10 Cringey Moments From The Dudley Boyz' Careers Fans Should Know

The Dudley Boyz had one of the most important tag runs in wrestling history. Bubba Ray and D-Von won the tag titles of WWE, ECW, WCW, TNA, NJPW and a few other companies. Few teams ever had as long of a run or as relevant of a run. Most legendary duos hit one of those two criteria, but the Dudley Boyz dominated in both fields of consistency and relevance.

RELATED: Every Version Of The Dudleys, Ranked Worst To Best

However, they also had their fair share of odd moments that made the audience cringe. Bubba Ray and D-Von each had many ups and downs as both partners and solo performers. Quite a few overlooked moments show that no one is perfect even with their success. The following moments from the Dudley Boyz were cringey to the average viewer.

10 Being Viewers Of A Tag Match At WrestleMania 19 Pre-Show

WWE came up with a weird storyline of the Dudley Boyz not being allowed to challenge for the World Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 19. The pre-show match on Sunday Night Heat featured Lance Storm and his new partner Chief Morley retaining the titles over Rob Van Dam and Kane.

RELATED: Top 10 Best Dudley Boyz Matches, According To Cagematch.net

Morley’s influence as an authority figure saw the Dudley Boyz unwillingly forced to be at ringside on their behalf. Bubba Ray and D-Von teased costing Morley and Storm the match before helping them win in a strange storytelling twist.

9 Bullying The X-Division In TNA

The Dudley Boyz started off as faces in TNA with the new Team 3D name, but they eventually turned heel when the act grew stale. Team 3D started bullying members of the X-Division due to them typically being smaller wrestlers.

Johnny Devine joined Team 3D to feud with names like Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley and Jay Lethal. The bullying segments felt outdated and made many fans cringe. TNA didn’t get creative enough to make this storyline connect.

8 Turning On Stacy Keibler

WWE added Stacy Keibler to the act of the Dudley Boyz as their manager during the Invasion storyline. The act worked for a while since Keibler was among the most over women and added some momentum to Bubba Ray and D-Von’s act.

Stacy was a generally good manager, but WWE realized she was getting too many cheers since fans wanted to like her. The end of the run came when the Dudley Boyz put her through a table after she cost them a match. Bubba putting women through tables was a previous gimmick, but it felt forced going back to that to write it off.

7 Boycotting Tables In Final WWE Run

WWE signing the Dudley Boyz in 2016 after the TNA run gave them one more stint built on nostalgia. The face role led to decent feuds with New Day and the Wyatt Family putting them over. However, Bubba and D-Von turned heel when it was time to feud with the Usos.

The storyline featured the Dudley Boyz putting tables away rather than bringing them out. Bubba and D-Von claimed they were done with tables since it was all fans wanted from them. This lasted a few weeks before they started using the tables as weapons again.

6 Mocking Scott Steiner's Near-Death Experience

Scott Steiner had a near-death experience in Puerto Rico that caused him to miss the first big scheduled match between the Steiner Brothers and Team 3D. Road Warrior Animal replaced Scott to team with Rick Steiner against the former Dudley Boyz.

TNA eventually did get to book the big dream match when Scott was healthy by setting up a Tables match between the two iconic duos. Team 3D mocking Steiner for almost dying created more cringe vibes than genuine heel heat at the time.

5 Threatening To Kill Paul Bearer

The Dudley Boyz received a noteworthy new role as Paul Heyman’s henchmen in 2004. Heyman entering a feud with The Undertaker trying to get him to follow his orders led to Bubba Ray, D-Von and Paul Bearer all joining the storyline.

RELATED: Why The Dudley Boyz Were Better In TNA (& Why They Were Better In WWE)

Heyman instructed the Dudley Boyz to abduct Bearer and threaten his life to send a message to Undertaker. This led to the infamous Concrete Crypt match where Undertaker ended up killing Bearer off in storyline to prove he had no weaknesses.

4 Fish Market Street Fight

TNA came up with one of their craziest ideas when the Fish Market Street Fight was introduced. Shark Boy and Curry teamed up to face Team 3D with the match consisting of them hitting each other with dead fish in a fish market set up.

All four wrestlers tried their best to make it work by channeling comedic spots, but it was too farfetched to even have fun with. Team 3D put over the unlikely pairing in one of the more embarrassing matches of their long careers.

3 Using Their Split In Trish Stratus Vs Stacy Keibler Match

WWE splitting up Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley in the 2002 brand split draft ended up being a huge mistake. Both men wanted to keep their team run going, but WWE felt it was worth exploring singles run with the new landscape. One of the few noteworthy angles for either man during this time involved the other.

However, it was a background aspect of a women’s match involving Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler. Vince McMahon wanted D-Von to help Stacy win, but Bubba prevented the interference to ensure Trish had a fair chance. It all came off awkward with the former partners facing off feeling secondary.

2 Insulting France In A Storyline Facing La Resistance

La Resistance was one of the final teams to feud with the Dudley Boyz during their first WWE stint. The trio of Rene Dupree, Sylvan Grenier and Rob Conway all had strong belief from WWE in their talents in their earlier days on the main roster.

A feud with the Dudley Boyz should have enhanced the act, but it just took away from them. WWE went too far into the USA vs France story when American face wrestlers mocked France in their promos. Bubba Ray and D-Von came off unlikable to any logical fan not feeling the need to hate French people.

1 Electrified Steel Cage Match In TNA

LAX became the top heel team in the early stages of Team 3D’s run in TNA. Konnan was doing some of the best character work of his career leading the newly formed duo of Homicide and Hernandez to destroy the rest of the face teams like America’s Most Wanted or AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels.

The big feud between Team 3D and LAX paid off in a bizarre gimmick match featuring an electrified steel cage. TNA had the lights flicker and hilarious sound effects when someone hit the cage. Fans reacted negatively, and it was considered a massive failure.