D-Von Dudley provides details on nearly dying from a stroke in 2020

They had asked to be on that show. So John Laurinaitis called me up and said, ‘D-Von, I know you love doing these things. Would you mind going with Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair to help produce a fight scene for them?’ And I went, ‘Yeah, I’ll go.’

I remember we had to get COVID tested just about every—man, listen—we got off the plane, we got COVID tested. We went out to lunch, came back, and before we got back on set, we got COVID tested again. We had to get COVID tested at least three to four times. Man, I hated that swab going up my nose—it was nearly killing me.

I remember saying goodbye to Charlotte when we got back from shooting. Me and Alexa Bliss sat downstairs in the lobby, talking for a little bit because she was waiting for her now-husband Ryan to meet her. Finally, he showed up, and me and Alexa and Ryan—you know, me and Ryan had known each other for like a year and a half at that point—we said hello and all that. I gave Alexa a hug and said, ‘Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll see you tomorrow on the set.’

She was like, ‘Alright, D-Von.’ Ryan said goodbye, I said goodbye, and I went upstairs to my room. I was watching something on Netflix, and I remember going, ‘Damn, I’m hungry.’ I called my wife and said, ‘Man, I would love if you could DoorDash me some food.’ She goes, ‘I could do that.’ And this is how oblivious I am to technology—I went, ‘Really? I’m in California, you’re in Florida.’ She goes, ‘Yeah, I can do it.’ So she did it.

The Panda came. I go to the bathroom. Now, usually when I’m in my hotel room, I put the latch on the door and lock it. As I’m getting out of the bathroom, something tells me—clear as day—‘Unlock the door.’ I don’t know what it was, I thought it was just whatever. I said, ‘Nah.’ I wanted it locked because I don’t want anybody making a mistake and coming into my room—especially if I’m sleeping with no clothes on or whatever. That’s my running joke.

So I go back to the bed, and it keeps bothering me. Something says, ‘Unlock the door.’ I’m like, ‘Damn, whatever’s inside of me saying this is not going to stop.’ So I said, ‘Forget it. Ain’t nobody coming in here.’ I unlocked the door and went to bed.

I got up—what I thought was the middle of the night—and I went to take that first step out of bed and fell face-first onto the floor. Busted my mouth open and everything. All of a sudden, I couldn’t feel my legs. I didn’t understand what was going on.

This was the first time I had asked WWE to get me a suite—and the one time I didn’t need a suite, they give me one. So now I’ve got to army crawl all the way to the bathroom. It took everything in my power to lift myself up onto the toilet so I could pee.

There’s a phone right there in the bathroom next to me. My cell phone is ringing—I can’t get up fast enough to get it. Now the hotel phone is ringing. I pick it up and go, ‘Hello.’ They say, ‘Yes, your wife is calling. She wants to know why you’re not answering.’ I said, ‘You tell her I’m in the bathroom and I’ll call her back when I’m done.’ I was being like a jerk—I was being mean.

I hang up the phone. I try to get up—I can’t. I try again—I can’t. My cell phone is ringing again. I can’t get it. The hotel calls again. They say, ‘Sir, your wife is calling again.’ I said, ‘Listen, this is the last time I’m telling you—don’t call my room anymore. Tell her I’ll call her when I’m done.’ I hung up.

Now I’m trying to army crawl back to the bed. My phone is ringing—it’s her. I finally get myself up on the bed and reach for the phone, and it falls on the other side. I go, ‘You can’t write a story better than this.’

I finally roll over, grab the phone, and answer it. I’m like, ‘What do you want? I’m sleeping.’ I don’t even remember what she said—it sounded like a scene from Popeye. Then she goes, ‘What is going on with you?’ I said, ‘I fell, I busted my mouth open, I can’t feel my legs—something’s wrong.’

She says, ‘You’re having a stroke.’ I said, ‘I’m not having a stroke—I’m too young.’ She said, ‘You’re having a stroke.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not. I’ll call you later—I’ve got to be downstairs at 8:30.’

I didn’t realize it was already 11:00 in the morning. I thought it was like 5:00 or 6:00.

So I hang up. She calls the hotel and says, ‘I think my husband is having a stroke—someone better go up there now, because if he dies, I’m suing this whole hotel and the whole state of California.’

They panic, go upstairs, knock on the door, and say, ‘Mr. Hughes, we need to do a wellness check.’ I said, ‘Go away.’ They said, ‘We can’t—we’re not leaving until we see you’re okay.’ I said, ‘I can’t get up to open the door—you’re going to have to come in.’

They came in, called an ambulance. It got there quick. When they put me on the gurney, they said, ‘Mr. Hughes, you’re having a stroke.’ I said, ‘What?’ I was shocked.

They rushed me to the hospital, and the doctor told me, ‘If you had been a minute later, you would have either been dead, paralyzed for life, or in an old-age home for the rest of your life. You would have been done.’”