D-Von Dudley has weighed in on what he sees as a growing issue in both wrestling and wider culture, criticizing what he described as increased sensitivity to criticism among the current generation.
Speaking on the Krazy Train with Jasmin St. Claire podcast, the WWE Hall of Fame inductee shared his perspective on how attitudes have shifted compared to when he came up in the business:
“A lot of people nowadays—it’s the generation. It’s not just the wrestlers, it’s the generation. This new generation is easily rattled, so to speak, and it’s like you can’t say anything without people being offended and things like that.
So this generation is very different from the generation that I grew up with. And it’s just something that I would hope would go back to the old-school ways, but I don’t see it happening.”
D-Von continued by highlighting how, in his view, people today take criticism more personally:
“You can’t say this about somebody without them getting upset. You can’t say that. People take things so seriously. It’s like, when is it okay to just be you? And that seems to be the problem—you can’t, because if you do, someone gets offended. Someone doesn’t understand it.”
Drawing from his experience as a trainer, he also pointed to how this mindset affects aspiring wrestlers:
“I tell my students at my wrestling academy all the time—I tell them, ‘Half of you would not be able to survive during the time that I grew up in the business.’ Because most of you get angry and mad if I tell you you’re not good—you need to work on things and this and that.”
