Summary

WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley has spoken candidly about his reaction to a notorious 2005 Survivor Series moment in which Vince McMahon used a racial slur in a backstage segment with John Cena. Dudley, who was working for TNA at the time, said the incident genuinely sickened him and drove him to stop watching WWE programming for a period.

The Survivor Series Segment

At the 2005 Survivor Series pay-per-view, a backstage segment aired in which Vince McMahon praised John Cena's work and punctuated the compliment by saying, "Keep it up, my n****." The moment generated immediate controversy, though McMahon appeared to believe it would land as a provocative gesture that fans and talent would accept in the spirit of "Attitude Era"-style boundary-pushing. D-Von Dudley addressed the segment in a recent video published to the VladTV YouTube channel.

Quote from D-Von Dudley

"I was totally disgusted by it when I saw it. I didn't like it at all. At the time, I was in TNA, but I remember my head just dropping, you know, because at that time, shock TV — it felt like nobody could do shock TV anymore. Everything had already been done."

"I definitely feel that it was for shock value. I definitely feel that it was meant to get a reaction — and it did — but I don't think it was the right reaction. I don't think it was the reaction they thought they were going to get. Because again, in my opinion, to use that word in pro wrestling at all is wrong."

D-Von continued:

"So to use that word, you know, in this type of business, I thought it was absolutely wrong, and I was offended by it to the point where I stopped watching WWE for a while. I just concentrated on TNA and what I was doing there. I'm sorry, but that type of stuff has no business in pro wrestling. You can create shock value in other ways, but to use a racial term like that — one that has been historically used to degrade Black people — I think it's disgusting for business."

D-Von's Comments in a Broader Context

D-Von Dudley is one of the most accomplished tag team wrestlers in history, a cornerstone of the Dudley Boyz' run that included multiple tag title reigns across WWE, ECW, and TNA. His words here carry weight precisely because of that standing: this is someone with deep roots in the industry reacting not as an outsider but as a Black veteran of the business who watched a moment like that air on a major PPV.

The 2005 Survivor Series segment has resurfaced periodically in discussions about McMahon's conduct during his tenure at WWE. D-Von's account adds a firsthand perspective from a talent of that era, making clear that the reaction within the locker room and among those watching was not what McMahon may have expected.

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.