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by Alan J. Wojcik of http://alanwojcik.tripod.com
JEFF BRADLEY is currently known as the “Texas Tangler” but fans
would also know him as the “Original Dudley Dudley” or Charlie
Hunter during his tenure in the WWF. He has wrestled all over the country
and recently was part of the NWA Mid-Atlantic Wrestling trip to the People’s
Republic of China. This interview was conducted before an NWA Florida
event in Brandon, Florida.
Alan Wojcik: Where did you grow you up, was wrestling part of your childhood and did it make you decide to become a wrestler?
Jeff Bradley: I was born in San Antonio, Texas but raised in Brandon, Florida. Every Tuesday night our family took a trip to the Fort Homer Esterly Armory in Tampa was how I got into watching wrestling.
AW: Was it going to the events that you met Professor Boris Malenko and Hiro Matsuda and what was their training method?
JB: I didn’t meet them until much later in life. Boris taught the old catch-as-catch-can 70’s style. I adapted to that quickly. He did lots of screaming to stay on a particular body part and used phrases like you can’t go back to wrestling after you throw the first punch. That is my base the 70’s style of wrestling. From Boris’ son Dean I learned the Japanese style of wrestling and that was just as valuable to get that knowledge from a top guy that worked the Super J’s. Hiro being at the school was a stroke of luck as he was there training Osamu Nishimura and he needed someone to work out with Osamu. I was sort of a natural. Hiro rounded me out and made me think of the different styles to combine with my 70’s base.
AW: How long after you began training did you have your debut match and what do you remember of it?
JB: My first match was in Tampa with Gary Nice a big gentleman from St Petersburg, He wasn’t in the business long after that, after he went to Japan and got sour to things. Looking back I had a good debut match.
AW: How did you become Charlie Hunter and join the World Wrestling Federation?
JB: My first break after training came in 1993 through a trip to Australia with the Wrestle Riot crew that was booked by Malenko. After that trip Jimmy Del Ray, who was part of the Heavenly Bodies in New York, brought me up with some of his guys that included Buck Quartermain.
AW: What is it like to walk down the aisle and wrestle in a WWF ring? Is walking out to sometimes 20,000 people the biggest adrenaline rush?
JB: Yeah it is and that what keeps you going. I don’t know about other guys but that’s what I live for to get people to respond to your actions in the ring. I’m at a loss for words to describe it since you’re in front of big crowds. Some guys don’t take advantage of that chance when it’s in front of them but I take it and get over with the people. I haven’t been able to stay in some places too long but when I have been there I can attract some attention.
AW: When we were talking about this interview you mentioned you worked with Davey Boy Smith.
JB: Davey was good. We didn’t talk about that match that much. Funny enough a friend of mine had a tape of the match from 1994 and we watched it this morning. Of course I picked myself apart but it wasn’t too bad (laughs.) I got up for Davey’s finish and there were no issues there.
AW: Another person you worked during your WWF stay is a man who came back to wrestling in 2003 Shawn Michaels.
JB: People always ask me “who your best match was with” and it would have to be that one. I took two of his superkicks, one that sent me over the top rope and the one for the finish. He did a Topei from the ring onto me as I stood on the outside, we hit chest to chest and I never felt the guy. Shawn is a phenomenal athlete who is probably the greatest wrestler I have even been in the ring with.
AW: You have probably been asked this before but what’s it like to wrestle on WWF Monday Night Raw?
JB: It was electric. You don’t realize the magnitude of things until they have happened. I began wrestling eleven years ago in front of 10-15 people and if I made half of them pop I’ve done my job. Normally I don’t pay attention to the crowd unless I am messing with them. I am more focused on the ring action.
AW: What led you to leave WWF and work for the now defunct ECW?
JB: I had been doing jobs for New York for about a year and they liked my work. I got the chance to work a few dark matches for ECW through Dean when he, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were working there. Actually in between that brief time I had a house show match for WCW in Orlando where I wrestled Brian Pillman who was good to work with even though I had to tell him to jump at the end of the match. All of this happened in one week’s time going from WWF to WCW to the ECW dark matches. That’s the way the business works when it rains it’s pouring but when it’s not it’s dry as the desert. I had the dark matches and they liked my work. They thought up the name and I had the gimmick.
AW: What were your impressions of Paul Heyman?
JB: He has a great mind for the business. We had some interaction but it was all business not any social occasions like drinking beer at a pub. I learned a lot from Paul, he gave me things in words that will stay with me.
AW: Many people will know you were the “Original Dudley Dudley.” Where did that whole concept come from?
JB: It was a play off the Paul Newman film “Slap Shot” with the famous Hanson brothers. It was an outfit of cutoff overalls; tie dyed shirt, black Chuck Taylor high tops with mismatched socks and the glasses. It was almost a rodeo clown look. Then they found a long haired guy from Tennessee to play Snot Dudley and then of course came Big Dick Dudley. That was the original threesome.
AW: Time to play truth or rumor. You saved Buh Buh Ray now Bubba Ray Dudley from being stuck with a Nazi officer gimmick?
JB: That’s true I saved him. If I could have done things different that would have been me instead of giving him the name and the stuttering gimmick. He didn’t have the Hogan’s Hero’s/Shultz helmet and boots or the moustache. So thinking of the betterment of the group plus being green to the locker room and not knowing how back stabbing the business is, I gave the guy my idea of the big stuttering goof who couldn’t say his name and danced. I talked myself out of a job.
AW: Were you surprised at the success Bubba and D’Von have had over the years?
JB: They are great. The first night I saw Bubba did a job for 911 at an OTB show in New York. He went up real good for a chokeslam and from that match I knew he was a good worker. D’Von came in after me but I was there for the beginning to barely get the ball rolling. Those guys took it to the place it is now, I had nothing to do with that. Naturally I would like to be acknowledged for something. Send me some residuals off the quarters you make. I am glad I got the chance to do it and I learned a lot from that experience.
AW: What led to your departure from ECW and where did you end up?
JB: I took some down time from the business. I moved out of state but you move away to get back to real life and I didn’t like it for the time I tried.
AW: How did you become a trainer at the Malenko School?
JB: When Dean was working for New Japan I was entrusted with teaching the guys. I was the valedictorian of the school but sh#$ in one hand and you know the rest. I knew how I was trained by Boris, Dean and Hiro and I thought it was the right way to teach guys. I got to train 5 days a week and work out different guys.
AW: You had your hand in training several men who I would like to ask you about for your opinion on them then and now. One is Glen Jacobs who WWF fans will know as Isaac Yankem DDS, the Fake Diesel and now Kane.
JB: If you’re asking how he turned out check out his bank account and what he is driving (laughs). He is a great story. I believe he began training in Memphis by Jerry Lawler and then came to us. He was rough but he was a natural. He could a full bridge walk over among other things. Early on he went over for a Fujiwara (sic) company in Japan to do shoot matches. We knew he would go places.
AW: I’d like to ask about two guys that have been giving you problems recently in NWA Florida who were also trained at the Malenko School. Former NWA World, NWA FL and IPW World tag team champions Mike and Todd Shane.
JB: When those two blockheads began they were very uncoordinated and didn’t show much athletic ability except for being huge from working in the gym even though they were national high school and college tennis champions in singles and doubles. It took a while for them to learn and I worked real hard to teach them. They’re good guys but something isn’t right with them and they need better guidance.
AW: Due to a back injury his career was cut short but Jet Jaguar was a tremendous in ring performer.
JB: He’s a good guy. He always wanted to try something new to better himself. He had a giant heart in that small body and it’s a shame he had to retire. I think with his ability Jet would have been great with the junior heavyweights of today. Longevity is something guys miss out on. You don’t want be flash in the pan you want to try and stretch it out. Everyone gets a chance and knock on wood some of us get two.
AW: You also had some input in the training of the students of the IPW Wrestleplex. Two of those guys happen to be in this locker room, one being the former IPW World Heavyweight champion the “Miami Pound Machine” Rod Steel.
JB: Rod picked up on the psychology real fast. What he lacks in size he makes up with in that great psychology and speed.
AW: The other person is former NWA Florida and IPW World champion “Agent” Bruce Steele.
JB: Bruce is finally living up to his potential. He has paid his dues in the ring and the gym. Bruce needs to be in control of his situation more. If he can do that he will go far in the business.
AW: What led you to work for IPW Hardcore and how did you become Evil Snack?
JB: I worked for Frankie Reyes when I broke in the business. Frankie booked Tampa and I continued to work for whoever booked the town through several bookers. Ron Niemi had been in the mix and we came around the same time. Evil Snack was a name I used for my ECW dark matches before the Dudley gimmick. I liked the name and we came up with a way to hide myself. In IPW I began tagging with Kubiak and Von Tankard who were calling themselves the Snack Pack. Evil Snack became the head of the group and it was a horror show chef gimmick with hardcore stuff. That was a dangerous time in my career.
AW: In March of 2001 you were in a three way dance against “Freedom Ryder” Mike Sullivan and the former ECW World champion the Sandman.
JB: That was part of a big angle working towards one of the titles. I like wrestling Freedom Ryder; he’s one of the top guys around the country. I knew Sandman from ECW and he’s easy to get along with in the ring. I enjoyed that encounter.
AW: At “Rage In the Cage 4” on April 12, 2002 you faced off with “the Madman from the Sudan” Abdullah the Butcher. How does one prepare for that unique individual?
JB: It’s a shock when you find out you have to wrestle him. That was my first match with him and I kept an open mind not knowing what was coming. After I got in there and tasted my own blood I knew the fight was on. It was a snug, back and forth but good match.
AW: At an event in Brandon, Florida you walked into see the booking sheet had as your opponent the man known as New Jack.
JB: New Jack and I have lots of miles together on the road. That guy is so unpredictable; you never want to turn your back on him even when you have a good business relationship. As far as hardcore goes there is no one like him and being with him would have to be the most brutal matches off my career.
AW: Since you were trained in old school how do you adapt to hardcore wrestling and do you prefer non-gimmick wrestling matches?
JB: Wrestling is hard enough on your body now add tables, ladders and chairs to the mix. Honestly I can work both styles. I can get down on the mat and stretch you or put you through a table.
AW: On January 25, 2003 at the NWA FL/IPW Hardcore show “the Aftermath” you met the man known as Mike Awesome.
JB: He was another in a line of guys, a former world champion that I have defeated. I can’t take away the fact he’s 6’ 6” over 300 pounds and he can fly around the ring. That was one thing I needed to take away or I would have been beaten early. I fought for my life and snuck out with a win.
AW: You were one of few wrestlers chosen by NWA Mid-Atlantic Wrestling to be part of the first ever wrestling tour of the People’s Republic of China. What was your initial reaction after receiving the phone call from the bookers?
JB: Initially I thought business sense instead of the idea of traveling to a unique culture. I have been to Australia, Japan and South America. When there’s a chance to go somewhere like China you want to go without thinking about the money but this trip was right in all aspects. Who would pass up a chance to go to China, certainly not me.
AW: Being the fans had little idea who you or any of the other competitors on the tour were how did you feel they reacted to you?
JB: Well since I didn’t get a real push by the office or have a title belt I got over extremely well as far as my presence and crowd reaction.
AW: On night one of the tour you faced off against another NWA Florida wrestler, the man known as Lex Lovett.
JB: Once again I face Lex Lovett outside the USA. He is an up and coming star with great athletic skills. I felt a little more at ease with him as opposed to wrestling an unknown Chinese opponent.
AW: On night two you face off with Jeff Justice.
JB: He is a big young strong guy but he has some inexperience. I think that and his intimidation of a big crowd cost him the match. He put up a tough battle that night.
AW: How did you injure your bicep and what is your current health status?
JB: I tore my left bicep and part of my forearm. It was a freak accident; we were moving the ring an inch over. I heard a pop and I thought I broke my arm. But when I looked down and saw a hole in my left bicep plus some of my forearm out of place. It happened in early January and I haven’t been able to lift weights so I focused my efforts on my cardio work. I am finally getting back to strengthening my arm.
AW: On a recent NWA FL show “Feeling Intense Pain” you wrestled former WWE superstar Dennis “Mideon” Knight.
JB: You know as well as I do Mideon is one of the most unpredictable people around. He is a 15 year veteran that has been making money steadily. It was a pleasure to be in the ring with him and he was one tough opponent.
AW: You have had many issues with 911 Incorporated, the “Hardcore Giant” Ronald J. Niemi IV and his boys the Shane Twins. What made you decide to interject yourself in their feud with the former NWA Florida Heavyweight champion Steve Madison?
JB: Over the past few years Ron has been putting a sour taste in the guy’s mouths. He’s been trying to kill his own business by having wrong stories and destroying his younger talent at his expense. I like Steve Madison, he’s an up and comer. It was the right time for Bruiser Bradley to get back in the ring and help Madison in his fight and also further my career. Madison and I aren’t buddies but we both have a common distain for Niemi and his twins. The Twins are great athletes who are being misguided right now. They need to realize that soon or it will be over for them before it ever got started.
AW: Is there a chance of you working for NWA: TNA or maybe returning to the WWE in the near future?
JB: I hope so. To travel and work anywhere is good for your career. I wouldn’t turn down anything either promotion could offer.
AW: Is there one person that you grew up watching or you have seen during your wrestling career that could be considered a dream opponent and why?
JB: I think Dory Funk Jr in his prime or maybe Terry Funk in his Florida days. Who wouldn’t want to heel on Dusty Rhodes in his prime?
Thanks to Jeff Bradley for taking time out of his day. At the time of this posting Jeff is in Austria with Steve Madison and Dennis “Mideon” Knight working for EWA. For more information on where you can see Jeff log onto www.NWAFLorida.com
