WWE reportedly blocked The Dudley Boyz from reuniting at Battleground Championship Wrestling’s Tribute to the Extreme event.
On December 17, BCW held its ECW tribute show at the 2300 Arena. Bully Ray faced Matt Cardona at the event, and D-Von Dudley was set to accompany his former tag team partner to the ring. However Bully wound up going to the ring without him, and BCW claimed that they received a legal letter from WWE. D-Von was also pulled out of the Icons of Wrestling convention.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that WWE pulled D-Von from the show, as the company was upset that BCW was playing off the ECW brand, which WWE has owned for years. Johnson wrote that, though D-Von contacted WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque (Triple H), he was still not permitted to attend the show.
In a post on Facebook, Icons of Wrestling commented on D-Von’s absence:
Here we go: Due to circumstances beyond my control D-Von will no longer be at Icons & Battleground. D-von is beyond devastated by this and I want everyone to know that this turn of events had absolutely NOTHING to due with D-von. Currently I’m hesitant to put the reasoning in writing but I will have zero hesitation telling the entire wrestling world why this happened inside the ring. To those who made this decision you will not deter us. You will not stop us. You may think you have control but rest assured you do not. All Dudley boy presales will be refunded first thing Monday Morning. The Dudleys platinum VIP will be replaced by 3 guests of your choosing. One final message to those responsible, I’ll see you in the ring and we shall let the people be the judge & jury.
Timothy Embler, the promoter for the BCW event, commented on the situation at the show on Saturday:
This is what we need from more indies nowadays no more trying to be nice with the fed #FuckHHH
Watch "Battleground Owner Timothy Embler Shoots On WWE & HHH For Trying To Hurt The Indies" on YouTube https://t.co/kS0vBNqraY
— Eddie Tencza (@rohstyles23) December 19, 2022
D-Von currently works for WWE as a coach and producer in NXT. He and Bully Ray were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.
RELATED: Battleground Tribute To Extreme Results (12/17): Matt Cardona vs. Bully Ray, Rob Van Dam In Action
