Reverend D'VON was GODLY! 

I don't see why this gimmick gets hate. Thumbs up if you like it, comment if you don't!

Back in ECW, D-Von cut promos that made him sound like a preacher saying things like, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Dudley, thou shalt honor thy Big Daddy Dudley, thou shall not screw with the Dudleyz!"

Honestly I can see why Bruce Pritchard would write Reverend D-von better than Heyman.....It's literally just Bruce's "Brother Love" gimmick xD

Oh my brother, TESTIFY!

Reverend D-Von them music is still 🔥🔥 very underrated theme

This gimmick gave us the soundbite of d-von saying masterbation lol

People forget how JACKED Val Venis was.

John Cena did actually beat Reverend D-Von once, but it was on Velocity. I think this was mentioned on WWE's 5 Things.

Owen Harts blackhart solo run from December 97-November 98?

Weird to see Batista, Orton, and HHH interact pre-evolution.

I don't know if it's truth or not but I hear the Reverend gimmick was his D-Von's idea.

6:00 i forgot how ripped and in good shape Ron Simmons was in 2002, he was 44 years old, damn!

Day 2 until Ricky Ortiz gets covered on Ring of the Hawk.

Laughed my ass off as a teen when I realized he was collecting real money from the Crowd

Rene Dupree singles run. Unsure if it's less than 30 matches though

I found the gimmick to be funny 😅😅😅

A lot of Attitude Era teams got separated and very few succeeded and a lot of them failed and got put back in a team or went back down the card APA: both got separated and a year later got put together cause both couldn’t cut it as singles stars (yes JBL would be born but that’s because Ron got fired in storyline) The Dudley’s: both failed as singles and their promise singles pushes failed and got back together on RAW to win more tag belts The Hollys: Crash did nothing after the Hardcore belt got canned and got put in the Hardy V1 group but got canned once Hardy move to RAW for Bob well he didn’t do much till his failed pushed in 2004 at least Molly got some runs with the women’s belt The Hardy’s: both had good runs especially Matt during 02/03 with his V1 gimmick he got the cruiserweight belt and got wins over Taker as for Jeff he got some cool moments but his issues got him fired E&C: both had good runs for Edge he was becoming a Smackdown staple and got a tag run with Mysterio and feuded with Brock,Eddie,Benoit and Angle till his neck slady sidelined him for over a year as for Christian he got a good run at RAW teaming with Jericho and feuding with Booker T,Goldberg,Test,RVD and won the IC belt a couple of times and was at Mania 20

1:13 Let's be honest with ourselves: Bruce Prichard thought it was a good idea because Vince thought it was a good idea and Bruce is a yes-man lol

Wow Heyman couldn't work his magic with this character? Such a rare flop indeed.

He was on Smackdown “Shut Your Mouth”. All I got.

We'll never know the conclusion of the D-Von Building Fund...

Nah his entrance music 😂😂

His music was GREAT

Also, wasn't Venis just "The Big Valbowski" in 02?

If Make a difference Fatu is eligible, I'd like to see him

I think Rev D-Von could've been a good combo with Right To Censor as a cult heel stable, both gimmicks were underutilized.

Dvon is a better person irl, Bubba is known as an asshole when fans go up to him

Remember when bubba used to st-st-st-st-stutter? 😁

He should get an A Just for that theme song

Hawk do luther reigns run is good

Testify my brotha

can we get RKK Nick Aldis for ROH

14:50 The Manimal Baptista

Paul Heyman not understanding anything about the South is pretty much spot on

Best tag teams.. LOD, Bush Wackers, Road Dogg Billy Gun, Hardy boys, egde christina lol. Head bangers, Apn, the gangsters, rock&sock, xpack123kid&kane.bros in destruction. Yall add some.....

This run is actually alot better than I remember. Its better than what Bubba was doing over at Raw.

This could have worked if creative committed and he had better finisher? DVon was great in this role!

Barista w/ D-von AGAINST HHH. Strange!

Here's the thing, a lack of a midcard title on Smackdown in 02 threw off a lot of the perception of midcarders, IMO. A guy like Dvon wasn't going to instantly be a main eventer, so he's languishing in a midcard with no "landing pad" of a US title. Eddie, Benoit, Edge and Angle all dipped into the tag ranks in fall of 02, and when DVon did as well, it felt like his singles run was a failure. Similar things with Ron Simmons, even John Cena. Without a midcard title, some guys were just too far away from something tangible to feud about.

As a Christian, I wonder what the church D-von attend would have thought of this gimmick. It's a lot of fun, but...DAMM LOL (I used a translator)

This gimmick was hilarious. Plus it gave us Batista.

Farooq's got our back guys!!

Enjoyed the gimmick but GOD DAMN the theme was absolute, and I've never said this in this context in my life, fire

Interesting Factoid: Reverend D'Von is Xavier Woods/Austin Creed favorite character.

A lot of Attitude Era teams got separated and very few succeeded and a lot of them failed and got put back in a team or went back down the card APA: both got separated and a year later got put together cause both couldn’t cut it as singles stars (yes JBL would be born but that’s why Ron got fired in storyline) The Dudley’s: both failed as singles and their promise singles pushes failed and got back together on RAW to win more tag belts The Hollys: Crash did nothing after the Hardcore belt got canned and got put in the Hardy V1 group but got canned once Hardy move to RAW for Bob well he didn’t do much till his failed pushed in 2004 at least Molly got some runs with the women’s belt The Hardy’s: both had good runs especially Matt during 02/03 with his V1 gimmick he got the cruiserweight belt and got wins over Taker as for Jeff he got some cool moments but his issues got him fired E&C: both had good runs for Edge he was becoming a Smackdown staple and got a tag run with Mysterio and feuded with Brock,Eddie,Benoit and Angle till his neck slady sidelined him for over a year as for Christian he got a good run at RAW teaming with Jericho and feuding with Booker T,Goldberg,Test,RVD and won the IC belt a couple of times and was at Mania 20

Could never understand why people called it a failed gimmick. I loved it, sure, it fizzled out, and wasn't ideal for where Batista wanted to go, but both were great at it.

“Bruce Prichard liked the idea too” of course he did. He’ll agree with anything Vince wants.

It’s crazy in watching this now and I realize wwe really did drop the ball on rev dvon they could of did much much much more

Mexicool tag team wwe run - Officially nominated for a ring of the hawk video

It looks so weird seeing Triple H come out on the Smackdown fist set.

Being Jamaican and hearing the dutty wine instrumental in a wrestling vid is making me laugh

It always amazing seeing Orton Baustista and Cena in their very early days.

Bauptista 12 brain cells that’s not very much Bauptista

I loved reverend D‘Von

I loved this time for dvon his theme is great and i liked his promo style! ❤

Like on shut your mouth you'll see him In the hall and he'll tell you to put money in his plate.

Great gimmick! A short term goal of mine is to get a rev dvon doin a dance as a gif to use when I get donations. He was the only tag guy that got a gimmick at this time

I don't think people understand how great of a run this was, nah I'm lying because if it was, he wouldn't have began teaming with Bubba again after Survivor Series '02. WWE realized they made a serious mistake splitting up The Dudley Boys at the 2002 WWE Draft.

Big shoutout to Val Venis who is STILL in phenomenal shape. In 2024 he DWARFS Batista

He nailed the gimmick, great character by D-Von!

Nerd comment: it's called snake eyes when it's on the turnbuckle, not a stun gun

5:50 I almost choked on my water😂😂

7:01 That was a lovely finisher Chife kiss

Young randy had a crazy moveset

"aw you don't massuhbait no mo? well i do!" lol

Ring of the hawk Maven??

Matt hardy version 1 for was it any good 👍 thought he would of won a title better than the cruiserweight belt.

do a episode on Raw Underground

2002 was a strange year lol.

NewLegacyInc's biggest nightmare

Oh my brother testify!!!!!!!!

As a Smackdown-only teen (cuz I didn't have cable to watch Raw back then), I absolutely loved Reverend D-Von. He could have had a major push as WWE Champion had his run continued, however, the Dudley Boyz reunion was much needed.

Missing a few matches in here. Especially Chuck Palumbo & The Big Valbowski vs Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons at Rebellion which D-Von and Simmons won

Guy beat The Undertaker & Triple H on the same night (clean) and almost won Kingiest Of The Ringiest, he's earned my respect, adoration and plenty of donations.

Kung Funaki for Ring of the Hawk (He’s even got a Wrestlemania moment!) Mexicools for Ring of the Hawk

As with Cena actually being able to wrestle (mostly) until he became a rapper, D'Von could actually wrestle also he just never really got a chance to show it off while in the Dudley Boyz much. Don't forget, D'Von is a classically trained wrestler by Johnny Rodz (I think that was his name and how you spell it, been awhile since I thought about any of this lol) along Bubba Ray (aka Mark lol I love his name is Mark I don't know why) and started wrestling way back in 1990/91 if I remember right. So, by the time he was in a singles push (kind of a push?) he had already been wrestling for well over a decade and change. D'Von and Bubba are (imo) super underrated in-ring performers. They get a ton of praise for their tag team work and rightfully so, but they both could work incredibly well in the ring in singles work. Bubba obviously had a way better singles career than D'Von, but you know, I don't think D'Von is upset or man he didn't get a big push in TNA or anywhere else.

Either The Briscoes in TNA/Impact or Murdoch & Slater as The Hardliner Collection Agency in WCW in Ring of the Hawk pls.

Shuv it squaddddddd! Finally see D'vons finisher on Cena nearly three quarters of the way through.

I can't believe I went this long without seeing that promo exchange between D'Von and Farooq 😂😂

4:31 “This referee”? Come on Marky it’s the power of TEDDY LONG! HOLLA HOLLA!

If Devon was a main event talent with this gimmick, it would have been good. Like how Bully Ray was the top star heel in TNA. I love the dominate theme song though, very catchy. I remember it on Anthology

Nice mate. Been looking forward to this one. I don’t make requests anymore since you covered Chris Melendez a few years back, but I’d love to see you cover Jimmy Havoc in AEW. Most overhyped wrestler ever. If you don’t count his AEW Dark matches he’s in RoH territory.

I'd never seen the second half of that promo where Farooq proudly declared he enjoyed cranking his hog. That was probably the highlight of the whole gimmick.

In ECW Heyman wanted a black Dudley Boy and was introduced to D-Von (A-Train at the time). Saturn worked him out and said he could go and Heyman hired him. Then Heyman asked if he’d seen Pulp Fiction. And had him create his character after Samuel L. Jackson’s in the movie. And that’s how his character was born. In WWE D-Von asked to use the Reverend D-Von character. Vince loves the idea. Too bad it didn’t really go anywhere.

Hmmm, I guess my memory was right that the Reverend D-Von character was better than many people nowadays say it was. Ring work was good, promos were good, and his entrance music was FIRE. Seriously, check out D-Von’s varied moveset and turnbuckle dives…very impressive for a guy his size. Just let down by questionable booking. I met D-Von a couple years ago, he’s a good guy. If I see him again I’ll have to remember to tell him how much I enjoyed this gimmick. “Lord give me eyes of righteousness” :)

I liked Reverend D'Von. Easily his best work as a single. What I don't remember was how small early Batista's boots were. I'm glad he ditched those. I can't explain why but they don't compliment his size well at all.

Since you recently covered The Power Plant, I think Buddy Lee Parker would be a fun ROH. It'd give some insight perhaps as to why he focused on conditioning and little else.

Whether it *was* his "name" at that time, just a typo, or an intentional joke, I just 😂 in the last match: D-Von vs Bautista, where Bautista's name is written as "BAPtista" which, if it wasn't how he was presented during the "religious run," was an asbolute missed golden opportunity.

The irony about D-Von's career was that he was on the wrong end of a team breaking up, twice. Even though Batista has gone out and said he hated the Deacon Batista gimmick, the exposure he got was what got Triple H's attention. Do you think Batista would have been a main eventer if he has not gotten the "seasoning" if he was never a part of Evolution? Say what you want about Triple H, but him giving Batista the rub was what cemented the latter as a main event star. The storyline breakup and subsequent feud with Bully Ray wasn't D-Von's fault per se. Even though Bully Ray was older age-wise, D-Von's body has taken more wear and tear, and he was already planning to wind down his wrestling career, so he did the right thing by putting his friend over (Bully Ray and D-Von have been tight for years, despite what some naysayers will say, this was confirmed by the former). It's kind of disappointing that D-Von never got to be a true breakout star, but props to him for not being bitter about it.

While we're on Dudley Boys... Can you make a video about Bully Ray's single run in TNA? Would like to hear more of your thoughts about it

D-von and Batista didn't get a shot at the tag belts because they were exclusive to Raw for some reason, until the fall when Smackdown got their own titles.

Either I missed out on a lot of D-von’s early ECW run or this was the most in shape he had ever been. He was moving fast and hitting drop kicks during this run!

Hey Markyd. Love you videos man, but your voiceovers have been kind of low. Turn it up just a little bit. lol

How could you not love D Von, he's just one of those wrestlers than no one seems to dislike. The fact that his first match involed him, Batista and Triple H and he was the winner, who would of ever thought that. His reunion with Bubba at Survivor Series 2002 was something else

🎶 HE'S CALLED MY NAME! PUT MY FAITH TO THE TEST! LORD GIVE ME EYES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (so i can see)🎶

Devon has always been more the risk taker, compared to Ray. Devon has taken some massive bumps over the years but Ray has had his share too.

Bubba's "singles" run on RAW lasted around 32 or 33 matches from WWE Draft to Survivor Series 2002 when he and D-Von got back together. I say "singles" in quotation marks because he mostly teamed with Spike Dudley and Jeff Hardy on RAW. I know ROTH says "30 matches or less" but exceptions can be made sometimes.

I like how he was booked with and againt all of "Evolution" before it formed and helped make Batista and Orton get over in a small way

D-Von quoting Alan Partridge is something I thought I’d never see.

Good to know Farooq launches the hand shuttle. He’s a good guy. He hooked us up with tickets once when I was a kid, when he started in FL