D-Von Dudley is stepping in to defend Vince McMahon — and he’s putting the responsibility squarely on the wrestlers themselves.
Speaking to VladTV, Dudley addressed long-standing criticism about McMahon’s role during an era often linked to steroid use and substance abuse in wrestling. And while others have blamed WWE leadership, D-Von made it clear he sees things very differently.
D-Von began by pushing back on the idea that McMahon should be held accountable for what wrestlers chose to do with their own bodies, making it clear that there were plenty of performers who didn’t go down that path.
“Listen, in my opinion, you allow yourself to do what you do to your body. There were guys in WWE at the time who didn’t take steroids. There were guys who didn’t do drugs and things like that. If you allow yourself to do it, you can’t blame the promoter. He didn’t force you to take it. You did it for the look or whatever the case may be.”
He then expanded on that point, making it clear that lifestyle choices — including partying and drug use — ultimately came down to personal decisions, not company mandates. While acknowledging the criticism raised by figures like New Jack, D-Von still refused to shift blame onto McMahon, reiterating that no one was being forced into those decisions.
“If you went out and partied, you did it because you wanted to party. I never got to that point where I felt like doing drugs like cocaine or anything like that to hinder my career. Never did it, never touched it a day in my life. I know a lot of the boys that did and paid the ultimate price, but I wasn’t one of them. So I get what New Jack is saying, but at the same time, no one forced that needle in your body to get big. It wasn’t like he told you that you had to do it.”
He did admit there was pressure within the business, especially when it came to size and getting pushed, but insisted that wrestlers still had a choice in how they responded to that environment. D-Von made his stance even clearer by drawing a line between pressure and force, arguing that unless someone is being directly threatened, the responsibility remains with the individual.
“I understand the pressure — if you weren’t the right size, you might not get pushed — but again, that’s something you have to put in perspective. How bad do you want it? Are you willing to go that route and use steroids? Are you willing to go that route and party just to fit in? The choice is yours.
If someone is putting a gun to your head and telling you to take steroids or drugs, that’s different. But Vince never told me I had to use steroids. He never told me I had to go out and party. If I went out and partied, I did it on my own.”
D-Von even added a lighter note, recalling how his habits evolved over time while still keeping that sense of personal accountability: “And my drink of choice was white Zinfandel — probably the most girly drink you could have. It wasn’t until I started hanging out with The Undertaker that I moved on to Jack Daniels.”
Bottom line — D-Von isn’t buying the narrative that Vince McMahon forced anyone into anything. From his perspective, the pressure was real, but the decisions were personal, and the consequences came with those choices.
Do you agree with D-Von Dudley’s take that wrestlers are fully responsible for their own decisions, or do you think promoters should share some of the blame for the culture at the time? Drop your thoughts below and leave your feedback.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.