Exclusive: Bubba Ray Dudley Talks "WWE LFG" Season 3, Advice to Released Talents, and the Art of Getting Over

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

WWE LFG is back on A&E this Sunday, April 26th for its third season, and it's already promising to be vastly different from the last two with an all-new cast of coaches and aspiring Superstars. Kevin Owens and Natalya will be replacing The Undertaker and Michelle McCool, but Booker T and Bubba Ray Dudley will be staying on board to help scout and cultivate the talent of tomorrow.

Ahead of the season premiere, WrestleRant caught up with Dudley about what viewers can expect to see this season, his advice to talent that have been released, the art of getting over, his thoughts on Oba Femi's rapid rise, and more.

​We are going into this third season of LFG. We were sitting in this exact same spot a year ago talking about Season 2. It looks a little bit different, though, going into Season 3. Obviously, you're a regular on the show. You have been since the first one. It's a different feel with some different hosts and whatnot. A lot of fresh faces on the roster. Can you give me a little bit of a preview of how different this third season is going to be of the show compared to the first two?

It's considerably different. It's almost like a completely different show. The first two seasons, the legends, the coaches were competing against each other for points in the LFG Championship, and it was fun. It was very sports-entertainment, but I believe Season 3 is going to give you a very honest assessment of what it's like to come up in the WWE in a very pro-wrestling setting coming up through the PC. I would say the biggest difference is that Season 3 is more of an HBO's Hard Knocks feel to it, where all of the coaches come together for every single one of the future greats. We're all on the same page. We're all working for a common goal, which is to make sure these future greats continue to move forward and achieve the highest level of success that they can, knowing that in one day they may get a phone call saying, “Hey, you're moving up. You're moving up to NXT. You're going to AAA. You're moving up to EVOLVE. You're moving up to the main roster.” Or you may get a phone call saying, “You're not moving up at all. You're going home.” And that will happen during Season 3 of LFG.


For you personally, has your mentality changed going into this third season as far as winning that LFG Championship?

No, I've really never cared about winning the LFG Championship. I mean, that was fun. It was part of the show. It was nice. We all got to rib each other and have fun with it, with Undertaker winning or whatever. But to me, the goal is to get these future greats ready. And it's not about the people that are just on my team with Coach Bubba. I help coach anybody on any of the teams, no matter where they are in the show. I have a responsibility as a veteran, as a legend, to the future greats, to instill as much knowledge in them as I possibly can, to pass down to them everything that I've learned from Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson and any of the great minds that I've been around in my career, so these future greats can move forward. So, it's a very direct approach with me. They all get the same treatment. The only thing that differs with me is their level of respect and whether they're rude or polite and how they handle themselves as men and women and as business people, as gentlemen and gentlewomen. And you've seen over the first two seasons, and you'll see it in season three, polite future greats get what they want. Rude future greats get what they deserve.


Where's the line there as far as like being rude and polite and then standing up for yourself?

I don't know where the line is. The line is constantly moving. It depends on the future great. We have seen a handful of future greats whose attitude was just piss poor and awful. And where are they now? They're not around no more. They're not on season three. And we've seen a couple of future greats who have really tried to push the envelope a little bit and keep moving forward. Veterans know the difference between somebody who's just trying to get themselves over by being a jerk or somebody who's trying to push the envelope a little bit to show what they truly can do.


There are some people from that first season that are no longer in NXT or on LFG. What message would you give to them to either get back to WWE at some point or continue their wrestling journey?

There is one talent out there that got let go that I see working hard on her own. In season two, we saw Hazes Jameson, now known as Pinky Montoya out there on the independent scene. Nobody knows why she was released, but she's trying to make it on her own in the indies and try to work her way back maybe to LFG or to Evolve or to NXT, wherever. But I really don't have advice for these other talents. Maybe you should have taken it more seriously. Maybe you shouldn't have put your feet up on the table. Maybe you should have shook hands. Maybe you should have been more polite. Maybe you should have busted your ass a little more. Maybe you should have cut a better promo. You got five minutes, get over or get out. This is not a business for boys and girls. It's a business for men and women. I'm not here to coddle anybody. I'm here to help you sign a contract with the WWE, become a millionaire, make something of yourself and help this business thrive into the future.

Joining this season, we got Kevin Owens and Natayla. What's your been experience with them so far and sharing the screen with them?

Kevin and Nattie have been excellent additions to the show. And they're both really knowledgeable coaches who are currently still doing it currently still in the ring. I know Kevin has been out with injury, but before that, Kevin has been a main event player for the WWE for a long time. And Nattie, I mean, come on, there's nothing that Nattie hasn't done. So, you can come to me or you can come to Booker T, you can get that Hall of Fame advice, but we're not in the trenches right now of the WWE. We're not showing up to Raw and SmackDown and the PLEs. Nattie and Kevin are, so they can give a perspective to the future greats that myself and Booker might not be able to.


Is there any piece of advice that helped you tremendously going into your career when you were first starting out that you may not give to the talent today because it may not be as applicable?

I've been saying the same two words forever. It's the only piece of advice that I care about or I think works. It's “get over,” because if you can get over, everything else will work itself out. If we have a talent, a future great, who we know and we see is getting themselves over, but they're still rough around the edges in the ring, and they still need help with their promo, but the fans are reacting, fans are cheering or booing this person, despite not being polished and very raw. So, if you can get over, that's all that matters. There is somebody that has caught our eye, or at least caught my eye. And that was Keanu Carver. Now, I don't know if his way of going about getting over is really the right way, but I'll be damned that this kid ain't on NXT. People are sitting up and taking notice raw talent that can be molded. You hear all this advice in wrestling. Does any of it really, really matter if you can't get yourself over? We see it on the show all the time. You could be the last one to leave. You can shake everybody's hand. You can be really, really nice. You can help everybody out. Everybody can love you to death, but if you don't get over, what are you really worth?


From your perspective, has it drastically changed as far as how people get over today compared to 20, 25 years ago? Or is it very much the same?

No, I think it has changed because nobody is going to have the leeway anymore to go out there and just off the top of your head say, “Austin 3:16 means I just whipped your ass.” That type of freedom just doesn't exist anymore. Getting over on your own today, it is a little bit more difficult, but that's the nature of the business. It is what it is. That's the hand you're going to get dealt. When you get out there, it's about the eye contact that you make with your crowd. It's about the relationship that you have with your crowd. It's about making love to your fans and getting them to like you, to love you, to want to be a part of you, to make them emotionally invest, to move them, to stir them up, to make them love, to make them hate, to make them laugh, to make them cry. You have to have something special about you that makes people do that and not just a move-set that makes people go, “Ooh, ah, wee, oh, ah,” because that's going to get boring after a while.


One example I would provide personally is Oba Femi. In record time, that kid has gotten over. He may not be an LFG alum necessarily, but he did come from NXT and he has gotten over. First of all, would you agree? And second of all, is there anyone else that's really caught your eye in the last few months that would be exactly what you're talking about that has really impressed you from that standpoint?

You're asking me if I think Oba Femi has gotten over. And my answer is the number one match I wanted to see at WrestleMania this year is Oba Femi versus Brock Lesnar. That should answer your question. I know what Oba can do physically. And after Monday Night Raw this past Monday, I now know what he can do on the mic. I believe Oba. Not that I believe in, I believe the words coming out of his mouth. I believe that Oba Femi knows that he can slay the beast. I believe that Oba Femi knows that at this stage of the game, he's better than Brock Lesnar. I believe that Oba Femi knows that he can step into WrestleMania on ESPN proper and show the entire wrestling world who he is. So yes, Oba is definitely over and is doing it the right way. As far as talent on LFG, Kali Armstrong has definitely caught my eye, and Harlem Lewis. Kali Armstrong and Harlem Lewis, two talents that I think have a future. Just because you were on a season and it didn't work out, sometimes it just takes time for people. This business is very, very difficult and it takes a long time to truly learn and grasp and understand. I think Harlem is taking all the correct steps forward.


Does anyone in your opinion have the ability to get over or do some people just not have what it takes?

This business is not for everyone. And I see both perspectives, but when the WWE starts plucking people out of thin air off a volleyball court or off of a, you know, a football field or any place else, and they just dropped them into the world of pro wrestling. This person might not have it, but the WWE thinks they might. It's not for everyone. Not everybody can do this. Not everybody has the personality. Not everybody has the tenacity. Not everybody has the thick skin and it's not what it seems to be. I always say everybody wants to be a pro wrestler until they realize what it takes to actually become a pro wrestler. The smack in the face, the wake up call of, “Wow, this is not easy at all.” And outside of the ring is most of the time more difficult than inside of the ring. Maybe they'll pan out. Maybe there's something that will happen. But when you're a soldier in the trenches, when you're at war for the past 30 years as I have, I can look over and know whether or not I want that guy in a foxhole with me because he's got what it takes. I see plenty of talent in the system, in the program that I'm like, it's probably not going to work out for them. And you can see it in their eyes.

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