DVD Review: Straight Outta Dudleyville – The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Part 1

Certificate: 15
Running Time: 7hrs 00mins (420mins)
Discs: 3

Disc 1

• Brooklyn – A Well Kept Secret
• Right Down The Block
• Pagliaccio
• Early Inspiration
• Similar Goals
• “So What Do You Want to Learn?”
• Following The Dream
• Brooklyn – Two Home Towns
• “What Is This Crap?”
• A Fatter Nasty Boy
• Welcome to Dudleyville
• Dance, Buh Buh, Dance!
• Testify
• Sibling Rivalry
• The Real Dudley Boyz
• Old School Heat
• Top of the Food Chain
• Brooklyn – Autographs
• Public Enemy #2?
• A Physical Test
• Get The Tables!
• On The Map
• Six Players
• Tables & Ladders & Chairs
• Tearing The House Down
• The Height
• Brooklyn – War Gear
• The Split
• Meant To Be
• The Outside World
• New School Tools, Old School Rules
• Rumbling
• Brooklyn – It’s Time
• The Dudley Boyz Are Back!
• Real Brothers

Disc 2

Stories

• The Ultimate Pillow
• World Uno Champion
• ”My Two Biggest Fears”
• First Impressions
• Little Spike Dudley
• Mae Young
• Broadway Billboard
• Sleepy Rhyno
• Bubba’s Bad Mood

Stories

• Buh Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley v The Pitbulls – ECW Hostile City Showdown • April 20, 1996
• Buh Buh Ray Dudley v D-Von Dudley – ECW November to Remember • November 16, 1996
• Bubba & D-Von Reflect on November to Remember
• D-Von Dudley v Tommy Dreamer – RAW • February 24, 1997
• ECW Tag Team Championship Match: The Dudley Boyz v The Eliminators – ECW Barely Legal • April 13, 1997
• Bubba & D-Von Reflect on Barely Legal
• Dudleyville Street Fight: Buh Buh, D-Von & Big Dick Dudley v Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman & Spike Dudley – ECW Heatwave • August 2, 1998
• ECW Tag Team Championship Match: The Dudley Boyz v Tommy Dreamer & Raven – ECW on TNN • September 3, 1999
• The Dudleys’ (Post Show) ECW Farewell – ECW on TNN • September 3, 1999
• The Dudley Boyz v The Acolytes – Unforgiven • September 26, 1999
• Tag Team Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz v The Hardy Boyz – Royal Rumble • January 23, 2000
• WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Dudley Boyz v The New Age Outlaws – No Way Out • February 27, 2000
• TLC Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: The Dudley Boyz v The Hardy Boyz v Edge & Christian – SummerSlam • August 27, 2000
• Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz v The Rock & The Undertaker – Smackdown! • September 14, 2000

Disc 3

• WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Dudley Boyz v Edge & Christian – Royal Rumble • January 21, 2001
• TLC II for the WWE Tag Team Championship: The Dudley Boyz v The Hardy Boyz vs Edge & Christian – WrestleMania X-Seven • April 1, 2001
• Bubba & D-Von Reflect on WrestleMania X-Seven
• WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Dudley Boyz v The Rock & Kurt Angle – SmackDown! • September 27, 2001
• WCW Tag Team Championship Match: The Dudley Boyz v The Hardy Boyz – SmackDown! • October 25, 2001
• Steel Cage Match to Unify the WWE & WCW Tag Team Championships: The Dudley Boyz v The Hardy Boyz – Survivor Series • November 12, 2001
• Bubba & D-Von Reflect on Survivor Series
• Brother D-Von v Triple H – SmackDown! • May 9, 2002
• Bubba Ray Dudley v Brock Lesnar – RAW • May 27, 2002
• World Heavyweight Championship Match: Bubba Ray Dudley v Triple H – RAW • September 30, 2002
• Bubba & D-Von Reflect on Triple H
• The Dudley Boyz v Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam – Judgment Day • May 16, 2004
• The Dudley Boyz v Tommy Dreamer & Sandman – ECW One Night Stand • June 12, 2005
• Bubba & D-Von Reflect on One Night Stand
• WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day v Dudley Boyz – Night of Champions • September 20, 2015

THREEEEEEEEEEE-DEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Who doesn’t get a kick out of an entire arena chanting that two-syllable pre-empter of the greatest tag-team finish in wrestling history?

Coinciding with the return of one of the greatest tag-teams even to compete in a ring, this set takes the standard format of these profile releases (where did they grow up, how was their childhood, how did they get into wrestling, etc, etc, etc?) and frames it around their surprise return to WWE the night after SummerSlam.

Bubba and D-Von, ensconced in a trailer backstage (replete with a big “NO ACCESS AFTER 4PM” sign on the door) discuss their history and what it means to return, with TNA getting what I believe is their third official mention on a WWE product (the Sting DVD name-checks the promotion as does JBL during his Network-exclusive interview with Road Dogg).

The conceit works brilliantly and pays off nicely with the team leaving as New Day cut their in-ring promo, so you get to see the workers backstage be genuinely surprised that THE DUDLEY BOYS are there with them. It’s rare that a secret can be kept in top-level pro-wrestling these days, so kudos to WWE for this (and Shane McMahon’s return more recently).

As is standard, the documentary has a number of talking heads from both their ECW days and their initial run in WWE, although no-one currently contracted to TNA (i.e. Matt & Jeff Hardy) appears. Sign Guy Dudley and Spike Dudley look healthy, although Joel Gertner (who was a HUGE part of their ECW success) is a glaring omission.

Overview

The documentary is fantastic, although at just over 1hr, ridiculously short for a team who has been together for the best part of two full decades and have held more recognised world tag-team championships than any other combination. However, as this is labelled as part one, you have to imagine there will be more to follow.

With regards to the matches, as you’d expect, the WWE section heavily features The Hardys and Edge & Christian. This is in no way a bad thing however, as the matches under various combinations were always very good at their worst. ECW has a mixed-bag of content, with the inclusion of the Barely Legal match being a puzzler as it was pretty much a glorified squash where the half-brothers got in virtually no offence. The lack of New Jack isn’t surprising (even if he wasn’t as violent, getting around his music playing throughout the matches would be a licensing nightmare), but no Balls Mahoney is a shame. On the flip side of that, the footage of the pre-Crisis version of the Dudleys before D-Von showed up was a nice surprise.

For the record, there is also literally no mention of any of the incidents were they beat up female talent, so no “We broke Beulah’s neck” or powerbombing Trish, Lita or Mae through the table.

The other tag matches are all good and the singles matches a novelty for those who haven’t followed their time in TNA.

All in all, this a great addition to the collection and another triumph for WWE’s profile documentary division.

If you buy the Blu-Ray version, you get the following additional content -:

Blu-ray Exclusive

• Tag Team Tables Match: The Dudley Boyz v Test & Albert v Edge & Christian – Rebellion • December 2, 2000
• Handicap Tables Match for the World Tag Team Championship: The Dudley Boyz v La Resistance & Rob Conway – Unforgiven • September 21, 2003
• The Dudley Boyz Come Back to WWE – RAW • August 24, 2015
• The Dudley Boyz v The Ascension – SmackDown • August 27, 2015
• Extreme Rules 8-Man Tag Team Match: The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer & Rhyno v The Wyatt Family – RAW • December 14, 20155

Points: 9/10