How Good Were The Dudley Boyz Actually?
Drawing Power
The Dudley Boyz didn’t get to where they are because nobody was interested in watching them perform. They were a very over act during one of the hottest periods in WWE history.
As much as they redefined tag team wrestling, they weren’t draws, but this isn’t necessarily an indictment. They were not tasked with drawing the crowd - that was the job of Steve Austin, the Rock, and to a lesser extent Triple H - but rather entertaining them before the wrestlers they paid to see entered the stage.
Clearly, the Dudleyz were a popular attraction. You could hear that every single night during their prime.
Consider the fact that Vince McMahon decided to split them up in 2002: he doesn’t do that unless he thinks they can each embark on a singles run. The respective (failed) pushes were very half-assed, but the point still stands.
The Dudleyz headlined the Great American Bash 2004, infamously one of the worst WWE pay-per-views of all-time, in a ‘Concrete Crypt Handicap Tag’ match against the Undertaker. The Dudleyz could have been anybody; the actual TV feud was between ‘Taker and Paul Heyman, and the hook for the pay-per-view was Paul Bearer’s potential, grisly onscreen death. This is known as one of the most baffling PPV main events ever - not merely for the stip, but the fact that WWE expected the Dudleys to draw in the spot.
The show drew 238,000, a dismal number that was actually consistent with business elsewhere.
Does this even count?
The Dudleyz were heavily pushed in ECW in 1999 - Buh Buh Ray even headlined Hardcore Heaven, drawing 75,000 buys - as the increasingly idealess company experienced an unexpectedly good year on pay-per-view. Without inciting any riots, perhaps that well-delivered trash talk actually did accomplish something, after all.
4/10