The Dudley Dilemma

[Lee]

PWI MOTY 2000 & 2001 went to six men, six men who are pillars of the modern tag team era; E&C, The Hardyz and the Dudley Boyz.

Three sets of kayfabe brothers and all six men have had attempts at being single stars, four succeeded, two did not...

Edge- 9 Time world champion, US champ, 5 time Intercontinental champion, KOTR winner, Money in the bank winner

Christian- 2 Time NWA champion, ECW champion, Hardcore, European, Lightheavyweight champion and a 3 time Intercontinental champion

Matt- ECW Champion, European, Hardcore, Cruiserweight, US Champion.

Jeff- 2 time World champion, European, 3 time Hardcore, 4 time IC, 1 time Lightheavyweight

So between them that is (assuming ECW is a worldheavyweight);
15 World Heavyweights
14 Midcard titles
8 lower midcard titles
3 Cruiser/lightweight titles

So lets take the other team. Bubba ray held the Hardcore title 11 times. What is important to note is this was under 24/7 rule, the other teams reign was before this.

Both men had chances at being singles stars, heck D'Von brought Batista to the world.

So the question I ask you is....why were Matt, Jeff, Edge & Christian successul as single stars, but Bubba ray & D'von not?

 

[D-Man]

Quite frankly, because they suck on their own. Each can wrestle, but they both share a brain when it comes to personality. They are total reflections of each other, kind of like Siamese twins... they finish each other's sentences, they need to be combined to make a complete thought, and their movesets are completely dependant on each other. You can CLEARLY see a difference in each of them when their other half is not around.

Edge and Christian were always seperate entities. Together, they were incredible, as well, but they're both better off as singles competitors.

The Hardy Boys are a complete surprise to me... I honestly never thought they could be considered anything of importance if they wrestled as singles. That is, until I saw their WWE Home Videos. Then, I was able to see that Matt was clearly someone who wanted to branch off as a singles competitor from day one. Jeff, on the other hand, is a loose cannon. But, he was always the breakout star in terms of popularity. Jeff was a HUGE part of the tag team's success.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Dudleys, but I can't dispute their success. They are a tremendous tag team. But that's all they will ever be and all they were ever meant to be.

 

[Father:_Polley]

The fact is that the Dudleys aren't exactly built to impress. Look at Edge, Christian, Matt and Jeff... you'll see four men who are in very good physical condition, who are able to put on an athletic match and entertain.

Now the Dudleys aren't exactly in bad shape. D-von's got a pretty good build on him. But both guys are a little more built for comfort, rather than speed. They're not in the shape that they could fly around the ring and entertain. They wrestle a slow style and this style was only really used in ECW, where time to recover from weapon shots gave the Dudleys time. The modern wrestler isn't Ric Flair or Dusty Rhodes, they don't get the rest spots they used to because we expect more from them athletically.

Summary - The Dudleys 30 years ago would have been great because the expectations were for the slow power game that allowed the Rhodes', the DiBiase's of the world to succeed. But not today. If they can't fly, can't use power and speed to their advantage, they're just a boring singles guy that doesn't lend itself to being a star

 

[Raw Power]

The Dudley's, first and foremost, don't have the look of successful individual superstars - they were quite a bit older than the Hardyz and E&C when they split, and I'm guessing the odler they are the harder it is to establish separate identities, when people have got so used to them as a pair for so long. Also, people could distinguish between the other team members, even when they were in teams...whereas the main thing that distinguishes the Dudleys is one of them is white and one of them is black. True story,

 

[klunderbunker]

The Dudleys were ultimately the jobbers in those matches. They were there beause they were big and violent, not because they were the best wrestlers in the world. However, there's one other huge reason: they're a career tag team. Such a thing is so rare in modern wrestling that it's almost a forgotten concept. Most of the time a team will have a breakout star. In the Dudleyz case, they've never split up to have a breakout star, although i did enjoy Bubba's singles run and thought he could have taken it somewhere if given a chance. The problem is that the Dudleys aren't tyhat good on their own, but together they rock. Edge and Christian and the Hardys both work well together but they can work well on their own too. I hate to say it, but it might be that the Dudleyz just aren't as talented.

 

[Raw Power]

Also the fact that their characters are essentially morons who like tables - the Hardyz also have bland characters but have the advantage of youth/good looks/athleticism which the Dudleys lack.