WWE’s Bubba Ray Dudley Dishes on ‘LFG’ Season 2 Dramas, The Undertaker & What’s Next

Scott Fishman June 21, 2025, 9:00 am

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Athletes from all walks of life are stepping foot in the ring with hopes of earning major career opportunities during Season 2 of WWE LFG (Legends & Future Greats). Premiering June 22 on A&E, the competition show sees 16 new and returning faces endure grueling mental and physical tests with hopes of securing a WWE NXT contract. They’ll be broken up into teams led by Hall of Fame coaches The Undertaker, Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley and Michelle McCool.

The inaugural season ended with Olympic gold medalist Tyra Mae Steele of Team Undertaker and imposing college football standout Jasper Troy of Team Booker T standing victorious. Undertaker secured the first WWE LFG title belt with the highest overall score among the coaches.

Bubba Ray Dudley, one-half of the decorated tag team with D-Von Dudley, hopes to bring one of his own all the way and earn that strap this time around. The road won’t be easy in the high-stakes environment under the eye of WWE SVP of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels. Here Dudley breaks down what’s to come and what it’d take to bring the Dudley Boyz together for a match.

What was your mindset going into Season 2 of WWE LFG?

Bubba Ray Dudley: I think the mindset going into this season was very similar to Season 1. I think Season 1 was a good, spirited competition amongst the Future Greats with it culminating with a huge final opportunity at Madison Square Garden. I think Season 2 is going to be a continuation of Season 1. I know four people went to the finals. It was Zena Sterling and Tyra Mae Steele. There was also Jasper Troy and Shiloh Hill. Jasper and Tyra both received those NXT contracts. They moved on. Shiloh and Zena are back for Season 2. You’ll also see at least two new faces filling in for the Season 1 champions. There are some from the past season who fell off, so you’ll see some new faces. I’m excited for the continuation of many of the Future Greats stories from Season 1. Obviously, I have a tremendous amount of investment in who I believe should have won Season 1 in Zena Sterling.

Anthony Luke and Bubba Ray Dudley (A&E)

She grew and evolved so much during the process. That’s fun to see as a viewer. What did you think of the decision to bring back those from the past season rather than bring in a completely new crop of talent?

At first I thought there would be a brand new crop of Future Greats. Then when I found out they were bringing some back, I asked why. It was because of the emotional investment that the viewer has in the Season 1 Future Greats who did not make it. There were some people there that started to evolve at the end of the season. The first name that pops out for me is Elijah Holyfield. Elijah Holyfield, the son of Evander Holyfield, was very shy and reserved during the first half of Season 1. He then came to life. I’m hoping to get to work with Elijah Holyfield. He has so much potential. That is a modern-day Clubber Lang just waiting to come out and take the wrestling world by storm

So just because someone was on your team last season doesn’t mean they will this season, right?

Correct. But I will politic as well as I could to make sure Zena is always by my side.

Are we going to see BJ [Ray] this season?

You’re going to see BJ this season. I know everyone wants to know what type of interaction there will be with BJ Ray and Bubba Ray Dudley. Things were tense last year. Here’s what I hope for this season. I hope he learned from Season 1. BJ has lots of potential and so much charisma and personality. He can be a home-grown Logan Paul for WWE. But you have got to get it, and you have to be able to get it in the ring. All of the feedback you heard from myself and other legends was, yeah BJ, you have it on the personality side, but in the ring, you’re just not getting the job done. Hopefully, he can put the two together and improve and evolve in the ring and turn into the version of BJ Ray I think we all hope he can turn into.

What is it like having Michelle McCool added to the coaching team and stepping in for Mickie James? It’s an interesting dynamic when you have her husband The Undertaker also in the mix.

Michelle brings a different opinion, perspective, different set of eyes. I thought the relationship between myself, Booker T, Undertaker and Mickie James was great. When WWE and A&E first approached me about the show and I saw the four legends’ names, I knew we were all friendly and worked together. We had a good relationship, but I didn’t know how these four personalities would come together on TV and how we would be able to gel. From the very first minute of the very first episode, the four of us had chemistry. I think that chemistry carried out throughout the entire season. Michelle has now replaced Mickie. I think Mickie did a phenomenal job in her role.

Michelle has to fill Mickie’s shoes. We don’t want the next Mickie James. We want the first Michelle McCool on LFG. Michelle was just inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. That makes it four Hall of Famers, four legendary Hall of farmers on LFG. Michelle has to take what she has learned from her days in the WWE. Michelle has to take what she has learned by being the partner, wife of The Undertaker. I’m sure Michelle has learned from just conversations with The Undertaker she probably never learned while in WWE just on her own. Different perspectives. I’m excited to see how the four of us will work together and how the Future Greats take to Michelle. Will it be the same way? The ones in Season 1 looked at Mickie James as a mother figure. Will it be the same way with Michelle? We’ll have to see.

You have kind of teased a bit that this is an intense and serious season. How does it compare to the last one?

I don’t think there is anything different this season other than the Future Greats from Season 1 now have a year under their belts. Now they do understand the seriousness of this. If you go back to Week 12 of Season 1, I looked at all of them and said, “Ah, you all just had your moment. The lightbulb went off for all of you. You realized this is serious, and this is real. You walked in WWE, thrown on TV, thrown on this show and popular overnight and people are on your social media.” At that moment, they realized some of them were getting cut and some of them were going to get home and won’t get to continue on with the competition. I think who did not make it to the finals in Season 1 now realize the job at hand. This is very serious. I understand it’s a TV show. I get it, but it’s a serious competition. WWE is legitimately looking for their next Future Great, who maybe one day will possibly turn into a legend. I think Jasper Troy has what it takes to become a very big deal in WWE. Jasper had an incredible match with Oba Femi last week on NXT. There is going over and getting over. Jasper Troy, despite losing the match, got over and put his name on the map.

WWE

You’re also spending more time down in Orlando at the WWE Performance Center and talking to talent for “Busted Open After Dark” on Sirius XM. Talk about what you’ve been seeing down in NXT.

Since November 2024 I have been able to go down to the Performance Center and witness how NXT is run. I’m right there from start to finish, a fly on the wall. Whether it’s filming LFG, doing “Busted Open After Dark” or hanging out in catering talking to talent, this I can say for sure. Shawn Michaels runs one of the best-oiled machines I have ever seen in wrestling. It is tight. The communication is incredible. The way it’s supposed to be, so when it gets to your TV at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday nights on The CW, you’re getting the best possible product you can get. They dot the I’s, cross the T’s. Shawn has a vision.

That vision is carried out from the creative team to the producers, from the producers to the talent. The word that is so key to all of this is communication. There are so many different levels with Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. It’s true with every great wrestling company in the world. You need great communication on all the different levels through the chain of command. Shawn really has everybody doing a phenomenal job. If you know anything about Bubba Ray Dudley, I don’t blow smoke up anybody’s ass. I put you over when you deserve to be put over. Shawn and that crew at NXT deserves to be put over.

Anyone down there at NXT that has really surprised you or you’ve been impressed by watching the show?

The entire girls’ division I have to give credit to. I give them credit every Tuesday during the “Busted Open After Dark” show. I think the NXT women’s division is the best women’s division in all of professional wrestling and sports entertainment. Now mind you they just lost three heavy-hitters in Roxanne Perez, Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer. They all moved up to the main roster, which is great news for every other woman in NXT. It presents opportunities. Now you have to step up and take it.

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I like what Jordynne Grace is doing. I like what Jaida Parker is doing there. I like what I’m seeing with Jacy Jayne, the new NXT Women’s Champion. You could rattle off every woman’s name in NXT and I can tell you something positive about them. Also, Oba is doing great on top. The D’angelo family has great storytelling with everyone knowing their role very well. I feel like I’m watching The Sopranos playing out in a wrestling ring. Je’Von Evans, my boy Trick [Williams], who has found his inner heel and Uncle Bubba couldn’t be happier.

We saw the Dudley Boyz help Trick Williams a while back. Are we going to see Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley in a WWE ring again one day?

Would you like to see the Dudley Boyz in a WWE ring one day?

Of course.

I think the entire WWE Universe would love to scream, “DVon, get the tables” one last time. If it would be up to me and Devon, it would be yes, we would love to do it one last time. It has to be with the right team standing across from us. It has to be at the right venue, city and right event. Hell, I ‘d love to do it at AT&T Stadium, Texas stadium with 101,000 people screaming one last time, “Devon, get the tables.”

WWE LFG Season 2 premiere, June 22, 10/9c, A&E