D-Von Dudley & Jim Ross Comment Further On Alleged Racist Remark Made In WWE

Like the passage of time, some things change, yet a lot of it stays the same. And for D-Von Dudley, the face of both the 20th and 21st Century of tag team wrestling, sometimes it's not about the gold you chase and capture, but by being in an industry that allows you to be seen, heard, understood, and recognized for your contributions rather than your race. Tensions between Dudley and the now acting commentator and senior advisor of AEW, Jim Ross, seem to be pressing, after Dudley brought up a comment Ross said to him during their tenure in WWE. For context, in an interview with former WWE star, Maven, D-Von, and his longtime tag team partner, Bubba Ray, discussed how D-Von did not see eye-to-eye with the voice of pro-wrestling, after it was alleged that Ross did not like Dudley because of the color of his skin, words to that effect. The former eight-time WWE World Tag Team Champion explained the incident further on his YouTube channel.

"He came to me and Bubba and said it," Dudley noted. "It was at the WWE restaurant, the grand opening of it. We were mingling with some of the guests that were there... I remember being upstairs and Bubba was like, 'Let's go downstairs and see what's going on down there...' Here comes J.R. J.R. comes down and we're like, 'J.R., how you doing?' 'Hey, J.R.' 'Boys, how are you guys doing?' Me and Bubba was like, 'Good, good.' He was like, 'Hey, you know what boys? You guys are fitting in really good here...I like you boys a lot. D-Von, I'm not sure. The verdict's still out on him...' I'm like, 'What does he mean by that?' Bubba knew what he was getting at. So, Bubba butts in and goes, 'You know something, J.R., regardless to what, D-Von's a hard worker. He never gives this company any problems. We go in there and do our business and that's it...' And J.R. continued to go, 'Well, you know, that's all good, but it's just something about him. I'm just not sure...' and finally it comes out, you know, 'He's Black.' That's my hiccup...I don't know how I could feel about that."

As far as letting bygones be bygones, Dudley would like for the two of them to reconcile their past differences: "I have no ill feelings for this man...But don't sit there and try to bury me and try to make me look stupid when you were the one that did and said what you said."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "D-Von Dudley" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Looking to clear the air from the continued claims Dudley made on his YouTube channel earlier this week, Jim Ross wants nothing more than to bury the hatchet with Dudley by extending a private apology with a gentleman's handshake. Ross argued that settling this in private is more important than making a televised story out of it, where there's no personal meaning.

"I'm happy to do it. I'm just not going to put it on tape and make a TV show out of it," Ross declared on his "Grilling JR" podcast.

Later in the program, J.R. reiterated what was mentioned in a previous podcast episode of his, that he, too, does not have any ill will towards Dudley. In fact, Ross noted he respects the former multi-time tag team champion and his input in the industry. 

"I'm not a racist. I've never been a racist...I don't remember the first cross word I had with D-Von," he added. "The boisterous one was Bubba. But not in a bad way. He just had no problem expressing himself. And Bubba had a lot of ideas...And I love that...I have no problem reconnecting with D-Von."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.