10 Things Wrestling Fans Forget About Spike Dudley's Career

Spike Dudley had an underrated career worthy of being discussed more today decades after his prime. ECW was the place to spotlight Spike first as part of the bigger Dudley family storyline. The fans of ECW fell in love with Spike’s underdog act as arguably the best “little man” in the entire business at his peak.

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WWE signed Spike shortly after Bubba Ray and D-Von got over there. The addition of Spike provided a fun new dynamic for the WWE audience seeing his work for the first time. Dudley accomplished quite a few things that don’t get discussed as much as the main eventers of his time. Each of the following tidbits will provide a deeper look at Spike’s impressive career.

10 Was The First Wrestler To Receive The 3D Finisher

The 3D finishing move by Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley is rightfully viewed as an all-time great finisher. Few tag teams ever matched the excitement that came from the Dudley Boyz setting it up. Even their use of the table weapon added to the move being perfect for that.

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However, it was a fellow Dudley to take the move first when Spike Dudley felt the wrath of Bubba and D-Von. The legendary tag team turned heel when Bubba ended his love for Spike with a vicious attack. Spike sold the 3D perfectly to help it get over huge as a must-watch finisher.

9 Was In TLC Match Voted Raw's Best Match At 10th Raw Anniversary

WWE rarely put Spike Dudley in spots to have classic matches, but one will always stand out in Raw’s history. There was a fun award show celebration for Raw’s 10th anniversary almost two decades ago with fans voting on the winners.

Spike was actually in the TLC match voted the best to ever take place on Raw at that time. The team of Spike and Bubba Ray took part in a TLC match that allowed Bubba, Jeff Hardy and Christian to pick new partners challenging Kane. Bubba picking Spike gave him a chance to compete in a tremendous match still remembered fondly today.

8 Received Giant Killer Nickname For Beating Bam Bam Bigelow

Spike Dudley started using the nickname of the giant killer during his ECW career. Paul Heyman was very good at knowing how to make the audience connect to a face wrestler. Spike showed this by taking beatings against bigger wrestlers.

A shocking upset victory over Bam Bam Bigelow basically “made” Spike as a singles performer in ECW. Fans rallied behind his giant killer story and reacted strong to the upset over Bigelow. Future matches between the two featured the infamous spot of Bam Bam throwing Spike into the crowd and fans catching him.

7 Had A Storyline About Being An Alcoholic In TNA

TNA signing Spike Dudley is often forgotten since the creative wasn’t much to write home about. Spike appeared under the new name of Brother Runt since WWE owned the rights to his ECW/WWE name. TNA mostly had Runt teaming up with his brothers again in Team 3D.

A strange storyline started when Spike showed up weekly with a bottle of alcoholic and portrayed he was drunk leading to Team 3D often losing because of it. TNA didn’t even add more layers to Spike’s character beyond stumbling to the ring and upsetting his brothers.

6 Had One Singles PPV Main Event In ECW

One underrated thing about ECW was that Paul Heyman didn’t mind putting new entities into the main event scene for PPVs. Spike Dudley wasn’t ever pushed as the level of core main eventers Taz, Shane Douglas, The Sandman and others.

However, there was one singles opportunity of Spike getting to close the show in a title shot. Mike Awesome defeated Spike in the main event of Guilty as Charged 2000 for the ECW Championship. Spike rallying and having a few chances at victory in between getting put through tables ended up being a huge success.

5 Stood Up To Heel Steve Austin

The idea of WWE booking Spike Dudley to stand up to Steve Austin seemed impossible when Spike first joined the company. WWE would find a way to create some memorable segments between the two when Austin was playing a despised heel in 2001.

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Spike was in his relationship storyline with Molly Holly when Austin tried to bully them into signing his petition. Austin disrespecting Molly led to Spike tearing up the petition to a huge ovation. The fans were legitimately behind Spike against Austin, but he took a beat down to add to Austin’s heat.

4 Molly Holly Left Him To Become Hurricane's Sidekick

Spike Dudley and Molly Holly becoming a couple was a hot angle at the time. WWE went the Romeo and Juliet storytelling route when the Holly cousins entered a feud with the Dudley brothers. However, Spike and Molly started to fall in love against their feuding relatives’ wishes.

The storyline was quite underrated as most of their segments becoming a couple received strong ovations. WWE ended this angle quickly without much of a payoff when Molly betrayed Spike to end their relationship and become The Hurricane’s superhero sidekick in the Invasion storyline.

3 Tag Title Reign With Tazz

WWE followed the same game plan as ECW did when booking Spike Dudley in relation to Bubba Ray and D-Von. The trio were united at the start, but Bubba and D-Von eventually went the heel route. It was easy to get heat by picking on their younger more popular brother.

Spike ended up getting some revenge against the Dudley Boyz when forming a new team with Tazz. The unlikely duo won the WWE Tag Team Championship together over Bubba and D-Von. Unfortunately, WWE didn’t have any plans beyond that as they dropped the titles to Billy and Chuck after a month.

2 Tore Up WWE Contract At TNA Event

The final WWE appearance for Spike Dudley came at ECW One Night Stand 2005. WWE surprisingly fired Spike later that summer as part of budget cuts with quite a few other names released with him. However, the invitation was there for Spike to return at One Night Stand 2006 for ECW’s relaunch.

TNA used to run house shows with independent promotion UFW in the mid-2000s. Spike gave his answer to WWE during a house show in Philly in front of the old school ECW fans. Team 3D celebrated as Spike ripped up the WWE contract to stay in TNA.

1 Underrated Heel Run Leading Dudley Boyz

Few fans ever talk about the short heel run of Spike Dudley since his face work defined his career. It would be insane to argue anything was better than Spike being a beloved underdog, but he truly did commit to his heel turn in WWE.

The new character role saw Spike reuniting with Bubba Ray and D-Von now as their leader. Spike won the Cruiserweight Championship and gave the orders to his brothers to beat down others. Many people would have assumed Spike would have flopped as a heel, but he thrived in the role before WWE switched plans.