Why Did The Dudley Boyz Leave WWE?

The Dudley Boyz recently left WWE, and many fans are wondering why. We take a look at some of the possible reasons for their departure.

The Dudley Boyz Leave WWE

The Dudley Boyz have left WWE after not being used on television for a while. The Dudley Boyz were one of the most popular tag teams in WWE history and are known for their hardcore style. It is unknown why WWE decided to not use them on television, but it is speculated that WWE wanted to go in a different direction.

WWE releases The Dudley Boyz

On August 8, 2005, WWE announced that The Dudley Boyz had been released from their contracts. The releases were a part of several cost cutting moves by WWE. The Dudley Boyz debuted in ECW in 1995 and quickly became one of the most popular tag teams in professional wrestling. They won the ECW World Tag Team Championship a record eight times and also won the WWF/WWE Tag Team Championship three times. They are widely considered one of the greatest tag teams in professional wrestling history.

The Dudley Boyz sign with TNA

On August 15, 2005, The Dudley Boyz signed a contract with the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). They made their debuts for the company at Unbreakable on September 11. The following month at Bound for Glory, Team 3D defeated America’s Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) in a tables match to become the inaugural TNA World Tag Team Champions. They lost the titles to A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels on November 16 at Turning Point. At Final Resolution on January 15, 2006, The Dudley Boyz took part in the first ever Full Metal Mayhem match against America’s Most Wanted and Team 3D, which Team 3D won after putting Gail Kim through a table using Dudley Death Drop. At Against All Odds on February 12, they regained the World Tag Team Championships from Styles and Daniels after interference from Rhino.

Why Did The Dudley Boyz Leave WWE?

The Dudley Boyz are a professional wrestling tag team who are currently signed to WWE and perform on the Raw brand. The team consisted of Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley, who were both previously employed by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The Dudley Boyz are the only team to have held the WWE, WCW, TNA, and ECW Tag Team Championships in their careers. They are also the only team to have held the WWE Tag Team, WCW Tag Team, and TNA World Tag Team Championships simultaneously.

creative differences

In late 2005, the Dudley Boyz were moved to the newly created ECW brand as part of the WWE draft lottery. The Dudley Boyz then feuded with the Big Show, and Neville. They had a series of matches against each other, which they continued through early 2006. The feud culminated in a Tables match at the Royal Rumble, which Big Show won. Afterwards, the Dudley Boyz turned into fan favorites again by repeatedly putting women through tables.

On the June 13, 2006 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Bubba Ray and D-Von announced that due to “creative differences”, they were no longer employed by WWE effective immediately. It was later reported that their releases were due to not signing new contracts. The Dudley Boyz made their final television appearance on June 20th, in a segment where they put Joey Styles through a table.

money

The Dudley Boyz were one of the most popular tag teams in WWE history, but they left the company in 2005 due to a contract dispute. The duo, made up of Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley, had been with WWE since 1999 and were unhappy with their paychecks.

“We were underpaid for years,” Bubba Ray said in an interview with ESPN. “It got to a point where we said enough is enough.”

The Dudley Boyz requested a meeting with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to try and negotiate a better deal, but their requests fell on deaf ears. So, the duo decided to leave WWE and join the upstart promotion Total Nonstop Action (TNA).

In TNA, the Dudley Boyz found success once again, winning the tag team titles multiple times. They also found something that they couldn’t get in WWE: respect.

“In TNA, we finally felt like we were appreciated,” D-Von said. “They gave us a chance to be ourselves and be creative.”

The Dudley Boyz returned to WWE in 2015 as part of the company’s “Old School” Raw special. They haven’t been used regularly since then, but they still make occasional appearances on WWE programming.

WWE’s treatment of tag teams

In recent years, WWE has been plagued by a disturbing trend: the company does not know how to properly utilize tag teams. More often than not, tag teams are used as nothing more than enhancement talent, losing match after match until they are eventually split up or forgotten altogether. Even when WWE does try to push a tag team, they often fail to capitalize on the potential and the team fizzles out soon after.

This was the case with The Dudley Boyz, who were drafted to WWE’s Smackdown brand in 2015. Despite being one of the most decorated tag teams in wrestling history, The Dudley Boyz were used sparingly on TV and were never given a real chance to shine. After their contract expires in 2017, The Dudley Boyz decided not to renew it and left WWE for good.

While it’s impossible to say for certain why WWE doesn’t seem to understand how to properly utilize tag teams, there are a few theories. One is that WWE sees tag team wrestling as inferior to singles competition, which is why so many tag teams are broken up or relegated to comedy roles. Another theory is that WWE simply doesn’t see the value in investing in multiple wrestlers at once when they could just focus on one wrestler at a time.

Whatever the reason, WWE’s treatment of tag teams is a major problem that needs to be addressed. Tag team wrestling can be just as exciting and entertaining as singles competition, but only if WWE is willing to give tag teams the time and attention they deserve.