'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
It all started in ECW in 1995 with The Dudley Family. The original three members debuted at Hardcore Heaven on July 1, 1995. The Dudley Family were Dudley Dudley (the only one of the brothers with a Dudley for a mother), Big Dick Dudley (the enforcer of the group), and Snot Dudley (the underdog of the group who would pick his nose during matches. Gross).
During that first year, Snot Dudley would suffer a career-ending injury before the rest of the family members could join. As a result of the accident, he was replaced on September 17, 1995, on an ECW Hardcore TV episode by Dances with Dudley, who was said to be the child of Big Daddy Dudley and a Cheyenne Native American woman. Before 1995 was over, Chubby Dudley, Sign-Guy Dudley, and Buh Buh Ray Dudley would join the family in October. D-Von Dudley and Spike Dudley would debut in 1996 and would be the last of The Dudley Family.
In this exclusive interview with SK Wrestling's Lee Walker, Sign Guy Dudley (who never spoke but would hold signs up) discusses the plans for The Dudley Family and The Dudley Family being part of Raven's Nest in ECW.
Lee: Originally, you were a plant in the audience sitting with notorious ECW fans like the hat guys or the original sign guy, who was in the audience as a way to build the Dudley storyline. Was there a particular way the storyline was supposed to go?
"I think we were going to continue to expand The Dudley Boyz because there was quite an extensive list of ideas that Tommy (Dreamer), Taz, and Raven (had). I mean, Raven came up with the gimmick. People will argue that, but Raven came up with me for sure. He had the whole Hanson Brothers idea."
"It was going to go a little further, but things kind of change in wrestling as they do where once they brought D-Von in. Buh Buh being a babyface and D-Von a heel, but you start seeing the chemistry in their matches against each other. It only made sense to put them together."
"I think when they finally turned Buh Buh heel, and myself, that was the night at the arena, from what I understand, the final straw per-say that they didn't know what they were going to do with the gimmick. Buh Buh and D-Von were fantastic together, but the fans in Philadelphia, but it's tough. That's the ultimate place you get judged, and we had our moments but (were) having some trouble."
"I'd say the one night it changed when Buh Buh hit his first Buh Buh Cutter, and I remember people just going nuts and looking at him very differently after that. Then he (Buh Buh Ray Dudley) and D-Von started tearing it up, but to answer your question, yeah, there was more. Some of the guys were going to become Dudley's, and some weren't in ECW at the time."
"I think with Paul's booking, and he saw it a little differently. We were going the course we were supposed to be going to, but turning myself and Buh Buh heel, putting Buh Buh and D-Von together and keeping Spike as the face was the way to go."
"There was so much unexplored with Buh Buh, and I remember his conversations with Paul pretty well where Buh Buh was like, "I can talk. I can rip these guys apart."
"He always said he was a natural heel, and I never saw him like that because he and I were instant friends because of the same taste in music, but I did see it in other areas, so it made sense, and that's where it went."
Lee: Who had the idea of putting The Dudleys as part of Raven's Nest?
"Raven. Raven had a lot of creative control. I think mainly because his ideas were just fantastic. Stevie (Richards) the lacky, Beulah from camp. I'm sure Tommy (Dreamer) is involved in there too, but that put the misfits together, and Raven kept the misfits going after The Dudley's got out of that. Lucas was there with the love doll. There was a lot that happened, but that was Raven's idea, and then it just branched off. It was pretty early, I didn't work with Raven until the end when I was Lou E. Dangerously."
You can watch the video interview with Sign Guy Dudley below. Be sure to check back with SK Wrestling for part II of this exclusive conversation very soon.
