Were the Dudley Boyz inspired by (gulp) The Goon?!?
No, but the sport of hockey did come into play when the boys at ECW, like Cageside Noise host Tommy Dreamer, were spit-balling ideas for a new dynamic duo. Interestingly enough, the inspiration came from a late 70's comedy starring Paul Newman.
"I remember sitting around the locker room and it was me, Tazz, and Raven. We were talking about putting a tag team together that kind of looked like a tag team of hockey players from the movie Slap Shot, the Hanson brothers. We were all kind of spinning our wheels and that's how this tag team formed."
The Hanson brothers, according to Wiki, were "bespectacled violent goons with childlike mentalities, complete with toys in their luggage."
Think of Geno and Sean, only with more teeth.
With the Dudley Boyz celebrating their 20th anniversary this month, it's interesting to hear Dreamer's take on how they lasted so long in a business that has a low tolerance for longtime gimmicks.
I blame the tables.