| Matt Hyson | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Brother Runt[1] Matt Hyson Spike Dudley[1] |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 150 lb (68 kg)[1] |
| Born | August 13, 1970 [1] Providence, Rhode Island, United States[1] |
| Billed from | "Dudleyville" New York City |
| Trained by | Ric Thompson (APW Boot Camp)[1] |
| Debut | 1994[1] |
| Retired | September 11, 2010[3] |
Matthew "Matt" Hyson (born August 13, 1970)[1] is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his performances in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Spike Dudley and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Brother Runt.
In ECW, he was a two-time Tag Team Champion.[4] In WWE, he was a one-time Cruiserweight Champion, a one-time Tag Team Champion with Tazz, a one-time European Champion and a seven-time Hardcore Champion.
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Prior to his wrestling career, Hyson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, and was a third grade English teacher.[5] 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).
In May 1993, Hyson entered All Pro Wrestling's "Boot Camp" in Hayward, California to train as a referee and manager. He quickly began training to be a wrestler as well, and spent the next three years wrestling on the California independent promotions.
Hyson debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling in August 1996, and gained fame as "Little" Spike Dudley, as a part of the Dudley family.[5] His in-ring persona was that of the "runt" of the family.[5] His initials (LSD) and finishing move (a corner-running 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 quickly gained the nickname "The Giant Killer", and defeated the much bigger Mabel and Ulf Herman in a handicap match at the 98 November to Remember show.[6] A storyline with Bam Bam Bigelow saw him on the end of two pay-per-views defeats, however, at Hardcore Heaven and As Good as it Gets.[5] 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.
After his storyline brothers, D-Von and Bubba Ray turned on him, he was involved in a scripted rivalry with them for several months.[5] Teaming with multiple people, including Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, New Jack, and Nova, he defeated them to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship with his partner Balls Mahoney on two occasions in 1999.[5][7] He was also in the main event on some occasions, such as the 2000 Guilty as Charged pay-per-view, where he faced Mike Awesome for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, in a losing effort.[8] During the match, however. he injured his knee, and after aggravating the injury in subsequent matches with Awesome and Lance Storm was forced to take several months off to recuperate.[5] He returned in June 2000[5] as the ECW Commissioner and returned to in-ring action at the November to Remember event of that year, relinquishing his role as commissioner. Hyson stayed with ECW until it folded in 2001.
Hyson teamed with Kane to challenge the Dudley Boyz for their World Tag Team Championship in a losing effort after receiving a 3D. In late 2001, Hyson had an on-screen courtship with Molly Holly, during a feud between the Dudley Boyz and The Holly Cousins, leading to the rivalry being exacerbated.[5] During The Invasion, Hyson remained loyal to the WWE, failing to join The Alliance despite his ECW alumnus status. It was during The Invasion that his relationship with Molly came to an end when she turned on him, aligning herself with The Hurricane.
Hyson wrestled mainly as a face during his time in WWE. His feuds and alliances with his two older brothers, Ray and D-Von often took center stage, but he formed short-lived tag teams with The Big Show, Bubba Ray, and Tazz, the last of which he became a tag team champion with by defeating his brothers in 2002.[9] In that same year, he won the European once and the Hardcore championship on eight separate occasions. Dudley would also mend fences with his brother, Bubba, and the pair teamed up to take on The Un-Americans in late 2002.[5]
Dudley was injured after a missed spot during a 10-man tag match on Raw in September 2003. La Résistance threw Dudley to the outside but Dudley missed the table that he was supposed to crash through. After some time away from the ring, Spike returned and defeated René Duprée to get revenge for the injury.[5]
In 2004, Hyson was drafted to the SmackDown! brand, where he at one point held the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.[10] During this time, Dudley's biggest exposure came when he turned into a villain by attacking popular face wrestler Rey Mysterio; he then began to wrestle as the "boss" of the Dudley Boyz.[5] Besides starting a feud with Mysterio, he also started feuds with then-babyface, Billy Kidman, Paul London and John Cena. He eventually lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Funaki at Armageddon.[11] He made his last appearance with WWE at ECW One Night Stand on June 12, 2005, helping the Dudleys win their tag team match.[12] Hyson was released from his WWE contract on July 5, 2005 along with seven other wrestlers in what was thought to have been a cost-cutting measure by the company.[13]
Upon leaving WWE, Hyson renamed himself Matt "LSD" Hyson. Hyson went on to wrestle at Shane Douglas' Hardcore Homecoming and competed regularly for both the New York Wrestling Connection, Top Rope Promotions, and 2CW Squared Circle Wrestling.
Hyson debuted in Impact Wrestling on the April 13, 2006 episode of Thursday Night, preventing Eric Young from driving Brother Devon through a table and attacking each member of Team Canada.[14] Hyson then celebrated with Brother Devon and Brother Ray, with him identifying him as "Brother Spike" and then "Brother Runt".[5] Brother Runt continued to be a part of Team 3D during feuds with Abyss and the James Gang.
At TNA's "Hardcore War" show, Spike stated that he had been sent a contract to compete at WWE's One Night Stand. Spike took out the contract and tore it into pieces in front of the live crowd stating that he was remaining loyal to TNA.
Through the rest of the year, Brother Runt continued to feud with Abyss and several other heavyweight wrestlers while having a short-lived alliance with Raven (Raven saved Brother Runt from being smashed through two stacked tables covered in thumbtack-covered boards from Abyss, before throwing Abyss in himself), before he turned on Raven on September 15, 2006.[15] In September and October 2006 Hyson had formed a new look, very similar to Travis Bickle in the hit 1976 movie Taxi Driver complete with Bickle's trademark green army jacket and mohawk. On the December 21 episode of Impact! Brother Runt made his first TNA appearance in a while dressed up as Santa Claus, and was subsequently beaten down by The Latin American Xchange (LAX) until being saved by Eric Young, Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, and Petey Williams.[16]
At TNA's Final Resolution on January 21, 2007, a drunk Brother Runt cost his Team 3D teammates their NWA World Tag Team Championship match against LAX (Latin American Exchange) by jumping onto Homicide.[17] Runt soon returned to the April 12 edition of Impact! after being attacked by LAX backstage. He was mocked by Konnan who fired a taser gun at him causing Runt to roll around in pain.[18] On August 15, 2007, Runt was released from TNA after several months of inactivity. On April 16, 2009, he (using the name Brother Runt) and Balls Mahoney appeared on TNA Impact! in a taxi interrupting Mike Tenay and Don West to wish Team 3D luck in their match at Lockdown. They later were attacked by Beer Money, Inc..
Since parting ways with TNA, Hyson has been working for different independent promotions such as Top Rope Promotions (where he is a trainer), Squared Circle Wrestling (2CW), and Big Time Wrestling (BTW).[1] Since returning to the indies, he has reverted back to his ECW and WWE name Spike Dudley. Hyson held the BTW(Massachusetts) heavyweight title from January 2010-August 14, 2010 when he lost the title to Shane Douglas in Webster, MA after Douglas hit Hyson with a chain.
Hyson returned to TNA Wrestling under the ring name Brother Runt on the March 15, 2010, edition of Impact! in a six man tag team match, where he and Team 3D were defeated by The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart. This was said to be a one time deal.[19] On August 4, 2010, it was confirmed that Hyson would be taking part in TNA's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, on August 8.[20] At the event Hyson, once again using the ring name Brother Runt, was defeated by Rhino in a three-way match, which also included Al Snow.[21]
Hyson wrestled his retirement match on September 11, 2010, losing to Shane Williams at Real Action Wrestling's September 2 Remember in St, Albans, Vermont.[3]
Hyson was a former third grade teacher from Rhode Island before getting into the wrestling business. In mid-2006, Hyson opened a professional wrestling school in Fall River, Massachusetts.[22]
|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". The Lock Up School of Professional Wrestling. http://www.topropepromotions.com/lock7.htm. Retrieved 28 May 2011.