While there have been rumours of a rift between a legendary tag team, it seems that’s never been the case.
The Dudley Boyz were a dominant force in professional wrestling for decades. From getting together in ECW in 1996 to their time in WWE, IMPACT Wrestling, and beyond, Bully Ray and D-Von have won gold wherever they went, amassing over 25 Tag Team Championship reigns as while having classic feuds with the likes of The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian.
After their second run in WWE ended in 2016, the duo went their separate ways, with D-Von staying on in the company as a producer, while Bully Ray continued his wrestling career in Ring of Honor.
Bully Ray says there was “zero” heat after he left WWE
There has been speculation that there was bad blood between the pair because of the split and the two opening separate wrestling schools, however, Bully Ray has now shot down the rumour in no uncertain terms.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on his Insight podcast, Ray said that there’s “Zero” animosity and his departure from WWE didn’t cause a divide.
“Zero, Zero, there’s nothing! D-Von said that Bubba has got his school and I’ve got my school. Well yeah, I moved out of Florida. D-Von wanted to do a school on his own, this is just normal stuff that went on. There’s zero heat.”
He went on to explain that he became burned out after mainly being used to put over other stars for a year.
“That’s true though, but it didn’t cause a divide. I told Vince that I can’t do the Dudley thing anymore. I can’t do this Dudley thing the way that you want to do it, did it for a year.
“Vince sat me and D-Von down and said here’s what I want you to do. Work with The New Day, help them get over. Work with The Usos, help them get over. Work with The Wyatts, help them get over, and then whoever else we throw at you. You got it, no problem. The boss sat us down, this is how much he is paying us, this is what he needs. Ok, no problem.
“But after a year of doing it, I’m like ok, I am burnt on The Dudleys, I know I’ve got Bully Ray in the back pocket. I told D-Von upfront, I said listen, I don’t think I am going to re-sign. So we knew all of this.
“He re-signed and became a producer in the company, an employee in the company. Just recently they parted ways, but he had a great career there as a producer, did very well.”
Now that D-Von has left the company, he and Bully have joined up again for autograph sessions with fans.
“It was never any animosity with D-Von, we talk all the time, we have done shows together. We are doing an autograph session in England, we got something coming up at the arena soon. It’s all good.”
Although the pair haven’t wrestled together since 2016, they did get one more accolade to their names in 2018 when they were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
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