time. And then they just, they just came out of nowhere and we renovated themselves.
So good for them. But again, you know, people got to understand, they got to wait and be patient. So Hunter's doing the right thing with what he's doing in NXT. And again, people would say what they want. I'm not kissing his ass or, you know, trying to look for a job. I'm just saying what the truth is. I've been backstage. I know how it works and I know what they say. And a lot of times people react when they shouldn't react about
certain things. So it's like, keep quiet and let the people who are in the position do what they do best and you will be happy eventually in the long run. And if you're not, you just want those percentage that people that that that just never going to be happy. Top to bottom NXT, they're just they're getting it done. People are tuning in, they are making money at their live events. There's no two ways about that.
They they have the move over that's that's coming where they got that big contract to now be on CW. So it's just it. Man, I said. All this money being mean, I need to get back over there. Damn, damn. Listen, listen, you better be careful, man. They might throw you back in the ring. Yeah, I said go back behind the stage. Ain't ain't crazy enough to get back in the ring. Shout out to NXT, the whole team out there. Listen, HPK, come on now.
Devon Dudley, he's ready to help you, you know, guide some of those young minds, so to speak, for sure. It's good stuff there. Hey, HPK is like, get the hell out of here, Devon. So so that was no mercy. I mean, that was definitely my favorite match of the card. Overall, the card was was entertaining.
It was fun to see, but that match in particular was just tremendous and I and I won't be surprised if we see that main eventing an episode of Smack Down or Raw, even main eventing pay per views of the not too distant future. That's how great a solid both of those young ladies are. Good stuff. Now we had Bash and Berlin, which happened on Saturday and keep in mind because of the time difference, it was 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time that it
kicked off there. Cody Rhodes and and Kevin Owens, they had their match to start the night off, which was great. Cody ended up coming out on top, of course, but I want to get your take on this here, Devon. We we had Gunther and and Randy Orton. They were the main event and Gunther ends up winning the championship. I mean, who ends up retaining the championship against Orton. So Orton doesn't get his, you know, his next victory.
You know, if he has any any chance of taking on Ric Flair's record of 16 time world champion or even surpassing it. It didn't happen this go round. What are your thoughts on on Gunther being the champion over there on raw? Well, I. Love it. You know, Gunther is definitely the future of the WWE and he has proven that over and over again. You know, Randy Orton is called passing the torch and sometimes you got to do that.
I was very surprised about them being the main event, but they took a chance and it and it and it worked. It really didn't work because I was for sure that Cody was going to be the main event, him and Kevin, but it wasn't. And I was very happy to see that them making that decision to do that really paid off for them because that match between Gunter and Randy was very, very good. And I was happy to see that Randy, you know, was able to, you know, pass the torch to Gunter.
And the handshake at the end of it was really, really cool. I really, really liked it in terms of in terms of Cody, Rose and Kevin, I mean, it was great. They weren't, they were having an excellent match. They weren't killing each other. They weren't overdoing it. They were having a great, solid match and the fans were chanting. This is awesome. I mean, it was great to see guys like that, you know, take the basic and make it mean something without having to kill themselves.
And yet the fans appreciated it. I thought that was great. Absolutely, absolutely. And the card itself was great. I mean, of course Jade and Bianca Bellaire, they ended up getting the tag team titles back. Congratulations to them. They defeated Alba Fire and Isle of Dawn. Listen, I like that, that of course Jade and Bianca, they're fantastic. And we know that eventually those two ladies will probably
end up feuding with each other. But that Alba Fire and that Isle of Dawn, I like those two young ladies, man. What do you think of that tag team? I mean, they were great. I remember when they went to NXT and they were really trying to find a niche and they finally found it. I think they're great together. I think they're really going to see a lot more from them and the weeks and months to come, and I'm just looking forward to it.
Again, this is all stuff that Triple H has created and he's done, and I think it's an excellent thing that now you're seeing what he has created, which has been phenomenal. My hat again goes off The Hunter and the WWENXT, Shawn Michaels and Matt Bloom. You know, I mean, great job and just a hell of a pay-per-view top to bottom.
I'm still watching it. I have not watched it fully, but I'm still watching it. And some of the matches that we're talking about, I have seen it and that's why I'm able to talk about them. But again, fantastic show and I think I got like two or three more matches left. And from what? Again, the beginning from the beginning, from what I saw to the to the from what I saw from the beginning to where I'm at now. Excellent pay-per-view. Absolutely, absolutely.
I I do want to give it an honorable mention to CM Punk and Drew McIntyre. They they had their strap match and beyond the match itself, the feud where they've introduced this bracelet, this fan brick made bracelet that was given the Punk and that Punk wears and McIntyre taking it from Punk and then they're fighting over it and Punk wants to get his bracelet back and all that good stuff.
It is so amazing. And I want to get your take on this, Devon, because for me as a fan, I've never been a wrestler. I'm never going to be a wrestler. I have no desire. I don't want to be put to a table. But I love watching it and I love seeing you do it. That's great. But the whole notion that you can get me interested in a feud about a bracelet, a literally something that probably cost less than 10 to put together, right?
You can get me into a feud about who is going to have that bracelet and and McIntyre taunting Punk and taking the fan made bracelet from something that Punk has stated matters to him. One of his adoring fans gave it to him and it has his wife's name on the bracelet. I think it has his dog's name. Whatever you know, it matters to him. This is a piece of something.
It's it's like a championship. You just you just elevated that to the level of this matters enough to fight for and the fact that McIntyre is going to put it all on the line just to take this thing that matters so much for Punk. It's brilliant and it's pro wrestling in my opinion. What are your thoughts on that? Because again, there's no there's no official championship. It's literally this fan made bracelet that they're fighting over Devon. All I can say is storytelling.
That's what it is. It's storytelling, true at its best. And you know, when you have a storyline like that that people can invest in over a bracelet, I mean, come on, think about it. It's not about a title. It's not about anything else other than this bracelet. And I mean, that's great storytelling. It's storytelling one-on-one. And that's what I think the rest of the business is missing so much of is great storytelling.
And to be able to take a bracelet as simple as a bracelet and to make it mean more than anything and Punk fighting for that bracelet as if it's the world heavyweight title and people are actually invested in that and reacting, that's incredible. I mean, what can you possibly say? How? I mean, it's just totally. It's incredible. It sure is. It sure is.
And again, kudos to those two professionals there because that's a lot of work to put in to get fans to care about something that quite frankly, is, is a very simple, you know, some would even say a trivial thing. But when it's yours and you have sentimental value and you express that to the world and then some bully is coming to take it from you. Oh man, I'm in. Relatable. Wonderful. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
Now, unfortunately, and I know you out there, this is your favorite part of each episode here, when we have to report on the other side of the fence, our friends over an AEW, the turnstile. Yeah, always right, Because Tony and I know you're listening. Tony, you have some splainin to do. As Ricky Ricardo would say to Lucy, I'm dating myself now. The turnstile count for AEW all in was 46,476, and that's according to Brandon Howard Thurston, the third over at Russell Nomics.
So, you know, Tony Kahn was claiming that they sold over 50,000 tickets for this event, which is a far cry from what he claimed last year, which was 81,000. But the turnstile last year was 72,265 S, no matter how you slice it. I mean, goodness gracious, 36% down. Tremendous, tremendous downturn in business there. Same venue, by the way, one year apart. Any thoughts on that? Devon the 1st. Time they went out there, it was
a big thing. AW had never been there before, so people who are intrigued, the hype was there. I mean, everything was good. So that might have been the reason why the number was so high the first time. You know, I don't know. I mean, again, maybe the promoting wasn't as good as it was the first time. I don't know. All I know is Tony has to do something to get it back. He has a tremendous roster. He has to do something to get the people to come out and
support his product. He's got people coming out, but not to the numbers that he should be. To be able to compete with the likes of AWWE. That's where he needs to step it up a little bit. I don't know what it's going to take.
I really don't and and I'm hurt to hear those numbers because again, I have friends in AEW, I've met people for the first time that will, you know, great, restless, great, great individuals in AW and I would love to see them prosper on the same level as a WWEI think that they have every right to be able to. They bust their asses every week
to do that. There's something that is missing and I don't know have the key or the cue to say what it is. I just think something is missing and Tony has to figure that out fast. Yeah, he's got to figure that out fast, because here we go again. And I know that I keep bringing this up, but folks, that the clock is ticking. AEW does not have a United States television airing rights deal. They don't have a contract to air on any TV in the United States come 2025, which is only
a few short months away. That's a big deal. That's a that's a very, very big deal concerning deal. And you can't look at the downturn in business and not wonder if networks are looking at that and saying, well, why would I pay you what you want when you're not even drawing what you used to draw? Doesn't make any sense. You know what, what am I getting in return? If, if we're going to pay you a whole heap of money to air your
program. So I don't know, man, I, I hope they figure it out, but it, it just doesn't look good. There's no other way to describe it. It just does not look good at all. And you know, folks took a, a story and ran with it and our friend Swerve commented on it. There was a claim that the WWE are quote UN quote contract tampering with AEW talent and, and swerve, somebody had said they don't know if that's true or not Swerve, So I could show you the text messages.
I could show you the text messages. Uh oh. So it's interesting. I, I, you know, I, I've been digging around a little bit, Devon, doing my research. Contract tampering is technically not a thing, especially in, in pro wrestling, right? That that term is not a term that's utilized. It's not a legal term in as it relates to something that's outside of regular sports.
And even in regular sports, you may have some of that language within the rules and regulations, but from a legal perspective, it's not a real thing. I don't even know where contract tampering even came from because of that. So to throw that around and make that claim, it's weird. So, So let me pose this question to you, Devon. I'm putting you on the spot on this one. You're under contract in ECWI, am representing WCW. And I say to you, hey, Devon Dudley, are you still under contract?
And if so, when is your contract up? Because we're interested in you, as far as you know, when you were an active wrestler back then. Would that conversation, would that exchange be somehow, some way against the rules or even against the law? I don't think so. I do know that there was some contract tampering when I was in ECWWCW. Tried to raid the locker room of ECW and was successful with some
talent. They were using people that were ready to jump ship and that were angry with Paul to talk to people with inside of the company. So that back then that was considered contract tampering because you just can't do that in terms of if somebody's under contract, try to negotiate a deal to leave and then go another company. And WCW did that. And which is why I believe there was bad blood between Eric and Paul at one point, because Paul felt like Eric was trying to
take down his company. And, you know, that was something that was very real back then because of everything that WCW was doing, offering the big contracts to lure people away from WWE and so forth and so on. So, you know, it's just one of those things to where it's a fine line. You have to be careful, you know, talking to say, hey, is your contract up, You know? Yeah, it'll be up in July and we're in April. OK, when your contracts up, come see, come talk to me if you
like. I don't think that is. But again, there's a thin line and I don't know what the law says in terms of that, but it could be considered. So, so this is an interesting point that you bring up because when back back then, when WCW was quote UN quote, raiding the ECW locker room, Paul Heyman did threaten to sue. And you know, Turner, Turner definitely they were adverse to,
to lawsuits. They wanted to settle as many things as they could to avoid having to waste money in court about different things and what have you. So they actually did settle with him. And I remember Heyman doing various documentaries stating that, which is why you had certain crossovers and things like that that eventually happened.
But that's an interesting thing. They settled before it could even reach the heights of case law in pro wrestling where someone would literally say you tampered with such and such contract. I'm suing you for this. Now a judge has to rule on it. There's there's nothing, there's no rulings where a court has stated that this is a real thing, which is why it's tricky. Now there are other terms that
you could use. And certainly the scenario that you just stated, Devon, where they're telling you to get out of your current deal so you can come work for them. That's an interesting premise, which is different from when you contract up, come talk to me when it's up. So that's, that's an interesting premise there. That's an interesting premise. I mean, at this point, do you think that's something that WWE needs to do with all the money and all the success that they have going on?
In your opinion, do you think WWE needs to be quote UN quote contract tampering with any AE W talent? I really don't think so. I mean WW, ES, locker, locker room is stacked. I mean we all see what they're doing in terms of numbers and things like that. I just don't see it happening. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think it happening. Again, they have the talent there, so it's not like they don't and they definitely are not struggling. They're not hurting.
So again, unless there is something else that we don't know about, that's the only thing I can think of. Well said, Well said. We don't know. We don't know. But what I will say is, look, Swerve, congratulations to you. Allegedly, he just signed one of the biggest singles wrestlers contracts in wrestling today to stay in AEW. Congratulations on that Swerve. And I just hope and I pray that come 2025 and beyond, at least the life of your contract that that company is still around so
they can pay you out that money. Because if you talk to those poor folks over at the Black News Channel, that 24 hour conservative news from a black perspective, that Channel that Shad Khan, the owner of ATW used to own, he bankrupted that company and did not pay those folks. He paid them barely pennies on the dollar in the end. And that's been his business MO in a lot of instances. I hope that doesn't happen to you and others in ATW swear because that would be unfortunate.
Get your money, do what you got to do. Props to that. I just hope it works out man. Devon, what do you think about Swerve becoming one of the the higher, higher paid wrestlers in the industry right now? Allegedly. Well, I think I have to be part of his entourage. No, I think it's great. I mean, you know, if you can get that money, get the money, do what you got to do. I mean, you know, I think it's great for Swerve to be able to do that.
Listen, Swerve has worked his butt off to get to where he is today. I love the guy. I think he's great. I think he's great as a wrestler and I also think that he is excellent as a performer. I, I do think the WWE might have dropped the ball on letting him go, but you know what, everything happens for a reason. Maybe he would have stayed in the in WWE and maybe still wouldn't have become the Swerve that we see today.
So maybe he needed to go and leave the WWE to go somewhere else to find what he needed to do. Listen, Cody Rose did that. You know, when when Vince let Cody go, Cody went out and made something of himself outside of the giant, outside of the company. So in my opinion, it was a good idea for that to happen to Cody, because who's to say that Cody would be the Cody Rose now that you see today? So he had to have done that.
And again, my hat goes off to to guys like that, that can, you know, have something like that happen to them, like getting fired, you know, let go and then making a name outside. Look at Zack Ryder. He's another one. Curt Hawkins. I mean, they're doing an excellent job out there on their own without the giant behind them, you know, And that just goes to show you you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. And those guys are doing that just that.
So again, kudos to those guys. Kudos the swerve. Congratulations on that contract. Hey, next time we go out to dinner, I'm I'm going to give you the bill. OK? I'm just joking. I'm just going. You're going. To have to pick up a tab for the next couple of years, not just a bill, the bill going forward, right? I'm joking W fans and get all up in the bunch. And you know Devon, pay all goddamn bills goddamnit. It's a joke guys, relax.
Go back in your mother and wait for that apple pie to get there. Good. Congratulations, Swerve, and congratulations to anyone else who's able to build off of where he leaves off with this. I mean, certainly if Swerb is going to get that kind of money, that definitely opens up the door for more black and brown talent for sure to get that kind of money and beyond, which is not something traditionally we've seen in the industry as a whole.
So if if we can keep driving these contracts up in that regard, then so be it. The other side of that though, too is, hey, you got to actually produce, you got to actually pay that contract out in your production, and Swerve is definitely talented enough so we know that that's not the issue. So then it's it comes back around to who's writing these storylines, who is developing this creative, who's out there
putting out the merch. I think for an AW champion, Swerve had the least amount of merch available compared to others who held that belt. That's a mistake. That's a big fat mistake. You put the belt on the guy. He's supposed to be the face of the company. He should have merch. He should have as much merch, if not more merch than everybody else in the company. Quite frankly, that's your biggest title. So you know, Tony, in that case, you're only hurting yourself,
Tony, You know what I mean? Because it's not like people don't want to support Swerve. You heard what Devon just said. So it's it's got to make sense. It's it's certainly got to make sense. But certainly happy for the guy. There was another report, another claim that WWE were were upset that AEW was driving up the contracts and and you know, WWE is not going to pay these types of prices. They were upset that people getting paid so much money.
Again, I got to ask you, Devon, you're the expert. You're the man who worked with the company for many, many years. You're the man who's had, you know, many contracts in wrestling Is that the sort of thing that the WWE be upset with another company spending more money for talent than maybe they are willing to spend I. Don't see that happening. WWE, you know, again, the the Hunter regime might be a little different, but I do know the Vince regime didn't care. That was his mentality.
He did not care. He was going to do whatever he wanted to do and pay whatever he wanted to pay. Now, again, during the attitude of a different story, you know, he had to pay money in order to lure the people back from Bischoff and, and, and Ted, but he was competing on a much smaller basis because, you know, of course, Ted Turner was a billionaire and he was throwing that money around left and right. So I, I, I don't know, it's hard
for me to say. I don't think WWE is worried about what type of money that they are pushing out there. And if again, if they did, they were not going to tell you about it. Well said. Well said. So so, you know, I don't know folks, Vince McMahon said that, hey, we, we got plenty of talent that we can give them in relation to AEW getting former WWE talent. So I don't, you know, that that philosophy I think still carries in that company.
They're doing too well for one individual wrestler to matter so much that they're upset that somebody else is going to pay that wrestler more. If you're going to, if you're going to drive up your own bills, so to speak, then so be it. Keep doing that. You know, you can only do that for so long before it starts not making sense anymore. So we'll just leave it at that. But again, I think Swerve is is he is talented enough to pay for
that contract and then some? Does he have the right leadership to set him up, put him in a position where he can shine on that level? And you know, that's yet to be determined because thus far it has not happened, unfortunately. Well, that's. He that's the key right there. And I also, you know, and it's funny because I think with the success that Swerve is having now, if he was in the WWEI think they would know how to use him correctly and know how to
capitalize on that. And I think that's where probably AEW isn't doing the right thing by him. Again, Tony's got so much on his plate that it's hard for him to just, you know, concentrate on, you know, single guys or trying to get guys like Swerve or anybody else. He's got so much on his plate. He needs help. He really needs help. And maybe this is where, you know, like the rumors said that Shane McMahon might be coming to WWE, coming to AW, maybe this is where he gets that help from.
You know, I, I, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, correct me if I'm wrong, I think Jeff Jarrett is there too. Look, Jeff has a great mind as well, you know, so why not use Jeff if he's not using Jeff already? But, you know, to have minds like Shane McMahon or to have my like Jeff Jarrett collaborating together and even with Dustin. Dustin has been around the business for Lord knows for decades. And his father, I'm sure, taught him very well. He was under the learning tree.
Why not use those wrestling minds? Put your pride aside, stop thinking you have to do everything by yourself because you gotta burn yourself out. Have those that have the right track record to be able to help you, to be able to push the stars that you need to push and to get them where they need to be. I think that's the most important thing behind all of that. So you know, Tony, if you are
listening, I'm not Downing you. I'm not putting you down, but I'm, I'm saying you have a great company, but you need help. Get great wrestling minds like a Jeff Jarrett, like a Dustin Rose, or even if Shane McMahon is coming in, use Shane. He's been on his father's learning treat for Lord knows how long. Get these guys to come in and to help you and to get this company where it needs to be. Spitting fire, I'm telling you, spitting fire. I love it. I love it.
That's good stuff there. Speaking of good stuff, you know, we talked about some folks who have unfortunately passed away. Let's get to the other side here. Let's talk about some birthdays. First and foremost, happy birthday to one of our wonderful listeners and supporters, Larry J Winfield, AKA Just Larry. OK, I I asked him one time, what's your nickname? Is he you got a nickname at all? He said no, just Larry. So I said, OK, there it is. You're just Larry.
Just Larry just celebrated his birthday. I thought we need to put that on AT shirt. Just. Larry, just Larry, what? What? What do you got to say to just Larry that diva? Listen, another trip around the sun. Keep doing what you're doing and just keep testifying, my brother. Indeed, indeed. Keep testifying. I love that. And of course, a wonderful friend of the show. You know, she's been on numerous
times through the years. And quite frankly, she's one of the more popular people to come on the show. I mean, this young lady, she's got more listings than some big name Hall of Farmers, which is really still just tremendous in my opinion. She is a Devon Dudley Academy graduate and someone who is having a tremendous 2024. I mean even at the River City Wrestling Con, she was able to main event and then she even had a match the next day on top of
that. So really this young lady is just blossoming as a a bright young star in the pro wrestling world. We are talking about the young lady lady formerly known as Scotty Sparks. Now she goes by the name Scotty Sosa. Happy birthday Scotty Devon. You're her mentor. She sits under your learning tree and what have you. What are your thoughts on Scotty? Scotty has given me more Gray hair within the first six months and I've never had for my own kids. No, I'm just joking, I love Scotty.
Scotty's great. She's a hell of a hand. She has a lot of spunk. She's ready, eager, eager to learn and doesn't give you any problems. I hope she had a hope. She's having a great birthday and I can't wait to see her, to give her a big hug and tell her how proud I am of her. She's a tremendous person and my hat goes off to her. She cuts a heck of a promo, huh? I mean, these these little skits that she puts online and what have you, People always cracking up, man.
I mean that that kids got some personality. Absolutely. And that's one of the things that we worked on our with. And she grew as time went on. And you know, now look at that. She's blossoming like a true rose. Indeed, and I'd like a true rose. I like that. I like that. So once again, happy birthday Scotty. We're all rooting for you are very proud of you and and you know, blessings to you and your family as you celebrate your birthday.
Speaking of blessings once again, the Ottawa Comic Con, it's happening this upcoming weekend here, September 7th and 8th. Devon Dudley is going to be in the building folks. So you make sure that you get your tickets there. In fact, the Comic Con is actually September 6th to 8th, but the 7th and the 8th, Devon will be there personally there. So get your tickets, make sure you show up, say hello to the Hall of Famer.
Beyond that, Devon, if anyone wants to reach you or check out the wrestling school, what's the best way they can do that? Yeah, you can reach us at Devon Dudley Academy on Instagram as well as Twitter, same handle and every once in a while on Testify Devon, I actually post things as well about the school. So you can get it from all three of those accounts. And we have a Devon Dudley on Facebook as well.
So check it out. You'll see all the new students that are coming in. Some of the things that we basically I'd like to introduce to the students, so you know, those that do come and basically check out our website, they can see what we're doing and then maybe they want to be a part of the Devon Dudley Academy. We also have a website at www.devondudleyacademy.com. It has all the pricing, the times and days that we operate and you can become part of that
part of that as well. Great stuff and of course, Duke loves wrestling on on Twitter or on Instagram, Duke loves wrestling@gmail.com. Send in your questions, birthday shout outs, any comments that you have about the show. You know, we appreciate you folks out there, including you, you AE W faithfuls who are so upset that we have an opinion. And and that's an expert like Devon Dudley is able to share
insight. He has historical insight that he's not only lived, but also has been able to to experience first hand beyond just applying it. So when he talks about what makes a successful company, what makes a successful wrestler, who else could even speak about that other than a guy who is A5 time Hall of Famer? I think he knows just a little bit about what he's talking about folks. So I'm going to leave it at that. Devon, you get the last word, bro. Well, hold on.
I'm not to mention also no one's burying in the company. You know, they take constructive criticism as we're burying them no where. We want the company to strive. We want them to get better. So please stop thinking that we're trying to bury the company because we're not. We want Tony to get the help that he needs to help be a successful company, and that's all we're saying. So please stop thinking that the criticism or the constructive criticism that we give is negative because it's not.
We want to see them strive because they have great talent in that locker room. We just want to see them be produced and pushed the right way. That's it. The great word of the day is, and again, I can't say this enough, do unto others as you want others to do unto you. Treat them with respect and they'll treat you with respect. And if they don't put their asses through a table, definitely out of time on Duke Love Wrestling.