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Matthew Jonathon Hyson (born August 13 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his performances in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name "Spike Dudley". Hyson debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on the April 13, 2006 episode of TNA iMPACT! as "Brother Runt".

Career

Prior to his wrestling career, Hyson was a third grade English teacher. During the documentary Beyond the Mat, a heavily bleeding Hyson delivers the line "I shall, I do" (Henry IV of England's response to a request by Sir John Falstaff in the Shakespearean play Henry IV, Part 1).

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Hyson gained fame as a "Little" Spike Dudley, a part of Extreme Championship Wrestling's infamous Dudley Family. His part in the family was a hippie styled gimmick, wearing tie-dye and long hair. His initials (LSD) and finishing move (a three-quarters facelock bulldog named the "Acid Drop") were both drug references and, at times, he would stare at his hands waving in front of him as if he were on a trip.

He was the "runt" of the family and eventually fell into the position of black sheep when the rest of the family turned heel but he stayed solidly a face in the eyes of the fans, mostly because of his small size coupled with his never-say-die attitude.

Spike became wildly popular with the fans, teaming with multiple people while feuding with his brothers. He was even able to take the ECW Tag Team titles from The Dudley Boyz with his partner Balls Mahoney on two occasions.

In one memorable moment in not only Spike's career but in ECW history in general Bam Bam Bigelow threw Spike from the ring, over the top rope, and into the crowd. The fans caught him and proceeded to body surf him around the ECW Arena. This incident was incorporated into the ECW TV introduction for years.

At TNA's Hardcore War show, Spike stated that he had been sent a contract to fight at ECW One Night Stand 2. Spike took out the contract and tore it into pieces in front of the live crowd stating that he was remaining loyal to TNA.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

After moving to World Wrestling Federation (as it was then known) the drug elements of his character were dropped and his finisher was renamed the "Dudley Dog".

Spike made his debut in March 2001, helping The Dudley Boys win the Tag Team titles. He had an on-screen courtship with Molly Holly which angered both his brothers and The Holly Cousins leading to a feud between the two tag teams and put Molly and Spike in the middle of it.

Spike wrestled mainly as a face during his time in WWF/WWE. His feuds with his two older brothers, Bubba Ray and D-Von often took center stage, but he would go on to form short lived tag teams with The Big Show (nicknamed The Little Show), Bubba Ray, and Tazz with whom he won the Tag Team titles from the Dudley Boyz with in 2002. In that same year he lifted the European and Hardcore championships.

Spike was drafted to the SmackDown! brand in 2004 where he would at one point hold the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. During this time Spike's biggest exposure came when he turned heel by attacking popular face wrestler Rey Mysterio; he then began to wrestle as the "boss" of the Dudley Boyz.

Hyson was released from WWE on July 5, 2005 along with seven other WWE wrestlers in what was believed to have been a cost-cutting measure by the company.

Independent circuit and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Shortly thereafter, a statement was attributed to Hyson that appeared to criticize many aspects of WWE. Later, WWE would keep Mark Lamonica (Bubba Ray Dudley) and Devon Hughes (D-Von Dudley) from using any aspect of the Dudley gimmick in any other promotion as the company had trademarked nearly all of the infamous aspects of the Dudley gimmick. WWE owns the gimmick as they bought out ECW, thus buying their trademarks as well. The reason for the dispute is that Paul Heyman gave the Dudleys ownership of the names due to loyalty to ECW, but he never transferred copyright ownership; and that another former ECW & WWE wrestler, Scott Levy (Raven) claimed that the Dudley names & gimmick are his creations & thus, his intellectual property.

However, All the Dudleyz received legal notices from WWE warning them not to use the trademarked "Dudley" name at all. So Hyson had no choice but to rename himself to Matt "LSD" Hyson. Hyson went on to wrestle for Shane Douglas's Hardcore Homecoming and would compete regularly for both the NYWC and Top Rope Promotions. Hyson debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on the April 13, 2006 episode of TNA iMPACT!, preventing Eric Young from driving Devon Hughes through a table and attacking each member of Team Canada. Hyson then celebrated with Hughes and Lamonica (now known as Brother Devon and Brother Ray), with TNAWrestling.com identifying him as "Brother Runt". Brother Runt would continue to be apart of Team 3D during fueds with Abyss and the James Gang.

In mid-2006, Hyson would go on to open his own pro wrestling training school in New Bedford, Massachusettes.

In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves

  • Nicknames

Championships and accomplishments

  • 1-time CW Tag Team Champion (with Kyle Storm)

  • New York Wrestling Connection
  • 1-time NYWC Champion

  • PWI ranked him # 455 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

Championship Succession

ECW Tag Team Championship Preceded by:
Dudley Boyz First, with Balls Mahoney Succeeded by:
Dudley Boyz Preceded by:
Dudley Boyz Second, with Balls Mahoney Succeeded by:
Dudley Boyz WWE European Championship Preceded by:
William Regal First Succeeded by:
William Regal WWE Cruiserweight Championship Preceded by:
Rey Mysterio First Succeeded by:
Sho Funaki WWF World Tag Team Championship Preceded by:
Dudley Boyz First, with Tazz Succeeded by:
Billy and Chuck WWF Hardcore Championship Preceded by:
Maven First Succeeded by:
The Hurricane Preceded by:
William Regal Second Succeeded by:
Goldust Preceded by:
William Regal Third Succeeded by:
Goldust Preceded by:
William Regal Fourth Succeeded by:
Goldust Preceded by:
Raven Fifth Succeeded by:
Shawn Stasiak Preceded by:
Shawn Stasiak Sixth Succeeded by:
Steven Richards Preceded by:
Shawn Stasiak Seventh Succeeded by:
Steven Richards

External links

1970 births | American professional wrestlers | American schoolteachers | Dudley wrestling family | ECW alumni | Living people | People from Rhode Island

Matt Hyson | マット・ハイソン

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Matt Hyson".

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