Athletes - Matt Hyson

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	Athletes - Matt Hyson

Matthew (Matt) Hyson (born August 13 1970 in Providence, Rhode Island) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his performances in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment under the stage name Spike Dudley.

Career

Prior to his wrestling career, Hyson was a third grade English teacher. 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).

Extreme Championship Wrestling

He gained fame as being the "runt" of ECW's infamous Dudley Family, a stable of wrestlers billed as half-brothers, although none were related to each other in real life. While in ECW, he had a hippie gimmick, wearing tie dye shirts and long hair; his finisher—a three-quarters facelock bulldog from the top rope—was called the Acid Drop. The initials of his name, Little Spike Dudley, was a further referenece to drugs. At one time in ECW, he had been thrown outside of the ring by Bam Bam Bigelow, caught by the fans and body surfed around the ECW Arena.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

After moving to World Wrestling Federation (as it was then known) the drug elements of his character were dropped and his finisher was renamed the "Dudley Dog".

Spike made his debut in March 2001, helping The Dudley Boys win the Tag Team titles. He had on on-screen courtship with Molly Holly which angered both his brothers and The Holly Cousins leading to a feud between the two tag teams and put Molly and Spike in the middle of it.

Spike wrestled mainly as a face during his time in WWF/WWE. His feuds with his two older brothers, Bubba Ray and D-Von often took center stage, but he would go on to form short lived tag teams with The Big Show (nicknamed The Little Show), Bubba Ray Dudley, and Tazz with whom he won the Tag Team titles with in 2002. In that same year he lifted the European and Hardcore championships.

Spike was drafted to the SmackDown! brand in 2004 where he would at one point hold the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. During this time Spikes biggest exposure came when he turned heel by attacking popular face wrestler Rey Mysterio; he then began to wrestle as the "boss" of the Dudley Boyz.

Hyson was released from WWE on July 5, 2005 along with seven other WWE wrestlers in what was believed to have been a cost-cutting measure by the company.

Post WWE

Shortly thereafter, a statement was attributed to Hyson that appeared to criticize many aspects of WWE. Later, WWE would keep Mark Lamonica (Bubba Ray Dudley) and Devon Hughes (D-Von Dudley) from using any aspect of the Dudley gimmick in any other promotion as the company had trademarked nearly all of the infamous aspects of the Dudley gimmick. These actions were seen by many as disrespectful and detrimental to the wrestlers as their gimmicks are a major component of their business. Moreover, many see this as malicious and unfair as the Dudley gimmick was invented during their stay in ECW but WWE owns the gimmick as they bought out ECW, thus buying their trademarks as well.

However, All the Dudleyz received legal notices from WWE warning them not to use the trademarked "Dudley" name at all. So Hyson had no choice but to rename himself to Matt "LSD" Hyson. Hyson went on to wrestle for in Indiana, New York Wrestling Connection, and Shane Douglas' Hardcore Homecoming.

In wrestling

Finishing and signature moves

The Acid Drop / The Dudley Dog (Springboard cutter)
Double foot stomp
Battering ram
Single leg crab

Nicknames

"The Boss" (when he lead the Dudley Boyz)
"The Giant Killer"
"The Little Show" (while he teamed with The Big Show
)
Matt "LSD" Hyson

Championships and accomplishments

Chaotic Wrestling

:*1-time CW Tag Team Champion (with Kyle Storm)

Extreme Championship Wrestling

:*2-time ECW Tag Team Champion (with Balls Mahoney)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

:*PWI ranked him # 455 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Matt Hyson ]

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