In a new video posted to his YouTube channel, WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley explained his personal motivation for returning to the ring for one final match at TNA’s Bound for Glory this Sunday, October 12. The legendary tag team specialist stated that the decision was driven by a desire to end his career on his own terms and to settle, once and for all, the debate over the greatest tag team of his era.
“People ask, ‘Why am I coming back for one more match?’ And the bottom line is simple,” D-Von said. “Because, number one, I want to. Number two, I still have stuff in the basement. And number three, I never left the way I wanted to leave. It’s not like I’m injured. It’s not like I couldn’t go anymore. The fact that it was taken away from me, my career, the fact that I was told that I couldn’t wrestle anymore, well, that was something that I felt in my heart of hearts that I’m not going to take lying down.”
This will be D-Von’s first match in two years, and he made it clear this is the definitive end. “I gotta say, this is the last time I’m gonna go down this road. Because I like my life after wrestling,” he stated, adding that his health is “perfectly fine” after some “mishaps a couple of years back.”
His final match will see him reunite with his partner Bully Ray as Team 3D to take on their career-long rivals, The Hardy Boyz, in a Tables match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. D-Von framed the match as the ultimate decider of their respective legacies. “This match is very important. It’s probably one of the most important matches of our career,” D-Von stated. “Because the Hardy Boys are trying to prove that they are the greatest tag team in the history of this business, and that they’re going to be the goats if they beat us.”
He continued, making a promise to his rivals. “If we get beat by the Hardys, I’m okay with that… My hat goes off. No debate, you will be the greatest.” However, he also stated, “If they can’t [win], that will just prove that the Dudley boys, team 3D is the greatest of all time, and the goat.”
The match stipulation is a direct call-back to the origins of their rivalry in WWE. “We started off with the Hardys in a Tables match at the 2000 Royal Rumble. It would only be fitting to end it that way,” D-Von said. “Not to mention Bubba and myself still eating sour grapes because we actually lost a match that we brought to the WWE but yet the Hardys beat us at our own game.”
In the video, D-Von also reflected on the unique bond he shares with both The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian, the three teams that revolutionized tag team wrestling in the TLC era. “There was something about the Hardys, the Dudleys and Edge and Christian that will never be duplicated,” he said. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me to feed my family, to have the chemistry that we’ve had.”
He shared a story from their first live event match against Edge in Detroit, where a misunderstanding over his “snug” ECW style led to a brief real-life altercation. “Edge thought I was shooting on him… he’s hitting me, I’m hitting him,” D-Von recalled. “Bubba, the reasonable one, walks down the apron and goes, ‘Would you two cut that shit out and stop beating the hell out of each other, and let’s have a match.'” He said that after they talked it out backstage, he and Edge became “very, very good friends.”
He also gave special praise to Jeff Hardy, noting his unique and special in-ring ability. “Jeff is Jeff… you kind of knew that he was different. And when I say different, I mean he was special,” D-Von said. “The man has no fear of heights or nothing. He goes out there and he performs, and he does it better than, I would say, 75 to 80% of the people in the business today.”
TNA’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view takes place this Sunday, October 12, live from Boston. The full video is available on D-Von Dudley’s official YouTube channel or just click below to watch.
