THE DUDLEY BOYZ
Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley
1996-2018
ECW World Tag Team Champions (eight times)
TNA World Tag Team Champions (two times)
WWE World Tag Team Champions (nine times)
WCW World Tag Team Champions
IWGP Tag Team Champions (two times)
WWE Hall of Fame
Written by ZAH
The Dudley Boyz really helped kick off a new era in tag team wrestling, in my opinion. They burst upon the scene in ECW and were something that nobody had ever seen before.
Sure, the initial ECW team of multiple Dudley half-brothers (who all had the same father but had different mothers) was a bit on the absurd side. Many fans don’t even realize that the gimmick started off with Dudley Dudley, Big Dick Dudley, and Snot Dudley. Things quickly got out of hand with the additions of Dances With Dudley, Chubby Dudley (seriously), Sign Guy Dudley, and Spike Dudley.
Things quickly turned around when Bubba Ray Dudley joined the group in late 1995 and D-Von Dudley joined in early 1996.
By early 1997, the two men had all but eliminated the rest of their “family” and were tagging on a regular basis, By early 1997, the two men had all but eliminated the rest of their “family” and were tagging on a regular basis, eventually becoming eight-time ECW tag team champions.eventually becoming eight-time ECW tag team champions.
Despite their comedic origins, the Dudley Boyz quickly became the most hated act in ECW. In fact, they legit started mini-riots with fans on more than one occasion.
As time went on, the team of Bubba and D-Von really stood out as something special. Not only could they hold their own in a bloody brawl, but they learned (very quickly) to take care of themselves in a wrestling match as well.
They became such good all-around performers that they were called to “the show” in 1999.
There, they honed their craft, got super-over through catchphrases and incredible performances, and eventually won the WWF World Tag Team Championship an incredible eight times, while also adding the WCW World Tag Team Championship and the WWE World Tag Team Championship to their resume.
At the end of the day, the in-ring performances weren’t the only thing that separated The Dudley Boyz from the rest of the tag team pack and gave them super-long careers as a team (practically unheard of in professional wrestling).
Their incredible charisma and mic skills have also helped them stand out and for me anyway, helped them become my favourite tag team of all time.
Leaving WWE didn’t do much to slow them down, as the Dudleyz became NWA tag team champions, two-time TNA tag team champions, and two-time IWGP tag team champions.
They were voted Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s 2001 and 2009 Tag Team of the Year in addition to being named PWI’s Tag Team of the Decade (2000-2009).