On the latest edition of Sportskeeda's Writing With Russo, former WWE writer Vince Russo discussed his booking of Bubba (Bully Ray) and D-Von during his time in TNA.
Vince Russo opened up about splitting up Team 3D (the Dudleys) while he was in TNA. Russo said that Bubba reacted very well to the decision and got into excellent shape afterward, which is when he was given a single's push. Russo also said that D-Von didn't initially change much:
"Do you remember when we broke up Bubba and D-Von? Bubba went b*lls to the wall dieting, working out, reshaping his body and then all of a sudden he walks in the door and it wasn't a steroid thing, he trimmed down. In the meantime, D-Von didn't do the work. So here's what happened now. Bully Ray skyrockets, D-Von's in the same place."
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Vince Russo on his backstage conversation with D-Von
Vince Russo went on to reveal the conversation he had with D-Von. Russo honestly told D-Von about what he needed to work on and it led to the tag team legend returning in great shape:
"I'll never forget, it was after the booking meeting and D-Von's waiting around to talk to me and everybody clears and D-Von shuts the door and it's me and him.
"I looked D-Von in the eye because he was a true friend and I love D-Von, and I said to him 'Look at the shape Bubba has gotten in and look at you'. He came back two months later in the best shape I'd ever seen him in. There's two ways to handle that. You can get hot at somebody for telling you the truth or you could say 'you know what, he is right.' D-Von came back and as soon as he came back and we saw that D-Von, we got his kids involved and we were doing that stuff with him."
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