Bubba Ray Talks About Which Teams Influenced The Dudley Boyz, NXT And More

Bubbay Ray Dudley recently spoke to IGN about The Dudley Boyz returning to WWE and more. During he interview he talked a little bit about what made him and D-Von want to get into tag team wrestling in the first place.

“I think as the years have gone on more and more, guys want to become the next “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the next Rock, the next John Cena, or the next Randy Orton. Because they come at everything from an individualistic point of view. I don’t think many wrestlers in the past 20 years have gotten together saying ‘We want to be the next Road Warriors.’ That’s what me and D-Von wanted to do. We knew from day one that we wanted to be involved in a team that would be successful.”

He went on to talk about their favorite teams and which ones were most influential to The Dudley Boyz.

“There are so many of them,” he said. “Road Warriors, of course. There’s Arn and Tully, Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, Midnight Express, British Bulldogs, Freebirds, Hart Foundation, and Demolition. There are so many great tag teams that I grew up watching. And then in the late-70s there was Garea and Martel along with Fuji and Saito. Those were the guys who really influenced me.”

Bubba also had a lot of praise for NXT.

“There’s not one bad thing to say about NXT,” Bubba shared. “There’s no negative down there. Yes, it’s a developmental system that’s meant to mold up-and-coming talent, but it’s also become its own promotion. That’s the best of both worlds. It’s great for rising wrestlers who are just getting their first taste of the business and it’s also great for guys like a Samoa Joe or a James Storm because it’s another place for wrestlers to go and work. Joe’s been doing great there and I’m sure Storm will be amazing. And it seems like wrestling fans all over the world are really hot about NXT. It works on all levels.”