‘Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz’ Review
If you are an old school fan of ECW there are certain factions and stars that tend to stand out. For me the Dudley Boyz were one such faction. In ECW, WWE, and beyond they created a pathway to destruction that has made them one of the best tag teams in history. Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz gives the WWE version of this history.
As is usual in these types of sets, we get a short documentary about Bubba Ray and D-Von looking at how they got into wrestling, all the way up to their return to the WWE. The documentary is fun, and even gives part of the history that some fans may be unaware of. While the documentary may feel a little short, it pays respect not only to their ECW years, but even dares to mention Bubba’s success in TNA.
The matches as expected focus a lot on ECW where we see the true Dudley family. It’s nice to see the old characters like Sign Guy Dudley and Big Dick Dudley in action, and of course Spike Dudley. There are also matches including the likes of Sandman, Raven, and Tommy Dreamer for the ECW faithful. The WWE years feature the many tables matches as well as the TLC matches. This means for Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boys fans, there is plenty of entertainment to be had here.
Bubba and D-Von also reminisce about these matches and give some background history on the events. One of the most amusing is about Rhyno falling asleep during preparation for one of the Wrestlemania battles. It’s also interesting to hear about The Acolytes (John Layfield and Ron Simmons) reaction to the team when they first came to WWE and how “stiff” the first match was. Anybody who has ever read about the history of those two know how tough they can be on new wrestlers.
The Blu-ray version of Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz comes with extra matches, but it is fair to say that they aren’t hiding any spectacular fights away in these special features. It is nice to have the complete collection though, which includes some extra New Day stuff which is always a good bonus.
It goes without saying that Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz is a must have for fans of the Dudley boys. This features recent reviews that gives you an insight into their lives and what led them to make decisions that they made. There are plenty of good matches that are top quality, and most of all fun. For ECW fans like me, we will remember some more extreme events that don’t make it here, but that is understandable. For fans of blood, don’t worry there is plenty, though this is mostly in the One Night Stand match where Tommy Dreamer’s face was a crimson mask.
So the answer to if this is a set that is worth buying the answer is Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz is a very good set for fans. It is a good buy not only for fans of the tag team, but also new fans who want to know the history of the tag team. The Dudley Boyz were around for some of the best years of WWE (and ECW) so the answer is simple, this is a must for fans.
Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz is available on DVD and Blu-Ray in the UK now.
