D-Von Dudley Brings Receipts Over Jim Ross Racism Claims

D-Von Dudley has gotten specific as he explains when he allegedly suffered racism at the hands of former WWE executive Jim Ross.

In October 2025, D-Von Dudley made veiled accusations of racism against former WWE Head of Talent Relations Jim Ross during their time together in the company. Speaking to Maven on his YouTube channel, Dudley said:

You know, I didn’t wear a ten-gallon hat or anything, but my point was, when a person comes up to you and tells you they don’t like you because of the color of your skin, you sit there thinking, ‘Wow, really? We’re in 1999 or 2000, and you’re still saying cr*p like this?’

There were certain people in that organization in that time that felt that I should not have said anything, who had the power to basically bury me if need be just because I might have stood up for what I felt was right.

Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross called Dudley’s claims absurd:

That’s so absurd. It shouldn’t even merit a response. I like D-Von. I like him today. I hired him and Bubba. I thought we did a good job of booking them.

Ross added that he felt there were other motivations for Dudley’s claims:

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 never said that to D-Von Dudley. Why he would conjure that up—I guess to get attention—I don’t know.

Maybe he’s not as happy with his post-wrestling life as Bubba is, because Bubba has made a tremendous success of himself as a broadcaster.

But now D-Von Dudley has gotten specific.

D-Von Dudley Outlines Jim Ross Racism Allegations

In a video posted on his YouTube channel on January 7th, D-Von Dudley gave specific instances when he says he suffered racism at the hands of Jim Ross, saying one incident happened at the WWF New York restaurant in 1999:

It was at the WWE restaurant, the grand opening of it. We were mingling with some of the guests that were there. A lot of them were artists, musical artists, things like that. There were some actors and actresses that were there. WWE really rolled out the red carpet for this event.

Dudley noted that he and his tag team partner, Bubba Ray, then headed to a private room when Ross told them they were doing well but that he had reservations about D-Von:

He said, ‘You boys are doing really good, and this and that. I like you boys, I like you boys a lot. D-Von, I’m not too sure. The verdict’s still out on him. I’m not too sure how I particularly feel about this.’

Bubba Ray then cut Ross off to give assurances about his tag team partner when JR allegedly admitted he wasn’t sure about D-Von due to his skin colour:

Bubba knew what he was getting at. So Bubba butts in and goes, ‘You know something, JR, regardless of what, D-Von’s a hard worker. He never gives this company any problems. And JR continued, ‘Well, you know, I get that. That’s all good, but there’s just something about him. I’m not sure.’”

And finally, that’s when it comes out. ‘He’s Black. I just don’t know. That’s my hiccup.’

D-Von noted that Bubba interrupted again, noting that D-Von was a “good human being,” to which Ross allegedly replied:

I’m not saying that he’s not, but I just don’t know. You know, because he’s Black and I just don’t know about that.

D-Von did note that Ross was apparently drunk during this exchange:

Remind you though, when he said it he was extremely drunk. He was extremely drunk, slurring his words. But they say when you’re drunk, the truth comes out.

Another incident is said to have taken place in Indianapolis backstage at a WWE show, where Jim Ross apparently snubbed D-Von in front of others and was called out by Paul Heyman:

Then the other incident was in Indianapolis, where myself, Dreamer, Bubba, Heyman, and Spike were sitting at the table. I think JR had just come in catering. He had just gotten out of a meeting, and he comes over. He says hello to everybody but me.

Paul pretty much called him out, says, ‘What? You don’t want to say nothing because what? Why don’t you want to say hello to D-Von? What’s wrong with D-Von? What, ’cause he’s Black?’

And JR went, ‘You’re damn right cause he’s Black, you’re damn right.’ I don’t know if he got mad at that and that’s why he said what he said, because his ego got in the way or what have you. But that’s what was said.

Cynics might point out that D-Von Dudley waited until the day that Jim Ross made his long-awaited return to the AEW commentary desk to drop his video despite originally making the allegations public two months ago.