D-Von Dudley Reveals Why He Never Joined AEW Despite Multiple Meetings With Tony Khan

When AEW broke onto the scene, the promotion didn't only scoop up some of the younger talent trying to break out of the indies, but also several veterans like Chris Jericho, who would go on to lay the foundations of the promotion. Some, like Mark Henry, took a backstage role, while Billy Gunn felt content to wrestle alongside the next generation instead. Though he didn't wind up signing, according to D-Von Dudley, he was almost one of the veterans synonymous with AEW, as revealed in an interview with VideoGamer.

"I was looking to become a producer. I wasn't looking to become a wrestler. And the only reason why my agent even contacted them was because of the fact that I left WWE and I wanted to still do the agent role," Dudley explained. "But my sons were there at the time and I was gonna try to do anything I could to help my sons out." 

The veteran claimed that he told Tony Khan in a meeting that he wasn't going to wrestle, but Khan kept trying to push it, and suggested that he could be a manager or take part in a six-man tag match. 

"I said, 'If I do a six-man, let me know right now. I'll be on apron and the boys are gonna do all the work.'"

D-Von Dudley maintained that talks between him and Tony Khan ended up getting worse, as he and the AEW President weren't on the same page. "I told him I don't wanna wrestle anymore. And he wasn't taking no for an answer. He couldn't get that through his head," the veteran further claimed. "He was like stringing me along and even though I kept telling him I don't wanna wrestle, I was literally when we had those meetings really fresh off a back surgery."

He further recalled how he had to keep emphasizing that he simply wanted to be a producer and not wrestle, because he wanted to work behind the scenes. "He kept asking me if I wanted to wrestle and get back in the ring. And I'm like, 'Dude, you're not getting what I'm saying. I don't want to wrestle. I just wanna be a producer. I wanna help my sons out. I wanna help get them where they are.' Like what Billy Gun was doing for his sons, you know?" Dudley pointed out. "I've done everything in my career. I don't need that. He just wasn't taking no for an answer. I've had three meetings with him and all three were a bust!"

While at the time of his meetings Dudley wasn't cleared to compete nor felt comfortable getting back in the ring, he did ultimately have a joint-retirement match with his longtime tag-team partner Bully Ray/Bubba-Ray Dudley against The Hardys, where both he and his "brother" hung up their boots after a final Tables match at TNA Bound for Glory 2025.