Devon On Why He Wasn't At The WWE Rumble, His Sons Getting Into Wrestling, Aces & Eights, More

- Caroline Walsh sent the following:

Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio:
Guest: Team 3D's Brother Devon Dudley
Date: 04/01/15
Your Hosts: Patrick Kelley and James Walsh

D-Von! Get the table! Devon Dudley last graced our show just days after he and Bully Ray made their TNA debuts in 2005. Ten years later, we welcome Devon back to the show to discuss he and Bubba's training school which has produced numerous unique performers in its rich 8 year history. Many of those stars now are on the TNA roster while others are working for and tryng out for WWE NXT. In addition to discussions about the school and the art of training, we discuss a few career highlights over the past 10 years and address your questions that asked us to ask Devon about a possible WWE return. We're interactive for a reason, folks! You can listen to this interview in MP3 format (free download) and on YouTube at https://www.wrestlingepicenter.com. It is completely free. If you wish to keep us running free, check out our store and buy something!

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:

On the originsT of the school: "I'm July of 2005, we left the WWE. We knew we were going to TNA but we also knew we were gpomg tp Japan. Anyone who knows this business knows a week without getting in that ring, (laughs) can hurt you. After being off for 2 months, we went to a wrestling school here. I came from Johnny Rodz's wrestling school. I had heard of schools where you pay your money but then you don't really learn anything but I never experienced it. We just went down there because at the time, it was the only place that had a ring that we could work out in. This guy wasn't really doing a lot with them (his students.) After about a year or two, these guys were getting frustrated. I was going down and helping them out. They said, "Why don't you guys open up a wrestling school? If you did that, we would definitely come". I approached Bubba with the idea because we always had said we would open up a wrestling academy. Thus, we opened up the Team 3D Academy in Kissimmee, Florida!"

Why Florida is where so much wrestling focus is put today: "Indy wrestling is starting to make a move back. Right now, it just seems Florida has become the hot bed for wrestling. We are happy that WWE has taken so many of our guys. We're fortunate to say that WWE has used so many of our guys for tryouts. There have been guys that they (WWE) say don't have it or need improvement that they (WWE) have sent to the Team 3D Academy. I think it speaks volumes. We don't allow anyone to leave unless we know fully that you are going to represent that school in a good way".

The training process: "It is very structured. We take 45 of the most basic moves, moves that you will see and use, and we make that the beginners class. Once you know the basics, you advance to the Advanced Class where we will teach you what to do in a match and what not to do in a match. While many of the schools have a name, me and Bubba are hands on. We're in there helping you... I'm in the ring, helping you. Bubba is there helping with promos and story telling. That is one of the advantages we have at Team 3D Wrestling Academy, we're not just guys who opened up a wrestling school, put our name on it, and had some other guys teach you. We're actually getting in that ring., helping you along, and teaching you. We are the trainers."

The evolution of the business and how it changes the training plan: "I don't care how the business changes. I don't care how it evolves into this new generation... If you don't have good story telling, and you don't know how to put a match together... I don't care all the flipping and flying you're doing, you're on borrowed time. You are going to fall short one way one day. Bubba loves to compare us to the rock group KISS. When KISS came out with Detroit Rock City, Christine (Sixteen), Dr. Love... You loved to hear those song – I don't care how old you were! But, when they made the new songs, not knocking on KISS, but you didn't care for it. You wanted to see Gene Simmons blow the fire, you wanted to see him spit the blood. You wanted to see Ace Frehley go crazy on the guitar... " James mentions that for a good time of the 80's and 90's, KISS were not in make-up and Ace wasn't in the band. "Exactly, and once they did that, it really didn't matter anymore. But once they did that (put the make-up back on), people loved it again. That is just like the wrestling business. I don't care how many flips you can do. People still want good story telling. That is what Johnny Rodz taught us and that is what we teach – Good story telling. The things that you know. The 3D, the What's Up, the Belly to Back, taking and giving homage to LOD, by doing the Doomesday, we do things (like KISS) the fans recognize. You don't take away what got you there in the first place."

LOD and Team 3D battling for the #1 tag team spot in wrestling history: "They set the stage. We always put over Animal and Hawk. You can say we're #1 but we say we're #2. LOD will always be #1 in our hearts because we're taking over where they left off. You can't have a future without recognizing the past."

The "Old School Rules with New School Tolls" at the Academy: "If you look at the Attitude Era, each character was them. Austin was a beer drinking redneck, it really was Austin! The Rock, conceited, could come at you with a punch-line like that – That was The Rock! Taker! There were times I was in the ring with Taker and I thought he thought he really was dead! That was them! When you become a character that is a part of you, it works because it is you. When you give someone a character that isn't them and hope they hit a Home Run with it, it doesn't happen. It has to be part of them."

The sale price: "You know the WWE Network, $9.99? Well, we are doing the same thing, $999 for a tuition year. $999. That is a hell of a deal! Show me one wrestling school, show me one, that has done anything like we've done."

Bubba returning to WWE at the Royal Rumble: "I was very happy and very honored that the fans never forgot him but also never forgot me. For them to have been cheering for him like they were and still know and to accept the fact that we have been gone for ten years but we have never been forgotten!"

Why he wasn't at the Rumble as well: I look at it from a Biblical standpoint, if God wanted me to be there at the Royal Rumble, I would have been there. "

A possible WWE Return: "There is a great chance we could return to WWE. THere is also a chance we may not. Only God knows the answer to that."

The fall of the Aces and Eights: "If the creator of Sons of Anarchy (Kurt Sutter) had the show idea taken away from him, it would not have been as successful as it was The minute the creator of the Aces and Eights had it taken away from him and the other people put their hands in it, that is where it went south. I believe the Aces and Eights could still be going today. But, the original creator was taken off of it and it was watered down to their version and therefore Aces and Eights went the way it went."

His kids now training at the Team 3D Academy: "My boys, Terrence and Terrell, who were seen on Impact, have graduated from high school. They went to college. They are personal trainers now at Gold's Gym... They now go to the school. You know, Bubba is a hard ass when it comes to looking at people and saying "They've got it"... For Bubba to look at my boys and say they're good speaks volumes... It speaks volumes... I'm definitely looking for them to take over where Bubba and I leave off."

To find out more about the Team 3D Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment Academy, go to www.Team3DAcademy.com or call (407) 390-9005. The $999 sale ends on Easter Sunday, April 5th so if you are interested, you had better act fast! Tell them the Epicenter sent you!