Former WWE Tag Team Champion Rene Dupree was recently a guest on the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling Podcast where he talked about his WWE career and more. During the interview Dupree mentioned that he had asked for time off when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer but that his request was never granted.
“This thing with breast cancer awareness, this thing that is a big deal. I read an article that CM Punk said that this whole deal with Susan G. Komen is a scam. In 2004 my mother got diagnosed with breast cancer and it was during the run with me and Cena. I went to Johnny Ace because he always said “well I’m your boss Rene and if you’ve got problems you’ve got to come to me”. So I went to him and said what was going on with me and is it possible for me to fly home once a month or once every couple of months just to be with her and he said they could look into it. Well asking for time off is like the kiss of death, especially during the biggest push of your career. I don’t know if you guys realize this but cancer doesn’t go away in a weekend, it’s a process. So, I never heard from him again and basically they don’t give a sh*t about what is going on in the wrestlers personal lives. You are there to work and make them money and that’s all they care about. It makes them look good because they are a publicly traded company and if it makes them look good well whatever then. Good luck to them is all I have to say.”
He also talked a little bit about working with CM Punk and Paul Heyman in OVW.
“Paul Heyman was in OVW and I was on one of my leaves and I would still go to OVW to train and keep myself in ring shape. He would have these meetings and say “guys I’ll be backstage at 10pm and anyone is welcome to come”. Well nobody showed up except me and Punk. We were the only two guys that ever showed up because I wanted to pick Paul Heyman’s “genius”. He asked us what makes a great promo and I said it’s simple. All you have to do is shoot and take whatever they give you and you just shoot on it from the heart. Well, what got Punk so over? When he started shooting. Maybe he knew it before I did or maybe he didn’t but I know he was deep in thought when I said that. Paul Heyman looked at me and started laughing. So take that as you will. That term (“genius”) is thrown around way too loosely.”
