The Forgotten Member Of The Dudley Family Was Underrated

Spike Dudley's wrestling career deserves more love for the impressive work he delivered in his prime. ECW introduced Spike as another member of the infamous Dudley Boyz faction. Spike was right there with Bubba Ray and D-Von as the third most relevant member to have the Dudley last name. WWE ended up signing him after Bubba and D-Von got over in ECW.

Spike's stint in WWE found even more success as fans connected with him, continuing the trend of him overachieving from the second he stepped into the wrestling business. The wrestling landscape of the 1990s would have seen most wrestlers of Spike’s stature laughed out of the venue. But hard work, determination, and 'it' factor all helped Spike become an underrated legend in the business.

Spike Broke Out In ECW

The character of Spike Dudley was drastically different from the rest of the Dudley Boyz in ECW. Bubba Ray and D-Von were among the most hated heels in the company, so Paul Heyman naturally introduced a more likable brother. Spike instantly embraced the underdog role by having matches against his brothers with various partners from New Jack, to Tommy Dreamer, to other babyfaces.

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Heyman has always been known as being good at booking underdog characters and it showed with Spike’s evolution. The underdog story of the smallest Dudley led to noteworthy matches against the bigger men on the roster like Bam Bam Bigelow and Mike Awesome. Both series of matches helped Spike become a huge success story and favorite of the ECW fans.

Spike was also willing to lay his body on the line by letting them throw him into the crowd, with the audience often catching and crowd surfing him back to the ring. The matches of Spike always delivered, and he stepped up in the final couple of years of the company. Heyman saw most of his top names eventually leaving for WWE or WCW, so names like Spike moving into a bigger role helped keep the company going longer than it would have otherwise.

Spike Also Found Success In WWE

Many of the remaining ECW stars made the jump to WWE in early 2001 when the company went out of business. WWE made Spike Dudley a quick hire due to wanting to add him to the act of Bubba Ray and D-Von when they were a babyface tag team. The legendary three-team TLC feud was going on between the Dudley Boyz, Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian.

Spike joined his kayfabe brothers to even the odds against Lita with the Hardy Boyz in Team Xtreme and Rhyno joining Edge & Christian. The introduction helped Spike get over but feuding with Bubba and D-Von once again helped him sell the underdog character afterward. Spike became the black sheep of the family when entering a romantic storyline.

The Dudley Boyz grew upset at Spike and the Holly cousins were mad at Molly Holly for their budding romance despite their relatives feuding. Spike got over to new levels during the relationship with Molly, especially when standing up to a heel Steve Austin for bullying him. The rest of Spike’s WWE tenure saw him always doing what was required from him. Various stints teaming with Bubba, turning heel in the cruiserweight division, and other ideas all led to noteworthy moments.

Spike Has An Underrated Legacy In The Wrestling Industry

The goal of wrestling is to form a connection with the audience, and few did that as well as Spike Dudley. No one will ever accuse Spike of being as big of a star as Steve Austin and The Rock. Spike didn’t even pass the impact of Bubba Ray and D-Von, but he crafted his own identity to become a special act to the fans. ECW fans were willing to catch him in mid-air and risk injury out of love for him.

The WWE chapter of Spike’s career proved that he could find similar success on the biggest stage. Even though WWE never used him in a real top role, Spike made the most of his time to show what he could do. Any storyline allowing Spike to get the audience emotionally invested would see the connection grow deeper. It helped that Dudley was willing to put his body on the line more than most.

Spike leaving the wrestling business after a lackluster TNA stint saw him becoming a forgotten part of the past. However, anyone who watched his career play out in real-time knows exactly how great he was. Spike thrived in ECW and WWE as an all-time great underdog with a fan base behind him, who deserves more credit for his accolades today.