Maven Recalls Running Afoul of D-Von Dudley Right After Joining WWE

Maven had a rough start to his experience in WWE after winning Tough Enough, and the former wrestler recalled one such experience with D-Von Dudley. The Tough Enough season one winner appeared on Table Talk with D-Von and remembered how he said the wrong thing at the wrong time to D-Von, which led to a less than ideal response.

“He hated me,” Maven remembered of getting off to the wrong foot with D-Von. “He can say what he wants, [but] he hated me. So I don’t know how he tells the story, but let me tell you the truth. So I come out of Tough Enough and I’m young. And I’m already terrified. Like, I’m literally in a full locker room with as many alpha males as you can possibly imagine being in one location. I was scared to death, I was like 23, 24 years old. And you know, all I wanted to do was to just have people earn respect for me, that was it. D-Von comes out of a match, I don’t know who him and Bubba were working. But he comes down, he walks down past Gorilla position. And I go, ‘Hey D-Von, good match.’ And this was his reaction. [Scoffs]. And he kept moving. Not a thank you, not a, ‘What did you like about it.’ Not even a slap!”

D-Von also remembers the situation, saying, “It was me and Bubba vs. The Rock in a singles match. And me and Rocky were in the ring. And for some reason, there’s one simple spot we couldn’t get right for the life of us. We could not get it right, and we kept messing up and messing up. ANd of course, when I look back at it later on the next day it didn’t look so bad. But you know what is supposed to happen and it didn’t happen, and we kept trying to go back to the wheel and keep doing it, and as far as I was concerned it sucked. It was bad. So we’re at a bar called Vocals in Montreal. So Maven’s standing up there, so I just figured I’d go get me my drink and go back and sit down. Mave’s like, ‘Yeah, hell of a match, good match.’ I just looked at him and said ‘[Scoffs] Yeah, okay Tough Enough kid’ and walked off”

Maven continued by saying, “Imagine how terrifying that was coming off of Tough Enough, already having people angry at you for the way you got into the business. And then nothing but A-type personality dudes. It was terrifying. It was probably one of the most terrifying moments of my life.”

Maven’s WWE run ran from 2001 through 2005. After that he made some appearances for TNA and showed up in the indies through 2007, and made a brief return to the indies in 2015 and 2016.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Table Talk with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.