WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley will long be remembered as an all-time great, whether it's thanks to his stellar ECW work, his tag team partnership with Bubba Ray Dudley as one half of The Dudley Boyz, or as Reverand D-Von, alongside then-rising star Batista.
However, as a Black man in professional wrestling, D-Von is, unfortunately, no stranger to encountering racism. In an interview with former WWE Superstar and Tough Enough winner, Maven, D-Von talked about being apprehensive when he entered the wrestling business due to a fear of racial bias that was prevalent in the industry at the time.
"Me, I was petrified," he admitted. "And I’m gonna be honest with you....but being African American in this, in this business still, especially in the very beginning of 1991, and even though we got started in '96, I was still petrified of racism."
Talking about joining WWE in the late 90s/early 2000s, D-Von added, "Their philosophy was still stuck in the 50s and 60s." He added that the attitude was very much that "a Black man should never say anything because of the fact that he’s Black and you’re in a white man’s business."
"I didn’t experience it when we were together because of the fact that when we got together, we were in ECW. I experienced it in WWE. There were certain top officials who I don’t really want to go and say any names. When a person comes up to you and tells you that they don’t like you because of the color of your skin, and you’re sitting up there going, 'Wow, really?' When? 1999, uh, 2000."
While D-Von didn't name the official in question, there are plenty of theories on social media. We won't name them here, but this paints the company's backstage culture in an extremely negative light.
Elaborating on the power structure within WWE at the time, the multi-time Tag Team Champion said, "There were certain people in that organization at that time that felt that I should not have said anything, who had power to basically bury me if need be just because I might have stood up for what I felt was right."
WWE still features accusations of racism from fans, primarily in regard to how Black wrestlers are booked and treated on television. However, the backstage culture does appear to have improved, even though the majority of those in power backstage are white.
You can hear more from D-Von, and Bubba Ray Dudley, in the player below.