D-Von Dudley has weighed in on the ongoing debate surrounding the hierarchy of professional wrestling promotions, expressing his belief that TNA Wrestling has the potential to reclaim its spot as the number two company in the world. Over the past year, discussions have intensified regarding TNA’s resurgence and whether it can challenge AEWfor the position behind WWE.
In a new interview with Pro Wrestling Culture, the WWE Hall of Famer was asked directly about TNA’s chances of overtaking AEW. D-Von was strong in his response, stating, “Absolutely, I think they can be number two.” However, he clarified that his assessment was not intended as a slight against AEW, but rather a critique of its current management structure.
“I’m not knocking- understand one thing, I’m not knocking AEW. I said this on my YouTube channel,” D-Von explained. “I said this, Tony Khan didn’t have somebody in his face telling him yes and no to things that aren’t good and yes to things that are good. You know, he doesn’t have it. He has a lot of yes people in his company that tells him what he wants to hear, and you can’t do that.”
Drawing from his experience in WWE, D-Von compared Khan’s situation to that of Vince McMahon. He noted that while McMahon also surrounded himself with agreeable subordinates, he maintained a circle of trusted advisors who were not afraid to challenge him.
“Vince McMahon had a lot of yes people, but he had real people in his life to help him like Pat Patterson. You know, the late, great Pat Patterson. You know, if Pat didn’t like it, he would tell Vince. He had that type of relationship with him. There were other people like that too, but you had a lot of yes people.”
D-Von added that the battle for the second spot is far from decided. He believes that if Khan can rectify this internal issue and focus on creative improvements, the competition between the two promotions would be fierce.
“As far as I’m concerned, if Tony can get the help that he needs to help run that company, create better stories, or put more emphasis on the storylines, I think it’ll be a hard fight who would be number two, either TNA or AEW,” D-Von said.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Pro Wrestling Culture with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
