WWE Hall Of Famer Almost Fired Over Planned Outside Appearance

D-Von Dudley's recent attempt to appear at an independent ECW tribute show nearly got him fired from WWE.

Dudley was scheduled to appear at the "Tribute to the Extreme" event put on by Battleground Championship Wrestling last weekend. The card was an overt yet unofficial tribute to ECW, right down to its location at the old ECW Arena in Philadelphia. It featured several former ECW wrestlers, including Rob Van Dam, Rhino, Sabu, D-Von's longtime Dudley Boyz tag team partner Bully Ray, and others.

But, per the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, after initially receiving clearance for the booking from talent relations, WWE executive Bruce Prichard ultimately vetoed the appearance. Dudley had planned to continue on anyway because he had committed to the show, but, when it came to the attention of Paul "Triple H" Levesque and he did not approve it, Dudley, who serves as a backstage coach with WWE's "NXT" developmental brand, "was basically told if he did it, he'd be fired, so he didn't do it." 

WWE's issue was a concern for Dudley's health, but he was only advertised to be in Bully Ray's corner for his match against Matt Cardona and was not supposed to get involved physically –- outside of getting a table, which has become customary for him over the years in Dudley Boyz situations. During the show, an official from BCW came out to the ring to announce that Dudley had been pulled from the show by WWE. BCW owner Tim Embler later clarified in a statement on Wednesday that the situation with Dudley had been a "misunderstanding" and that "the WWE did not intentionally pull [him] to hurt our show."