The Dudley Boyz are coming up on 30 years in the professional wrestling business. The heavyweight tag team of Bubba Ray and D’Von burst onto the scene in the late 1990s, establishing themselves as one of the most famous acts within ECW. When ECW began approaching its final days, the Dudleys joined the WWF and found immediate success during their historic feud against the Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian. These three teams would battle each other in the first iterations of the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match stipulation. WWE was only the beginning of the Dudley Boyz’s world domination, as the kayfabe brothers eventually turned their attention to TNA, a promotion that they would both become staples of for nearly a decade.
Videos by ComicBook.com
While Bubba Ray has remained relatively active all these years, D’Von has not wrestled since 2016. D’Von turned to a backstage career instead, producing matches for WWE from 2016 until this past January.
The Dudley Boyz Reunite This Fall
As announced on Busted Open Radio, Bubba Ray and D’Von are set to reunite for the first time in nearly seven years. The Dudleys, under their “Team 3D” monicker, will appear at Impact Wrestling 1000 on September 9th.
Interestingly enough, Bubba Ray (Bully Ray) cast doubt on a Dudley Boyz reunion ever happening just this past March.
“Physically I don’t think so because I don’t think that D-Von can do it anymore, we’ve had the conversation,” Bubba Ray said earlier this year.
There had been rumors that Bubba Ray and D’Von had had a falling out in 2016, but Bubba emphasized that that could not be farther from the truth.
“It didn’t cause a divide. I told Vince [McMahon] that I can’t do the Dudley thing anymore. I can’t do this Dudley thing the way that you want to do it, did it for a year. Vince sat me and D-Von down and said here’s what I want you to do. Work with The New Day, help them get over. Work with The Usos, help them get over. Work with The Wyatts, help them get over, and then whoever else we throw at you. You got it, no problem,” Bubba Ray recalled. “But after a year of doing it, I’m like ok, I am burnt on The Dudleys, I know I’ve got Bully Ray in the back pocket. I told D-Von upfront, I said listen, I don’t think I am going to re-sign. So we knew all of this. He re-signed and became a producer in the company, an employee in the company. It was never any animosity with D-Von, we talk all the time, we have done shows together.”
Impact Wrestling’s 1000th episode goes down on September 9th.
