“D-Von…GET THE TABLES….!” used to be one of the phrases that gave me, without doubt, the most joy during the Attitude Era. Now that Bully Ray has left the sinking ship of TNA, I feel that WWE should re-hire The Dudley Boyz.
At the Royal Rumble this year I finally thought my nostalgia was no longer that, but it was there happening in front of my very eyes that Bubba Ray Dudley was back. It didn’t take me long to realise that it was a one off appearance, and how TNA felt about it I would never know (he wasn’t under contract during his Royal Rumble appearance to TNA but has made two appearances in TNA since)… but seeing him in a WWE ring again was truly a wonderful moment.
So today it appears that Bully Ray has now left TNA for good. I haven’t watched a lot of TNA, but when I did watch it weekly, he was undeniably a star. Apart from Kurt Angle who would be at the top of any tree, they had some great performers: AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels took part in the greatest Last Man Standing Match I have ever watched back in 2012, as well as the likes of Samoa Joe, Austin Aries and Bobby Roode; it’s an impressive roster to dominate and for a long time I didn’t even know that Bully Ray and Bubba Ray was the same guy.
“D-Von…GET THE TABLES….!”
That’s the history. So why would WWE take a punt on one of their former stars? Well, the Tag Team division is slowly turning round, my appraisal for teams like New Day, the Prime Time Players and now the Wyatts is well documented, so why not bring in one of the greats? The Dudley Boyz know Tag Team wrestling. They are 8 time WWE and ECW World Tag Team Champions, they have won the WCW Tag Team Titles (in the WWF) and quite a few TNA Titles. Every promotion they have been in they found the formula to succeed as a Tag Team – and I know it’s not based on gimmicks. It’s based on a brilliant knowledge of how to tell a Tag Team story, how to build a match and a feud – it’s an art in itself – and bringing that knowledge into the current roster would help turn the Tag Team division into a fantastic division for a long time.
WWE shouldn’t just bring back stars because they are Attitude Era greats. They must offer something else to them. Aside from what I outlined above, would it be worth having just Bully Ray…or does D-Von have to come as well?
I don’t know the answer to that, but my gut tells me that to get the most out of hiring Bubba Ray, The Dudley Boyz should be a package.
But it’s not just what the Dudley Boyz can teach the other Tag Teams in the ring. They can also help them out big time with promos, which lets face it, only New Day are really any good at cutting. Bubba Ray is a microphone master – an art which is getting lost more and more in the WWE – especially amongst the Tag Teams. With Dusty Rhodes passing, and with Paul Heyman being very much tied in with Brock Lesnar, who is going to teach the NXT Roster how to handle themselves on a microphone? The Miz?
I just can’t see a downside to hiring them again. Bubba Ray lives in Florida (the Team 3D Wrestling Academy is located in Florida) as well so it would be very convenient for him to help out on NXT in a very similar way to how Samoa Joe is.
I really hope I hear Bubba Ray calling for the tables again sometime soon and I feel that today is a step in that direction.
So come on Vince, bring back one more of the Old Guard. Please?
