James Dudley (May 12, 1910 – May 26, 2004) was an African-American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player, professional wrestling manager, and professional wrestling executive. He played

Negro league baseball The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

for nine years but is best known for his time with the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

. Dudley was the first African-American to run a major United States arena ( Turner's Arena in Washington, D.C.). He worked with four generations of wrestling's McMahon family and was particularly close with

Vincent J. McMahon Vincent James McMahon (July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984), also referred to as Vince McMahon Sr., was an American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, later known as the World Wide Wrestli ...

. At age 74, he was put back on the company's payroll to show appreciation for his work for the McMahons. He also managed several wrestlers in the WWWF and was inducted into the

WWF Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...

class of 1994.

Baseball career

Dudley was considered an "excellent athlete" and ran the

100-yard dash The 100-yard dash is a track and field sprint event of . It was part of the Commonwealth Games until 1970, and was included in the triathlon of the Olympics in 1904. It is not generally used in international events, replaced by the 100- ...

in under ten seconds on multiple occasions. Although he showed up for the trials for the 1924 United States Olympic team, he was not allowed to participate because

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s were not permitted on the team. After playing semi-professional baseball in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland, Dudley signed with the

Baltimore Elite Giants The Baltimore Elite Giants were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues from to . The team was established by Thomas T. Wilson, in Nashville, Tennessee as the semi-pro Nashville Standard Giants on March 26, 1920. The team ...

at age 27. Nicknamed "Big Train", he played

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

but started out helping

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

s warm up in the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

. Playing alongside two other talented catchers,

Roy Campanella Roy Campanella (November 19, 1921 – June 26, 1993), nicknamed "Campy", was an American professional baseball player, primarily as a catcher. The Philadelphia native played in the Negro leagues and Mexican League for nine years before entering ...

and Eggie Clarke, Dudley's playing time was limited. He remained with the Elite Giants until leaving professional baseball in 1945. In total, he played about 60 games in the Negro leagues.

Professional wrestling career

James Dudley began working for

Jess McMahon Roderick James "Jess" McMahon Sr. (October 29, 1882 – November 21, 1954) was an American professional wrestling and professional boxing promoter, and patriarch of the McMahon family, founders of Capitol Wrestling Corporation, precursor to th ...

in the 1950s, when McMahon was a co-owner of the

Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

. When McMahon and his partners broke away from the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

to form the

(WWWF) in 1963, Dudley continued to work for McMahon. Dudley performed many different jobs, from carrying buckets of water to counting ticket sales. Dudley was a close friend of

and continued working for the family when the younger McMahon took over the business from his father; in particular, he drove McMahon's

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

and served as his

bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...

. He has said that he thought of McMahon as a father figure. McMahon later increased Dudley's responsibilities with the company several times, and eventually assigned him to manage Turner's Arena in Washington, D.C., which made Dudley the first African-American to hold such a position in the United States. His role required him to oversee several other events, including the ''Town and Country Jamboree'' television show. Dudley managed several wrestlers, including

Bobo Brazil Houston Harris (July 10, 1924 – January 20, 1998) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobo Brazil. Credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling, Harris is considered one o ...

. Prior to Brazil's matches, Dudley excited the crowds by waving a towel while running to the

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

. He also managed such wrestlers as

Bearcat Wright Edward M. Wright (January 13, 1932 – August 28, 1982) better known by his ring name "Bearcat" Wright was an American professional wrestler who became popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. Despite racial tension in the United States, he became wi ...

, Sailor Art Thomas, and

Sweet Daddy Siki Elkin James (June 16, 1933 – December 31, 2024) was an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer, best known as Sweet Daddy Siki. Life and career Siki started wrestling in 1955 in Artesia, New Mexico. He also did some training in ...

. Over time, Dudley's role with the company diminished and he ceased working for them; the company's operations were moved to

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and Turner's Arena was demolished. Shortly before McMahon's death in 1984, he told his son, Vincent K. McMahon, who had taken over control of the promotion (then known as the WWF), "Whatever else you do, you take care of James Dudley." After Vincent J. McMahon's death, Dudley was put back on the company payroll at age 74 and subsequently received several gifts from Vincent K. McMahon to show appreciation for Dudley's contributions to the company. Dudley has been described as an "important cog" in the company, and McMahon once stated that "had there been no James Dudley, the WWF possibly wouldn't exist as it does today". Dudley continued to feel a sense of loyalty to the McMahons and their promotion. Dudley was inducted into the

class of 1994 by Vincent K. McMahon. Dudley's final appearance with the company came during the January 3, 2002, episode of ''

SmackDown! ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

''. According to the storyline,

Stephanie McMahon Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque ( ; ; born September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is known for her various roles within WWE between 1998 and 2023. The daughter of Vince McMahon, Vince and Lind ...

was banned from the

MCI Center Capital One Arena is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. Located in the Chinatown section of the larger Penn Quarter neighborhood, the arena sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro. The arena was opened on D ...

. In an attempt to get past security, she pushed Dudley in a wheelchair but was still refused entrance. Following the scene, Dudley left the wheelchair, walked to his seat, and watched the show.

Personal life

Dudley continued to live in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, after retiring from professional wrestling. He had 38 grandchildren, 34 great-grandchildren, and 16 great-great-grandchildren. Dudley died of

natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...

on May 26, 2004, at the age of 94.

Awards and accomplishments

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

( Class of 1994)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, James 1910 births 2004 deaths Chauffeurs Professional wrestling executives Professional wrestling managers and valets Baltimore Elite Giants players WWE Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American people Baseball catchers Baseball players from Baltimore