Spike Dudley revealed that he’s officially back in business with WWE after more than two decades away, but it turns out the whole thing started with fans asking one pretty simple question. Now Spike has explained how those fans actually helped turn a few autograph-signing conversations into a WWE Legends deal.
While speaking on Busted Open Radio, Spike talked about signing the deal and admitted he’s pretty damn excited to be involved with WWE again.
“I signed a WWE Legends deal, and it’s very cool. Really excited about it. Fifteen years I’ve been out of this. Six months ago, we started going back to wrestling. Every time we went to an autograph thing, they’d come with Funkos. There are Team 3D ones, and they’d ask, ‘Why aren’t there Funkos of the three of you?’”
Apparently, Spike kept hearing that question enough that he decided to tell fans exactly what they could do about it. He encouraged them to contact WWE and Mattel directly and make it known that there was still interest in seeing merchandise featuring all three Dudleys.
“I would tell fans, ‘Hey, call Mattel, email WWE, put your voice out there.’ Apparently, it worked. There were enough voices heard where they approached me a couple of weeks ago and said, ‘Hey, would you want to sign a deal?’ Hell yes, I would!”
Spike certainly didn’t need much convincing once WWE came calling. After spending years largely removed from that side of the wrestling business, he’s now looking forward to seeing what comes from the renewed relationship.
“And here we go. It should be an exciting couple of years.”
Spike initially announced the deal on Facebook, where he thanked his friends, family and fans while also teasing that merchandise was coming. His new comments now explain exactly how the deal came together and suggest that demand for merchandise played a pretty big role in getting WWE’s attention.
Spike has plenty of history for WWE to tap into. He arrived from ECW in 2001 and became the undersized third member of the Dudley family alongside Bubba Ray and D-Von, eventually winning the European, Hardcore, Tag Team and Cruiserweight Championships during his run.
His WWE career ended in 2005 after the original ECW One Night Stand, and he never had the kind of major WWE return that Bubba and D-Von eventually received. Now Spike is back under the WWE umbrella, and judging by how quickly he said “hell yes” when the offer arrived, he sounds more than ready to see where it goes.
What would you like to see WWE do with Spike Dudley now that he has a Legends deal? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
