Bruce Prichard was asked if Akeem was another example of Vince McMahon ribbing Dusty Rhodes:
“Everything where people think we’re trying to do something to rib Dusty is false. Every time that we did do something that we thought, okay, people are gonna think we're doing this to f**k with Dusty, I would call Dusty. You're looking at the guy that had to call Dusty. I would call him and I would say, 'Hey, this is what we're thinking of doing. Do you have any aversion to this because if you do, we won't do it just so you know that upfront. I’m not asking your permission. I’m not asking anything other than, Dream, this is what we would like to do. Do you have any issues with this’ ‘Well, I prefer you not mention my family’, or, ‘I prefer…’, and I’m like, ‘No problem. No problem at all.’ There may have been times I think that upon execution of different things where Dream, as I've heard, I never heard from Dusty, but I've heard from others who said, 'Yeah, that upset him’, and probably more, you know, with the Goldust character than anything, but you know, even when we dressed up Goldust like Dusty, 'Dream this is what we're thinking of doing and I’m doing it in five hours, so I’ve got five hours to come up with something new or get your blessing.' His thing was, 'Is it going to help my son?’ and I said, ‘I think so’, especially at that point because it was a lot better than what they had. Dream was on board so Dream was on board with this (Akeem). Dream thought this was hilarious.”
“If Vince had a hard on for Dusty, he would do it and do it in a mean-spirited way and wouldn't say, 'Hey call Dusty and ask Dusty what he thinks about this.’ That's not being mean-spirited. That's not being vindictive. That's not being a rib. That's not being mean. That's being business and also that's showing respect to Dusty. We didn't have to call Dusty to say sh*t ,but he always wanted, out of respect for Dusty, he always wanted Dusty's blessing one way or another and that’s what we did. That's how we operated it on all those things that people go, 'Oh God damn. They're demolishing Dusty.' Dusty was laughing his ass off and he knew it before it ever hit the air.”
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