Former WWE wrestler Maven addressed the controversy that followed his appearance on a podcast discussion involving race in WWE, admitting that he made a mistake by publicly naming Jim Ross when recounting a story that was not his own to tell.
Maven explained that he was invited onto a video interview hosted by D-Von Dudley, alongside Bubba Ray Dudley, with no structured agenda or planned talking points. The purpose of the discussion was to openly talk about subjects that had not been explored before, and during that free-flowing conversation, the topic of race came up organically. Maven stressed that he did not initiate the subject, but once it was raised, the discussion moved into personal experiences.
As D-Von spoke about a racially charged incident from his time in WWF/E involving a senior official, Maven believed he knew exactly which situation was being referenced based on stories he had heard previously. Acting on that assumption, he blurted out Jim Ross’ name on camera. He later acknowledged that this was a serious lapse in judgment and described it as putting his foot in his mouth. Maven admitted he was wrong to identify anyone publicly, especially when the experience being discussed belonged to someone else.
Maven said he was surprised that the moment was left in the final cut of the interview, particularly after Bubba Ray Dudley had requested that certain portions be removed before publication. He noted that the incident in question had occurred many years earlier and that there was no ongoing relationship or visible animosity between D-Von and Ross. In fact, Maven pointed out that D-Von had consistently expressed goodwill toward Ross, despite the lasting impact the experience had on him personally.
After the interview circulated, Jim Ross publicly denied ever making racist remarks toward D-Von and expressed shock at being named. Maven acknowledged Ross’ response and said he believed the situation stemmed from a misunderstanding rather than deliberate malice.
He explained that while D-Von felt he had been treated unfairly because of race, Ross maintained that his actions were based on business decisions and booking responsibilities.
Maven also made it clear that he never personally experienced racism from Jim Ross during his own WWE career. He stated that if he failed to advance, it was due to his performance in the ring rather than discrimination.
Looking back, Maven emphasized that naming Ross publicly was a mistake that escalated a sensitive issue unnecessarily. He took responsibility for his role in the situation and clarified that his intent was never to accuse or condemn, but to provide context that he now believes should have been handled with greater care.
Speaking of Jim Ross, he recently said on his podcast that he’s willing to bury the hatchet with D-Von Dudley:
“No problem. I’m happy to do it. I’m just not going to put it on tape and make a TV show out of it. How many times have I got to address it to satisfy everybody? I’m not a racist. I’ve never been a racist. Ask some of the African American athletes that I’ve been around and worked with in my 50-year career, they’ll say the same thing.
Like I said before when you and I first talked about this, I don’t remember the first cross word I had with D-Von. The boisterous one was Bubba, but not in a bad way, he just had no problem expressing himself and Bubba had a lot of ideas. He was a throwback, a main event guy that wanted to be involved in booking his angle, and I love that.
I’d have no problem reconnecting with D-Von. I never got mad at him, I was bewildered about how this could happen because, like I said, I don’t remember any negative exchanges with him and what I allegedly said would damn sure be negative.
I am interested in reconnecting with D-Von, because I like D-Von. When I hired the Dudleys, nobody in my world thought they would become as big as they did because a lot of the decision-makers and the big shots didn’t watch ECW. I did.”
