- For the rest of the stable see
'Dudley
family.
- For the competitive video game team formerly known as Team
3D see '3D.NY.
Team 3D is a
professional wrestling tag team, consisting of
Brother Ray and
Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined
into a
stable
by
Brother Runt on several intervals. The
team is now working in
Total Nonstop Action
Wrestling (TNA) and currently holds the
Hustle Super Tag Team
Championship and the
IWGP
Tag Team Championship.
The team was previously known as the
Dudley Boyz
(Buh-Buh/Bubba Ray, D-Von, and Spike Dudley respectively) and are
best known for their work in the
World Wrestling
Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) and
Extreme Championship
Wrestling (ECW). LoMonaco and Hughes are best known
individually and collectively for their success as a
tag team, being highly touted as the most decorated
tag team in professional wrestling history. They are officially
recognized by TNA as 24 time World Tag Team Champions, making them
the most decorated tag team in history.
On May 21,
2007, Brother Ray and Devon opened the Team 3D Academy of
Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment at the X-Cel
Fitness Gym in Kissimmee,
Florida
.
History
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996–1999)
Buh-Buh Ray and
D-Von (two of the many on-screen sons of Willy
Loman-esque "Big Daddy" Dudley) began wrestling together in
Extreme Championship
Wrestling (ECW) in 1996. All the members of the
villainous Dudley family chased for the
ECW Tag Team Championship at that
time.
Little Spike Dudley also debuted in
1996 and teamed with Buh Buh Ray against the
Full Blooded Italians. After initially
battling each other, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von joined as a team on
February 1, 1995. They became the most successful members of Dudley
family as they dominated the
tag team
division of ECW. They won their first
ECW Tag Team Championship from
The Eliminators (
John Kronus and
Perry
Saturn) 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 (
New Jack
and
Mustafa Saed), which began after
Dudleys defeated the Gangstas to retain the tag titles at
Orgy
of Violence on June 28. The Dudleys, however, lost the tag
titles to Gangstas in a
steel cage weapons
match at
Heat Wave on July
19, 1997. In less than a month, the Dudleys defeated 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. (
Tracy Smothers and
Little Guido), Gangstanators and
The Hardcore Chair Swingin'
Freaks (
Balls Mahoney and
Axl Rotten). F.B.I. won the match and retained
the titles.
The Dudleys began a rivalry with
Tommy
Dreamer and
The Sandman in the
summer of 1998. At
Wrestlepalooza, they lost to Dreamer
and Sandman. Eventually, the Dudleys turned on Spike, who then
became involved in the rivalry. At
Heat Wave, however, the two Dudleys lost
to Dreamer, Sandman and Spike in a two on three handicap
Street
Fight, ending the feud. On October 24, 1998, the Dudleys
defeated
Sabu and Rob Van Dam
to win their fourth ECW Tag Team Championship. At
November to Remember, however,
they lost the titles to
Masato Tanaka
and Balls Mahoney.
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 ECW World Tag Team
Title. With a brewing feud between the Dudleys and the
Impact Players, (
Justin Credible and
Lance Storm) Buh Buh Ray and D-Von still had
their hands full with the new team of Spike Dudley and Balls
Mahoney. It was at
Heatwave 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. With the possibility
of a Dudley Boyz jump to WWF in late 1999, the Dudleys won their
seventh ECW Tag Team Championship at a house show from Spike and
Mahoney, only to lose them the next night at another house show. It
was on the second airing of
ECW on
TNN that the Dudley Boyz won their record eighth ECW world
Tag Team Titles from Spike and Mahoney. After a threat to take the
titles with them to WWF, Tommy Dreamer and Raven won the belts from
the Dudleys, sending them to the WWF title-less.
World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1999–2005)
In 1999, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von joined the World Wrestling
Federation. 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 renamed "Bubba Ray Dudley" and began sporting thick black
glasses with white tape around them. He also began stuttering his
promos - returning to a character trait he had initially used early
in his ECW tenure. D-Von began wearing thick white glasses with
black tape and slapping Bubba in the back of 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 begin
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 (including
Terri
Runnels,
Trish Stratus,
Lita, and
Mae Young)
through tables however they became fan favorites in mid 2000 when
they engaged in a feud with the then villainous
D-Generation X stable which culminated in a
tag team table dumpster match at
King of the Ring 2000 in which Bubba
drove
Tori through a table. 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
Tables, Ladders and Chairs
(TLC) matches, the first at
SummerSlam in 2000. The second was at
WrestleMania X-Seven in April
2001, in which Spike Dudley (who had joined the WWF in early-2001)
interfered to aid the Dudleys.
In mid-2001, the Dudley Boyz became villains again by joining
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 Dudleys' manager
during this time— dubbed the "Duchess of Dudleyville" by ECW
manager Paul Heyman—but she later cost the Dudleys 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 WWE Tag
Team Championships. Later, The Dudleys beat the Hardy Boyz in a
cage match at
Survivor Series
in 2001 to unify the WWF and WCW Tag Team Championships. As 2002
began, Spike feuded with his big brothers again, winning the WWF
Tag Team Title from them with partner
Tazz.
Following
WrestleMania X8 in March
2002, the WWF was renamed "World Wrestling Entertainment" (WWE) and
the roster was divided into two brands,
Raw
and
SmackDown!. The
Dudley Boyz were separated for a short time when Bubba Ray was
drafted to
Raw and D-Von to
SmackDown!. Bubba became a fan favorite again by reuniting
with Spike Dudley while D-Von, who was still a villain, went on to
become the corrupt preacher character "Reverend D-Von" and gained a
protege with
Deacon Batista. At
Judgment Day in 2002, Bubba
Ray was in the corner of
Raw's Trish Stratus, who was defending the
WWE Women's Championship against
Keibler; D-Von and Batista were in Stacy's corner as asked by
Mr. McMahon. After Stratus
successfully retained her title, Bubba Ray and D-Von stood in the
ring and shook hands before an altercation broke out between the
three men where D-Von and Batista ended up driving Bubba through a
table. As 2002 went along, Bubba Ray teamed with Spike on
Raw to form a new version of the Dudley Boyz.
Bubba and D-Von reunited following the
Survivor Series, when D-Von helped
Bubba Ray in a match. From then on, he was back on
Raw (as
he was part of a package deal that would send
The Big Show to
SmackDown!). After the
Dudley Boyz were back together they became an alliance in the
Raw tag team division over the next sixteen months. During
this time, alternating between siding with and feuding with
Raw General Manager,
Eric
Bischoff. They continued competing in the tag team division
until all three Dudleys were drafted/traded over to
SmackDown! in March 2004, Bubba Ray and D-Von aligned with
Paul Heyman and feuded with
The
Undertaker. By July, the Dudleys were helping Spike win matches
by interfering in his favor, which Spike seemed to dislike at
first, only to reveal his hand as the "boss" of the outfit after
they helped him take the
WWE Cruiserweight
Championship from
Rey
Mysterio. This was a very ironically fitting role, as while
Spike is considered the "little brother" due to easily being the
smallest of the three, he's actually the oldest in real life.
After a lengthy hiatus, Bubba, D-Von, and Spike made what would be
their final appearance at a WWE sanctioned event, when they were a
part of the original
One
Night Stand in June 2005. In July 2005, WWE opted not to
continue contract renewal negotiations with the Dudley Boyz. In
addition, there was a mass of wrestlers (including Spike) that were
released by WWE for budgetary reasons. In August 2005, Bubba and
D'Von were issued with legal notices instructing them not to use
the (WWE
trademarked) name "Dudley". This
led to a degree of acrimony between the former Dudleys and their
erstwhile employers, as they had used the names since 1996, several
years before all ECW
intellectual
property was acquired by WWE as a result of
bankruptcy proceedings. Both believed Paul Heyman
had granted them the rights to the name. Soon after, LoMonaco and
Hughes announced that they intended to pursue legal action against
WWE.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–present)

Team 3D with a fan.
On September 21, 2005, it was announced that Bubba and D-Von (now
under the names Brother Ray and Brother Devon, respectively) had
signed multi-year contracts with
Total Nonstop Action
Wrestling (TNA), as Team 3D. Team 3D made their first
appearance on the October 1 episode of
TNA Impact!, helping save the
3Live Kru (
Ron
Killings,
Konnan, and
B.G. James) from
Planet Jarrett and
Team Canada. Team 3D's first rivalry in
TNA was against
America's Most
Wanted (
Chris Harris and
James Storm) (AMW), which included a
mock "funeral" for the careers of Team 3D. At the TNA's December
pay-per-view
Turning Point in
2005, Team 3D successfully defeated AMW in a Tables match. At
Final Resolution on January
15, 2006, Team 3D fought AMW again, but this time for the
NWA World Tag Team
Championship, which AMW held. They won the match, however, due
to Team Canada's interference the
referee awarded the match
to AMW.
On the April 13 episode of
Impact!, Spike Dudley, now
referred to as "Brother Runt", debuted in TNA, helping Team 3D beat
Team Canada. At TNA's April pay-per-view
Lockdown, Team 3D defeated Team Canada in a
Six Sides of
Steel Anthem match.
Ray and Devon then started a rivalry with
The James Gang (B.G. James and
Kip James), with the two teams meeting at TNA's
June pay-per-view
Slammiversary
in a
match
which no can be counted count or disqualified; Ray and Devon
claimed victory in the match. After their brief absence, Ray and
Devon made a return to TNA in October 2006 and went back on the tag
title hunt. They first fought with
The
Naturals (
Chase Stevens and
Andy Douglas), who defeated Team 3D in
their signature tables match.

Team 3D in an electrified steel cage
at LockDown in 2007.
At the beginning of 2007, Team 3D were announced as the number one
contenders to the
The Latin
American Xchange's (LAX) NWA World Tag Team Championship and
faced them at TNA's January pay-per-view
Final Resolution. During the match,
however, Runt was scripted to appear drunk, wearing a
Santa Claus outfit, and interfere, causing Team
3D to get disqualified. They continued their rivalry with LAX at
TNA's March pay-per-view
Destination
X in a match which neither team could be disqualified called a
Ghetto
Brawl by TNA, in which they lost after interference from
Alex Shelley. At
Lockdown in 2007, Team 3D defeated LAX in a
Electrified
Six Sides of Steel match to win the NWA World Tag Team
Championship. In this match, the cage was electrified by electrical
powerlines, to give the illusion when a wrestler touched the cage,
they would be instantly electrocuted, in storyline.
On May 13, 2007, the Executive Director of the National Wrestling
Alliance (NWA) announced Team 3D had been stripped of the NWA World
Tag Team Championship due to the permanent discontinuation of the
relationship between the NWA and TNA Wrestling. TNA continued to
recognize Team 3D as their World Tag Team Champions and were then
designated as the very first official
TNA World Tag Team
Champions, and the new TNA World Tag Team Championship belts
were unveiled on their "TNA Today" webcast on May 16, 2007. On the
broadcast they were awarded the new championship by
authority
figure Jim Cornette. Before the new
championship was unveiled, Team 3D successfully defended their
champion status at TNA's May pay-per-view
Sacrifice in a standard tag team match
involving three teams known as a
3-Way
Dance, which also including the teams of Tomko (
Travis Tomko) and Scott Steiner (
Scott Rechsteiner) and LAX. After the match,
Steiner's brother, Rick Steiner (
Robert
Rechsteiner), came out and attacked Team 3D which set up a
match between the two teams at
Slammiversary for the TNA World Tag
Team Championship. Scott, however, could not compete due to a
legitimate injury;
instead Road Warrior Animal (
Joseph
Laurinaitis) took his place, but Team 3D retained the
championship. On the June 21 episode of
Impact!, Cornette
announced a "Champions versus Champions" match for TNA's July
pay-per-view
Victory Road, in
which the Tag Team Champions would face the World Champion and the
X Division Champion. At
Victory Road, Team 3D lost the championship to Samoa Joe after
interference from
the Steiner
Brothers. On the following
Impact!, they blamed the
Steiner Brothers
and the fans (who had actually been
taking intervals to chant "3D sucks" for weeks at the time) for
their loss. At
Hard Justice
and
Bound for Glory, Team 3D
lost to the Steiner Brothers, the latter defeat coming in a two out
of three tables match after
Chris Sabin
and Alex Shelley,
the Motor
City Machineguns, interfered on the Steiners' behalf. On the
October 18
Impact!, Team 3D assaulted the Machine Guns in
the middle of their match, whipping them with studded belts and
simultaneously powerbombimg then through two tables while Ray
derided the supposedly terrible quality of the Guns' match. Team 3D
continued on this path of attack and verbal putdown, directing it
towards the Guns' fellow TNA X Division wrestlers. This led to a
match against the Guns at
Genesis,
which Shelley and Sabin won. They later stole
Jay Lethal's belt and kidnapped X-Division
wrestler
Johnny Devine, who
subsequently turned on his fellow X Division wrestlers. While still
referred to by most as Johnny, Ray and Devon called Devine "Brother
Devine" and treated him as a member of Team 3D, though he did not
share the half brother backstory.
At Against All Odds, Team 3D and
Johnny Devine fought The Motor City Machineguns and Jay Lethal in a
Street Fight but lost. Per the
match stipulation, Ray and Devon could not compete unless they
weighed in at 275 lbs. or lower.
After Against All Odds, 3D were matched with
Shark Boy and
Curry
Man on numerous occasions in tag matches, with either one or
both of the brothers being unable to compete due to the weight
restriction. The week before Destination X, a stipulation was added
to the match between 3D and Shark Boy and Curry Man: if Ray and
Devon did not each weigh in at under 275 pounds, they would be
fired from TNA. Both Ray and Devon made weight, and as such do not
have to weigh in under 275 ever again. Shortly afterward, Devine
returned to competing for the X-Division Title, his association
with Team 3D being quietly phased out for a time, though it would
soon return. As this went on, 3D, meanwhile, became part of several
loose collectives of self-identified "bad guys" and "scumbags",
aligning them at some point or another with almost every important
villain on the TNA roster, including but not limited to
Booker T and
Kurt
Angle. They would begin a feud with
Christian Cage,
Rhino
and
A.J. Styles attacking them on several occasions.
Their feud ended at
Hard Justice
with Cage and Rhino defeating them in a "New Jersey Street Fight".
They then began a feud with the team of "The Monster" Abyss and
Matt Morgan, both teams
competed at
No Surrender with
Abyss and Morgan picking up the victory. Team 3D turned
face when they joined the TNA Frontline after appearing
to join the
Main Event Mafia,
double crossing them and jumping them along with Frontline leaders
Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and Rhino. They also attempted to put former
close ally Kurt Angle through a table. At Final Resolution in
December Team 3D along with Styles and Joe lost to the Main Event
Mafia in an eight man tag team match.
After Against All Odds 2009 Team 3D began a feud with
Beer Money, Inc. James Storm and
Robert
Roode over the
TNA
World Tag Team Championship. They faced each other in an Off
the wagon challenge match (where if 3D lost then the person who
lost is
kayfabe fired). Beer Money lost by
countout. On April 19, 2009, at
Lockdown,
IWGP Tag Team Champions Team 3D
defeated Beer Money, Inc. to win the TNA World Tag Team
Championships in a match where both titles were on the line. This
made Team 3D World Tag Team Champions for the 22nd time. On June
21, 2009, at
Slammiversary,
Beer Money, Inc. defeated Team 3D to become three-time TNA World
Tag Team Champions after outside interference from
The British
Invasion of
Brutus Magnus,
Doug Williams and
Rob Terry. Soon after, 3D then reignited their
feud with the Main Event Mafia from late 2008 by becoming number 1
contenders to face
Booker T and Scott
Steiner for the TNA Tag Team Championships.
After a failed attempt at the titles, they started a long feud with
The British Invasion and other members of World Elite. Team 3D was
attacked by World Elite on multiple occasions, until (now faces)
Beer Money Inc. intervened.Since then a partnership has happened
between Beer Money Inc. and Team 3D.
On October 18, 2009, at
Bound for
Glory, Team 3D captured their 23rd tag team championship when
they defeated Beer Money, British Invasion, and The Main Event
Mafia's Scott Steiner and Booker T in a
Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match. With both the IWGP and TNA
Tag tiles on the line, they captured the IWGP titles which were
formerly held by The British Invasion. The British Invasion would
then win the TNA tag championships moments later, which were held
by Scott Steiner and Booker T. During the following weeks Team 3D
turned heel and aligned themselves with Rhino in a battle against
the younger talent of the company. On the November 19 edition of
Impact! Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and
Sports Entertainment graduate
Jesse Neal
joined Team 3D and Rhino.
Japan and independents
Aside from TNA, Team 3D has also participated in many
All Japan Pro Wrestling and
Hustle's shows after their
WWE release. Team 3D held an unbeaten streak in All Japan, where
they won All Japan's
Real World Tag League in
2005. Team 3D has also won HUSTLE's
tag title in 2006, which
they still hold. Team 3D also appeared in the
Pro Wrestling Alliance June show,
defeating
Booker T and Dawg in the
main event. Team 3D has also participated in two of the
January 4 Dome Show PPV events for
New Japan Pro Wrestling.
In
2008, they won a hardcore match against
Togi Makabe and Toru Yano.
The
following year, Team 3D were booked to face Makabe and Yano, at
that time the
IWGP Tag Team
Champions, and the team of
Satoshi
Kojima and
Hiroyoshi Tenzan in
a three-way match for the Tag Team title, later with a Hardcore
rules stipulation added. However, days before the event, the team
of Kojima and Tenzan withdrew due to Tenzan sustaining a serious
eye injury which required an operation. Team 3D won the resulting
tag match against Makabe and Yano to win the IWGP Tag Team
Championship, thus making them 22-time tag-team champions. On the
July 30 edition of
TNA Impact! The British Invasion of
Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams defeated Team 3D in a tables match
to win the tag titles. Team 3D would later regain the IWGP titles
on October 18, 2009 at TNA Bound For Glory by defeating Beer Money,
Booker T/Scott Steiner, and the British Invasion to capture their
23rd Tag Team Championship.
In wrestling
Championship and accomplishments
See also
Notes
- Peterson Kaelberer, Angie. The Hardy Boyz: Pro Wrestlers
Matt and Jeff Hardy, p.29.
- Peterson Kaelberer, Angie. The Hardy Boyz: Pro Wrestlers
Matt and Jeff Hardy, p.28.
- http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/1564/84/
-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_4_Dome_Show#Wrestle_Kingdom_II_in_Tokyo_Dome
- Strong Style Spirit » Blog Archive » Tenzan seriously
injured; TenKoji off 1/4
References
External links