Back in October, WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley alleged that a high ranking WWE official said racist things to him after the Dudley Boys joined the company circa 1999.
“But when a person comes up to you and tells you that they don’t like you because of the color of your skin and you’re sitting up there going, ‘Wow, really?’ We’re in 1999, 2000, and you’re still coming to me and saying crap like this?”
Dudley later named current AEW broadcaster Jim Ross as the man who said that to him.
Ross finally responded
to D-Von’s allegation today on the Christmas edition of his Grilling JR podcast. Co-host Conrad Thompson said the reason why Ross didn’t address D-Von’s claim sooner is because he was “in the fight for his life in a hospital bed” when the story originally came out.
Ross denies ever saying those racist words, and he has no idea why Dudley is making this story up.
“That’s so absurd. It doesn’t merit a response.
I like D-Von. I like him today. I hired he and Bubba. I thought we did a good job of booking ’em. They made money. They were put in situations where they could do the things they do best. Those TLC matches were pieces of art that will last forever. The Dudleys are a major part of that. I know Bubba for sure, because I heard it, was involved in the booking of that stuff.
I don’t know. I was shocked to hear that, because I don’t recall ever having a cross word with D-Von Dudley. I always respected him and his work. I loved the Dudley tag team. So it took me totally off guard.
I never said that to D-Von Dudley. And why he would conjure up that, I guess to get attention? I thought, well, maybe he’s not as happy with his post-wrestling life as Bubba is, ’cause Bubba’s made a tremendous success of himself as a broadcaster, and still works.
So, I never said that. Some people I’m sure are gonna still believe it, and that’s their prerogative. But I’m not angry at D-Von. I’m just curious, and don’t understand why he went there. Just don’t get it.”
Ross agreed with Conrad’s assertion that prior to this, nobody has ever accused him of being racist during his 50 years in the wrestling business, and you’d think something like that would have come out by now if it was true.
“You’d think? We said we’re gonna answer any questions, and we don’t lie to our audience. We respect them, and we love them, and we appreciate their business in supporting our show. But I can honestly say, at my age, and health situations, and everything else, I got nothing to gain by saying, ‘Yeah, I said that one time. I really regret it.’ I never said it.
But in any event, I still have great respect for D-Von, and I’m glad that we got to work together. But I never uttered those words. Ask some of the African-American athletes that I signed. Ask Shelton Benjamin. If [Junkyard Dog] was here, ask him. You know, Butch Reed.”
I think JR’s denial would be more effective if he didn’t take that unnecessary shot at D-Von for being less successful than Bubba, and it actually hurts his argument when Ross points out that he has nothing to gain by saying D-Von’s claim is true. Telling people to ask a couple of dead wrestlers if he was racist towards them also doesn’t advance his case.
At any rate, now that you’ve seen D-Von’s allegation of racism and JR’s denial of it, what’s your reaction to this story? Let me know in the comments below, Cagesiders.
