The New Day leaving WWE already created massive fallout across the wrestling world — but now D-Von Dudley is openly blaming TKO’s corporate structure for the entire situation and he feels TKO could destroy wrestling.
The departures of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods came after WWE attempted to restructure their contracts under the TKO system. Bryan Alvarez previously reported that the duo turned down reduced-money deals and ultimately chose to leave instead.
“We can also confirm that in the case of New Day, it was their decision to leave based on what TKO was offering for a new deal. To be specific, New Day’s deals were not up. They were asked to restructure to TKO deals, they didn’t like the deals, so they were then granted their release.”
Now D-Von Dudley is weighing in — and he made it very clear he thinks TKO’s corporate structure is becoming a major problem for wrestling overall. While speaking on the DukeLovesRasslin podcast, D-Von first acknowledged that TKO has become an easy target for fan criticism lately, whether it’s because of ticket prices, roster cuts, or contract restructures. But according to him, there’s a reason so many people keep pointing fingers at corporate leadership.
“I hate that, you know, TKO is getting the blame for pretty much everything, whether it’s ticket prices or the releases. But, you know, they’re corporate. And I’ve always said corporate will never work in the wrestling business. It’ll be the downfall of the wrestling business.”
D-Von then explained why he believes wrestling fundamentally cannot operate the same way traditional corporations do. According to him, wrestling is too unique emotionally, creatively, and structurally for corporate executives to fully understand.
“And you can’t—you can’t do wrestling like it’s corporate. You just can’t because there’s so much involved. There are so many different things that are involved in that. So you really can’t do it like that.”
He also made it clear he personally doesn’t believe this was purely a wrestling decision internally. In D-Von’s eyes, Triple H likely would have preferred keeping Kingston and Woods if the choice had been left entirely up to him.
“But unfortunately, I think that’s what it was. I think Hunter would have loved to have kept them and whatever, but I just feel that it was a corporate decision that was being made.”
From there, D-Von completely unloaded on what he believes corporate ownership is doing to the wrestling industry as a whole. He argued that executives simply do not understand wrestling beyond financial spreadsheets and profit margins.
“I feel that if corporate gets involved in the wrestling business, there will be no more wrestling business. I firmly believe that—we’re getting there. And like I said, corporate is never good in the wrestling business because they don’t get it, nor do they understand it.”
According to Dudley, the core problem is that modern corporate leadership only sees numbers instead of understanding the emotional side of wrestling and the loyalty that historically existed within the business.
“They’re looking at the dollar—the dollar. That’s the bottom line to them, is the dollar. And this is why they’re corporate.”
D-Von then reflected on how dramatically wrestling culture itself has changed since the time he first entered the business. As he explained it, the old-school mentality surrounding loyalty and long-term relationships has largely disappeared under the modern system. He then directly addressed what he believes has been lost in the process.
“So, you know, it was sad for me to hear that, but again, times have changed in the wrestling business. Um, it’s not the same. And the way things are done now are totally different compared to when I first broke into the business, you know. Loyalty—things like that—I don’t think it has any room anymore in the wrestling business. Because again, when corporate is involved, it’s not about loyalty, it’s about the bottom line—the dollar.”
Bottom line — D-Von Dudley believes The New Day’s WWE exit is bigger than just one tag team leaving. In his eyes, it’s another sign that wrestling is becoming increasingly driven by corporate priorities, financial spreadsheets, and cost-cutting decisions instead of loyalty, relationships, and the wrestling-first mentality that defined previous eras of the business.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
Do you agree with D-Von Dudley that corporate influence is changing wrestling for the worse? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.