Blood and Wood – Welcome to Dudleyville

When you talk about some of the greatest tag teams to step foot inside the ring, right from the very famous tag teams of the Freebirds or the Blackjacks, you come up with a lot of permutations and combinations. And when you try to put them in the top 10, then you’re in a fix because of the versatility and variation some of those tag teams have brought to the wrestling industry. Then you have those teams which had revolutionized the Wrestling industry by the way they performed inside the ring. You have the teams of Austin and Pillman – The Hollywood Blondes, who took the concept of tag team wrestling one step further, along with the likes of Hart Foundation and the Rockers.

But perhaps, when it comes to the debate of naming the greatest tag team of all time, you get into a sticky situation. The likes of Hart Foundation, Edge and Christian and so on are right up there with the best. But perhaps there is one team that can boast about being the undeniable best in tag team wrestling. A team that has won the tag team gold a record 23 times, more than any other team in history! This team has won the tag team championships of WWF/E, World, ECW, WCW, TNA, NWA and IWGP! And when you talk about ‘revolutionizing’ the tag team division, boy, these guys have done that for a good part of a decade.

As a kid, when I heard the sounds of those missiles drop, and King saying ‘Those damned Dudleys!’, I used to get excited. Because from Dudleyville, came the greatest tag team of all time. Most famously known as the Dudley Boyz, or Team 3D later on, Bubba Ray (Buh buh Ray) and Devon became legendary figures in the tag team division. Starting out in ECW as a team of comedians from the Dudley family, Buh buh and Devon quickly became a successful tag team, winning the ECW tag team titles on multiple occasions. They had memorable feuds with the Full Blooded Italians and the team of Dreamer and Sandman. It was at this time that they started putting their opponents through tables, something that became a tradition for the Dudleys.

Soon, Dudleys found their way to the WWF, with Paul exchanging talents with Vince. It was here that the greatest era of tag team ushered, with the teams of Edge and Christian, Jeff and Matt Hardy and the Dudleys fighting for the WWF Tag team championships. These three teams innovated and conceptualized the revolutionary match of Tables, Ladders and Chairs, with their matches at Summerslam and at the following Wrestlemania being hailed as some of the best tag team matches of all time. With their innovative style and use of tables, Dudleys became the best tag team in the WWF. Who can forget Bubba pushing Devon screaming ‘Devon!’, and the crowd going nuts while Bubba orders him to ‘Get the tables!’? The Dudleys weren’t just entertaining, they epitomized the tag team division.

After a lengthy run in the tag team division, Bubba and Devon tried to have single’s careers, but were paired up again to reform the Dudley Boyz. They feuded with the likes of the Undertaker and after a while, were kept on the backburner. In ’05, Dudleys were granted their release papers, and they made their way to TNA. Because of WWE now owning all the copyrights and trademarks of ECW, the Dudleys weren’t allowed to use that name any more, and were now known as Team 3D, with Bubba known as Brother Ray and Devon known as Brother Devon.

After they joined the number 2 promotion in the United States, they immediately started their journey to become the best tag team in TNA, and had rivalries with other good teams like AMW, LAX and Team Canada. Soon, they won the prestigious NWA World tag team titles, and when NWA separated themselves from TNA, Dudleys were stripped of the NWA titles, and when TNA introduced their own tag titles, Team 3D were announced to be the first TNA tag team champions. After losing the tag team titles, Team 3D started a rivalry with Motor City Machine Guns. They went on to win the TNA tag team titles once more, before dissolving the team to concentrate on singles careers.

After this, both Ray (Now known as Bully Ray) and Devon went on to have successful single’s careers, where Devon won the TV title and Bully is now the number 1 contender for the TNA World title, thus cementing his spot as a main eventer in the company. I, as a fan of the Dudleys, would like to see them finish their careers as a tag team once more, but looking at how things are going, they still have a lot of gas in their wrestling careers. Bully Ray is touted to win the TNA World title soon, being in the main event for more than a year, and Devon is included in the high profile feud in TNA, with the Aces and Eights.

We can only wait and see what the future unfolds for Ray and Devon, but I sure would love to see them ending their careers in the WWE as Dudleys once again. Nonetheless, in my books, Dudleys are one of the, if not the best tag team of all time in the history of professional Wrestling.

Check out the rest of the Greatest Tag teams here.