Dudley Boyz
The Dudley Boyz are a retired American professional wrestling tag team, who consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley. The team was also joined by various Dudley family members, notably Spike Dudley and former valet Stacy Keibler. They are best known for their time in Extreme Championship Wrestling where Joel Gertner was their manager. They are also well known for their tenure in the World Wrestling Federation and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. They are considered one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era and have been described as the greatest and most decorated tag team in professional wrestling history.
The team wrestled as the Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWF/E, and upon joining TNA — due to WWE owning the rights to their names — they became known as Brother Ray and Brother Devon of Team 3D. Spike Dudley later signed with TNA and again sided with Team 3D as Brother Runt. Later in their TNA career, Brother Ray used the ring name Bully Ray while Brother Devon wrestled as simply Devon. After a brief feud with one another, Devon and Bully Ray were reunited as part of the villainous faction Aces & Eights.
They are the only tag team to hold the WWF, WWE, ECW, WCW, NWA, TNA and IWGP Tag Team Championships, as well as to win the All Japan Pro Wrestling's World's Strongest Tag Determination League and are thus regarded among the greatest tag teams of all time. During their time as members of Aces & Eights, Ray was TNA World Heavyweight Champion on two occasions, while Devon was TNA Television Champion. On June 15, 2014, at Slammiversary XII, Team 3D were selected as that year's induction into the TNA Hall of Fame. WWE recognizes them as the most decorated tag team in company history, with 18 world tag team championship reigns, while TNA recognizes them as 23-time world tag team champions. They were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2024, they were inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame, making them the first to be inducted into the WWE, TNA, and Hardcore Halls of Fame.
They are famously known for their use of tables in their matches, usually beginning with Bubba Ray asking D-Von to "get the tables" in the middle of a match. On May 21, 2007, Bubba Ray and D-Von opened the Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment at the X-Cel Fitness Gym in Kissimmee, Florida. Longtime pro wrestling journalist Fin Martin of Power Slam, in contemplating the greatest tag team of all time, wrote: "If one were to base his decision on longevity, title wins and success in a variety of companies, The Dudley Boyz would get the nod".
On October 12, 2025 at TNA Bound for Glory, The Dudleys officially retired from in ring competition, after losing to Matt and Jeff Hardy, in a Winner Takes All match for The Hardys' TNA World Tag Team Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship.
History
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996–1999)
The teaming of Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes was born from ECW's Dudley family, a team of comedic fan favorites that consisted of many illegitimate children of the mythical traveling salesman "Big Daddy" Dudley. LoMonaco's Buh Buh Ray Dudley at the time was a fat, stuttering hillbilly who entertained the fans by dancing and wrestled with several of his "half-brothers", including Matt Hyson's Little Spike Dudley, for the ECW World Tag Team Championship several times. Hughes, as D-Von Dudley, 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 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, 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 title 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., The Gangstanators and The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks. 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. Dudley Boyz regained the titles from Tanaka and Mahoney on the November 13 episode of Hardcore TV. They lost the titles to RVD and Sabu, a month later at the ECW/FMW Supershow II in Japan.
With the departure of The Sandman, the Dudley Boyz took advantage of Sabu's ban from competing in the US, and D-Von defeated Rob Van Dam in singles competition for their sixth World Tag Team Championship. With a brewing feud between the Dudleys and the Impact Players,, 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 PPV.
In late-1999, the Dudley Boyz signed with the World Wrestling Federation. They made their final appearance with ECW at the Last Show at the Madhouse on August 26, 1999, winning their eighth 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.
World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (1999–2005)
Early years and tag team dominance (1999–2001)
In August 1999, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von joined the World Wrestling Federation and debuted on WWF SmackDown! on September 2, 1999. They requested a $1 raise above the WWF's offer to stay in ECW, but their request was denied because ECW owner Paul Heyman was working a deal with Vince McMahon to supply talent to the WWF. Upon entering the WWF, Buh Buh Ray was first named 'Buh Buh Ray Dudley,' then was renamed "Bubba Ray Dudley," and returned to stuttering during his promos - a character trait he had initially used early in his ECW tenure. D-Von would then slap 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 began 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 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 on June 25, 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 on August 27. The second was at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, 2001, in which Spike Dudley 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, mainly due to his growing relationship with Molly Holly. 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 Dudley Boyz' manager during this time— dubbed the "Duchess of Dudleyville" by ECW manager Paul Heyman—but she later cost the Dudley Boyz 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 on November 18 to unify the WWF and WCW Tag Team Championships.