Devon Hughes ( ; born August 1, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for performing in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1999 and for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) eventually renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as an in-ring competitor from 1999 to 2005 and from 2015 to 2016 as D-Von Dudley and Reverend D-Von. He also performed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2005 to 2014 as Brother Devon and Devon.
Hughes is an accomplished tag-team wrestler, notably achieving a majority of his success with Mark LoMonaco (best known as Bubba Ray Dudley, Brother Ray and Bully Ray) as part of the Dudley Boyz (known as Team 3D in TNA), with the team characterized by their unorthodox ring attire, hard-hitting style and usage of tables in their matches. He is recognized by TNA as a 23-time world tag-team champion, and became part of the first tag team inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame. They are considered one of the major teams that revived tag-team wrestling during the Attitude Era. Including his two TNA Television Championship reigns, Hughes has held 25 major championships between ECW, WWE, TNA and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Hughes and LoMonaco were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018 as part of the Dudley Boyz.
Professional wrestling career
Training and early career (1991–1996) Hughes was trained by Johnny Rodz and began wrestling in 1991, competing in independent promotions in the Northeast. In 1995, he won his first title, the WWO International Heavyweight Championship in New Jersey.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996–1999)
In March 1996, Hughes debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling, wrestling on a house show as "A-Train". On April 13, 1996, at Massacre on Queens Boulevard, Hughes reappeared as "D-Von Dudley" (sometimes spelled "Devon"). His character was based on Jules Winnfield, the Bible-quoting hitman portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Dudley feuded with the other members of Dudley Brothers (his kayfabe half-brothers), claiming that their comedic antics were not the way true Dudleys should act, and faced Buh Buh Ray Dudley on numerous occasions, defeating him at Ultimate Jeopardy, but losing to him at November to Remember. Dudley eliminated Chubby Dudley and Dances with Dudley before joining forces with Buh Buh Ray, Big Dick Dudley, Sign Guy Dudley, and Joel Gertner.
Known collectively as the Dudley Boyz, D-Von and Buh Buh Ray dominated the ECW tag team division, winning the ECW World Tag Team Championship a record eight times and defeating teams such as The Eliminators and The Gangstas. D-Von, Buh Buh Ray, and Gertner all achieved a degree of infamy for their vitriolic interviews that antagonized audiences to a point of near riot.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1999–2005)
The Dudley Boyz (1999–2002)
In mid-1999, Bubba Ray and D-Von left ECW following a pay dispute, and he debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in September. Throughout 2000 and 2001, the Dudley Boyz engaged in a three-way feud for the WWF Tag Team Championship with the Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian. The feud incorporated the first triangle ladder match at WrestleMania 2000, and two Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches, the first coming at SummerSlam in August 2000 and the second at WrestleMania X-Seven. While they were initially villains and were known for driving women through tables, the Dudley Boyz became fan favorites in early 2000. In early 2001, they were joined by Spike Dudley. At Survivor Series, the Dudley Boyz won the WWF Tag Team Championship, which they unified with the WCW Tag Team Championship during The Invasion, a storyline where the wrestlers from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) invaded the WWF.
Singles competition (2002) Following WrestleMania X8, the company divided the roster into two brands, Raw and SmackDown! in March 2002. The Dudley Boyz were separated when D-Von was drafted to the SmackDown! brand and Bubba Ray ended up on the Raw brand. D-Von became a villainous reverend character under the name Reverend D-Von initially serving as Mr. McMahon's "spiritual advisor", and later alongside his protégé Deacon Batista. Though the gimmick was a launching platform for Batista's career, it didn't last long, and Reverend D-Von was betrayed by Batista. He did pick up one of his most memorable individual victories of his WWE career when he pinned Triple H on May 9, 2002, on SmackDown! after Chris Jericho hit Triple H with Reverend D-Von's collection box.
Return of The Dudley Boyz (2002–2005) He eventually turned face after he reunited with Bubba Ray and Spike on November 17, 2002, at Survivor Series, when he helped Bubba Ray, Spike and Jeff Hardy defeat 3-Minute Warning and Rico in a tables match. The Dudley Boyz then became a stable in the Raw tag team division over the next 16 months, feuding with teams such as 3-Minute Warning, La Résistance, and various combinations of The Un-Americans. They held the World Tag Team Championship several more times before being traded (along with Booker T) to SmackDown! on March 22, 2004, in exchange for Triple H.
After getting drafted to Smackdown, The Dudley Boyz turned heel once again by aligning with Paul Heyman. On May 27, 2004, the Dudley Boyz kidnapped Paul Bearer, the manager of Heyman's enemy The Undertaker. On June 27, 2004, at The Great American Bash, The Undertaker defeated the Dudley Boyz in a handicap match. They also won the WWE Tag Team Championship one more time but were upset by the high-flying team of Paul London and Billy Kidman. In July 2004, the Dudley Boyz reunited with Spike. For the remainder of the year, they assisted Spike in his matches for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
In early 2005, the Dudley Boyz were removed from WWE television and sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling while the WWE creative team attempted to devise a storyline for them. The Dudley Boyz returned to WWE television in June 2005 in order to promote ECW One Night Stand, an ECW reunion show. In the weeks preceding ECW One Night Stand they, along with several other ECW alumni, vied with former WCW President Eric Bischoff and his "anti-hardcore crusaders". At ECW One Night Stand on June 12, the Dudley Boyz defeated Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in the main event.
On July 5, 2005, WWE announced that it had opted not to continue contract renewal negotiations with the Dudley Boyz. Concurrently, fifteen other wrestlers were released by WWE, . In August 2005, they were issued with legal notices instructing them not to use the (WWE trademarked) name "Dudley". This led to a degree of acrimony between the former Dudleys and their erstwhile employers, as they had used the names since 1996, several years before all ECW intellectual property was acquired by WWE in 2003 as a result of bankruptcy proceedings. Both believed Paul Heyman had granted them the rights to the name. Soon afterwards, the duo announced that they intended to pursue legal action against WWE.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005–2014; 2023)
Team 3D (2005–2010)
No longer able to use the ring name "D-Von Dudley", Hughes adopted (and trademarked) the ring name Brother Devon Deadly, while LoMonaco became "Brother Ray Deadly". The team also trademarked "The Deadly Brothers" and "Deadly Death Drop". In August and September 2005, Devon and Ray made several appearances on the independent circuit, most notably Hardcore Homecoming, an unofficial ECW reunion show organized by ECW alumnus Shane Douglas, who frequent was critical of WWE and Chairman Vince McMahon. On September 21, Hughes (together with LoMonaco) signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), under the name of "Brother Devon".
Devon and Ray debuted in TNA on the October 8 episode of TNA Impact!. Team 3D quickly established themselves as fan favorites by confronting NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett and his allies, the NWA World Tag Team Champions, America's Most Wanted. Team 3D defeated AMW at pay-per-view events in November and December but failed to defeat them in a title match at Final Resolution on January 15, 2006, due to the interference of Team Canada. Devon and Ray continued to feud with America's Most Wanted and Team Canada over the following months. On the April 13 episode of Impact!, an attempted ambush by Team Canada was foiled by the debuting Spike Dudley, identified as "Brother Runt".
Devon and Ray then took time off to tour Japan, before returning to compete in tag team matches on Impact! and soon began feuding with NWA World Tag Team Champions The Latin American Xchange (LAX). At Final Resolution, they beat LAX by disqualification. Subsequently, they lost to LAX in a "Little Italy Street Fight" at Against All Odds, and a "Ghetto Brawl" at Destination X. At Lockdown, Team 3D defeated LAX in a Steel Cage match to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. They were the final NWA World Tag Team Champions in TNA as on May 13, 2007, the NWA stripped them of the Tag Titles and Christian Cage of the NWA World Heavyweight Title due to Cage's refusal to defend the title in NWA territories, and cut business ties with TNA. The successfully defended their status as World Tag Team Champions at Sacrifice later that evening. Because of this, TNA awarded Team 3D the new TNA World Tag Team Championships and crowned them as the first champions. They feuded with several tag teams before losing the belts to Samoa Joe at Victory Road.
At Final Resolution, they teamed with Johnny Devine and took part in an Ultimate X match against The Motor City Machine Guns and "Black Machismo". They won by taking the X Division belt down with a ladder while the referee was not looking. At Against All Odds, a rematch took place in a Hardcore Street Fight. Early in the match, the Motor City Machine Guns were 'taken out' with two 3-Ds, leaving Jay Lethal to singlehandedly save the X-Division. As a result of their loss at AAO, both Devon and Ray were subjected to weigh-ins prior to their matches. If they weighed in over 275 pounds, they would be unable to compete. During this time, they engaged in a feud with Christopher Daniels under his Curry Man gimmick, and Shark Boy. At Destination X, Team 3D was given an ultimatum when Curry Man and Shark Boy won an elimination match to choose the stipulation for each of the wrestlers matches; if they weighed in at over 275 pounds, the duo would be fired; but if they weighed in under, they would never again be subjected to the weigh-ins. They were able to weigh in under the mark, but Team 3D would end up losing to Curry Man and Shark Boy after a blinded Ray accidentally helped Curry Man hit Devon with the 3-D.