Jim Ross denies D-Von Dudley racism allegation: ‘I never uttered those words’
Legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross has issued a response after being accused of racism by D-Von Dudley.
Back in October, Dudley alleged that — when they were both with WWE around 1999-2000 — Ross told him that he did not like him because of the color of his skin. Bubba Ray Dudley backed up his tag team partner’s account, and D-Von said Paul Heyman, Spike Dudley, and Tommy Dreamer were also there for the incident.
Ross addressed the allegation during a Q&A on the latest episode of his Grilling JR podcast, noting that it only took him this long to respond because he was going through health issues in October. Ross said he was puzzled by Dudley’s comments and denied that the alleged incident ever happened.
“Recently I heard that D-Von Dudley thought I was a racist,” Ross said before a clip of Dudley’s comments was played.
“That’s so absurd. It’s not even — it doesn’t merit a response. I like D-Von. I like him today. I hired he and Bubba. I thought we did a good job of booking them. They made money. They were put in situations where they could do the things they do best. You know, those TLC matches were pieces of art. They’ll last forever. The Dudleys were a major part of that. I know Bubba for sure because I’ve heard it was involved in the booking of that stuff.
“And I don’t know. I was shocked to hear that, because I don’t recall ever having a cross word with D-Von Dudley. I always respected him and his work. I loved the Dudley tag team. So I was — it took me totally off guard. I never said that to D-Von Dudley. And why he would conjure up that, I guess to get attention. I thought, well, maybe he’s not as happy with his post-wrestling life as Bubba is, because Bubba’s made a tremendous success of himself as a broadcaster — and still works. So, I never said that. Some people I’m sure are going to still believe it, and that’s their prerogative, but I’m not angry at D-Von. I just am curious and don’t understand why he went there. Just don’t get it.”
Ross named Shelton Benjamin, Junkyard Dog, and Ernie Ladd among the Black wrestlers he either signed to contracts or loved working with over the years. Despite this allegation, Ross added that he still respects Dudley as well.
“I still have great respect for D-Von and I’m glad that we got to work together,” Ross said. “But I never uttered those words.”
Ross, 73, will be in attendance when AEW comes to his home state of Oklahoma on January 7. He’s under contract with AEW for a role that sees him provide commentary at pay-per-view events.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.