D-Von Dudley Discusses How He Advised Xavier Woods to Make the Jump From TNA to WWE

– As previously reported, Lilian Garcia recently interviewed 2018 WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley for her Chasing Glory podcast. Below are some additional highlights from the show (transcript via WrestlingInc.com). D-Von Dudley revealed how he mentored Xavier Woods earlier in his career when they were both in TNA, and Dudley advised Woods to make the move to WWE.

D-Von Dudley on the tutelage the Dudley Boyz received from Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon: “All the promos we were able to shoot and to be good at it is all because of ‘Dr. Frankenstein.’ The Dr. Frankenstein I am referring to is Paul Heyman. He was the creator. We would like to say, Paul Heyman was the one that found and created us, but Vince McMahon molded us into the Superstars that we are today. We are grateful for both men, number one, ECW and Paul Heyman changed the face of Professional Wrestling and helped start the Attitude Era, and of course Vince McMahon, who is the master. He is the ‘Yoda’ of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment. I am not just saying that because I still work for the man as a backstage Agent, but when you look at what he has done and where he has brought Professional Wrestling. Whether you like him or not, you see that he has changed Professional Wrestling. Pro Wrestling was that thing that you never talked about, if you did it was only among the selected few. Now, it is one of the biggest things out there and now everybody loves Professional Wrestling.”

D-Von Dudley on mentoring Xavier Woods and how he gave Woods advice to jump to WWE when Woods was unhappy in TNA: “Xavier Woods was in an organization [TNA Wrestling] that I am not too keen on. This organization treated him bad, and Xavier told me that he may have a chance to go to WWE, but he may not and he doesn’t know what to do. We sat and talked for about 40 minutes; till this day he thanked me for making that phone call, and I believe it was Terry Taylor who was helping doing the hiring at the time, not sure who was in charge, but he basically thanked me for helping him make that decision in going to the WWE. I am not saying that there wouldn’t have been a New Day without Xavier Woods, but each individual brings something to the table, and I believe the success of all three of them with the charisma and personality is what made New Day who they are today. So, I was very happy when I came back to WWE and Woods was there. I had forgotten all about it until he reminded me that I was one of the reasons that made him go back and have that conversation with WWE.”