Bubba Ray Dudley

Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971), known by his ring name Bubba Ray Dudley (also spelled Buh-Buh Ray Dudley), is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for being one-half of the Dudley Boyz tag team (also known as Team 3D) with D-Von Dudley, during his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and WWE.

Debuting in 1991, LoMonaco came to prominence when he joined ECW as a member of the Dudley Brothers in 1995, going by the ring name Bubba Ray Dudley. He formed a tag team with Devon Hughes (known as D-Von Dudley) called the Dudley Boyz, who became eight-time ECW World Tag Team Champions. In 1999, they moved to the WWF (now WWE) and became eight-time World Tag Team Champions, as well as one-time WWE Tag Team Champions and WCW World Tag Team Champions. An accomplished tag team wrestler, LoMonaco is considered one-half of one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era. He also held the WWE Hardcore Championship eight times before leaving in 2005. Alongside Hughes, LoMonaco joined Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) later that year, changed their team name to Team 3D, in addition to changing his ring name to Brother Ray, and became one-time NWA World Tag Team Champions and two-time TNA World Tag Team Champions. After the team disbanded in 2010, LoMonaco competed as a singles wrestler under the name Bully Ray and went on to hold the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice. He left TNA in 2015, and returned to WWE with Hughes as The Dudley Boyz for two years, before joining Ring of Honor (ROH), until 2020. He then worked for National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), returned to TNA (known at the time as Impact Wrestling), before making a second return to WWE, where he appears as a coach for ''WWE LFG''.

LoMonaco has headlined several pay-per-view events, including the 2013 edition of TNA's flagship annual event, Bound for Glory. In addition to twenty three tag team championships won between ECW, WWE, TNA and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), LoMonaco has won thirty six titles between ECW, WWE, TNA and NJPW factoring in the aforementioned tag team championships, eight WWE Hardcore Championships, two TNA World Championships, and one ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (held with the Briscoe Brothers). LoMonaco was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2014 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 as part of Team 3D and The Dudley Boyz respectively.

Early life

Mark LoMonaco was born in the Queens borough of New York City on July 14, 1971. He moved to Dix Hills, New York, in his youth and graduated from Half Hollow Hills East High School, where he was a member of the track and football team.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1991–1995)

LoMonaco trained under Johnny Rodz, and debuted in 1991. He used the ring name Mongo Vyle with the gimmick of a biker billed from Hell's Kitchen who was inspired by The Nasty Boys, The Road Warriors, and Maxx Payne.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995–1999)

LoMonaco received a tryout with Extreme Championship Wrestling in September 1995, appearing as Mongo, the bodyguard of Bill Alfonso. After impressing ECW owner Paul Heyman by taking a chokeslam from wrestler 911, LoMonaco was hired. He was recast as Buh Buh Ray Dudley, the stuttering, dancing, overweight, hillbilly member of the sprawling Dudley family. The unusual spelling of " Bubba" was a result of his stutter. In saying his name, Buh-Buh would stutter, causing him to say "my name is Buh-buh-buh-buh" until Big Dick Dudley struck him in the chest, at which point he would shout "my name is Bubba Ray Dudley". The fans embraced the comical Dudley boys and during Buh Buh's matches would chant "Buh Buh Buh Buh". The spelling eventually stuck.

On April 13, 1996, at Massacre on Queens Boulevard, D-Von Dudley debuted in ECW and began feuding with the other members of the Dudley Family (his kayfabe half-brothers), claiming that their comedic antics were not the way true Dudleys should act. D-Von eliminated Dances With Dudley, Dudley Dudley, and Chubby Dudley before joining forces with Buh Buh Ray, Big Dick, Sign Guy Dudley, and Joel Gertner. Known collectively as the Dudley Boyz, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von dominated the ECW tag team division, winning the ECW World Tag Team Championship a record eight times and defeating the four major tag teams in ECW: The Public Enemy, The Eliminators, The Gangstas, and Sabu and Rob Van Dam. Buh Buh Ray, D-Von, and Gertner all achieved a degree of infamy for their vitriolic interviews, which antagonized audiences to a point of near riot.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1999–2005)

The Dudley Boyz (1999–2002)

In 1999, Buh Buh Ray and D-Von left ECW and joined the World Wrestling Federation, where the "Buh Buh" stutter-spelling of "Bubba Ray Dudley" was rescinded. Throughout 2000 and 2001, the Dudley Boyz engaged in a three-way feud for the WWF Tag Team Championship with The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian. The feud incorporated one Ladder Match and two critically acclaimed Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches, the Ladder at WrestleMania 2000, and the TLC matches at SummerSlam (2000), and WrestleMania X-Seven. While they were initially heels, one of the things Bubba Ray was known for was driving women through tables including WWE Divas Terri, Mae Young, Lita, Trish Stratus, Tori, Torrie Wilson, Stacy Keibler and Jazz. The Dudley Boyz were soon cheered by the crowd and were turned face in early 2000. On the December 28, 2000 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Bubba Ray received a title shot against WWF Champion Kurt Angle, which he lost. In early 2001, The Dudleys were joined in the WWF by Spike Dudley.

In mid-2001, the Dudley Boyz turned heel once again by joining The Alliance, a large stable of former ECW and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestlers led by Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley who attempted to take over the WWF (Spike, along with other ECW alumni, did not join The Alliance). The ECW-WCW invasion ended at the Survivor Series, when five WWF wrestlers defeated five Alliance wrestlers in a match to determine the ownership of the WWF. The Alliance disbanded and its members left the WWF, but the Dudley Boyz retained their jobs due to their possession of the WWF Tag Team Championship, which they had unified with the WCW Tag Team Championship that night.

Hardcore Champion and Dudley Boyz reunion (2002–2005)

Following WrestleMania X8, the WWF was renamed "World Wrestling Entertainment" (WWE) in May 2002 and the roster was divided into two brands: Raw and SmackDown!. The Dudley Boyz were separated when Bubba Ray was drafted to the Raw brand and D-Von was drafted to the SmackDown! brand. On ''Raw'', Bubba Ray found moderate success as he competed for the WWE Hardcore Championship, formed a tag team with Spike, and even competed in a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H. D-Von's new gimmick on ''SmackDown!'' failed to get over, however, and he was reunited with Bubba Ray and Spike at Survivor Series on November 17, when he moved to the Raw brand to help Bubba Ray and Spike defeat Rico and 3-Minute Warning ( Rosey and Jamal) in a Six Man elimination tables match.

The Dudley Boyz became a force to be reckoned with in the Raw tag team division over the next sixteen months, feuding with teams such as 3-Minute Warning, La Résistance, and various combinations of The Un-Americans. They held the World Tag Team Championship several more times before being traded (along with Booker T) to the SmackDown! brand on March 22, 2004, in exchange for Triple H. Shortly after arriving on ''SmackDown!'', the Dudley Boyz turned heel once again, siding with Paul Heyman and feuding with Rob Van Dam and Rey Mysterio. On the May 27 episode of ''SmackDown!'', the Dudley Boyz kidnapped Paul Bearer, the manager of Heyman's enemy The Undertaker. On June 27 at The Great American Bash, The Undertaker defeated the Dudley Boyz in a handicap match. In July, the Dudley Boyz reunited with Spike. For the remainder of the year, they assisted Spike in his matches for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. They also won the WWE Tag Team Championship one more time. In early 2005, the Dudley Boyz were removed from WWE television and sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling while the WWE creative team attempted to devise an angle for them.

The Dudley Boyz returned to WWE television in June 2005 in order to promote ECW One Night Stand, an ECW reunion show. In the weeks preceding ECW One Night Stand they, along with several other ECW alumni, vied with General Manager Eric Bischoff and his "anti- hardcore crusaders". At ECW One Night Stand on June 12, the Dudley Boyz defeated Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in the main event of the night after driving Dreamer through a flaming table. On July 5, 2005, WWE announced that it had opted not to continue contract renewal negotiations with the Dudley Boyz. In addition, fifteen other wrestlers were released by WWE, which was decreasing its spending as a result of a fall in projected revenue. In August 2005, all three former Dudleys were issued with legal notices instructing them not to use the (WWE trademarked) name "Dudley". This led to a degree of acrimony between the former Dudleys and their erstwhile employers, as they had used the names since 1996, several years before all ECW intellectual property was acquired by WWE as a result of bankruptcy proceedings. Soon after, LoMonaco and Hughes (D-Von) announced that they intended to pursue legal action against WWE.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2014; 2015)

Team 3D (2005–2010)

No longer able to use the Bubba Ray Dudley name, LoMonaco adopted (and trademarked) the ring name Brother Ray Deadly, while Hughes became Brother Devon Deadly. The team also trademarked the terms "Deadly Brothers" and "Deadly Death Drop". In August and September 2005, Ray and Devon made several appearances on the independent circuit, most notably Hardcore Homecoming, an unofficial ECW reunion show organized by ECW alumnus Shane Douglas, a frequent critic of WWE and Chairman Vince McMahon. On September 21, 2005, it was announced that they had signed multi-year contracts with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Ray and Devon debuted in TNA on the October 1, 2005 episode of ''TNA Impact!'' – the first episode of ''Impact!'' to be aired on Spike TV and in a prime time slot. They were identified as "Brother Ray" and "Brother Devon" respectively (with the suffix "Deadly" apparently having been dropped) and as Team 3D collectively. Team 3D quickly established themselves as faces by confronting the heel NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett and his allies, the NWA World Tag Team Champions, America's Most Wanted (AMW). Team 3D defeated AMW at pay-per-view events in November and December 2005, but failed to defeat them in a title match at Final Resolution on January 15, 2006, due to the interference of Team Canada. Ray and Devon continued to feud with America's Most Wanted and Team Canada over the following months. On the April 13 episode of ''Impact!'', an attempted ambush by Team Canada was foiled by the debuting Spike Dudley, identified as "Brother Runt". They had many battles with The Latin American Xchange (LAX) until winning the NWA World Tag Team Championship from LAX at Lockdown in an "electrified" steel cage match.

Upon the disintegration of TNA's contract with the NWA, Ray and D-Von were stripped of the NWA Tag Team Championships and awarded the TNA World Tag Team Championship as compensation. They defended these belts against the team of Road Warrior Animal and Rick Steiner at Slammiversary. Following a match on ''Impact!'' to determine opponents, Ray would headline Victory Road alongside his partner in a match of champions encounter against TNA World Champion Kurt Angle and X Division Champion Samoa Joe. At Victory Road, Ray and D-Von lost their match, and the TNA tag titles, to Angle and Joe, though only Joe gained complete control of the titles as he scored the pinfall and could select a partner of his choosing.

The next feud had Team 3D along with the X-Division traitor Johnny Devine against Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) and the entire TNA X Division. Team 3D and Devine lost at Against All Odds 2008 meaning that they have to be under two-hundred seventy-five pounds in order to compete in the X Division. However, the angle was dropped. Brother Ray and Devon aligned themselves with Angle during his feud with A.J. Styles. This led to them feuding with Christian Cage and Rhino as well. At Hard Justice, they lost to Cage and Rhino in a New Jersey Street Fight. They then feuded with Matt Morgan and Abyss, losing to them at No Surrender. At Bound for Glory IV, they participated in a Monster's Ball match for the Tag Team Championship, but came up short. Team 3D appeared to join Main Event Mafia but turned face by double crossing the stable and jumping them along with TNA Front Line leaders Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, and Rhino. They also attempted to put former ally Kurt Angle through a table.

At Lockdown Team 3D won the TNA World Tag Team Championship and retained the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm). At Slammiversary they lost the TNA tag titles to Beer Money, Inc. and on the July 30 episode of ''Impact!'', the IWGP tag titles to The British Invasion of Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams. On October 18, 2009, at Bound for Glory, Team 3D captured their 23rd tag team championship when they defeated Beer Money, British Invasion, and The Main Event Mafia's Scott Steiner and Booker T in a Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match.

With both the IWGP and TNA Tag tiles on the line, they captured the IWGP titles which were formerly held by The British Invasion. During the following weeks Team 3D turned heel and aligned themselves with Rhino in a battle against the younger talent of the company. On the November 19 episode of ''Impact!'', Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment graduate Jesse Neal

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases