Duke ‘The Dumpster’ Droese On Drug Abuse, Evading WWE Drug Tests, Refusing To ‘Job’ To Steve Austin, & Being Underpaid In WWE

On His Drug Use Being Worse At Home:

That was the problem. A lot of guys go back home and they turn back into the family man: the husband, the father. I didn’t have a wife or kids, man. I got home and I partied just as hard or harder with my buddies. A lot of people would get home and have two or three days or rest. I would go home and have two or three days and get on a plane or get back on the road twice as hung over then when I got home. It just kinda kept spiraling out of control in that respect, but yeah, when I got home I partied. I kept partying. I’d go to the local strip club and waste all my money. Any payoffs or money I had I’d spend on liquor or whatever else.

On Backstage Politics In The WWE:

My expectations in the beginning were very unrealistic. I thought I was gonna be this big star [laughter] and you learn real quick, the grind, and if you’re not smartened up to the money, if you’re not smartened up to the politics right away, you better learn that stuff real fast or you’re not gonna last and that’s kinda what happened to me. I went up there with stars in my eyes thinking I was gonna be this big star just based on the merits of my ability to work, especially I considered myself a big guy that can move in the ring. I found out real quick that there’s a whole lot more to this business than just what goes on in the ring actually. It’s not necessarily the best wrestlers that are gonna get the best accolades and the push and the things of that nature because sometimes the business works different and it’s all a matter of getting smartened up to that stuff when I first came in, so I was kinda behind the eight ball. That’s why I was like the goofy little brother running around making stupid noises and making everybody laugh because I was just there to have fun a lot of the time. That was just what my attitude was. I was gonna be friends with everybody. I was gonna make everybody laugh. We were gonna have a good time and I was gonna be the biggest partyer in the room and unfortunately you end up being out of the business because one of the few things that happens is you’re gonna end up not surviving it, or like me you’re gonna end up, like me, losing your sh*t and losing your mind a bit and working yourself out of the business. I’ll never forget and that saying of Randy Savage’s always rang in my ears, ‘Don’t ever take yourself out of the game. Don’t ever take yourself out of the game.’ That’s exactly what I ended up doing. Like I said, I wasn’t smartened up to that stuff.

On How Much Money He Earned During His First Year In WWE:

The money wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I thought that that was the big time and you were gonna come in and make great money. Of course they offer you that ridiculous guaranteed contract: 10 matches a year for $150 per match, $1,500 per year. That’s your guarantee. I don’t suspect anybody down there working for [Ted] Turner had that guaranteed contract….but, that was the guarantee and J.J. Dillon used to  always say, ‘But, of course, you’re gonna make more than that.’ [laughter] I haven’t heard many people to do this, but I’ll go ahead and be honest. My first year I’ll tell you exactly what I made. I made $24,000 fu*king dollars and that was before expenses and taxes: $24,000…after expenses and taxes I think it was just below the poverty line. That year’s salary was just below the poverty line.

On What He Would Have Done Differently:

I would have never drank a drop, never took a pill. That’s one thing I would have done. If I could have changed anything, that would have been the biggest thing….I got to the point even where I was still out there in the World Wrestling Federation where I had to have drugs to function and that was the beginning of the end and that was the point where I really started to become what I call unemployable because you become a slave to those drugs. If I could change anything, that would be the big one. The big one would be not doing the drugs and the alcohol. The other one would be to pay attention, keep your mouth shut, look at the guys that are doing it right, get with them and try to get advice from them.

On His Regrets:

That’s a very good questions and I’ve been asked that in many different ways and in many different forms and I’ve had a lot of regret for a long time after I first left the business. People don’t realize what kind of a drug walking out of those curtains every night is and when all of a sudden with the snap of you fingers it’s gone, people do not understand the toll that can take on you mentally. I had a lot of regrets and I was angry at the world. You become this bitter resentful person for a long time and that’s kind of when I dropped off the grid because I was angry at the world and the drug use got worse and I regret it. I look back at all I’ve done, all the mistakes I have made: I was so angry and so bitter and after going through all the things that I’ve gone through and after making it to the point where I am now, I am thankful for the experience. I loved parts of the wrestling business. People often ask me if I miss it and I always say, ‘I miss walking out the curtains. I miss interacting with the fans. I miss the look on the kids faces when you sign autographs and they look up to you, that kind of stuff, but I don’t miss all the bullsh*t that went on in the back.’ That’s part of it, but if your head’s not screwed on straight and you don’t how to navigate and play that game, you can fall apart pretty easy, so I had a lot of regrets, but I’m very happy with where I’m at now. I’ve learned a lot of hard lessons, but now I’ve been afforded the opportunity and the ability to help other people that are struggling in similar ways that I did and that is a very rewarding thing and I think the wrestling business and all of the things I went through were all part of it. It was all part of the big plan for me to end up where I’m at and I’m extremely happy with where I’m at now because finally I’ve got my head screwed on straight. I’m not bitter. I’m not angry.

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