Spike Dudley Recalls Not Knowing What He Was Getting Into With ECW, Reaction To First Big Bump

Spike Dudley says that he didn’t realize what ECW was all about before he got there and had quite the reaction when he first saw it. The former ECW and WWE star appeared on Stories With Bradshaw & Briscoe and talked about his time in ECW, including taking a balcony toss in his first match and more. You can see some highlights below:

On not being familiar with ECW before he went there: “When I got to ECW, I went, ‘What the hell did I just sign up for?’… The first time I went in there, the first show, I just went, ‘These guys are the biggest bunch of F-ing idiots I’ve ever seen in my life!’ I guess I didn’t understand it, and then like the level of extreme stuff. But as I watched it over the course of time, you realize there’s a method to it. But my first introduction to it, I was went, ‘This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.’ But here I am, you know. I literally got in my car and drove 3,000 miles in like two days to for the offer. And the offer wasn’t even a job it was… ‘We’ll look at you.'”

On his reaction to his balcony toss in his debut match: “No, you know actually, it wasn’t that bad. It was only like eight or nine feet, you know, the platform. But he was throwing me onto a couple of guys. And so I actually — that one wasn’t the one that got me worried. The only time I ever really got scared was my first, like, true balcony dive at Asbury Park with New Jack. We did it, we both jumped off the same time onto Bubba and D-Von on tables. And that one scared the crap out, I had never done anything like that. That was terrifying. And actually, Bam Bam [Bigelow’s] throw into the audience was pretty terrifying… he just launched me.”

On PN News taking liberties with him: “The only time anybody ever gave me an attitude [about working with him]… you guys remember PN News. Paulie brought him in to do the the gimmick with me. And he got great heat. He went out to the ECW Arena doing his rap thing, ‘Yo baby, yo baby.’ And they’re booing and they’re s**tting on him and they’re booing on him. My music hit and the place went nuts. He did the business; I kicked him, I hit him with my move, I pinned him, great.

“The next week, we’re doing house shows, and we’re just working. So now I’m working a match with him. And I mean a house show in front of 300 400 people. He beat the s**t out of me. And whatever.”

On Heyman giving News a receipt over it: “So after the match — and here’s what’s great about ECW. After the match, Paulie says ‘Hey, how was it? I was like, ‘Ehh, it was a little snug.’ He went, ‘Oh. Okay.’ The next night, he booked PN News against Balls Mahoney. And Balls was doing that chair thing, just hit somebody over there with a chair as hard as you can. And Paulie gave him the green light, ‘Light this son of a bitch up for what he did to Spike.’ Balls put the chair over his head and shattered his nose flat against his face. And that was the last time we saw PN News.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Stories With Bradshaw & Briscoe with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.