When it comes to Bully Ray and Devon these days, you cannot know what they are planning or where they will go. Both Devon and Bully Ray were in TNA Wrestling recently, and were inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in Japan before TNA’s annual PPV, Bound for Glory. We know that Bully Ray was really only signed on per appearance, and Devon’s deal ended at the Bound for Glory show. However, both men are done with TNA as of now.
The main reason is that TNA is not signing anyone to a long-term deal until they get a new TV deal. Even if they do, both men seem to be done with the company. During their Hall of Fame speech, they called out New Japan Wrestling’s Bullet Club faction. This is significant on more than one level. The first is that TNA partnered with Wrestle-1 for Bound for Glory. Wrestle-1 is a Japanese promotion, and by talking about another Japanese promotion, it was disrespectful to the entire organization.
The other reason is that former TNA stars AJ Styles and Jeff Jarrett have partnered with NJPW and have been in the Bullet Club. The Club was led by Prince Devitt, who recently signed with WWE, but Styles appeared to be the new leader for a while. It appears that Team 3D went rogue and wanted to make their own business at the event. TNA ended up cutting this part out of the Hall of Fame speech.
It seems obvious that the two will try to get in with NJPW and wrestle for them once again. The two love Japan, and clearly they have had success there in the past. However, both men are in talks with WWE about a return as well. Known as the Dudley Boyz in WWE, the two dominated while in their tag division. In fact, due to their wild success in WWE, they became household names. Without WWE, we may never know who these two are. It was there that they were put on the map.
Along with Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boyz, the Dudleys revolutionized tag team matches with their Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. The Dudleys would go on to do several tables matches, and were even known to get physical as singles performers.
People forget that Bubba Ray was a 10-time WWE Hardcore Champion. Devon worked in singles for a bit, but didn’t hold any singles gold. He did help to introduce us to the man we now know as Batista. Dave was Devon’s “deacon” for a while, before the character sort of dropped and Batista jumped to RAW and ended up joining Evolution.
Both teamed back up eventually, and they ended up capturing more gold before being let go by WWE in 2005. Later that year, the two joined TNA Wrestling. WWE felt that the two were not working well, and believed they were done as a top tag team. This lit a major fire under their tails, and for the last 10 years, they have been proving WWE wrong. Both men have stated that they’d love to be back in WWE. Even when he was TNA World Champion, Bully Ray told reporters if Vince McMahon or the WWE called, asking him to come back, he’d be back.
That being said, it is no shock that the two are now in confirmed talks with WWE. It does seem WWE could use them. WWE’s tag division, which Triple H has tried to improve, has not been working as well as the company would like. The Dudleys being back would seriously improve this. It is doubtful WWE would not want them there to help the younger talent, something both men love doing anyway. We can obviously expect teams to go over on them, but the Dudleys could have one last good run with the tag titles before retiring from full-time work.
The Dudleys could then go to part-time work with WWE and do Legends Deal material as well as random matches in various other promotions. Both men want to be with WWE it appears. We can assume WWE would want them for the multiple reasons listed above. So don’t be surprised if we see them come out to the ring in 2015 at some point.
[IMG Credits: Team3DAcademy.com, wrestlesite.com]