History
In 1999, ECW had finally achieved a plateau they had been seeking for years. They had signed a national cable TV deal and now every Friday night on TNN they were broadcast at a set time. This was a major change from their history, which had consisted solely of the syndicated Hardcore TV show.
However, as always, there were problems. As was typical in the history of ECW, there were top competitors leaving. This time it was the Dudley Boys.
When the Dudleys had first appeared, they were Dudley Dudley, Big Dick Dudley, and Little Snot Dudley. As time passed, Dances with Dudley, Buh Buh Ray Dudley, Chubby Dudley, and Sign Guy Dudley joined the family. Stuck for an excuse, Joey Styles explained on air that the Dudleys were all the children of Willie Loman Dudley, a traveling salesman (thus explaining away the various ethnicities of the brothers, such as the fact that Dances With Dudley was Native American).
The next Dudley to debut was the African-American D-Von, who promptly attacked his brothers. He bashed them as being a comedy troupe and began driving all of the Dudleys out of ECW except for Sign Guy, Big Dick, and Buh Buh Ray. They then allied with the runt of the Dudley litter, Little Spike Dudley.
By mid 1999, Big Dick had left and D-Von and Buh Buh Ray were preparing to as well. They had already signed contracts with the WWF, but first they had one more night in ECW that would prove to be memorable.
The Dudleys were set to face current ECW Tag Team champions Spike Dudley and Balls Mahoney on the September 3, 1999 episode of ECW on TNN. Shockingly, Buh Buh and D-Von put Spike away to win the belts.
After trying to move on with the show, Joey Styles suddenly told the cameras to go back to the ring. Buh Buh and D-Von were there and they had a microphone. They talked about how they were going to the WWF to become legends and were looking forward to presenting the belts to Vince McMahon personally. They finally said they just had one more thing to take care of first, and called out Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer was fighting his way out with Paul Heyman and Francine trying to hold him back. The Dudleys made a disparaging remark or two about Francine, and then started on Beulah McGillicutty. Dreamer broke free and attacked. We were told that this was a title match as Beulah slid a ladder into the ring and then went after Sign Guy Dudley. Meanwhile, the Dudleys had managed to get their hands on the ladder and were using it to dismantle Dreamer.
As they continued beating Dreamer, someone rushed in from the crowd to attack. Almost before Styles realized what was going on, Raven was inside the ring. Raven nailed Buh Buh Ray with the Evenflow DDT and pinned him. Raven waited until Dreamer was on his feet to hand him one of the belts as the crowd went crazy.
Now this is how you do a sendoff. The ECW fans traditionally hated 1)Vince McMahon and his WWF, 2) Eric Bischoff and his WCW, and 3) any ECW stars who signed with #1 or #2. These departing stars were always showered with You Sold Out chants (other than Dean Malenko and Eddy Guerrero, who put on a wrestling clinic in their final ECW match and won the fans back over).
When the Dudleys took their last title shot, no one expected them to actually win. After all, it’s tradition for a departing wrestler to put someone over in their final appearance. The ECW fans doubtless expected the same to transpire here. However, things didn’t go according to that plan.
The fans were livid when the Dudleys won the belts, and even got more so when the Dudleys promised to take the titles to Vince McMahon and hand them over. That was when it all fell to Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer had always represented the heart of ECW and the fans loved him. They knew that Dreamer would battle the odds and uphold their beloved promotion’s honor.
Again, it didn’t turn out that way. Dreamer fought valiantly, but the multi-time tag team champions were just too much for him to overcome. It was the return of Raven that turned the tide. Raven – the former ECW champion who had left about two years prior to jump to WCW, and Dreamer’s arch nemesis.
Raven’s return placed him in unfamiliar waters as both Dreamer’s ally and a face for the first time in ECW. The fans readily accepted him back, and a new chapter in Raven’s career had just begun.
Buh Buh Ray and D-Von Dudley jumped to the WWF immediately following the ECW taping, which actually meant that their debut on Smackdown aired the night before their ECW farewell. While there, they helped rejuvenate the tag team division with the ongoing three-way feud between themselves, the Hardys, and Edge and Christian. By 2005, however, the Dudleys’ fortunes had changed. They had found themselves sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, and finally released in July of 2005 when the WWE decided to stop negotiating with them for new contracts.
The Dudleys immediately jumped to TNA. Now known as Team 3D, Brother Ray and Brother D-Von continued to dominate the tag team division and finally won the NWA Tag Team titles on April 15, 2007 – thus making them the final TNA representatives to hold the NWA Tag Team titles and the first to hold the new TNA World Tag Team titles. They lost the tag belts to Samoa Joe at the 2007 Victory Road PPV and began a feud with the reunited Steiner Brothers.
Tommy Dreamer remained with ECW until the company closed in 2001. That July, he reappeared on WWF television as he and Rob Van Dam kicked off the ECW part of the Invasion. Following the Invasion, Dreamer was sent to Heartland Wrestling, but returned in April. Dreamer would go on to win the Hardcore title multiple times before he was defeated by Rob Van Dam in a match that unified the Hardcore and Intercontinental titles. As time went by, Dreamer appeared less and less on WWE television and soon began working backstage in various positions.
However, in 2006 Dreamer again took center stage as the WWE restarted ECW. Dreamer was immediately sent to ECW, where he remains today.
Raven remained with ECW until mid-2000, coincidentally when his no-compete clause with WCW ran out. He then returned to the WWF. Raven was soon lost in the shuffle of the Invasion. He won the Hardcore title immediately before being drafted to Raw in the first Draft Lottery and brought the belt with him. He then had a stint at color commentary after Tommy Dreamer defeated him in a loser leaves Raw match. On January 20, 2003 Raven was released from the WWE.
Two days later Raven debuted with TNA by attacking Jeff Jarrett and stealing the NWA World title belt from him. The feud was an instant hit and lasted until April when Jarrett won the belt back. Raven then feuded with James Mitchell’s New Church by forming a stable known as the Gathering, which consisted of Julio Dinero, Alexis Laree (WWE’s Mickie James), and CM Punk. The New Church feud ended after a grisly hair vs. hair match with Shane Douglas. In 2004, Raven found himself battling the Gathering with help from Terry Funk and Sabu. In June of 2005, Raven finally won the King of the Mountain match and became the NWA World champion. His reign lasted until September, when Jarrett (with help from America’s Most Wanted) reclaimed the belt.
Raven disappeared from TNA programming for a time afterward, as he had begun suffering from a thyroid condition. He returned in 2006 after forming a stable known as Serotonin which consists of members Kaz (Frankie Kazarian), Martyr (Michael Shane), and Havok (Johnny Devine). Raven remains with TNA today.
