The Dudleyz weren't shy about the position they wanted within WWE.
When The Dudley Boyz made their WWF debut in August 1999, the wrestling world was in shock that the ECW legends had departed their former company. The WWF was packed at the top of the card around that time, so many wrestlers were asking for creative guarantees within their contracts to go along with the high level of money they were making.
When appearing on Broken Skull Sessions recently, Ray recalled his and D-Von's first creative meeting within the confines of WWE.
“[We get] a meeting with Jim Ross. What we didn’t know is that it was with Jim Ross and Vince [McMahon]. There we are in JR’s office, just JR and Vince. We’re talking and going over a bunch of stuff. I remember saying to Vince, ‘Can we talk about the push?’. Because back in those days, you talked about your push. He said ‘Bubba, there is no such thing as the push. However, there is opportunity.’ That was a big learning moment for me right there, as far as how WWE [was going to operate]."
There have been many occasions where talent thought they could outsmart McMahon or even tell him how things work within his own company. Ray shared a similar moment with the boss man in the same meeting.
"Me and D-Von being these heels, I remember saying to him “Vince, I just wanna let you know something. Me and D-Von are old school heels, we don’t sign autographs and we don’t take pictures. He started to chuckle and he put his hand on my knee like my dad would and goes ‘Bubba, not only will you sign autographs but you’ll take pictures also.’ Boom. Light bulb went off, and [we said] ‘Yes sir, we’ll take pictures and sign autographs.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ray compared the original ECW to the Napster streaming service. Click here to learn more.
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