In the six years since its inception, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has signed numerous former WWE stars to its roster. WWE legends such as Edge (Adam Copeland), Christian Cage, Chris Jericho, and Big Show (Paul Wight) are all currently part of the Jacksonville-based promotion.
Recently, former WWE head writer Vince Russo revealed that another ex-WWE star, D-Von Dudley, could have been part of AEW. However, instead of joining AEW, D-Von and his long-time tag team partner Bubba Ray Dudley made a return to Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA) for their final match earlier this year.
Speaking on the “Writing with Russo” podcast on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Russo disclosed that D-Von had some encounters with Tony Khan’s promotion that were less than positive, and as a result, the deal never came to fruition. Although conversations took place to bring him on board, D-Von was reportedly not interested in the storyline AEW proposed.
“He just told me he had some experiences with them that were not good experiences, you know what I mean? Yeah, I don’t know. I think if things would have worked out with AEW, you know, D-Von would probably be saying something different. But I know they were interested, but he wasn’t interested in what they wanted to do,” Russo explained.
While D-Von never signed with AEW, his sons, Terrell Hughes and Terrence Hughes, did make a few appearances for the promotion. Performing as a tag team known as TNT, they were primarily used as enhancement talent to help showcase other wrestlers.
Meanwhile, D-Von and Bubba Ray Dudley officially retired from in-ring competition last month. The legendary Dudley Boyz competed for the final time at Impact Wrestling’s Bound For Glory event, where they faced their longtime rivals, The Hardy Boyz. The match was contested for both the Impact World Tag Team and NXT Tag Team Championships.
Following their loss, Bubba Ray and D-Von handed their boots to The Hardy Boyz, after which the four embraced in a heartfelt moment, signaling the end of their historic in-ring careers.
*Credit: Sportskeeda Wrestling*
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