Wrestling legend reconciled with D-Von Dudley before passing away

D-Von Dudley made his name in Paul Heyman's ECW promotion before joining WWE in 1999. In a new video, the 52-year-old opened up about his strained relationship with New Jack.

New Jack, real name Jerome Young, became synonymous with ECW during his run with the company between 1995 and 2001. In 2021, the wrestling legend passed away aged 58 after suffering a heart attack.

Dudley revealed on his YouTube channel that he made amends with New Jack shortly before his former co-worker's death:

"It was unfortunate that New Jack passed away, and although people knew that New Jack and I had some beef over the years, right before he passed away we actually made up. We basically squashed a lot of it." [4:03 – 4:18]

New Jack was known for his hardcore wrestling style. He held the ECW World Tag Championship twice with Mustafa Saed and once with John Kronus.

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D-Von Dudley explains his real-life heat with New Jack

Former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon wanted The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley) to change their attire after joining his company. Inspired by Hall of Fame tag team The Bushwhackers, they decided to swap their tie-dye ring gear for camouflage clothing.

D-Von Dudley added that New Jack, who wore similar gear, thought the former ECW stars took the idea from him:

"One of the beefs that I know that stands out in my head is that New Jack thought we actually copied his ring attire, and we did tell him later on that it had nothing to do with it. Vince did not want the ECW look in WWE. He didn't want the overalls and the tie-dye t-shirt anymore. He felt that represented ECW. Vince wanted a different look, a newer look, what would represent the WWE." [4:20 – 4:50]

Dudley also admitted he intensified the animosity by referencing New Jack in a rap song on a WWE album in 2004.

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Please credit D-Von Dudley and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.