For a six-year period from 1999-2005, the Dudley Boyz were among the most entertaining performers in WWE. The brothers, D-Von and Bubba Ray, took part in some of the most important/entertaining matches in the promotion's history, from tables matches, to ladders matches, and even the infamous TLC Match, and through it all, the duo consistently went over among fans who loved their quirky style, winning the World Tag Team Championship eight times, the RAW Tag Team Championship once, and the ECW World Tag Team Championship eight times, which technically happened before they joined Vince McMahon's company but is now within the company's canon.
Though the Dudleys continued to perform outside of The Fed, with an expansive run in TNA that lasted longer than their times in WWE and in ECW and even a few appearances on the indies, in the end, when Mr. McMahon's Hall of Fame came calling, the sons of “Big Daddy” Dudley accepted their induction and became two-time HoFers thanks to their place in Impact's hall.
Since then, the duo have largely gone their separate ways, with Bubba Ray, now known as Bully Ray, working for Busted Open Radio and making appearances for companies all over the world, from Ring of Honor to NWA, and even the Bunkhouse Battle Royal during the preshow of Ric Flair's Last Match. And as for D-Von? Well, he's been working in NXT as a producer.
D-Von Dudley details his run back in WWE as an NXT producer.
Appearing on the Two Man Power Trip podcast with John Poz, Dudley as asked how things are going in NXT and how it feels to be working for his former co-worker, Paul “Triple H” Levesque as a WWE producer. Considering Dudley spoke for the better part of an hour, it's safe to say he held little back on the subject, as transcribed by Fightful.
“Busy,” Dudley replied with a laugh. “With this new regime, with Triple H and Stephanie (McMahon), which I'm extremely happy about. I think everything is happy. Just for the simple fact that, we're all happy with what Vince (McMahon) did for 50 years plus, but sometimes, with every company and new whatever it is, it's always good for fresh and new ideas. Triple H brings that. We're not discounting what Vince did for the past 50 years. Sometimes, you need a little change and I'm happy about that. With all that going on right now, the responsibility for me has picked up a little bit and I'm happy about that because I get to do my ideas and me and Hunter have a good relationship. Him and Stephanie both, when I had my stroke two years ago, Stephanie left me a message on my answering machine telling me, ‘I heard you're doing well and everything is good, but I want to make sure you're doing great. I want to hear it out of your mouth and not anybody else's.' Of course, I heard that message and it made me feel a little special. Just for the simple fact that she and Hunter didn't have to do that, but they were very concerned about me. You could say, am I a Hunter guy? Yes. Am I a Vince McMahon guy? Yes. Am I Paul Heyman guy? Yeah. All those guys have done well with me, which is why I love working for WWE.”
“I'm with NXT right now,” Dudley continued. “I'm a coach, behind the scenes, I'm also a producer and help put the matches together and things like that. I have a few titles, coach, producer, I'll think of the third one later. I'm just having fun, working with the younger talent and helping them to carry on the legacy of pro wrestling. You have myself, Terry Taylor, Fit Finlay, Robbie Brookside, Norman Smiley, and a lot of other guys that have moved up from talent to producer. Shawn Michaels, of course, and Matt Bloom. We're having a good time and getting these kids to where they have to be. I hope they don't go anywhere anytime soon because I'm just starting to get to know everyone. When I was on the main roster producing, I didn't have the opportunity to watch NXT because Vince had us so busy, we had emails coming in all the time about the shows, feedback, we never really have a chance to watch NXT. When you work as much as we did on the main roster, when you get home, you don't want watch wrestling anymore. You want to go and be with your family and do what you have to do. You can't live this business 24/7 like we did when we were wrestling, it's no fun. I never got a chance to watch NXT, but I'm proud and happy to be part of this group. I've had a great time. I never thought I would have so much fun coaching and producing NXT.”
Well, there you go, the next time you see an NXT tag team like Pretty Deadly or the Creed Brothers pull off a “Dudley Death Drop,” you can safely assume that D-Von helped to produce the match.
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