D-Von Dudley maintained that talks between him and Tony Khan ended up getting worse, as he and the AEW President weren’t on the same page. “I told him I don’t wanna wrestle anymore. And he wasn’t taking no for an answer. He couldn’t get that through his head,” the veteran further claimed. “He was like stringing me along and even though I kept telling him I don’t wanna wrestle, I was literally when we had those meetings really fresh off a back surgery.”

He further recalled how he had to keep emphasizing that he simply wanted to be a producer and not wrestle, because he wanted to work behind the scenes. “He kept asking me if I wanted to wrestle and get back in the ring. And I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re not getting what I’m saying. I don’t want to wrestle. I just wanna be a producer. I wanna help my sons out. I wanna help get them where they are.’ Like what Billy Gun was doing for his sons, you know?” Dudley pointed out. “I’ve done everything in my career. I don’t need that. He just wasn’t taking no for an answer. I’ve had three meetings with him and all three were a bust!”

While at the time of his meetings Dudley wasn’t cleared to compete nor felt comfortable getting back in the ring, he did ultimately have a joint-retirement match with his longtime tag-team partner Bully Ray/Bubba-Ray Dudley against The Hardys, where both he and his “brother” hung up their boots after a final Tables match at TNA Bound for Glory 2025.