The Dudley Boyz

The teaming of Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley was born from ECW's Dudley family, a team of comedic fan favorites that consisted of many illegitimate children of "Big Daddy" Dudley. Bubba Ray, then known as Buh Buh Ray at the time, was a fat, stuttering hillbilly who entertained the fans by dancing and wrestled with several of his "half-brothers", including Little Spike Dudley, for the ECW World Tag Team Championship several times. D-Von Dudley (the only black member of the family), debuted in ECW in April 1996 at *Massacre on Queens Boulevard*. All the members of the Dudley family chased for the World Tag Team Championship at that time. Little Spike Dudley also debuted in 1996 and teamed with Buh Buh Ray against The Full Blooded Italians.

Initially, D-Von was hostile toward his family, saying that "true Dudleys" were not comedians. In February 1997, however, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von united at *Crossing the Line Again* and kicked all of the remaining Dudleys except for Big Dick Dudley and Sign Guy Dudley out of the family, becoming villains in the process. They became the most successful members of the Dudley family as they dominated the tag team division of ECW. They won their first World Tag Team Championship from The Eliminators (John Kronus and Perry Saturn) at Hostile City Showdown on March 15, 1997. This win resulted in a rivalry with the Eliminators, who won the title back at ECW's first pay-per-view event Barely Legal. On June 20, the Dudleys won their second ECW Tag Team Championship from Kronus in a handicap match due to Saturn being injured.

The Dudley Boyz began their next rivalry with The Gangstas (New Jack and Mustafa Saed), which began after the Dudleys defeated the Gangstas to retain the tag titles at *Orgy of Violence* on June 28. The Dudleys, however, lost the tag titles to the Gangstas in a steel cage weapons match at Heat Wave on July 19, 1997. In less than a month, the Dudleys defeated the Gangstas at Hardcore Heaven to win their third ECW Tag Team Championship. After Mustafa and Saturn parted ways with ECW, New Jack and Kronus teamed up to form The Gangstanators and beat the Dudleys for the tag titles at *As Good as It Gets* on September 20. At November to Remember, the Dudleys participated in a four-way dance for the tag title, involving the champs The F.B.I. (Tracy Smothers and Little Guido), The Gangstanators and The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks (Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten). The F.B.I. won the match and retained the titles.

The Dudleys began a rivalry with Rob Van Dam and Sabu in the summer of 1998. At Wrestlepalooza, they lost to Van Dam and Sabu. Eventually, the Dudleys turned on Spike, who then became involved in the rivalry. At Heat Wave, however, Buh Buh and D-Von, along with Big Dick Dudley, lost to Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman and Spike in a six-man tag street fight, ending the feud. On October 24, 1998, the Dudleys defeated Rob Van Dam and Sabu to win their fourth ECW Tag Team Championship. At November to Remember, however, they lost the titles to Masato Tanaka and Balls Mahoney in Louisiana.

With the departure of The Sandman, the Dudley Boyz took advantage of Sabu's ban from competing in the United States, and D-Von defeated Rob Van Dam in singles competition for their sixth ECW World Tag Team Title. With a brewing feud between the Dudleys and the Impact Players (Justin Credible and Lance Storm), Buh Buh Ray and D-Von still had their hands full with the new team of Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney. It was at Heat Wave in 1999 that Spike and Mahoney beat the Dudleys for the gold. The Dudleys, however, powerbombed both men through flaming tables, the first time such a thing had been seen on pay-per-view.

In late-1999, the Dudley Boyz signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). They made their final appearance with ECW at the *Last Show at the Madhouse* on August 26, 1999, winning their seventh ECW World Tag Team Championship from Spike and Mahoney in an impromptu match and threatening to take the titles to the WWF, only to lose the titles to Tommy Dreamer and the returning Raven in another impromptu match later that night.

In August 1999, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von joined the WWF. Shortly after entering the WWF, Buh Buh Ray was renamed "Bubba Ray Dudley" and began stuttering his promos - returning to a character trait he had initially used early in his ECW tenure. D-Von then slapped Bubba on the head to help him get his words out. After several weeks, most of the gimmick was dropped. They also dropped their classic tie-dye attire and begin wearing camouflage-like ring attire.

While part of the WWF, the Dudley Boyz's claim to fame was bringing the use of tables as weapons into the wrestling mainstream, often using their signature double-team move, the *3D*, to put their opponents through one of these tables. They were initially villains and were known for Bubba Ray's penchant for driving women (including Terri, Trish Stratus, Tori, B.B., Lita, Torrie Wilson, Jazz, Stacy Keibler, Molly Holly and Mae Young) through tables, however they became fan favorites in mid-2000 when they engaged in a feud with T&A. They then feuded with D-Generation X, which culminated in a tag team table dumpster match at King of the Ring 2000, in which Bubba drove Tori through a table they spray-painted her name on. Throughout 2000 and 2001, the Dudley Boyz engaged in a three-way feud for the WWF Tag Team Championship with the Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian. The feud incorporated two critically acclaimed Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches, the first at SummerSlam in 2000. The second was at WrestleMania X-Seven in April 2001, in which Spike Dudley (who had joined the WWF in early-2001) interfered to aid the Dudleys.

In mid-2001, the Dudley Boyz became villains again in a storyline where they'd act more aggressive towards Spike Dudley. They would also soon join The Alliance, a massive group of wrestlers mostly consisting of former ECW and WCW wrestlers led by Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, who attempted to take over the WWF. During this time, the Dudleys acted as enforcers of the Alliance, interfering on the behalf of Alliance mid-carders and main eventers. Stacy Keibler became the Dudleys' manager during this time— dubbed the "Duchess of Dudleyville" by ECW manager Paul Heyman—but she later cost the Dudleys a tag team match, and they put her through a table. During the storyline, they became the first tag team to ever hold the WCW, ECW, and WWF Tag Team Championships. Later, The Dudleys beat the Hardy Boyz in a cage match at Survivor Series in 2001 to unify the WWF and WCW Tag Team Championships. As 2002 began, Spike feuded with his big brothers again, winning the WWF Tag Team Titles from them with partner Tazz.

Following WrestleMania X8 in March 2002, the WWF was renamed "World Wrestling Entertainment" (WWE) and the roster was divided into two brands, *Raw* and *SmackDown!*. The Dudley Boyz were separated for a short time when Bubba Ray was drafted to *Raw* and D-Von to *SmackDown!*. Bubba became a fan favorite again by reuniting with Spike Dudley while D-Von, who was still a villain, went on to become the corrupt preacher character "Reverend D-Von" and gained a protege with Deacon Batista. At Judgment Day in 2002, Bubba Ray was in the corner of *Raw's* Trish Stratus, who was defending the WWE Women's Championship against Keibler; D-Von and Batista were in Stacy's corner as asked by Mr. McMahon. After Stratus retained her title, Bubba Ray and D-Von stood in the ring and shook hands before an altercation broke out between the three men where D-Von and Batista ended up driving Bubba through a table. As 2002 went along, Bubba Ray teamed with Spike on *Raw* to form a new version of the Dudley Boyz.

Bubba and D-Von reunited following the Survivor Series, when D-Von helped Bubba Ray in a match. From then on, he was back on *Raw* (as he was part of a package deal that sent The Big Show to *SmackDown!*). After the Dudley Boyz were back together, they immersed themselves in the *Raw* tag team division over the next sixteen months. During this time, alternating between siding with and feuding with *Raw* General Manager Eric Bischoff. They continued competing in the tag team division until all three Dudleys were drafted/traded over to SmackDown! in March 2004, Bubba Ray and D-Von aligned with Paul Heyman and feuded with The Undertaker. They were also billed from New York City instead of Dudleyville. In June of that year, they won the *SmackDown!* brand's WWE Tag Team Championship, making them the first team to hold both sets of tag team titles in WWE history. By July, the Dudleys were helping Spike win matches by interfering in his favor, which Spike seemed to dislike at first, only to reveal his hand as the "boss" of the outfit after they helped him take the WWE Cruiserweight Championship from Rey Mysterio. Their final appearance of 2004 as members of the WWE roster was on the November 4 episode of *SmackDown!*, where they were taken out by the Big Show.

After a lengthy hiatus, Bubba, D-Von and Spike made their final appearance at a WWE sanctioned event as part of the original One Night Stand in June 2005. In July 2005, the Dudley Boyz left WWE.

On January 25, 2015, Bubba Ray made a one night appearance at the Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant in the Rumble match, eliminating The Miz and R-Truth before being eliminated by Bray Wyatt.

On the August 24 episode of *Raw*, Bubba Ray and D-Von made their surprise return as the Dudley Boyz, where they reestablished themselves as fan favorites by attacking The New Day, giving a *Dudley Death Drop* to Xavier Woods through a table. On the August 27 episode of *SmackDown*, the Dudley Boyz wrestled their first match back in WWE, defeating The Ascension. At both Night of Champions and Live from Madison Square Garden, the Dudley Boyz challenged The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but won both matches by disqualification, which allowed The New Day to retain their titles. At Hell in a Cell, the Dudley Boyz challenged for the titles again but were defeated by The New Day. At Survivor Series, the Dudley Boyz teamed with Goldust, Neville and Titus O'Neil to defeat Stardust, The Ascension, The Miz and Bo Dallas in a 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match.

The following night on *Raw*, the Dudley Boyz suffered a defeat against Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper of The Wyatt Family. On the November 26 episode of *SmackDown*, the Dudley Boyz faced The Wyatt Family again, beating Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman by disqualification after Harper attacked Bubba Ray and threw him through his own table. The following week on *Raw*, they had a no-contest six man tag team match against Harper, Rowan and Strowman when the Dudley Boyz teamed with the returning Tommy Dreamer. However, the Dudley Boyz and Dreamer fended off a post-match assault and threw Wyatt into a table. At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, The ECW Originals were defeated by The Wyatt Family in an elimination tables match. The next night on *Raw*, the Dudley Boyz, Dreamer and Rhyno were defeated again by The Wyatt Family in an 8-man tag team extreme rules match.

On the February 8, 2016 episode of *Raw*, the Dudley Boyz turned heel when they attacked The Usos after an 8-man tag team tables match that also involving The New Day and Mark Henry. That same week on *SmackDown*, the Dudley Boyz proclaimed that their signature tables didn't win all those Tag Team Championships for them, but rather they did it themselves, and thus, with the help of several stage-hands and staff members, they took all the tables they had out of the arena, going "table-free" for the first time in their careers. In the following weeks, the Dudley Boyz and The Usos began a feud, setting up a tag team match between the two teams on the WrestleMania 32 kickoff show, where the Dudley Boyz lost to The Usos. The following night on *Raw*, the Dudley Boyz defeated The Usos in a tables match, breaking their vow to never again use tables and officially ending the feud. Afterwards the duo were interrupted by the debuting Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, who proceeded to insult them and ignite a new feud. In a tournament to determine the number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship, they defeated The Lucha Dragons to advance to the semi-finals, where they lost to Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, the Dudley Boyz were drafted to *Raw*. At SummerSlam, they would lose to Sami Zayn and Neville.

On the August 22 episode of *Raw*, the day after SummerSlam, the Dudley Boyz departed from WWE. During their farewell segment, they were confronted by The Shining Stars. After receiving insults from The Shining Stars, the Dudley Boyz attacked them, turning face once again in the process. As they set up Primo for a *3D* through a table, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson attacked both Bubba Ray and D-Von, sending D-Von through the table with a *Magic Killer*.

On January 22, 2018, on *Raw 25 Years*, The Dudley Boyz made a one night appearance by interrupting a tag team match between Heath Slater and Rhyno and Titus Worldwide (Apollo Crews and Titus O'Neil), giving a *Whassup?* and a *Dudley Death Drop* to Slater through a table.

On April 6, 2018, The Dudley Boyz were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Edge and Christian.