Bubba Ray Dudley hopes to be back with WWE

One of the big surprise returns in this year's Royal Rumble match was Bubba Ray Dudley, who entered at the number three spot and received a huge pop from the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Everything he did in the ring was well received and a teased issue with Luke Harper went over particularly well.

Now, in an interview with WWE.com, Bubba makes clear he wants to come back:

I've always been Bubba Ray Dudley. That's who I am. Throughout the course of your career, sometimes you have to reinvent yourself. I've always considered WWE my home and where I belong. Sometimes you have to leave a place to truly appreciate what you had. Being away from here for so long made me appreciate what I had here. I'm more mature as a person, I'm more mature in the business, and this was a great night for me. More importantly, it was a great night for the WWE Universe. I think they had a great time for the five or 10 minutes I was out there. If tonight was the only night, great. If it could go on longer, that's great, too. Hopefully it can.

He goes on to say that if WWE higher ups will have The Dudley Boyz back as a team, they would love to make a return to full time action. Considering Bubba was used in the Rumble and Devon wasn't, it's fair to wonder if the company is leaning in the opposite direction.

Then again, The Ascension are going to need a team to feud with after they're done with The New Age Outlaws, if they're not done already. Why not continue touring the Attitude Era?

Fans of Bubba's work in TNA as Bully Ray over the past five years or so are surely hoping a singles run is in his future, however. Will a WWE audience accept him as a top heel (or babyface) the way they did in TNA?

Perhaps one day soon we can find out.