D-Von Dudley Reflects On WWE Singles Run As Reverend D-Von

This past Saturday, Impact Wrestling taped its 1,000th episode, set to air this Thursday on AXS, which will include the reunion of Team 3D – the Dudley Boys. Prior to Saturday's match, D-Von Dudley spoke to Good Karma Wrestling about a wide range of topics, including his brief WWE singles run that saw him adopt the Reverend D-Von gimmick.

"The singles run that I had in WWE — I thought it was great, with the Reverend D-Von gimmick," Dudley said. "I thought it went fantastic, but there were powers [that] be within the company that basically stopped it."

Dudley is of the belief that his run would've lasted longer, as things were going well, but somebody spoke to then-CEO and head of creative Vince McMahon. From there, plans were moved around.

"I always said, if the Reverend D-Von gimmick did not work, then Triple H would've never laid down for me on 'SmackDown,'" Dudley continued. "Not only did he lay down, but the man gave me 50-50 of the match. If he didn't believe in that gimmick, he would've never done that. Not to mention, I'm hitting promos with Vince, [the] first time out. The people were reacting, the whole nine [yards], so it was definitely somebody in Vince's ear that stopped it."

In previous interviews, Dudley has admitted to having a hard time adjusting as a singles competitor after spending his career in a tag team. The former WWE star also stated that McMahon came up with the Reverend D-Von idea in reference to the Catholic Church picketing WWE's headquarters at the time. The gimmick lasted for just a few short months in 2002 and the entire angle is mostly remembered for helping introduce Batista to the WWE audience, as both he and Dudley acted as advisors for McMahon onscreen.