Brian James had his first wrestling match in 1986, but dove into a true in-ring career in the early 1990s, with stints in WCW, WWE, and USWA before returning to WWE and eventually becoming the Road Dogg. He would find the most success in this form, working as a tag team specialist alongside Billy Gunn, and as a member of the beloved Attitude Era stable D-Generation X.
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But the DX era is just one form of Road Dogg, who’s gone through a number of iterations, changes, and evolutions over the course of his career. So let’s take a look at every version of Brian James’ various wrestling personas, starting with the worst ones.
9 The Roadie
James had his first WWE stint in 1994, where he was presented as The Roadie, the henchman to Jeff Jarrett during the period where his entire gimmick was “country music singer.”
Eventually, the plan was for The Roadie to reveal that it was him -- not Jarrett -- who sang Double J’s iconic “With My Baby Tonight”, but this storyline wouldn’t come to fruition, as both of them would quit WWE in 1995. This era of Road Dogg is a brief, abortive run that wouldn’t pay off until the following year.
8 WCW's Brian Armstrong
Road Dogg carved out a niche for himself in the late 1990s, so it’s easy to forget that he comes from the Armstrong wrestling family, and even worked under the name of Brian Armstrong for WCW in the early 1990s.
While mostly used as a jobber, he did end up challenging for the United States, Television, and Tag Titles during this period, and his matches with the pre-WWE versions of Steve Austin and Triple H made for interesting signs of things to come. Armstrong’s last appearance would be a losing effort alongside his brothers Brad and Scott against the Three Faces of Fear.
7 The Real Double J
After departing WWE in 1995, The Roadie would return as Jesse Jammes, “The Real Double J,” seemingly announcing him as the winner of the Jeff Jarrett feud that never materialized in WWE. The music theme wouldn’t stop there, as Jammes’ most notable feud during this period would be with the Honky Tonk Man and his protege, Rockabilly, in the spring of 1997.
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This was strictly an undercard run for Road Dogg, but soon enough he and Rockabilly would form a tag team and turn their careers around.
6 Tagging with K-Kwik
After D-Generation X imploded, Road Dogg continued being a tag team specialist and got himself a new partner in the form of K-Kwik -- later known as R-Truth -- in late 2000. Their big feud during this era would be against Right to Censor, which involved two tag team title shots, but the duo failed to capture them.
Dogg and Kwik would come to the ring rapping their entrance music (sound familiar?), but the tag team would be incredibly short-lived, as Road Dogg would be suspended and released in January 2001.
5 Jesse James Armstrong
Leaving WWE brought Road Dogg to the United States Wrestling Association, which was owned by Jeff Jarrett’s dad and Jerry Lawler, where he became Jesse James Armstrong. During this short period of 1995 to 1996, Armstrong won pretty much every title in the company and would enter a title feud with his former partner Jarrett, that would culminate in a losing effort with Armstrong’s USWA career on the line.
This run was under-the-radar compared to his WWE work, but it’s cool to see that perennial midcarder Road Dogg was a top guy somewhere, especially so early in his career.
4 Voodoo Kin Mafia
Eventually Road Dogg would end up in TNA, as ex-WWE guys often did, and Billy Gunn would follow. There, B.G. James and Kip James would form a tag team -- The James Gang -- in order to feud with LAX. Soon enough, the duo would pivot into some worked shoots in order to start an inter-promotional war with WWE.
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The James Gang renamed themselves Voodoo Kin Mafia, a play off of Vince McMahon’s initials, and would deliver kayfabe-breaking promos about the united DX, as well as shoot segments where they tried to invade WWE shows. Ultimately, this fizzled out before it went anywhere, and WWE largely ignored TNA’s publicity stunt, and the terrible name.
3 Authority Crony
In 2014, The New Age Outlaws were seemingly back as a consistent presence on WWE television, and were largely doing the same old shtick they were doing in the Attitude Era. But the return of this nostalgia act paid off, when they turned heel and joined Triple H’s heel faction, The Authority. This run was successful, too, as they were able to beat Cody Rhodes and Goldust for the Tag Titles before losing them to the Usos. As Attitude Era guys who were here to hold down younger talent, they teamed with Kane and were appropriately obliterated by The Shield at WrestleMania XXX.
2 3Live Kru
After being released by WWE in 2001, Road Dogg moved over to TNA in 2002, where he formed a stable with Konnan and Ron Killings -- his old tag partner K-Kwik -- called 3Live Kru.
A hip hop group playing off of the members’ racial stereotypes, Dogg became B.G. James, a self-described “Trailer Park Gangsta,” and often rapped with Killings as a continuation of their WWE tag team. They were an entertaining midcard act that managed to capture the Tag Titles a couple of times.
1 The Road Dogg
In the fall of 1997, Jesse Jammes and Rockabilly would jettison their unpopular gimmicks and become “Road Dogg” Jesse Jammes and “Badd Ass” Billy Gunn, forming The New Age Outlaws. The day after WrestleMania XIV, the duo would become a part of DX and soar to even greater heights as members of the most beloved iteration of the group.
Thanks to their shout-along opening promo routine, Dogg and Gunn would become crowd-favorites. For pretty much any fan, this era would be the most iconic version of Road Dogg, and his success would result in not only five tag title runs, but also stints with the Intercontinental and Hardcore belts.
