Once again Team SLTD have gotten together, this time its to give our thoughts on this year’s Hall of Fame inductees The Dudley Boyz!
We all give our thoughts below, let us know in the comments below what you think of this year’s tag team inductees!
As always if you like what any of our writers/contributors have to say, click their twitter to follow or their name to read more from them.
@maruwe22 (What Would Matt Do?)
The Dudley Boyz ARE Tag Team Wrestling. If I were ever to start a wrestling promotion and I needed a tag team division, I’d build it around the Dudley Boyz. ECW, WCW, WWE, TNA, NJPW Tag Champions – no-one else has a record like that. In ECW, they won the Tag Titles 8 times and feuded with teams like The Impact Players, The Full Blooded Italians and The FBI. They had amazing matches right, left and centre during ECW, along with picking up other “family” members, such as Spike Dudley. In 1999 The Dudley Boyz joined WWF and straight away bought their ECW-style of matches with them by bringing tables.
I’m surprised that WWE hasn’t put The Dudley Boyz into the Hall of Fame sooner. They have made multiple 5* matches with different teams, have wrestled all over the planet and won every major Tag Team Title which is available. They join Sting and Kurt Angle in being the only wrestlers to appear in two major Hall of Fames and when they are inducted will solidify themselves as one of, if not the, best Tag Team to ever grace a wrestling ring.
@kieranthekiz (UKayfabe)
I’m thrilled that The Dudley Boyz are being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Having not watched ECW myself I wasn’t aware of them until their arrival in WWE, and I instantly took a likening to them because of their unique and controversial style.
Bubba Ray’s stutter followed by D-Von tapping him on the back of the head to get his words out might not have been groundbreaking, but it was memorable. And granted, putting women through tables wasn’t the most PC of things to be doing, but again, it was memorable and it gave them something the WWE fans wanted to see, and putting people through tables is something that they were best known for throughout their career. Angles with Stacy Keibler, Spike Dudley, the historic TLC matches with Edge, Christian and The Hardy Boyz as well as the infamous Mae Young through a table incident are what made them who they became to be today.
The ‘Whasssup’ may be a dated reference, but it’s still thought of in association with The Dudley Boyz, same as the ‘3D’, and hell, every time I go on a plane or a train and I’m in seat 3D it makes me smile and reminisce about the duo (as sad as that is).
I don’t think there’ll ever be a team like them, and I can’t wait to see them enter the Hall of Fame this year.
@TomRobinson5199 (Armbar Analysis)
The Dudley Boyz were almost destined to be future hall of famers and that moment has finally arrived. It’s almost a bit sad that these two had to be inducted as a team when they both individually were very good at their craft and had their fair share of singles success. Bully Ray was a former TNA World Heavyweight Champion for god’s sake. However, their tag team co-ordination and ring awareness were just hard to beat by other tag teams over the years.
These two have been in so many wacky and crazy scenarios in terms of ladder matches, tables matches, TLC matches, Lethal Lockdown matches, fatal four-way tag team matches and errrr… Electrified Steel Cage matches. Look it up. It really happened in TNA. They gave their bodies for our entertainment in the worst ways imaginable which is admirable and incredible when you think they only just retired from wrestling last year.
Even outside the ring, their Team 3D Academy have built up a number of talents for the future which is also another great contribution to the future of wrestling. The Dudley Boyz have sure earned their spots in the 2018 Hall of Fame class.
@Tybo_SLTD (Tybo Talks)
This Hall of Fame induction is long overdue, when you think of the greatest Tag Teams in wrestling history, in any promotion it would be hard to believe The Dudley Boyz are not on the top five list. They have held every major Tag Team Championships there has been, ECW, WWF, WWE, WCW, TNA, IWGP, ROH. If they have entered the company Bubba and D-Von have been Tag Champs.
They have been a mainstay in the division for the last 20+years, from the ECW day to putting Tag Team wrestling on the map while revolutionising the division in WWF with Edge, Christian and The Hardy Boyz in TLC to getting younger talent over in TNA like Motor City Machine Guns and The Wolves, Bubba Ray and Devon have done everything you can do in a Tag Team career.
@BigMatchSully (Monster Match Sully )
As the Mr Tag Team Wrestling of SLTD, I’m proud to say that I fully support The Dudley’s being in the HOF. Being the most decorated champions in the WWE, The Dudley Boyz are the perfect team to be this year’s Tag Team entrant. Although it would have been awesome to see Bully Ray as a singles competitor, the things those two men put their bodies through int he name of wrestling. Damn, they deserve their spot. All there is left to say is… GET THE TABLES.
@runner_rope (The Rope Runner)
This is one of my favourite tag-teams in WWE history. Their return to WWE in 2015 was maybe the best return in the past five years. Also, nothing beats a 3D in terms of tag-team finishers. When they did return, I did hope they would get one more run with the tag-team titles, but it wasn’t to be. Definitely deserving of this hall of fame induction.
@DitsOnWrestling (Twitter Manager)
As is the case with most wrestlers who get inducted into the Hall of Fame, it was always a case of when and not if they would be inducted. They are arguably one of the greatest tag teams of all time and their longevity is a testament to that. As a kid, seeing The Dudleyz 3D guys (or girls) through tables was always a highlight and for me and they really put a stamp on each TLC / ladder match with E&C and the Hardyz.
If I had to look back at my memories of tag teams, you can be sure that Bubba and D-Von have a good 80% share of what I remember since I started watching wrestling. I love that Edge and Christian will be inducting them too and I’m sure it’ll be very entertaining. Hopefully, one last time, we’ll hear “GET THE TABLES”.
A very well deserved induction into the Hall of Fame.
@callumowen98 (Facebook Manager)
The Dudley Boys are arguably one of the best tag teams in the last 20 years and are deservedly going into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Alongside Edge and Christian and The Hardy’s, they revolutionised tag team wrestling with their TLC matches. Video packages to this day are still played of their bouts against their two greatest rival tag teams and their matches would still stand out today in the modern era of wrestling. Their nostalgic return in 2015, was a nice surprise and I wish they’d won the tag titles for a record 10th time, but it didn’t hurt their legacy and it won’t change history.
@kieranthekiz (UKayfabe)
Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley have been one of the most exciting tag teams of the past 20 years, not for their in-ring ability, but for their personalities. Their charisma and fun drew audiences to them, with their catchphrases from the stuttering Bubba to the now iconic ‘D-Von…Get The Tables!’.
Every time I even hear the mention of a table, it reminds me of the Dudleyz. Bubba powerbombing Mae Young off the stage is still to this day one of my favourite/most memorable moments of WWE television. It does sound odd to enjoy that, but my goodness they knew how to perfect it well, followed by Bubba’s trance where he’d just stare forward in a world of his own.
The singles roles for both Bubba and ‘Reverend’ D-Von were fun, but they’ll always be best remembered as a team.
Their matches with Edge & Christian as well as The Hardy Boyz will go down in history, and nobody will forget their excellent TLC matches.
Congratulations to both on their well-deserved places in the WWE Hall of Fame.
@TownNation (The Fox Files)
IMO The greatest tag team in history. The things that Bubba & D-Von have been able to do and the moments they have left us with will last forever inside the minds of wrestling fans. Also, I can’t wait to hear their speech because some of the stories they will have collected over the past 20 years in their illustrious careers will certainly be worth hearing! From The Hardy Boyz to Edge and Christian, the tag team division was changed due to the Dudley’s and those 2 teams. Some of the greatest TLC and other matches in history. Never to be forgotten. Now D-Von… GET THE TABLES because it’s time to TESTIFY, and deservedly welcome them into the Hall Of Fame
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