TNA World Heavyweight champion Bully Ray got into a heated altercation with a fan at last Thursday’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Chicago, Illinois. While Aces & Eights was leaving the ringside area through the crowd, Bully got into a fan’s face, seemingly unprovoked, and unleashed the following anti-gay attack:
“Sit down, faggot. Yeah… What are you gonna do? You ain’t gonna do a damn thing. You got punked in your own frickin’ town. I’m punkin’ you out in front of .. I’m gonna say your daughter. You got punked! You invented fags, you fag. You should’ve did something already, you should’ve did something already, but you ain’t doing nothing’. I’m punking you in front of your hometown. You frickin’ queer. You shave your frickin’ chest.”
Bully Ray is no stranger to riling up crowds with his words. Back in ECW, he would walk (and often) cross the line all the time, with several of his promos nearly inciting riots amongst ECW’s mature fanbase.
Both Bully Ray and TNA President Dixie Carter tweeted about the incident apologizing for his conduct:
Made an inappropriate comment to a fan in Chicago. If anyone was offended by this…I do apologize. No harm was meant.
— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) March 18, 2013
Heard @RealBully5150 made inappropriate comments to a fan in Chicago. This will not be tolerated. Sincere apologies on behalf of TNA.
— Dixie Carter (@TNADixie) March 18, 2013
Jarring with the crowd is a move out of the “Wrestling Heel 101” playbook. However, in this day and age, the verbal attacks used by Bully Ray are way beyond what is acceptable by anybody, let alone the World champion of a national wrestling promotion.
- Hit up the COMMENTS below and tell us what you think about the situation. Did Bully Ray really cross the line – or was he just playing a character? Is it too “soft” to prohibit wrestling characters from using hate speech, or should certain things be off limits?