| Dudley Brothers | |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Members | See below |
| Name(s) | The Dudley Boyz The Dudley Brothers The Dudley Clan The Dudley Family The Dudleys |
| Billed from | "Dudleyville"[1] "The hills of Charleston, Pennsylvania" |
| Debut | July 1, 1995 |
| Disbanded | August 26, 1999 |
| Years active | 1995–1999 |
TheDudley Brothers were aprofessional wrestlingstable active inExtreme Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1999.
Thegimmick of the group was that, despite their obvious differences in physical appearance and race, the members were all said to be the sons of the fictionalWilly Loman-esque "Big Daddy" Dudley, who had traveled America as a salesman throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Despite the differences in their races and sizes, the Dudleys shared a similar ring attire of taped glasses, unkempt hair,tie-dye shirts,high-tops andoveralls. Thegimmick was based on theHanson Brothers from the 1977 movieSlap Shot.[1][2]
I toldthis boy that I'm the one that's supposed to do all the interviews now, beings that I'm the onlylegitimate Dudley. Because, the reason why is, both my parents had the same last name...Dudley. Everybody knows whyBig Dick got here...it seems Big Daddy Dudley had a little liaison with theHolland Tunnel, and well, this speaks for itself. For that little thing he did, Daddy had to spend a little time in aninsane asylum, and well that kinda popped-outSign Guy Dudley. Y'know, I had told y'all before about the Indian guy,D.W. Dudley. Daddy went over toOklahoma to theCheyenne reservation, and well, everybody knows this guy.
— Dudley Dudley, October 1995[3]
The original three members of the Dudley family wereDudley Dudley (the only one of the brothers with a Dudley for a mother),Big Dick Dudley (the menacing, animalisticenforcer of the group) andSnot Dudley (theunderdog of the group, who wouldpick his nose during matches).[4][5] They made their first appearance on July 1, 1995, atHardcore Heaven, where thetag team of Dudley Dudley and Snot Dudley defeatedthe Pitbulls.[6] Shortly after their debut, the Dudley Brothers aligned themselves withRaven, joiningRaven's Nest. AtHeatwave '95: Rage in the Cage! on July 15, 1995, Dudley Dudley and Snot Dudley teamed with Raven in a loss toTommy Dreamer and the Pitbulls.
After Snot Dudley was injured in a legitimatejet ski accident, he was replaced on the September 17, 1995 episode ofECW Hardcore TV byDances with Dudley, who was said to be the child of Big Daddy Dudley and aCheyenne woman.[4] Dudley Dudley and Dances with Dudley teamed with one another through the latter half of 1995, competing against teams such asthe Gangstas andthe Bad Crew. In September 1995, Dudley Dudley and Dances with Dudley unsuccessfully challenged the Pitbulls for theECW World Tag Team Championship.[4]
The group was later expanded when the obese, slobbishChubby Dudley and the mute, placard-wieldingSign Guy Dudley (the result of Big Daddy Dudley's brief incarceration in anasylum) began accompanying Dudley Dudley and Dances with Dudley to ringside.[2]
In October 1995, the Dudley family was joined byBuh Buh Ray Dudley, astuttering, dancing, overweighthillbilly.[6][3] After Dudley Dudley left ECW in late 1995, Buh Buh Ray Dudley began teaming with Dances with Dudley, facing tag teams such asthe Public Enemy andthe Eliminators. AtHoliday Hell on December 29, 1995, the Dudley Brothers left Raven's Nest, turning the group face as a result. In January 1996, Dances with Dudley and Buh Buh Ray Dudley unsuccessfully challengedCactus Jack andMikey Whipwreck for the ECW World Tag Team Championship.
"Thou shalt not steal!" "Thou shalt not kill!" And thou shalt notfuck with the Dudleys!
— D-Von Dudley, April 1996[7][8][9]
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AtMassacre on Queens Boulevard on April 13, 1996,D-Von Dudley officially made his debut, angrily proclaiming that the Dudley's comedic antics were not the way "true Dudleys" should conduct themselves. AtHeatwave on July 13, 1996, D-Von attacked Dances with Dudley, Chubby Dudley and Sign Guy Dudley with achair and delivered a low blow to Buh Buh Ray before being driven off byHack Meyers.[10][11]
Dances With Dudley and Chubby Dudley left ECW in mid-1996.[6] Later that September atWhen Worlds Collide II,Little Spike Dudley debuted in ECW. The "runt" of the Dudley Brothers, Spike began teaming with Buh Buh Ray Dudley, facing tag teams such as the Eliminators and the Bad Crew. The duo also faced D-Von Dudley in a number of bouts.[12] AtNovember to Remember on November 16, 1996, Buh Buh Ray defeated D-Von in a singles match.
AtCrossing the Line Again on February 1, 1997, Buh Buh Ray turnedheel by joining forces with D-Von. The duo began teaming together as theDudley Boyz, along with Big Dick Dudley and Sign Guy Dudley, forming a dominant heel stable.[2] Between March 1997 and August 1999, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von held theECW World Tag Team Championship on a recordeight occasions.[6] The Dudleys feuded with rivals such as the Eliminators,New Jack,Tommy Dreamer andthe Sandman,Balls Mahoney, and Little Spike Dudley, the sole remainingface Dudley.[6]
On the April 11, 1998 episode ofECW Hardcore TV,The Bushwhackers made an appearance as the "Bush-Dudleys". CousinsLuke Dudley andButch Dudley who were supposed to fight The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer only to be ambushed by Buh Buh Ray and D-Von.
AtIt Ain'tSeinfeld on May 14, 1998, Buh Buh Ray Dudley's taunting resulted in a member of the audience attempted to rush the ring before being intercepted by security guards. On the June 3, 1998 episode ofECW Hardcore TV, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von delivered theirDudley Death Drop finishing maneuver toBeulah McGillicutty, supposedly breaking her neck.
Big Dick left ECW in early 1999. The stable finally dissolved in August 1999 atthe Last Show at the Madhouse, where Buh Buh Ray and D-Von left ECW to join theWorld Wrestling Federation as TheDudley Boyz. In October 1999 atRe-enter the Sandman, Sign Guy Dudley renamed himself "Lou E. Dangerously", leaving Spike as the sole remaining Dudley in ECW until the promotion folded in April 2001, when he too joined the WWF, reuniting with Buh Buh Ray and D-Von.
Buh Buh Ray (renamed "Bubba Ray") and D-Von Dudley would go on to theWorld Wrestling Federation, winning theWorld Tag Team Championship eight times, as well as theWWE Tag Team Championship andWCW Tag Team Championship once each. Spike Dudley joined his "half-brothers" in 2001, winning theWWE European Championship andWWE Cruiserweight Championship, and remained with the Dudleys on and off until their collective release in 2005. For a short time,Stacy Keibler acted as a valet for the Dudleys under the name of "The Duchess of Dudleyville".The Backseat Boyz,Trent Acid andJohnny Kashmere, appeared on an episode ofWWF Sunday Night Heat as "The Backseat Dudleys."[13] In early 2007, actorSteve Schirripa appeared alongside Bubba Ray (renamed "Brother Ray") and D-Von (renamed "Brother Devon") inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he was presented as a distant relative of the Dudley family.
Several more Dudleys were created outside of ECW. Big Dick Dudley formed a tag team on theindependent circuit withSammy Couch, using the name "Psycho Sam Dudley", while Snot Dudley formed a tag team with Jeff Roth, using the name "Schmuck Dudley". Beginning in 2015, D-Von Dudley's sons began wrestling asTerrell Dudley andTerrence Dudley.
After the release of Bubba Ray and D-Von from WWE in 2005, they were informed by the company that they could not use any aspect of the "Dudley" name in any other promotions due to WWE trademarking the names before their release. This decision was controversial due to the fact thatPaul Heyman, the former owner of ECW, had "given" the men (including Spike) the rights to the gimmick out of loyalty when ECW folded, but never actually transferred the rights in any official manner.
Although the former Dudleys attempted to fight WWE for ownership, they were unsuccessful. Following their debut inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), they took the monikers of "Brother Ray " (Bubba Ray) and "Brother Devon" (D-Von), combining under the new name "Team 3D". As a jab back at WWE, they wore shirts withmiddle fingers on them with the message "Trademark This!" and constantly tread a fine line of the official trademark by either having others use their common phrase "Get the tables!" or almost saying it before stopping short right before. Originally, however, the two were going to adopt the last name of Deadly. During an interview with Steve Austin on the Broken Skull Podcast, Bubba Ray stated the name got leaked to the media prior to their debut in TNA and he decided, out of stubbornness, to not use the name Deadly. When Spike was released from WWE shortly thereafter, he was forced to work under the name Matt "LSD" Hyson in various independent promotions. Upon joining his brothers in TNA in 2006, he was re-christened as "Brother Runt".
Many people have laid claim to the intellectual property that is the Dudley Boygimmick. Former ECW wrestlerRaven has said multiple times that he is the person who came up with the original Dudley idea.Taz has corroborated his story, but added that it was notjust Raven who came up with the idea, but Raven and Taz together.[14]
Dudley family[edit]
| Dudleys outside of ECW[edit]
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