{"id":224495,"date":"2026-10-31T15:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T20:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=224495"},"modified":"2026-10-31T15:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T20:24:24","slug":"pwtorch-interview-d-von-dudley-talks-about-being-a-trainer-his-philosophy-on-guiding-wrestlers-will-he-stay-retired-wwe-memories-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/10\/31\/pwtorch-interview-d-von-dudley-talks-about-being-a-trainer-his-philosophy-on-guiding-wrestlers-will-he-stay-retired-wwe-memories-more\/","title":{"rendered":"PWTORCH INTERVIEW: D-Von Dudley talks about being a trainer, his philosophy on guiding wrestlers, will he stay retired, WWE memories, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4198662586\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>The sun had just begun to throw color on the clouds of a preciously breezy Central Florida evening as I approached an open overhead door in the back corner of a humble storage warehouse complex just a hop and skip north of the Greater Orlando Area\u2019s WWE Performance Center. Tuesday night training was already in session as a circle of D-Von Dudley Academy students alternated between Hindu squats and high knee burnouts on the asphalt. Along with newer enrollees the group boasted several who had just performed over the weekend at DDA Ascension &#8211; the school\u2019s third-ever independent pro wrestling show &#8211; including Caeli Fuego, Selene Heavens, El Hijo del Tigre, and The Jester of Madness. They were all under the supervision of a figure whose imposing stature loomed even from his seated position.<\/p>\n<p>Based on D-Von\u2019s own prior description of his longtime strength and conditioning coach I immediately recognized \u201cApache\u201d Dann Carr &#8211; the man who built American Gladiators out of the strength contests he organized between his fellow ironworkers and other craftsmen. Before D-Von himself rolled up in a shining white SUV, Carr effortlessly swapped between regaling me with memories and barking commands at the trainees. He mentioned how DDA alumnus Kamille has adopted his \u201cDudley Dozen\u201d workout battery for her own school, then instructed a new student to walk it off upon detecting with practically psychic precision that they were blowing up. \u201cI don\u2019t wanna hear \u2018yesterday was leg day\u2019,\u201d he growled. He proudly showed off a photo of Jessika Carr, who\u2019d selected her WWE surname in his honor, and beamed when pointing out that she still holds a DDA record of doing 205 situps while holding a 75-pound weight. \u201cEveryone do a lap\u2013 no, two laps,\u201d he sternly ordered the split second a more experienced student\u2019s focus dipped below his satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>Reverence for the coach was evident in the willing expressions of the exhausted collective, who surely recognize that names like Serpentico, Sam Shaw, and Robbie T have been molded under the same tutelage. Carr explained that since he\u2019s not there to hold the students\u2019 hands when they get WWE tryouts, he works them based on what those tryouts entail. \u201cI want to train them like they\u2019re training for the Olympics, and D-Von said that\u2019s exactly what he wants.\u201d On the Busted Open podcast Bubba Ray Dudley once called Carr \u201cone of the greatest warriors I know,\u201d and added, \u201c[He] said, \u2018We don\u2019t just train you to be the strongest, we train you to be strongest the longest.\u2019 And in pro wrestling, you need to be strongest the longest &#8211; especially mentally.\u201d Notably a portrait of KiLynn King hangs on DDA\u2019s wall of fame, autographed along with the phrase, \u201cStrongest the longest.\u201d Carr would later tangentially share that when the original Team 3D Academy incarnation of the school first opened, he saw Bubba take his worst bump by falling 16 feet off a ladder onto bare concrete while hanging the sign.<\/p>\n<p>In two visits to DDA in as many weeks, I\u2019ve quickly learned D-Von has a way of instantly making you feel like an old friend. My intention with each meeting was to approach first with an upstanding demeanor and a firm handshake, and each time D-Von outdid me even more readily with his natural, welcoming smile. He briefly talked business with young talents Cecilia Brooks and SoFlyTy as I observed the other students transitioning to the ring. For this phase of the day\u2019s training, \u201cThe Lion of Zion\u201d Samson watched over DDA\u2019s custom squared circle infamously surrounded by gigantic WWE posters of Kurt Angle, Batista, Booker T, John Cena, Kane, Bobby Lashley, Triple H, and more. When D-Von invited me to his office, forward and backward rolling drills could be heard getting underway, and the well-used mat resounded with practice bump after practice bump throughout our conversation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWTorch: My goodness, Dann makes an impression right away.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: What Hulk Hogan is to wrestling, he is to arm wrestling. He is a god. Scott Norton loves him. He was also responsible for the [Fighting Eagles] boxing team that went undefeated. He got his degree in exercise science. The thing I like about Dann is he\u2019ll start a routine and it\u2019ll last about three or four weeks, and if he sees that your body\u2019s getting used to it he changes it up and he shocks the body.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: I\u2019ve heard you describe him as your Mickey.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: My Mickey from \u201cRocky III\u201d.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-470614827\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>PWT: I thought you were embellishing, and then I meet him and, no &#8211; he\u2019s Mickey. He\u2019s tough as nails but you can see that the students respect him.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: I had to pull him back a little bit because of everything that happened in NXT with Bill DeMott. I understand Bill\u2019s way of doing business because that\u2019s the way we broke in, but times have changed, and a lot of us were not ready for that. So when you open up a school and you\u2019ve got somebody from the old school, they want to still do things the old school way. But this generation is a lot more sensitive than my generation or the generations before that. And now with social media just rampant, any complaint or anything like that gets put on there and it\u2019s done. Again, I understand Bill\u2019s way of doing things because we came from the same school &#8211; Johnny Rodz &#8211; and that\u2019s the way we were brought into the business. Taz, same thing, when he did the dojo in Long Island for ECW with Perry Saturn. Now that was old school. It was to the point where people were quitting, they were throwing up, they couldn\u2019t take the training. Only the strong survived in ECW. So with that, me and Bubba, when we opened up the school in 2007, we wanted that same feeling. We didn\u2019t care about the new school way of doing things and all that; we wanted the old school tradition. And when things started happening on social media with people, we were just like, we gotta pull back, because one wrong anything will destroy everything. We gotta go with today. If times have changed, then we have to change, and that\u2019s just the way it goes.<\/p>\n<p><em>As if predicting my curiosity, D-Von addressed his tag team partner\u2019s departure from Florida as he continued to overview the school\u2019s history and the reasoning for its tenets.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Bubba was with us up until 2013 because when his parents passed away he felt alone here in Florida. He wanted to go back with his family. He had nothing here. So he decided to go back up north, and he opened up a school in Connecticut so we would have the two locations. And then we decided, you know what, you just run that place and I run this place. And that\u2019s when we had to change the name to D-Von Dudley Academy &#8211; DDA, which was the perfect fit. And we\u2019ve been going ever since then. We\u2019ve been producing students left and right that have gone to Japan, NXT\u2026 and because of Dann\u2019s training, when they go for the tryouts in NXT, they can\u2019t blow \u2018em up! I\u2019ve had Matt Bloom say that to me, \u201cThey\u2019re in perfect shape!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Gearing students specifically for success in WWE\u2019s rigorous tryouts isn\u2019t a cheat code, though. D-Von went on to detail tryout challenges, and how they have changed his approach to the independent wrestling scene.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Now, sometimes these kids get up there, it\u2019s their NXT tryout, and they get nervous. So it\u2019s kind of like they forget everything now that their nerves kick in. So I have to teach them how not to be that nervous, and that you have to perform. The minute they tell you to do something you\u2019ve got to be able to do it, and there are no second chances. So I basically now program them to realize that you\u2019ve got to be ready, and this is one of the reasons why we wanted to do these shows now\u2026 \u2026if you do get a tryout in NXT, they want guys that are TV-ready. They don\u2019t want the mistakes that are being made on the independents. So now I\u2019ve shut myself away from going to independent shows, because I couldn\u2019t take it. A lot of the shows just weren\u2019t good. It wasn\u2019t run right. I have been a producer for WWE for seven and a half years, so I was there for the old Vince regime\u2026 and I always said if you can get through Vince you can get through anything. That\u2019s why, this last show, I ran it just like I would if I was doing a WWE live event.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;Worse or Better&#8221; with Josh White, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/worse-or-better-check-it-wreck-it-let-s-begin-white-lansdell-discuss-the-two-man-power-trip-of-tag-teams--76004901\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Worse or Better (Check It, Wreck It, Let's Begin) - White &amp; Lansdell discuss the two-man power trip of tag teams\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=76004901&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Contextualizing his approach to DDA\u2019s own shows, D-Von dived into his experiences running WWE live events under Vince McMahon.<\/em><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2151197881\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>D-Von: I had to be responsible at the live events for all talent that was there. I had to be the first one there and the last one to leave, and then of course write the report for Vince to let him know what happened and almost give him a play-by-play. I never knew I could type that fast! I never got reprimanded for any spelling mistakes or anything like that but I\u2019m sure there was! But when you get there, 4:30 in the afternoon, and you don\u2019t leave until 11:30-12:00 at night, you\u2019re tired. Now you gotta drive 3-4 hours to the next town, and then on top of that if it\u2019s Sunday going into Monday\u2026 &#8230;now you have to read [Monday Night Raw] and give feedback on that show. By the time I get to the hotel I don\u2019t want to read! Reading puts me to sleep! If it ain\u2019t about me I don\u2019t want to read it! It was many a night where I would get to that hotel room at 4:00-5:00 in the morning after driving and doing what I had to do, and then had to be at the production meeting by\u2026 if you were on the West Coast, 10:00AM, or 1:00PM on the East Coast. So, it was hard, and at the time I\u2019m saying to myself, damnit, why do we have to do all this, this is insane! But yet now, running my show, I get it. I tell people &#8211; don\u2019t take it personal. If I\u2019m getting upset or yelling, don\u2019t take it personal. I want the best production we can possibly have, and I think we did with this past show. We wanted to make sure everything was on point. Before the show started we went over every nook and cranny, just like WWE does.<\/p>\n<p><em>Expounding on the quality he\u2019s aiming for with his shows, D-Von discussed what he\u2019s looking for when booking outside talent and why.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: In order for you to be on my show you have to show me that you can work &#8211; that you can wrestle. I\u2019m not just gonna hire a guy that somebody says, okay, this guy is good and blah blah blah, and then you see him and he\u2019s not good. I don\u2019t want that because I\u2019ve seen that so many times on indie shows, and I just said nope. I want to see you. Like, [All Combat Wrestling]. We made the agreement to get involved with them, but I said wait a minute, I haven\u2019t seen these guys. I know their style was lucha, and I know we do it from WWE\u2019s perspective in terms of wrestling. Same moves, but the psychology\u2026 or just certain things\u2026 you know when a guy taps a guy on the back and he goes running? As opposed to taking him and really whipping him off and doing it? So I spoke to the guy, Frankie [Ciatso], and I said listen &#8211; I need to see these guys as soon as possible\u2026 \u2026and they all got in the ring here and worked out and showed me what they can do. When I saw that I said okay, thumbs up, they\u2019re good. So anybody that comes, I need to see video on them and see what they can do. It\u2019s no different than WWE scouting people. I want to run this the same exact way that they do. And the only way I\u2019m gonna be able to do that is if I\u2019m hands-on and making sure of everything I\u2019ve learned over the years from Vince McMahon, Michael Hayes, Mike Rotundo, Adam Pearce, Jamie Noble\u2026 because they were there before me. Michael Hayes was just so instrumental in helping me. He was the one who showed me how to do things on the headset, and how to call matches to the truck. They all took me under their wing and showed me how to be a producer, and I was always grateful and thankful for it.<\/p>\n<p><em>Having passed over a particular name, D-Von circled back.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: And a lot of guys don\u2019t like him, and I get this, but even John Laurinaitis, you know? I can\u2019t say anything bad about Johnny. I know a lot of people say bad things about him but he took me and really guided me as a producer. I don\u2019t know why he liked me, but I was very grateful for it. So I don\u2019t have any bad words to say about him at all, although other people do! And I understand the situation that happened between him and Vince, but that\u2019s not my business, I wasn\u2019t there, so I don\u2019t know. But as far as helping me in the business, he was there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: At Ascension we saw you were on the headset. You\u2019re running the show.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: I\u2019m running the show.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: I want to get more into the school and the shows, although I do want to take this opportunity, because as we sit here it\u2019s a little more than one year after your retirement match at TNA Bound for Glory. About a year removed, how are you feeling? I\u2019m not even asking, \u201chey are you coming back,\u201d but\u2026 how is that match sitting with you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Great. People say, \u201cOh, you\u2019ll be back. You\u2019ll be back.\u201d No I won\u2019t! I\u2019m done! One of the biggest things is my back. I had the back surgery, and, you know, Randy Orton had the same back surgery that I had. And I asked him, \u201cHow the hell are you still getting in the ring and doing that?\u201d And he said, \u201cD-Von, if you watch my matches, I don\u2019t take any bumps, really! And when I do, it\u2019s offensive bumps!\u201d He goes, \u201cI wrestle smarter. I wish I would have done that earlier.\u201d I said, \u201cA lot of us wish we would have done that earlier.\u201d Because maybe my back wouldn\u2019t be so bad. Maybe I would have stopped doing the leg drop off the second and landing on my ass. I felt no pain then, but now, years later, the numbness started running down the leg and the discs are deteriorating. You know, the stuff that we do in the ring, it\u2019s great, the fans love it, but at the same token the toll that it\u2019s taking on the body is just\u2026 I can\u2019t even describe it, it\u2019s that bad. But yet, this is what we do. It\u2019s like asking a football player to ease up on the field. He\u2019s not going to; he\u2019s gonna hit full contact. Same thing with wrestling, we\u2019re gonna go full tilt. I realize that I had my fun in the sun. 35 years of wrestling has been great. I don\u2019t have anything in the basement to bring out. Not to mention, there\u2019s no way I can come back and do another match and top what I did at Bound for Glory.<\/p>\n<p><em>Resolute in his contentment, D-Von went into how his retirement match came to be and why it meant so much.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Bubba likes to always refer to things as the rock group KISS &#8211; you want to hit the greatest hits and go home, and that\u2019s it! You know, when KISS took off the paint, they weren\u2019t KISS anymore to a lot of fans. Even the new songs, they were good, but they weren\u2019t \u201cRock and Roll All Nite\u201d, \u201cDr. Love\u201d, and all that. The minute KISS put the paint back on, they became KISS again. So when Bubba asked me, he said, \u201cYou think you can do one more match?\u201d I said, \u201cDepends on who it is.\u201d He goes, \u201cThe Hardys.\u201d I said, \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d He goes, \u201cA TLC match?\u201d I go, \u201cF*** no!\u201d I said nope, I hate ladders and I don\u2019t like climbing. But he goes, no, it would be a tables match &#8211; something that we did back in 2000 at Madison Square Garden, we had the first tables match. So it was only fitting to end it that way. Not to mention the emotional pulling of the strings. That\u2019s what we wanted. And that\u2019s what we got to have. Everybody standing and cheering for the whole match? And at the end, crying because they realized it was finally over? A lot of people\u2019s childhood was gone after that! You know, that\u2019s what we wanted. So to have that type of connection with them, you\u2019re not gonna get that doing anything else. And I don\u2019t want to be one of those guys that they say, damn you should have retired! We did enough to hit the greatest hits, and that was it! Go home!<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: You\u2019re talking about working smarter, wishing you had worked smarter when you were younger\u2026 and of course, that last match &#8211; there was the history there, it was the moment, and the pedigree of just being the Dudleys together again, but what I saw in that match was an economy of motion. You weren\u2019t doing anything stupid.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Nothing crazy. Even the Whassup I went to the second instead of the top!<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: And that\u2019s to my point; I didn\u2019t even notice that until I watched the behind-the-scenes documentary and Tommy Dreamer pointed it out. So you still hit it without doing anything extra.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: No. And the thing about it was, Randy was a young boy when I was a veteran at the time in the business, so now you go 20-something years later and he\u2019s telling me, you know, work smarter. Which is what everybody was telling me in the beginning, but when you\u2019re young and you\u2019re hungry you don\u2019t realize that so you just try to go go go, to impress. And I realized in that match\u2026 \u2026I have three little kids\u2026 \u2026I want to be able to walk my two little daughters down the aisle if that day ever comes, and when my son gets old enough to go, \u201cDaddy, can we go play baseball?\u201d \u201cAbsolutely!\u201d I don\u2019t want to be like Hogan, and I say this respectfully &#8211; he kept going and going, and he even said it in a documentary &#8211; there should have been a time when he probably should have stopped, and he didn\u2019t. I don\u2019t want to have to walk with a cane for the rest of my life. I\u2019m already feeling things in my knees and everything like that, but I don\u2019t want to take it to that next level where it speeds up the process. Thank God for Dallas &#8211; DDP Yoga. One of the greatest things I had ever done. I owe Dallas so much. The respect I have for him\u2026 \u2026he helped me so much to be able to do that last match. And to be able to still come in here and show the guys what I can do, because at one point I couldn\u2019t move because the back surgery was so bad. Anybody that has back surgery, they will tell you &#8211; they wish they might not have even got back surgery because the pain is even more. But if you stretch and do the things that you\u2019re supposed to do to break up that scar tissue, then you\u2019ll be fine. You just gotta constantly do it. So I don\u2019t go to the gym and put up all the weights. I\u2019m sitting there in the gym, stretching like this, people looking at me like I\u2019m crazy. I don\u2019t care. Let the young guys go and lift all that weight. I don\u2019t have to do that anymore. I don\u2019t have nothing to prove, or no one to impress.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: You said at your first show, Inception, and it plays in the opening package of your subsequent shows, \u201cThis ain\u2019t WWE, this ain\u2019t ECW, this ain\u2019t TNA, and it sure as hell ain\u2019t AEW.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: No it isn\u2019t!<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Can you expand on what you mean by that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: In other words, we\u2019re not WWE. We\u2019re not trying to be like them. We\u2019re definitely not ECW. That was a different breed, a different brand. That was something that will never be duplicated. Often imitated, but never duplicated. Those were grown-ass men that put their body on the line for [the brand]. No one will be able to be ECW, I don\u2019t care how much crazy s*** they do out there. There was a reason and a rhyme for everything that we did. Now, the old school generation didn\u2019t understand that back then, but seeing everything they see now, now they kinda get ECW. And it took Vince a while to get ECW before he started bringing us in, and started doing stuff with them when we were still ECW and we were getting hot. TNA\u2026TNA was like a development of the new generation coming up. And although I like to say we are that, we\u2019re not that just yet. As far as AEW goes, AEW is a different style. I like to compare [WWE and AEW to] WWE and WCW &#8211; \u201cWhere the big boys play.\u201d Vince did a lot of the character, where when you looked at the WCW &#8211; or NWA at the time &#8211; the had realism. People actually loved the fact that Dusty and Sting and all of those guys did what they did and made professional wrestling fun for them, who didn\u2019t want to go to WWE and deal with characters and stuff like that. And I feel like AEW is that version of WCW where\u2026 they\u2019re doing all the flips and the flies, they\u2019re doing everything like that. So we\u2019re not them. We\u2019re gonna be us. We\u2019re not gonna be anybody else, we don\u2019t want you to think that we\u2019re trying to be anybody else. We just want to put on a good product for the indie circuit and maybe take this, like ECW did, to the next level. I mean, I love all the brands. I don\u2019t watch it as much as I can, but I hope AEW makes it. I hope they go sky high. Because the WWE does not need to have the monopoly. No company needs to have the monopoly. Because without competition you\u2019re gonna fail. No matter how big you are. Because you start doing stupid things. The reason why WCW was kicking WWE\u2019s ass back in the day was because WWE had to make a change from the cartoon era to the more adult type of things. And they did that, and that was great. We\u2019re not doing adult themes for DDA, but we\u2019re doing storylines that maybe you can relate to, and enjoy, and be invested in.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: That was one of the things I personally liked about Ascension. Seeing Kiki Roberts vs. Jay Luxx, Cecilia Brooks vs. Caeili Fuego, and Mazaka vs. Joey Blaze\u2026 those were the three where I was like, I\u2019m into these storylines. It matters who wins these matches.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Yeah! And with [Mazaka vs. Joey Blaze], you know, with the Voodoo and everything, I thought Mazaka did a fantastic job.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: The crowd loved him!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: They loved him. He\u2019s crazy!<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: They weren\u2019t supposed to, but he\u2019s so charismatic that it\u2019s like, how do you not like this guy?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von. Yes! So\u2026 I didn\u2019t want it to be hokey. I didn\u2019t want it to be 1992 when WWE was trying to find their position in wrestling after the Hogan and Andre era left. They were trying crazy things and it just didn\u2019t work until the Attitude Era came along &#8211; Austin, Triple H, and even\u2013 well, I\u2019m not gonna say Shawn was part of the cartoon era, but Shawn basically helped the Attitude Era, no doubt, to get to where it is. So it was one of those things where\u2026 I want us to be that. That\u2019s why I said we\u2019re not WWE. We\u2019re not trying to be them. I\u2019m not trying to be ECW. I just want to be different than everybody else. I just want to be able to take this to another level if I can, and be able to really grow.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: So after 20 years of the school, what was the impetus behind, hey, let\u2019s start some shows?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Well, I was hearing some of the students going out to other independent organizations\u2026 I would see the matches that they were doing\u2026 it wasn\u2019t good.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Oh!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: It wasn\u2019t good. It was horrible. And it was making my guys look bad, because of the talent they might have been in the ring with. I\u2019m not gonna point some of these shows out, but it was really bad. And I said, okay. Me and Kiki [Roberts]&#8230; we talked, and he said, \u201cYou know, we should start doing shows.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cAh, yeah, but I don\u2019t know about the time to do it. I\u2019m always on the road still, and this and that. I\u2019ve got the family, I\u2019ve got to run this place\u2026\u201d And he was like, \u201cWell, just think about it.\u201d So I went home and I thought about it\u2026 and I saw some more of my new students on these independent shows and I go, nope! That\u2019s it! And I\u2019m doing it! I\u2019m gonna show them the real way of doing it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: At the Ascension Pre-Show Press Conference I asked you about providing current students opportunities on shows and balancing that against drawing with more established talent. What are you looking for in your students that could afford them spots on the shows?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: One of the biggest things is understanding psychology. The movesets, how we go into the the transitions, things like that. I don\u2019t want you to look like a deer caught in headlights when something goes wrong. I want you to be able to call an audible, change it up, and be able to do it to where the fans don\u2019t realize it. Now, people who are veterans might see it, but the fans won\u2019t. And even though you have a lot of smart marks out there that might go \u201cwhatever\u201d and say what they say, I\u2019m just like, okay, how do we do it to where they don\u2019t know. That\u2019s what I teach when I\u2019m here. If I tell them to do something in the ring and they mess up, don\u2019t stop &#8211; continue, make it better. Do the right thing. Try to cover it up as much as you possibly could because if you get out there in front of people you can\u2019t stop and go, oh, I messed up! You can\u2019t panic. That\u2019s one of the things I like to tell them &#8211; don\u2019t panic. Calm yourself down, grab a hold. Rethink everything and then go.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: So do you view the shows in part as opportunities for students who are starting to get to that level, to sink or swim in front of a live crowd as part of the curriculum per se?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Yes, yes! And, just like Vince, if you\u2019re not getting it I gotta pull you off. You know, I gotta pull you off &#8211; you\u2019re a representation of the school. The lightbulb has to come on at some point. If you\u2019re up there and the lightbulb doesn\u2019t come on\u2026 that contract? Null and void. And I have to give you that same feeling here, so when you get up there you understand it correctly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Seeing how people talk about wrestling these days, how wrestlers seem to want to conduct their matches\u2026 a lot of it feels based around what has come to be the accepted \u201cstar rating\u201d system. Doesn\u2019t matter where on the card you are, doesn\u2019t matter what kind of story you\u2019re supposed to be telling\u2026 you gotta get those stars every time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: What we\u2019ve taught you &#8211; psychology, in-ring transitions and all of that &#8211; do it the way we showed you how to do it. Learn that. I want every single one of my students who have a match leading up to the main event to be able to go out there and say, \u201cI\u2019m gonna steal the show.\u201d I\u2019m not gonna put shackles on you and hold you back, and say you can\u2019t do this and you can\u2019t do that. If you\u2019re in the match after and you can\u2019t top that, then you don\u2019t need to be there. That was the way we thought about things in ECW. If you were upset because they were still talking about the third match by the time the main event came on, then you shouldn\u2019t be in the main event. That\u2019s my philosophy &#8211; that\u2019s my wisdom to them. Go out there and try to steal the show &#8211; try to do it. I\u2019m not gonna get angry; I\u2019m gonna be happy! Because like in the last show that we did, every match &#8211; the first one to the main event &#8211; was good, and they all went out and bust their behinds to try to make sure that they stole the show. Even the guy Monster who we had on there. He was a student of ours back at the old school.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: The one who came in and confronted Samson?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: The big guy, yup. I was like, I don\u2019t want you to touch. I want him to do his thing in the match, call out the locker room or what have you\u2026 here you come. Let him see your size, your girth, that you\u2019re five times the thickness of him, and he\u2019s gonna be in trouble since he called people out. So when they went face to face and Samson backed out, now you want to see it, and that\u2019s what I was going for.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Who are some of your current students you feel we should keep an eye out for? I\u2019m putting you at risk of leaving some people out!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: No, no! SoFlyTy &#8211; very, very good. Mazaka, the Voodoo guy. Joey Blaze, the guy he wrestled. Cecilia Brooks. Caeli Fuego. Those are the people to definitely look forward to. Right now we\u2019re trying to get everybody else onto that level, which they will be in time. It\u2019s just gonna take some time and a little bit more work, but they\u2019re there. They\u2019ve just gotta believe in themselves and know that they\u2019re there. There\u2019s a lot of doubt in a lot of them, and I can\u2019t teach that &#8211; you have to get that in your heart and in your brain to know that you got it, you just gotta go out there and do it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Seeing Selene Heavens work heel at Ascension, I saw just that little bit of confidence that I thought was missing before. She was so shy before but I thought, oh, she may be starting to find herself.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: She\u2019s been here for four years, I think, and she\u2019s just now coming out of it. I\u2019m hoping for her in a year or two that we\u2019ll be right where we need to be. It took some time with her, but she\u2019s got it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Looking at the DDA alumni, names that come up are women like Kamille, Jessika Carr, Sage Beckett, Leva Bates, KiLynn King, Lacey Lane\u2026 do you feel there\u2019s anything to that &#8211; that there are a lot of women who find success after coming through DDA?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Absolutely. Because they\u2019re learning the right way of doing business. They\u2019re learning the right way of psychology. You can go out there and get \u201cthis is awesome\u201d from just doing the basic moves, but if you put the right story to it and the transitions are good, then they\u2019ll go for it. You know, you can do all the flippy-flying in the world and you won\u2019t get any reaction. You might get the \u201cOh!\u201d But it\u2019s forgotten.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Especially these days, because everybody\u2019s doing it. Are they going to remember it tomorrow?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Exactly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: So you can probably tell from the long hair I was an Edge and Christian guy, but what I always appreciated watching Dudleys matches was that you never dropped character. It goes back to that economy of motion. Everything meant more because you were still portraying your characters with every move. Does what I\u2019m seeing there factor in to what you teach here?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Bubba and I, with our matches, it was always storytelling. When we wanted to pull at your heartstrings even back then\u2026 \u2026the moves were secondary. The moves you can do another time, but in terms of getting people\u2019s attention and having them go, oh man, this is great\u2026 we want them to feel that way without doing the moves like that. And that\u2019s what we did, and I think that\u2019s why we were so successful. I tell them all the time, the moves that I taught you are the basic of the basic, because that\u2019s what me and Bubba did. We did basic moves and we became legendary because of that &#8211; because it was the story that was being told in the match that made the match so compelling and made the fans want to invest in the Dudleys. It was all about storytelling. And lo and behold\u2026 the storylines that we have in DDA? I make sure we try to do the same exact thing that me and Bubba did. It\u2019s something that was taught to us by Pat Patterson, by Vince, and definitely Paul Heyman. Again, you can have great matches &#8211; there\u2019s been so many people in WWE that have good matches that were able to do all the spectacular stuff, but they were midcard or just under midcard. The Dudleys were guys that\u2026 they simply didn\u2019t care about the moves. We could do them, but we didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n<p><em>Thinking to perhaps the most influential matches he took part in, D-Von reflected on the ripple effects of his notorious TLC matches from the early 2000s.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Everybody wants to use tables, ladders, and chairs, and you see it a lot on indie shows. My thing is\u2026 why? Why are you using it? The build-up to Edge and Christian being known for chairs, the Hardys being known for ladders, and the Dudleys for tables\u2026 there were stories behind that. So when we came out, it was great, you know? Even when we came out with the table at Bound for Glory, placed it right there, went to the ring, got our flowers from the people, and we waited for the Hardys. The Hardys start walking out\u2026 wait a second\u2026 they go back and get the ladder, and the people erupted because now they know they\u2019re gonna see it. Because we built that story for so many years, now it\u2019s programmed into their heads and now the investment is in the story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: I do want to ask about the coaches &#8211; I\u2019m familiar with Kiki Roberts, I just met Jake St. Paul the other day, and the guy out there is Samson?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Samson is a guy who, if Kiki or Jake or I can\u2019t make it, he\u2019s here. He\u2019s willing to give his time\u2026 \u2026and he doesn\u2019t feel shaded or whatever. It\u2019s like, everybody in WWE knows their role. At least, some do! You know, they think they might deserve something better but Vince ain\u2019t gonna do it unless, you know\u2026 you know how Vince is! Not taking anything away from Samson &#8211; Samson is good at what he does &#8211; but Kiki and Jake are over him, and of course I am. But again, I don\u2019t make him feel any smaller or any less involved than anybody else in terms of helping the training. If there\u2019s something I see that needs to be fixed then I\u2019ll fix it on him, but other than that he\u2019s really good at what he does. He learned from me and Bubba, so basically what he\u2019s gonna be showing them is what me and Bubba showed him. And he got drilled! Many a time!<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: And we already talked about Dann. Kiki and Jake, respectively, what do you feel they bring to the Academy?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Well, Kiki and Jake both were students here, and when they got to a certain level that\u2019s when I asked them to come aboard. Kiki has been all around. Kiki has very good psychology. And he goes in the ring and he does the things that I can\u2019t do anymore. He helps out and he shows them. And same with Jake. So I teach on the other side. If I\u2019ve gotta go in and show an armbar or something like that, I can do that\u2026 but as far as taking any more bumps I don\u2019t do it. That\u2019s where I tag out to Kiki and Jake and they come in and they do it!<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Selfishly, since my beat has been NXT, and studying the Performance Center from the outside can be like a puzzle\u2026 I covered in June of 2022 that when you were recovering from your back surgery you went to coach at NXT. And I know that didn\u2019t last too long, but all I could report on was, well, D-Von\u2019s there now! And I didn\u2019t know anything else. There are many more cooks in the kitchen there &#8211; what was your purview? What was your focus?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Tag team.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Makes sense!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Matt Bloom knew that, and I would have a lot of the tag team guys there with me. Like Chase U\u2026 or anybody that they put together as a tag, you know, I would work with them. I did a couple singles, too, but I was better with the tag. Everybody has a role there as a coach. For those who do singles, like Fit Finlay with the women &#8211; just like he was on the main roster. Robbie Brookside, same thing &#8211; better with singles, holds, things like that. So a lot of those guys have what they\u2019re good at and Matt uses them in that sequence. So I enjoyed it tremendously. It was a lot easier than the main roster.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: What was it like working with Matt? He\u2019s clearly had a lot of success just based on his longevity.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Yeah, well I worked with Matt when he was in T&amp;A &#8211; Test and Albert &#8211; that big angle when we had Trish Stratus and the table and the build-up for that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Unforgettable.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Yeah! So I worked great with him then, and I worked great with him in NXT. I never had an issue with anybody in NXT. It was just a little better for me to be in NXT because of the back surgery, not having to travel and be on the planes and on the car rides. I mean, to me\u2026 \u2026I think Vince and John Laurinaitis put me down there, and not just \u201cOh, okay kid, goodbye.\u201d You know, they set it up to put me down there and it worked out. And I got caught up in that whole mess that was going on, you know, with certain firings going on and things like that. I don\u2019t know how I got caught up in it but I did, and, you know, I was released. I have no ill feelings toward them whatsoever. I wouldn\u2019t even mind going back and working with them, but I\u2019ve got my life now. I\u2019m doing this, I\u2019m doing the shows, I\u2019ve got my detailing business in West Palm, my YouTube channel which is extremely successful, so I\u2019m okay. But if ever they need me\u2026 I told Matt, let me know, and I\u2019ll come. But I don\u2019t know if I want to be under the machine again. I don\u2019t know if I want to be back to where I\u2019m theirs, if that makes any sense. I\u2019m having fun doing all the comic cons every week, the appearances and things like that, and I know that will stop if I go back\u2026 so I\u2019m not ready for that yet. So until that buys out, then I go, hey Matt, um\u2026 can I come back? But until then I\u2019m happy doing what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: So the WWE ID program is still new enough that we\u2019re still learning just how \u201cunder the machine\u201d the ID-tagged promotions may be, but is there anything in the back of your mind saying, hey, maybe DDA could be a WWE ID school?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Yeah, I think the more that we do these shows and they see how I\u2019m running it, I think we might have a chance of doing that. I don\u2019t know too much about it &#8211; just like you I\u2019m learning as we go along. I hear things all the time, I just gotta go with it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: In running the three shows you\u2019ve run so far, even with your wealth of experience is there anything you\u2019ve learned?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Well, I think having hands on everything &#8211; that\u2019s the big one. You know, just like Vince had hands on everything. I didn\u2019t understand it back then, but I understand it now. I also feel that I just want to be different than any other independent wrestling show that\u2019s out there. I want to be able to go, okay, they\u2019re not just an indie &#8211; they\u2019re something special. That\u2019s what I want. That\u2019s my end goal for everything. As far as becoming part of [WWE ID]\u2026 \u2026I still want to have control over what I do. Of course if the opportunity ever came we could sit down to talk, they would tell me what they want out of me and I could tell them what I would like. It\u2019s negotiating. That\u2019s what I would do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: They probably have a checklist!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: Yep!<\/p>\n<p><strong>PWT: Well, you\u2019ve got the shows, you\u2019ve got the school &#8211; I want to let you get some plugs in at the end here.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>D-Von: I mean, other than please subscribe to the YouTube channel and all of that? Take a look &#8211; we\u2019ve got videos that are coming every week. And we\u2019re trying to change it up; we want to do more than just wrestling. I\u2019ve got a show coming up about horror movies, and what\u2019s the best horror movie. And, if you want to learn the right way of doing things in the business, come to my school. If you have problems anywhere else, come here. Our success rate speaks for itself. 20 years &#8211; I think we\u2019re the longest-running school in Florida. Other than Afa &#8211; I\u2019ll definitely come second to Afa, no issues about that! And Dory Funk. But I still want to be different, and that\u2019s the thing.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2109357892\"><div id=\"pwtor-1490892613\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>The sun had just begun to throw color on the clouds of a preciously breezy Central Florida evening as I approached an open overhead door in the back corner of a humble storage warehouse complex <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/10\/31\/pwtorch-interview-d-von-dudley-talks-about-being-a-trainer-his-philosophy-on-guiding-wrestlers-will-he-stay-retired-wwe-memories-more\/\" title=\"PWTORCH INTERVIEW: D-Von Dudley talks about being a trainer, his philosophy on guiding wrestlers, will he stay retired, WWE memories, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":224496,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-specialfeatures","category-exclusives_interviews"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-31-at-3.19.01-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224495"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224498,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224495\/revisions\/224498"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}