What’s the story?
Bully Ray made his debut for Ring of Honor tonight at the end of Manhattan Mayhem VI.
In case you didn’t know...
Bully Ray is the gimmick used by former multiple time WWE, WCW, ECW, and IWGP Tag Team Champion, Bubba Ray Dudley.
The Bully Ray character is supposed to be more closely related to the actual personality traits of Mark LoMonaco, as a more hard-nosed, no-nonsense character.
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The heart of the matter
When the main event match ended, Adam Cole and the rest of Bullet Club were continuing to beat down Bobby Fish after Cole successfully defended the Ring of Honor World Championship.
At that point, Bully Ray came out, got into the ring and cleaned house, sending Adam Cole through a table. He grabbed a microphone and said that he wanted to get an up-close look at Ring of Honor, as it was a company that reminded him of another company that was near and dear to his heart, ECW.
ECW used to run shows at the Manhattan Center’s Hammerstein Ballroom where Manhattan Mayhem took place. Bully’s comments sent the crowd into a frenzied “ECW” chant.
After the chants died down, he spoke about why he would choose to come to the promotion. He said that he had a few other offers on the table.
It is unknown if that was in reference to rumors that he almost played the role that Alberto De Patron ended up assuming for Impact Wrestling this week, but the audience reacted as if it was, chanting, “F*** TNA!” Bully replied by saying, “and that’s the reason I didn’t take their offer.”
Finally, Ray called ROH CEO Joe Koff down to the ring. He then stated that he was Bully Ray, and as of that moment, he was in Ring of Honor.
What’s next?
It will be very interesting to see where ROH goes from here, and what level of involvement Bully Ray will have with the company.
Sportskeeda’s Take
This is a very big acquisition for Ring of Honor as far as talent is concerned.
Bully Ray’s work in TNA during his singles run with the promotion is incredibly underappreciated as far as character work goes, not to mention that he put on some pretty good matches during that run that also saw him win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.
We wish Bully Ray the best of luck in this next chapter of his storied career.
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