WWE Threatened To Fire D-Von, Dutch Mantell Beaten & Robbed

After trying to appear at an unofficial ECW tribute show, WWE threatened to fire D-Von Dudley. Plus, Dutch Mantell was recently beaten & robbed.

WWE Threatened To Fire D-Von

In some not so happy pre-holiday news, WWE recently threatened to fire D-Von Dudley.

The clash was due to an unofficial ECW tribute show in Philadelphia, at which D-Von wanted to appear.

His former tag partner, Bubba Ray Dudley, was wrestling Matt Cardona on the card.

But, the catch there is…it was an unofficial show.

While it did take place in what used to be known as the ECW Arena, it has nothing to do with ECW.

WWE, of course, owns all intellectual property connected to the ECW brand, and has for some time.

And, D-Von is a contracted WWE employee, working behind the scenes, including as an NXT coach.

According to the Wrestling Observer, D-Von had committed to appear on the “Tribute to Extreme” show on December 17th.

In order to appear, D-Von submitted requests through channels within WWE. While getting an initial OK, once things reached Bruch Pritchard, they took a turn.

Pritchard put it to Triple H, and it was at that point, per the report, that WWE threatened to fire D-Von if he appeared at the show.

Per details of the report, the concern was over D-Von getting physical, which seems odd. While he and Bubba were certainly known for their violence, all signs pointed to this appearance being just that.

An appearance, working in Bubba’s corner for the show and taking part in a meet and greet as part of the weekend.

source: @wrestlingnewsco, twitter, screenshot

I have to think there’s some detail we don’t know here. 

Jeff Jarret was likely under a similar contract-employed by WWE, but not as an in-ring performer. His contract allowed him to work in Ric Flair’s last match.

Of course, Jarrett was terminated not long after that, as leadership changed.

It will be interesting to see if there is indeed more to this story.

Given how the new leadership seemed more open to outside things (and heck, even the old regime, as shown by the IMPACT Women’s Champion being in the 2022 Royal Rumble), this one seems off.

Dutch Mantell Beaten & Robbed

And in other not so pleasant news, Dutch Mantell was beaten & robbed recently.

Mantell has been in the wrestling business for fifty years. Younger fans may know of his work as Zeb Colter, managing Alberto Del Rio among others.

The former manager posted his account of the incident to his Twitter on Friday.

Walking down the street in Nashville today thinking about what a great country the USA ?? is. I thought how lucky I am. Then somebody threw a rock, hit me in the head and I got robbed. Now I’m at the ER with a concussion. Where’s @JamesStormBrand when I need him?

— ??. ????? (@DirtyDMantell) December 23, 2022

Random acts of violence are unfortunate, but it seems that, aside from the concussion and the loss of personal effects, Mantell is otherwise OK.

source: @justalyxcentral, twitter, screenshot

Hopefully the long time performer-as a wrestler and manager-bounces back quickly and is able to enjoy his holiday at home.