Bay Ragni (born April 25, 1970) is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and promoter. He is best known for his appearances with

Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

from 1995 to 1996 under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Chubby Dudley, one of

the Dudley Brothers The Dudley Brothers were a professional wrestling stable active in Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1999. The gimmick of the group was that, despite their obvious differences in physical appearance and race, the members were all s ...

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (1991–1992)

Ragni was trained to wrestle by

Larry Winters Larry Winters (April 14, 1956 – January 27, 2015) was an American professional wrestler and trainer who competed in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and East Coast independent circuit during the 1980s and 90s. He has wrestled in the American Wrestl ...

. He debuted on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

in 1991.

Eastern Championship Wrestling (1992–1993)

In late 1992, Ragni joined the

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based promotion

Eastern Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

, where he adopted the ring name "E.Z. Ryder" and formed a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

known as "The Hell Riders" with H.D. Ryder. On the inaugural episode of ''

ECW Hardcore TV ''ECW Hardcore TV'' is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by the Philadelphia based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) composed of footage from live shows and recorded interviews. It ran in syndi ...

'' (airing April 3, 1993 on SportsChannel Philadelphia), The Hell Riders unsuccessfully challenged

The Super Destroyers The Super Destroyers is a professional wrestling Tag team consisting of Doug Stahl and A. J. Petrucci. They both currently perform on Independent circuit and they are best known for their stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling, NWA Eastern Cha ...

for the

ECW Tag Team Championship The ECW World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestli ...

. Ragni left ECW in late 1993.

Independent circuit (1993–1995)

After leaving ECW, Ragni briefly toured the

Mid-Atlantic states The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virg ...

before joining the

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 31,454. The University of Delaware is ...

-based

East Coast Wrestling Association East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 1967 by promoter Jim Kettner. It is home to the annual Super 8 Tournament, one of the longest-running independent wrestling tournaments in the co ...

, where he wrestled as "Hell Rider".

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995–1996)

In mid-1995, Ragni returned to Eastern Championship Wrestling, which had been renamed

in 1994. He was given the gimmick of "Chubby Dudley", an

obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

, slobbish member of the

Dudley family Dudley is an English language, English toponymic surname associated with the town of Dudley in West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Notable people with the surname include: * Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick (c. 1530 – 1590), Englis ...

. Ragni rarely wrestled, but would accompany his storyline half-brothers to ringside, normally while holding a

cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

, Crunchberries or other snack. If the other members of the Dudley family were incapacitated, Ragni would flee from ringside. At "

Massacre on Queens Boulevard Massacre on Queens Boulevard (sometimes written as Massacre on Queens Blvd) was a professional wrestling live event A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling ...

" on April 13, 1996,

D-Von Dudley Devon Hughes ( ; born August 1, 1972) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, under a legends contract. He is best known for performing in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1999 a ...

made his debut, angrily proclaiming that the Dudley's comedic antics were not the way "true Dudleys" should conduct themselves. At

Heat Wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...

on July 13, 1996, D-Von attacked

Dances with Dudley Adolfo Bermudez is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1995 to 1996 as a member of the Dudley family under the ring name Dances with Dudley (sometimes abbreviated to D.W. D ...

, Chubby Dudley and Sign Guy Dudley with a

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

and delivered a low blow to Buh Buh Ray before being driven off by

Hack Meyers Donald Haviland (December 7, 1973 – December 5, 2015) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Hack Meyers. He was best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1993 to 1996. Professional wrestling ...

. Ragni left ECW again in mid-1996.

Liberty All-Star Wrestling (1994–2002)

Ragni began promoting in 1994, opening Liberty All-Star Wrestling (LAW) along with "Lucky" Larry Reed and Frank "Super Cody" Cody. LAW was based in Chester Heights, with a training academy, Liberty All-Star Wrestling Academy, in Lansdowne. Ragni acted as the commissioner of the promotion, occasionally refereed, and wrestled matches. The promotion closed in May 2002.

Other Media

In 2022 Ragni started a YouTube channel called React & Chill with Chubby Dudley. The channel features Ragni reacting to full ECW episodes and interviews with other fellow ECW alumni. The channel currently has over 600 subscribers.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Chubby 1970 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Philadelphia Professional wrestling promoters Dudley Brothers members 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century American professional wrestlers