The Professional Wrestling Tag Team of The Dudley Boyz, Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D’von Dudley was formed in Extreme Championship Wrestling back in late 1996 or early 1997, during a brutal match between Buh Buh Ray and The Sandman. Yet the Dudley boyz are more than just a tag team, they started out as a family...
“Like the Ramones, none of the Dudleys are actually related to each other except in stage surname only. The gimmick initially debuted in ECW in 1995 when the lineup consisted of the massive Big Dick Dudley (Alex Rizzo, the now-former husband of ECW's Elektra!), and the heel tag team of Dudley Dudley (that is not a typo) and Snot Dudley (he kept picking his nose during the matches). Eventually, more Dudley half-brothers started joining the fold in ECW, the backstory behind the gimmick being that the boys' father, traveling salesman Willie Loman Dudley kept going from house to house seducing female customers around Dudleyville – the half-Native American Dances With Dudley, chowhound Chubby Dudley, "artist" Sign Guy Dudley (real name Lou DeAngeli, who started as an ECW ring side photographer and whose character was a parody/salute of the original Sign Guy that regularly appeared ringside at ECW Arena shows), and the massive dancing and stuttering fool, Buh Buh Ray Dudley. The Dudleys became comic babyfaces, Buh Buh quickly became the most popular of the Dudleys, (and patriarch Big Dick the most feared!) while Snot Dudley and Dudley Dudley quickly faded into obscurity. “
The Dudley family was not complete until April 13th, 1996, when D’von Dudley (Devon Wilson) debuted for ECW. Along with himself, D’von brought along a catch phrase “Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, and thou shalt not fuck with the Dudleys!” Needless to say, not all the other tag teams listened, as the Dudleys started to feud with the Full Blooded Italians.
After this feud D’von began to make an impact. He started to test his brothers with his tough love, and inner turmoil ensued within the Dudley camp as they didn’t know who to follow, D’von, or Big Dick. By the time the dust settled, Chubby Dudley and Dances With Dudley were no longer wrestling.
The Dudleys took an amazing heel turn starting in early 1997. Buh Buh Ray and D’von won their first titles on March 15, 1997 when they beat the Eliminators (Perry Saturn and John Kronus). For the next year (about) the Dudleys dominated ECW’s tag team division, proving them as the top dogs in the yard.
Late 1997 saw the emergence of a new Dudley, the runt of the Dudley litter, Little Spike Dudley. As with most runts, Spike was picked on by D’von and Buh Buh Ray and they often feuded just like real brothers.
"By 1999, Big Dick had left ECW, leaving the triumvirate of Buh Buh, D-Von, manager Sign Guy, and personal ring announcer/co-manager Joel Gertner to dominate the ECW tag team scene. Buh Buh regained the belts for himself and his brother when he defeated Rob Van Dam in a singles match in Buffalo, NY on April 19, 1999. This reign would prove to be the longest one that the team would have in ECW, lasting until they were defeated by the team of estranged half-brother Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney on July 18, 1999. Buh Buh Ray and D-Von would not be denied, even as they were being courted by the World Wrestling Federation. On August 13, 1999, the duo defeated Spike and Balls in Cleveland, OH to win the tag titles for the 7th time, only to lose them 24 hours later in Toledo, OH during the inaugural ECW On TNN tapings. The match, which included a profuse amount of blood and culminated in Buh Buh powerbombing Spike through two flaming tables, proved to be too much for TNN's standards board, but ECW had the last laugh by including the match in its entirety on the inaugural title of their DVD series. Extreme Evolution.”
The Dudleys’ final ECW appearence was on August 26th, 1999. Shortly after, they debuted in the WWF. Their first attempt to get over went poorly, as not many enjoyed Buh Buh Ray’s stuttering, even though that’s what got them over in ECW. Their gimmick changed and the Dudleys started being evil and powerbombing almost any WWF female through a table set up in the ring off of the turnbuckle.
When this wore off the Dudleyz joined The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian in some disgusting feuds, culminating in three TLC matches which left all the contestants injured in some form, yet also left them with the respect of every WWF fan watching.
The WWF picked up Spike Dudley shortly before Wrestlemania X-Seven. For a short while the three were a cohesive unit, feuding with Edge, Christian & Rhyno and Team Extreme.
Signature Moves:
Catchphrases:
- “Thou shalt not fuck with the Dudleyz”
- “D’von... Get the tables!”
Sources:
The two big block quotes came from this souce
The Dudley Boys Bytes
by CJ Marsicano
Found at the url:
http://www.wrestlingbytes.com/article1044.html?printable=y
History of The Dudley Boys
By Mr. Tito
http://www.mrtito.lordsofpain.net/pdc/march24_2001.htm