The adage recommends that if something isn’t broken then there is no need to fix. The Dudley Boyz kept tweeking the formula over the years. But once they found the formula that worked, they kept it for as long they can. And that formula turned tie-dye into gold.
Before there was the Dudley Boyz, there was the Dudley Brothers. They were a combination of ideas by multiple people. They were loosely based on the Hanson movies from the movie Slap Shot.
The Dudley Brothers were all half-brothers that shared the same father. The fictional Big Daddy Dudley was a travelling salesman who had fathered illegitimate children all over America.
Most of them were billed as being from the fictional town of “Dudleyville”. The original trio debuted in 1995 and frequently changed members.
The Dudley Boyz
The first significant addition was Bubba Ray Dudley. He was a Southern redneck who struggled with a stammer. He was renamed “Buh Buh Ray Dudley” in reference to fans mocking how he stuttered while saying his own name.
He entertained crowds with his speech impediment and his dancing. He was so popular that the Dudley Brothers split from Raven’s Nest to become babyfaces.
The groups’ independence was challenged by the arrival of D’Von Dudley. With Buh Buh being the only one who knew D’Von, he attempted to warn the others about him.
The humourless newcomer berated the group over their antics. He frequently attacked his brothers during and after the matches.
Little did they know, but they had been in the same place before. Both of them attended a Madison Square Garden event that went down in history.
Both of them dreamed of main eventing in the building. They had no idea that the person who would help them do it was stranger in the same room.
Buh Buh and D’Von teamed up for the first time on an episode of Hardcore TV. The match was interrupted with production errors.
They cut away to Joey Styles, who was calling the match from inside the arena, standing outside the building. Paul Heyman can be heard telling Styles that he will be live in thirty seconds.
When they returned to Styles, he alleged that The Pitbulls, who were in the ongoing match, had been found unconscious backstage and had been taken to hospital. Then they showed the conclusion of their match with the Dudleyz.
D’Von spent months getting on the wrong side of his brothers. Buh Buh eventually had enough. He went to great lengths to get D’Von in a one-on-one match. Most of their clashes saw Buh Buh teaming with Little Spike Dudley to battle D’Von and his latest ally.
They finally had a (televised) singles match at November To Remember ’96. The match was credited as being the best of the night.
Their match ended with Buh Buh launching D’Von into the air and catching him with an Ace Crusher on the way down.
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
Their feud ended suddenly at Crossing The Line Again in 1997. Buh Buh attacked D’Von’s opponent with a chair. This signalled the beginning of them becoming a heel tag team.
This pair specifically would become known as ‘The Dudley Boyz’. Buh Buh had convinced Heyman that this was the next logical step to make money with them.
The Dudleyz appointed themselves as the new leaders. The group became far more serious and violent. They cemented the heel turn by debuting the Dudley Death Drop (or 3D) on Spike.
D’Von would lift the opponent with a flapjack while Buh Buh caught them with an Ace Crusher on the way down. This move became so popular that fans still shout “3D” anytime a tag team begins a move with the lift that D’Von uses to initiate the attack. This reaction told ECW that the 3D must become a protected move.
They recruited Joel Gertner as their new manager and mouthpiece. Not that he was needed. The existing members were perfectly capable of whipping crowds into a frenzy with their promos.
They got into genuine brawls with fans outside of shows. Their co-workers insist these stories are understated not exaggerated. Heyman claims to still have court letters and receipts from paying fines to prove the stories.
The Dudleyz quickly defeated the Eliminators for their first ECW World Tag Team Championship. They were among the small group selected to represent ECW on a special episode of WWF Monday Night Raw.
It was designed to promote ECW’s first live pay-per-view, Barely Legal. They would open the PPV with a quick loss to the Eliminators.
The Sheepherders made a one-off appearance as “The Bush-Dudleys”. They were the first Dudleys to be cousins instead of half-brothers.
They were advertised as having a match against Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. They wound up getting attacked by the real Dudleyz who then took their place in the match.
At Hardcore Homecoming, the team was accompanied to the ring by adult entertainer Jenna Jameson. This was the first of a few appearances for her, but the only one where she was in anybody’s corner.
The Dudleyz were meant to challenge The Gangstas for the tag titles. But the match was cancelled due to Mustapha Saed legitimately leaving the company.
The Dudleyz were simply awarded the titles to begin their second reign. They then successfully defended them against PG-13 in an impromptu match.
“At that point, [The Gangstas] were on top of the world. They were a huge babyface tag team at the time.
So it was great to be able to run with them. Cause we at the time were establishing heel heat and they had the babyface pop.”
- D’Von Dudley on working with the Gangstas.
John Kronos of the Eliminators then formed an alliance with New Jack of the Gangstas. They were dubbed “The Gangstonators”.
Their common goal was to defeat their mutual enemies, The Dudleyz. The make-shift team were successful in winning the titles. But they quickly lost the to the Full-Blooded Italians (Little Guido and Tracy Smothers).
All three teams were in a four-way match at November to Remember. Guido aided Buh Buh in doing his Buh Buh Cutter on Kronos to defeat the Gangstonators.
He then had powder thrown into his eyes, and he inadvertently helped Axl Rotten perform the 3D on D’Von, getting his own team eliminated. Judge Jeff Jones replaced the downed referee and helped the FBI to retain the titles.
The Dudleyz became such a force that every other tag team saw them as a threat. They had no allies and feuded with all other teams simultaneously. When they managed to take out one opponent, Spike would fill in for them.
It appeared that the Dudleyz had finally met their match during the Summer of 1998. Dreamer and Sandman would save Spike from multiple attacks by the Dudleyz. The Dudleyz tried to teach them to mind their own business, but the unlikely tried put up a united front.
In a bid to get a psychological edge, the Dudleyz performed a 3D on Dreamer’s wife, Beaulah McGillicutty. ECW claimed they had broken their neck. She was never seen in the company again.
The Dudleyz beat Rob Van Dam and Sabu to win their third tag title reign. They would defend them at November to Remember ’98.
The challengers were more former rivals that had formed an alliance, Balls Mahoney and Masato Tanaka. Tanaka would become the first person to kick out after taking a 3D. The challengers won the titles, but the Dudleyz reclaimed them a week later.
One of ECW’s lesser talked about selling points is how they showcased international talent. Their partnerships with foreign promotions allowed them to bring in stars like Tanaka. Heyman created a deal with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling where he would take some of his talents to them.
Being top stars, the Dudleyz were an easy choice for the ECW/FMW Supershows held in Tokyo, Japan. The two cards were built around a tournament to determine new contender for the FMW Independent Heavyweight Championship. The remaining matches were to showcase the ECW talent.
The Dudleyz defended the ECW tag titles at both events. They retained against local challengers Gosaku Goshogawara and Testuhiro Kuroda.
But they lost the belts to Van Dam and Sabu on the second night. Sabu was fired for cancelling a PPV appearance to keep a prior booking. D’Von would regain the titles from Van Dam in a singles match.
They spent the rest of their ECW run feuding with Spike. Since forming a tag team, the Dudleyz had a regular spot where they drove opponents through wooden tables.
Doing the same stunts with the same people was becoming stale. New Jack attempted to help by performing dives from increasingly dangerous heights.
But for a match involving Spike, they covered the table in thumb tacks before setting it on fire. All parties involved agreed that this stunt should only be done on rare occasion.
The Dudleyz had one very brief babyface turn. When Rick Rude passed away, they decided to open the show with a ten-bell salute to him.
A woman in the crowd continued to talk loudly during the silence. The Dudleyz berated her for her lack of respect. Heyman paid the woman to leave the show immediately.
BREAKING INTO THE BIG LEAGUES
As the Dudleyz’ popularity grew, so did backstage tensions. Even though ECW kept having to pay fines because of their antics, they were still drawing more money.
Yet their pay was unchanged. Yet their pay remained the same. They learned through a mutual friend that the WWF was interested in bringing them in.
They both waited to finish their scheduled matches before telling Heyman about it. They offered to stay with ECW if Heyman could beat the offer by $1. Heyman simply wished them the best.
The fact that the Dudleyz were leaving for the WWF was announced on television. It was used to generate heel heat.
They defeated Spike and Mahoney to win their eighth and last ECW Tag Team Championship. This was more than The Public Enemy and Eliminators combined.
They had threatened to take the belts to the WWF and dump them in a trash can on an episode of Raw. This was a reference to Madusa putting the WWF Women’s Championship belt into a trash can on a live episode of WCW Monday Nitro.
They dared an injured Dreamer to stop them. Dreamer’s nemesis Raven, who fans thought was still with WCW, made a surprise return to help Dreamer.
They wanted their final ECW match to be against Dreamer because of how much he had done for them. Dreamer was the man who helped Buh Buh get his first shot in ECW.
He worked hard to put them both over, and to get ideas passed through Heyman. He would sometimes help them with food and travel when they were low on money. They felt forever indebted to their friend.
The Dudleyz thought Heyman let them go because he didn’t appreciate them. Over time, they realised they had more opportunities and made better money by leaving.
Heyman could have been doing what was best for them. They also learned sometime later that the WWF was a silent investor in ECW. It was possible that Heyman was not in position to stop the Dudleyz from going to the WWF.
The Dudleyz were initially invited to Vince McMahon’s house to sign their contracts. They received a phone call on the way there that it had been moved to an office. As disappointed as they were, they had another shock coming.
The Public Enemy were a similar tag team that had originated in ECW. They had recently joined the WWF and were already considered difficult to work with.
The final straw was when they refused to do a planned finish. They did not want to be put through a table as they felt it was their signature spot.
The Acolytes were instructed to ensure the match ended as expected. They then put on one of the most physically intense beatings the WWF ever broadcast. Public Enemy were released a short time later.
Everyone who knew the Dudleyz knew they would go into the WWF with Public Enemy’s heat. This was made clear when it was worked into their first story line.
They feuded with the Acolytes immediately. Bradshaw referred to Public Enemy just before the Dudleyz’ first WWF PPV match.
One of their earliest spots saw them receive a stiff beating from the Acolytes. Once the cameras stopped rolling, the Dudleyz jumped up and shook hands with the Acolytes. This then created a friendship that was vital to their survival in the company.
Both men made their video game debuts in ‘WWF SmackDown!’. They were late replacements for Goldust and Jeff Jarrett, who had both left the company while the game was in production.
The developers did not have time to research the Dudleyz so they had inaccurate moves. Hence them both having the “Jackknife Powerbomb” (not to be confused with Kevin Nash’s move) as their finishers.
Internet rumours insist there was a way to perform the 3D even though it was not animated into the game. The demand forced the developers to ensure double team moves were a feature in the sequel.
BECOMING UNDENIABLE
The Dudleyz continued feuding with the Acolytes without a story. Then McMahon told them outright that he heated their look.
They responded by ditching the tie-dye and denim for camo print. McMahon loved the new look. He saw that the Dudleyz were company men and gave them a chance to prove themselves.
They were amazed by the ladder match between the Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian. They pitched redoing the match, but with themselves included.
McMahon wasn’t sold on the idea. They negotiated to a Tables match at the Royal Rumble with just the Hardyz. To win, a team had to drive both of their opponents through tables.
Both teams impressed in the match. The Dudleyz were pushed as the top heel tag team immediately. They began a regular spot where they drove the girlfriends and valets of opponents through tables.
The Dudleyz defeated the New Age Outlaws to win the World Tag Team Championships at No Way Out. Then they got their wish.
The Dudleyz defended the titles in a ladder match against both the Hardyz and Edge and Christian at WrestleMania 2000.
Even though Edge and Christian won the gold, the match elevated all six participants. The Dudleyz had become so popular that the company was forced to push them as babyfaces.
Bubba assumes this is because they had made themselves undeniable. Now the things they did as heels were now getting them over as babyfaces.
They spent much of the next year feuding with heel teams that had a female valet. They were largely on the losing end.
Their stand-out performances were in the first two “Tables, Ladders and Chairs” matches. These were essentially rematches from WM 2000 that had the same result. Steve Austin, who was unquestionably the biggest draw at WrestleMania X-7, maintains that TLC II stole the show.
LEADING THE INVASION
Much of 2001 was built around the InVasion storyline. He WWF had genuinely acquired both ECW and WCW. They created a storyline where Shane had bought out WCW and was using its former stars to disrupt WWF events.
Dreamer and Van invaded a show and recruited several past ECW stars, including the Dudleyz. Heyman then revealed that Stephanie McMahon had acquired ECW, and they were merging with WCW to form the Alliance. The goal was to put the McMahon parents and the WWF out of business.
The Dudleyz were added to the Alliance to bolster its star power. They would become the primary tag team of the entire stable.
They competed in their first PPV main event at InVasion. They represented Team Alliance alongside DDP, Rhyno, and WCW World Heavyweight & United States Champion Booker T. They defeated Team WWF after Austin turned on them.
They were given Stacy Kiebler as a valet. Bubba was strongly against it. She made a bad first impression on him the first time they were in a room together.
D-Von persuaded him that she would improve their marketability. Dubbed “The Duchess of Dudleyville”, her main role was to distract the Dudleyz’ opponents.
The Dudleyz once performed a spot where they broke a table over Big Show. It came across as comical instead of vicious.
On a later show, they tried to restore their image by using a 3D to drive him through a table. Big Show admitted the spot hurt due to him landing badly.
On the week of September 11th, 2001, the SmackDown taping went ahead as planned. It is often described as the first major public gathering since the terror attacks in New York City.
The WWF permitted the Dudleyz to acknowledge they were from the city instead of Dudleyville. They would alternate between both locations for the rest of their WWE careers.
“I’m a nervous wreck. Don’t know how I’m gonna go out there. Don’t know how I’m gonna perform and still be in character.
I remember praying to God, ‘Please, heal those who have been affected by this tragedy’.
Now is not the time to sit here and point fingers and do all of that. We need to come together and just join forces and become united as one.
Because this is at the point of time when we need to do that. That was important. Again, we’re nervous.
We’re a wreck. Some people are crying. They’re overwhelmed. What do you do? But the courage of each and every one of the WWE Superstars made it happen.”
- D-Von Dudley on competing after 9/11.
The conclusion of the InVasion storyline was at Survivor Series. They went into the show as World Tag Team Champions.
They faced the Hardyz, who were defending the WCW World Tag Team Championships. The Dudleyz won the cage match when D-Von pinned Jeff Hardy.
The WWE recognises them as the only team to have held the WWF, WCW, and ECW tag titles. As part of the InVasion conclusion, they were protected from being fired when Team WWF defeated Team Alliance in the main event.
SCREWING WITH PERFECTION
The WWE began their first brand division in 2002. McMahon told them in advance that they would be separated to create a surprise for the Draft.
They were granted one last shot at the World Tag Team Championship. Kiebler felt dejected when Billy ignored her distraction and hit him with a title belt, getting the Dudleyz disqualified. She seemed indifferent to the face that the loss meant the Dudleyz had to separate. So, they put her through a table.
Bubba and Spike became fixtures in the Hardcore division on Raw. Their brother was repackaged as “Reverend D-Von” on SmackDown.
He and Deacon Bautista would be in Kiebler’s corner for her match at Backlash. Bubba supported the Women’s Champion Trish Stratus.
After Stratus retained, D-Von had Bautista drive Bubba through a table. The crowd reaction was dead and so to were plans to have a feud between the brothers.
BEING AMERICA’S TAG TEAM
The three individuals didn’t have the same magic. Bubba, Spike and Jeff Hardy faced 3-Minute Warning in a Tables match at Survivor Series. D’Von Dudley interfered to help Bubba win.
This signalled that the Dudleyz were back together. They spent the next eighteen months feuding with every rising tag team and stable on the Raw brand.
On separate occasions, they saved Hall of Famers Johnny Rodz and Freddie Blassie from attacks orchestrated by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff.
The November 22, 2002, episode of Raw was on the brink of disaster. Several wrestlers that had been advertised for the show had been hospitalised with food poisoning.
McMahon built the whole episode around Booker T & Goldust and the World Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Christian.
But then minutes before they went on air, Booker was taken to hospital too. Plans were quickly changed to the Dudleyz.
The two teams had a lengthy match for the titles. It was twice restarted by new Chief of Staff Chief Morely (formerly Val Venis).
The champions cheated to win. When they emerged from the showers after the match, they discovered that someone had taken their stuff.
Wearing nothing but towels, they searched the backstage area for clothes to put on. They then learned that the Dudleyz had their stuff in the ring.
Bubba and D-Von threw their clothing into the crowd. Bubba also discovered Jericho’s tub of “Ass Cream”. The segment ended with Spike stealing the champions’ towels, causing them to streak backstage.
The Dudleyz kept running into roadblocks presented by Evolution. They faced Batista and Randy Orton in an untelevised tag team match.
The teams had such poor chemistry that most participants, including the referee, were sidelined with injuries. Only D-Von escaped unscathed.
Soon after Orton was cleared, he began a major push. He developed a “Legend Killer” gimmick. He claimed to have ended the legacy of every person he performed his RKO finisher on.
All three Dudleyz faced all three active members of Evolution in an elimination match. Orton wound up eliminating all three men. The Dudleyz were so popular that Orton did not get elevated from his achievement.
In 2003, the Dudleyz were being used to put over La Resistance as a top heel tag team. The two teams were on opposing sides of a 5-on-5 match on Raw.
La Resistance injured Spike by throwing him out of the ring and he hit his head on a table. The stunt caused a concussion that took him out of a Tables match at Unforgiven.
The match went ahead as a handicap match, but now with the World Tag Team Championship on the line. Robert Conway scored a point for his team as he wasn’t being punished.
The Dudleyz then beat all three opponents to win the titles for a record eighth time. La Resistance was originally scheduled to win but the dangerous botch showed they were not ready for a top spot.
They held the titles until Armageddon. They defended them in a gauntlet match. To the surprise of many, they defeated all five advertised teams one after another.
Then Flair and Batista were added as a surprise seventh team. The Dudleyz tried to regain the titles in a Tables match at the Royal Rumble.
Evolution retained after Batista drove D-Von through a table. Fans were confused by the sudden ending as all previous Table matches had required all members of a team to be put through tables.
In the 2004 Draft, Triple H was sent to SmackDown. He reportedly told McMahon that he did not want to work SmackDown’s taping schedule.
The WWE website then announced that Triple H had been traded back to Raw in exchange for Booker T and the Dudleyz.
They were recruited by Heyman. He insisted on calling them both “The Dudley” so that singles opponents didn’t know which one to prepare for.
He guided them to winning the WWE Tag Team Championships, making them the first team to win both of WWE’s tag titles. Their tenth title reign in the company overall.
They went on a losing streak. Heyman inspired them to shake things up to turn their fortunes around. They wound up kidnapping Paul Bearer to provoke the Undertaker.
Heyman ordered Undertaker to join his stable. To make sure Undertaker would be compliant, he ordered him to lose the “Concrete Crypt” match at Great American Bash.
The contest main-evented the PPV. Undertaker faced both Dudleyz in a handicap match. Bearer was kept in a glass tank near the entrance beside a cement truck.
When Undertaker kicked out of the first pin, Heyman began filling the tank with cement. Undertaker won the match but chose to bury Bearer himself so that nobody else could exploit him as a weakness.
The WWE hastily released a statement assuring viewers they did not broadcast a live homicide. They said that Bearer had been pulled out of the chamber alive and had only suffered “internal injuries”.
The aim behind this entire storyline was to help Bearer pay for essential surgery. He refused to accept the money, so they hired him.
The storyline allowed him to stay at home to recover. Once he had, he was released. Bearer later explained that the concrete was painted oatmeal.
The Dudleyz quietly separated from Heyman and began interfering in Spike’s matches. Spike kept insisting to Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio that he had no idea why they were doing this.
The Dudleyz helped him to win the title, and he dropped the charade. He was now “The Boss” and his brothers did his bidding. The Dudleyz were written off television after being attacked by Big Show.
The tag team were sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling while the WWE tried to come up with new ideas for them. They were eventually informed that their contracts would not be renewed.
The Dudleyz returned to promote ECW One Night Stand, a tribute to the original ECW. It was credited to Heyman but booked by Dreamer. One commercial for the PPV saw the Dudleyz setting a table on fire.
They competed in the main event against Dreamer and Sandman. They wore gear that was similar to their early ECW attires.
The match saw interferences from multiple past ECW stars, including Spike. The Dudleyz won after Bubba powerbombed Dreamer through a flaming table. The Dudleyz then participated in the mass brawl at the end of the show.
The Dudleyz appeared in every game of the WWF SmackDown series, and then WWE SmackDown vs Raw. They were going to be in SvR 2006 but were removed due to their real-life departure from the company.
Players can give characters D-Von’s entrance animation. They can use cheat devices to access the character slots that had been intended for both characters. As they have no models assigned to them, they are still unplayable.
REBUILDING THE TEAM
All three Dudleyz began competing on the indie circuit after WWE. They all received Cease and Desist letters warning them to stop using the Dudley names.
They were unaware that the WWE had gained the rights to the names when they acquired ECW. They renamed themselves “The Deadly Boys” in response.
Brother Ray Deadly and Brother Devon Deadly started doing tours in Japan. They had an undefeated streak in All Japan Pro Wrestling.
They won the World’s Strongest Tag Determination League in the process. They also win Hustle’s World Tag Team Championship. They retained the titles until the company closed in 2009.
They joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in October 2005 as Team 3D. The lighter schedule allowed them to keep doing tours in Japan.
They spent their first two years feuding with TNA’s top tag team. Spike would later join them as “Brother Runt” but mainly did his own thing.
Soon after joining TNA, they opened their own wrestling school. The Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment was based in Kissimmee, Florida.
Two of their most well-known students were U.S. military veterans Jesse Neal and Chris Melendez, whom they trained for free.
Team 3D engaged in a long feud with Latin American Xchange in their quest to win the NWA World Tag Team Championships for the first time. They even enlisted the help of their “cousin” Steve Schirripa. The feud climaxed at LockDown 2007.
The gimmick of the PPV was that every match had a unique stipulation in addition to being in a steel cage. The tag titles defended in an “Electrified Six Sides of Steel” match.
The efforts that the production team went to make it seem real had the opposite effect. The ring was illuminated by dim spotlights attached to the top of the cage.
They played a loud sound effect over the speakers throughout. The commentary team demonstrated poor knowledge of how electricity works.
The metal door was somehow not charged despite there being no insulation. But the biggest giveaway was how Hernandez kept touching the exposed wires without getting shocked.
They were assisted by Hector Guerrero who retrieved a table for them. They both launched Homicide into a cage wall to stun him.
Then they followed up by putting him through a table with the 3D. They won the NWA World Tag Team Championships for the first and only time in their careers.
“I would say, hands down, going through the table. Because I had a moment after I did it. Because, it was just a little bit off.
Instead of the way it was supposed to happen, I took the entire fall. And I was trying to see if I could feel my fingertips.
Like when I was laying there. Because I really thought I had broken my neck. I still have neck issues from that.”
- Stacy Kiebler explaining why the table spot was the worst bump of her career.
The NWA ended their agreement with TNA. They had allowed TNA to use their World Heavyweight and World Tag Team Championships. However, they accused TNA of monopolising the titles.
TNA were allegedly stopping their champions from defending the titles against non-TNA contracted talents or outside of TNA events. The NWA stripped the tag titles from Team 3D, and the World title from Christian Cage.
TNA made the decision to award Team 3D with the new TNA World Tag Team Championship. They defended the titles at Sacrifice before receiving the physical belts.
They were meant to begin a feud with the Steiner Brothers, but it got postponed when Scott suffered a life-threatening injury at a house show. Road Warrior Animal filled in as Rick’s partner.
Team 3D main-evented a TNA PPV for the first time at Victory Road. All three TNA-owned titles were on the line in a tag team match.
Their opponents were World Champion Kurt Angle and X-Division Champion Samoa Joe. The match rules declared that if Team 3D won, then the member that scored the winning pin would get the title from the champion he pinned.
But Joe pinned Devon after interference from the Steiners. Joe left with the tag titles, refusing to recognise Angle as his co-champion.
EMBRACING THEIR NATURE
They then turned heel for the first time in their TNA runs. They lost to the Steiners due to interference from the Motor City Machine Guns. They then went on a crusade against the entire X-Division. It only intensified after their first loss to the Guns.
Team 3D recruited Johnny Devine as “The X-Division Traitor”. Brother Devine helped Devine battle the Guns and X-Division Champion Jay Lethal.
The feud climaxed in a Street Fight that Lethal essentially won on his own. Losing would have meant the X-Division would be dissolved and all members fired (apart from Devine). But as Lethal’s team had won, Team 3D had to obey a strict upper-weight limit for the next month.
In 2008, Sting formed a stable called “The Main Event Mafia”. All five members had been World Heavyweight Champions in other companies, particularly WCW.
Team 3D pretended to join the group but purposefully betrayed them to align with TNA Frontline. This turned them babyface once more. MEM came out on top after most clashes.
They then feuded with Beer Money, Inc. for the TNA tag championship. One of their matches was an “Off The Wagon Challenge”.
When Beer Money wins one of these matches, the person they pin is fired. Team 3D won by count out, making them the first team to survive the challenge.
Team 3D would win the IWGP Tag Team Championships in New Japan Pro Wrestling. They repeatedly put them on the line in TNA matches, but not always with NJPW’s approval. They put them at risk to get another shot at the TNA tag titles, and it paid off.
They dropped the TNA titles back to Beer Money due to interference from British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & Douglas Williams).
They would lose the IWGP titles to Invasion in a grudge match. All three teams competed in a four-way “Full Metal Mayhem” match against TNA tag champions Booker T & Scott Steiner.
Both titles were on the line. Team 3D regained the IWGP titles, while Invasion swapped them for the TNA titles. NJPW does not recognise any of these matches or Invasion’s reign.
Team 3D and Rhino then declared war against TNA’s rising stars. The brothers brought a freshly trained Neal in to help them.
This stopped immediately when Bischoff and Hulk Hogan took over. Like many of their co-stars, they found themselves in stories with bizarre twists.
TNA President Dixie Carter decided to do a tribute show to the original ECW. It took the form of Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand.
TNA were not allowed to use a lot of original names as WWE owned the rights to them, including the ECW company name.
Team 3D was reunited with their former manager Joel Gertner. Samuel Shaw portrayed Snot in a backstage skit. Team 3D defeated Axl Rotten and Kahoneys (Balls Mahoney) in a South Philadelphia Street Fight. They were attacked by the Gangstas afterwards.
The event was publicly protested by Hogan and Bischoff. They countered the PPV by promoting the following episode of Impact Wrestling as a special production. \
Most of the participants of the PPV were gathered in the ring at the end of the show. They were then beaten and bloodied by Fortune, even though they clearly outnumbered the youngsters.
The ECW talents wore all white to make the blood seem even more graphic. Bischoff wanted to send the message that ECW was long dead.
ACCEPTING THE FUTURE
Team 3D returned two months later after signing new contracts. They announced their intentions to retire as a team. They first challenged the Guns for the TNA tag titles.
During the match at Turning Point, Chris Sabin became the second person to kick out of the 3D. The Guns retained, and Team 3D kept their promise to split.
The decision to let Sabin kick out of the 3D was not made lightly. As far as Team 3D knew, this would genuinely be their final match as a tag team.
They felt having someone kick out of their protected move would create a sense of finality. It would also set that person up for bigger things.
They both reject a claim that Rene Dupree kicked out of the 3D. They also acknowledged that there was a time that Lashley recovered from the move and went on to win the match.
But they insist that there had been a long passage of time in between hitting the move and going for the win attempt. Lashley had plenty of time to recover and this does not count as kicking out of the move.
TNA made yet another attempt at creating their own version of WCW’s New World Order. The latest incarnation was a biker gang called “Aces ‘N’ Eights”.
They dominated storylines for nearly two years. Devon was the first member to be unmasked. Several months later, they helped Bully Ray to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
Neither man was originally planned to be a member until it happened. Even though they were essentially co-leading the stable, Team 3D had not officially reformed.
They would team together a few times before losing a 5-on-5 match. It carried a stipulation that the person who got pinned would be fired. As a result, Devon left the company.
Team 3D reunited in House of Hardcore, a promotion founded by Dreamer. This was part of a cross-promotion with TNA.
Ray had gotten into a feud with Carter. Devon, Dreamer and other former ECW talents would assist Ray. It ended with them helping Ray to drive Carter through a table.
They became the first team to be inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. The next night, the main evented Bound For Glory X in Japan. They defeated Dreamer and Abyss. This would be their final match in TNA for several years.
GOING OUT IN A BLAZE OF GLORY
In August 2015, the Dudleyz announced they had signed a one-year return deal with the WWE. They reverted to their old names and camo gear.
They spent that year working with nearly every tag team on the Raw brand. First on the list was WWE Raw Tag Team Champions New Day.
Their main rivals would be the Wyatt Family and the Usos. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan had been using the 3D as a finisher prior to the Dudleyz’ return.
The Bar had also started using the move too, but they quickly abandoned it after the first one they used on TV looked bad.
Their most memorable moment during this run was the result of a botch. They were battling the Usos in a Tables match.
Both moved out of the way when their opponents attempted top rope splashes, allowing them to fall through the tables they had set up.
The timekeeper wrongly rang the bell and the Dudleyz were announced as the winners. The Dudleyz shouted at them until the match was restarted.
They then did the planned finish. The commentary team realised that the Usos had driven themselves through tables, and this did not satisfy the win conditions. The Usos would use the 3D years later, but they named it the “1D”.
Once the contracts were up, the Dudleyz announced they were leaving. Their farewell was interrupted by the Shining Stars and the Good Brothers. Both men had been offered extensions but turned them down. They also turned down roles as producers… at first.
“For the world to know, because people on social media take things so out of context and run with sh*t, it’s ridiculous.
Me and Devon have been like this since day one. There has never been an issue with me and Devon. All this sh*t you like to run with, these clickbait headlines; F**K OFF!”
- Bubba’s message to dirt sheets and trolls who claim there are tensions between him and Devon.
Team 3D had a brief run in Insane Championship Wrestling, winning their tag titles. Then Devon’s circumstances changed. He felt his only solution was to accept WWE’s deal. Ray stayed on the indies at Bully Ray.
The Dudleyz made a one-off appearance on Raw 25 Years. They interrupted a tag team match and put Heath Slater through a table.
The Dudleyz were inducted into the Hall of Fame later that year by Edge and Christian. Their allotted speech time ended with them putting an extra through a table with the 3D.
They made a similar appearance on the 1,000th episode of Impact. Team 3D defeated the Desi Hit Squad. In true Team 3D fashion, they put one of their opponents through a table.
Devon suffered multiple medical issues while working as a producer in WWE. Among them was a complicated spinal surgery.
He realised a return to wrestling was impossible. But he still wanted to say a proper farewell to his career. He wanted it to be alongside Bully Ray, and he wanted it to be against people who had played a major factor in their careers.
Bully Ray returned to TNA to challenge the Hardys for the TNA Tag Team Championships. The Hardys would win the NXT Tag Team Championships after accepting the challenge. They would put both titles on the line for ‘One Last Table’.
Due to Devon’s condition, he was unable to take hard bumps. He was put out of the match after taking a Swanton Bomb from Jeff Hardy, putting him through a table.
When the match ended, Team 3D handed their boots to the Hardys. Fans had expected Devon to retire, but Bully announced this was the end for him too.
Both men have repeatedly described themselves as the greatest tag team of all time. An opinion shared by many co-workers and fans. Bully Ray once backed down from the claim.
They had never gotten the chance to face the Road Warriors, who were the other tag team in the greatest conversation. He suggested that without this match, they can’t truly lay claim to being the best.
The Dudleys started out as a punchline. The Dudley Boyz became the topic of discussion. They knew they didn’t have the tools to make it on their own. But together, they were undeniable.
