Bubba Ray Dudley Recalls Transition From ECW To WWE, Dying On Every Hill

Bubba Ray Dudley recently reflected on making the transition from ECW to WWE and how hard of an experience that was. The Dudley Boyz joined WWE in 1999 after rising to prominence in ECW. As Bubba recalled in an interview with Maven on Maven’s YouTube channel, the change to a corporate structure was tough for them.

The Dudleys of course went onto great success in WWE and beyond, eventually becoming WWE Hall of Famers. But Bubba recalled “dying on every hill” in WWE for what he believed was right. He also noted that while he sometimes got his way, they would get buried behind the scenes after. You can see highlights below:

Bubba on Having To Retrain On Things In WWE:

“Dude, ECW was the best place and the worst place in the world? And I’m going to take you through it. The relationship that we had with Paul, that relationship that every wrestler had with Paul. It was so open. You could discuss, argue, debate anything with Paul. I could shout at the top of my lungs with Paul and yell and scream at him about a match or a promo or a disagreement, but it was all in the best interest of the match. Nothing was ever personal.

“So for four and a half, five years in ECW, we were allowed to go out there and do whatever we wanted to do. And if Paul disagreed with it or didn’t like it, he would tell you. And you would discuss, debate. We also never had time limits on anything, really. There was no time limits. ‘Go out there and do what you do. If it goes too long, I’ll let you know. If you go too short, we’ll lengthen it.’

“Now you get to the WWE, and they go like this to you. [Mimics pointing a gun at D-Von’s head] ‘You got six minutes.’ And Bubba would say, ‘We need eight.’ ‘Bubba, you have six minutes.’ We need eight. Go get me eight and don’t come back unless you get me eight.'”

Bubba On Whether He Got His Way

“Sometimes, yes, but begrudgingly and then getting buried behind the scenes. I died on every hill in the WWE. And actually, this is a joke between me and the Undertaker. I died on every hill in the WWE because I was fighting for what I thought was our best interest. Because I was allowed to do that in ECW. I didn’t know any better. I’m like a puppy who was pissing on the floor for a year and never reprimanded by the owner.

“And then all of a sudden you get to the WWE and you get, ‘Whack!’ for pissing on the floor. So, I had to learn that on the fly. Thank God we were as good as we were at what we did. We got over in spite of. And I say this and I’m very honest. My mouth got us where we are today. And my mouth also got me where I am today.”

Bubba On Transitioning from ECW to WWE

“People don’t understand what it was like coming out of ECW. We were all looked at a certain way. There was a perception about us. And I believe that we had to fight for our life every single day, especially in WWE. [D-Von] just told you, he had a family. He was nervous, he was on eggshells. Kind of like, “Okay, I’ll do what I’m told.”

“For me, that was never going to be good enough. We’re never going to get anywhere unless we push the boundaries, unless we push the envelope. Unless we go out there and we steal the f**king show and we show them why we belong. And that’s what we did. Yeah.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit D-Von Dudley with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.