Roman Reigns will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Title – again.
The pair met back at WrestleMania 31 for the WWE World Title. That bout ended with Seth Rollins cashing in his Money In The Bank (MITB) briefcase and winning the strap. Three years later they’d main event WrestleMania 34 for the Universal Title.
Lesnar picked up a clean victory over “The Big Dog” to retain his title. They rematched the same month at the Greatest Royal Rumble match in Saudi Arabia inside a Steel Cage. Reigns hit Lesnar with a Spear that sent both men flying outside the cage.
Although Reigns’ feet were the first to touch the ground, Lesnar’s back hit the floor first and he was declared the winner. Now Reigns has again earned the shot at the Universal Title and will fight Lesnar at SummerSlam next month.
WWE Hall Of Famer Bully Ray recently shared his thoughts on how WWE can make Lesnar and Reigns’ fourth match stand out at “The Biggest Party Of The Summer.” Here’s what he had to say:
“Even if you put the match on first, it’s still just a straight up match and if you still get a straight up finish, it’s really – I don’t know – I think that Money In The Bank briefcase might come into play. Early and late,” Ray said.
“This is completely in the opposite direction – what if Kevin Owens walks out of SummerSlam as your champion? If Owens walks out of SummerSlam as the champion, does Roman beat him the next night on RAW? I don’t think so. I think it makes Roman look weak. If Roman doesn’t beat Brock he looks weak.”
Ray then noted that Owens would get a pop if he won the title just for the sheer fact that neither Brock or Roman will be Universal Champion:
“He’s getting the pop because the belt is coming away from guys that they can’t stand. They can’t stand Brock because he’s a part-timer and they can’t stand Roman just for the sake that they can’t stand Roman. So the pop is not going to be for genuine emotion. They’re going to be popping for a title change and because the belt is away from these guys.”
WWE U.K. Champion Pete Dunne was recently a guest on BBC radio alongside WWE Hall Of Famer and Performance Center trainer Shawn Michaels. Dunne posted a photo of he and Michaels during the interview, and made quite a confident caption:
— ‘The Bruiserweight’ Pete Dunne (@PeteDunneYxB) June 19, 2018
JR & Bully Ray Back Becky Lynch
WWE Hall Of Famer Bully Ray recently took to Busted Open Radio and discussed the Women’s Money In The Bank (MITB) Ladder match. Ray noticed that fans were cheering on Becky Lynch whenever she’d climb up the ladder.
Ray suggested he hopes backstage officials take note of this and perhaps give Lynch a push soon:
“Every time she climbed that ladder, those people were on their feet. They’re invested in her, they wanted to see her win. Hopefully the people in the back are listening.”
WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray has given his take on the actions of the smart fans in attendance for Money in the Bank.
In particular, there was one match that the fans did not have a ton of interest in, which was Roman Reigns battling Jinder Mahal in a singles match at the event in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena on the WWE Network.
Throughout the match, they had several different chants including “Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks,” “CM Punk,” “A**hole,” “You both suck,” “Johnny Wrestling,” “Let’s go beachball,” “End this match,” “Too sweet,” “Boring,” “Y2J,” “EC3,” Velveteen,” and “We want Ambrose.” They also did the wave.
As a result of their reaction to this match that was booked by the sports entertainment company, Ray decided to take to his official Twitter account to explain how he would have handled the smarks at the show.
This also led to Lance Storm and Paul Heyman chiming in. He wrote the following:
“Back in the day, if unruly smarks tried to ruin or “takeover” the show, Devon and I would just jump the rails and beat the shit outta everybody. Problem solved.”
Back in the day, if unruly smarks tried to ruin or “takeover” the show, Devon and I would just jump the rails and beat the shit outta everybody. Problem solved.#MITB@BustedOpenRadio
I still have the Local, Municipal, County, State, Federal and Military Police reports … and copies of the legal bills … that can demonstrate the fact "no, @bullyray5150 was not kidding in his tweet."
WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray was recently asked by a fan on Twitter about how former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey can improve her promos while in the WWE.
He decided to give her some advice by stating that WWE needs to give her an advocate, which is what WWE did with Brock Lesnar by using Paul Heyman. He wrote the following:
Rousey is slated to challenge Jax for the RAW Women’s Title at the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view event on Sunday, June 17, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois at the Allstate Arena, which will air on the WWE Network.
Lio Rush Hypes
The sports entertainment company has teased the debut of Lio Rush on their cruiserweight show, 205 Live on the WWE Network. Although there’s no word yet on when he’ll make his debut, he did send out the following tweet to hype his debut:
Ring of Honor has officially announced the in-ring return of Bully Ray.
Since September of last year, the WWE Hall of Famer has taken a step back from being an in-ring competitor as he has only worked two matches since that time.
He worked a New York Tag Team Street Fight in December at the Final Battle PPV event that saw him, and Tommy Dreamer lose to The Briscoes.
The second and most recent match that he worked took place last month at the Supercard Of Honor XII event where he and Cheeseburger went to a no contest with The Dawgs (Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara).
Ring of Honor will kick off their 2018 War of the Worlds tour tomorrow (May 9, 2018) in Lowell, MA at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
The promotion has announced that Ray would take on Cheeseburger in a singles match at the show. The event will stream live for Honorclub subscribers and will feature: *ROH champion Dalton Castle vs. Matt Taven. *Cody & Adam Page & Marty Scurll vs. Roppongi 3.0 & Rocky Romero. *The Young Bucks vs. BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi. *ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Flip Gordon & Jushin Liger. *ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions So Cal Uncensored vs. Jay White & Chuckie T & Jay Lethal. *ROH TV Champion Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas vs. Tetsuya Naito & IWGP Tag Team Champions EVIL & SANADA. *The Kingdom vs. Coast 2 Coast. *Bully Ray vs., Cheeseburger.
WWE Hall Of Famer Bully Ray (a.k.a. Bubba Ray Dudley) recently spoke on Busted Open Radio about the possibility of Braun Strowman taking Roman Reigns’ spot in WWE. Ray seemed to suggest the image of Strowman holding the belt for the Greatest Royal Rumble over his head in Saudi Arabia could’ve been a test. Here’s what he had to say:
“What a great experimental picture to paint. There was no prize for the [Greatest] Royal Rumble victory, but they made up this belt, and Braun holding the belt over his head, with the people popping, that was a hell of a picture, right? What a great experiment — well, let’s see how he looks with the championship belt over his head with the people— and it really worked.
“[Jim Ross] recently did an interview where I believe he said Braun could be or would be the face of WWE. I know that’s a discussion we’ve had, whether or not he could be the face—I don’t mean babyface, I mean the ‘face’ ala John Cena or a Hulk Hogan—face of the company. They are obviously on the right track with Braun. In a weird way, Braun is the next Daniel Bryan, because he got over very organically, right? It’s what the people want.
“I can definitely see them—after seeing the Jedda match and seeing how things didn’t exactly go great with Roman, and we’ve given them a chance after chance after chance, and obviously this is not a knock on Roman [Reigns] as a person or a wrestler— it’s just not working. But it really is working for Braun, and I think that they will run with him.”
On a recent edition of the E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, former WWE Tag Team Champs Edge and Christian discussed being asked to induct The Dudley Boyz into the 2018 WWE Hall Of Fame class.
Edge discussed the news breaking that he and Christian would be inducting Bubba Ray and D-Von, which was Bubba announcing it on Busted Open Radio. The pair also discussed getting the calls to be asked to induct The Dudley Boyz:
“Actually, the news broke by Bubba Ray Dudley on Busted Open Radio with me as the guest. I didn’t know he was going to do it.
“He got the pop himself and it has now been officially confirmed by WWE today as we’re recording this that we will be inducting The Dudley Boyz. Yeah!”
“We were very honored that they asked us to do it, and, obviously, we’ve talked about it many times in the past,” Christian added.
“All three teams will always be linked. If you think of the Dudleys, you think of Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz, and vice versa with all those other teams.
“We helped to put each other on the map and the feud with us and the Hardys really took off when those guys showed up.
“My phone rings immediately after [Edge’s phone rang] and it says, ‘Melbourne, Florida’,” Christian recalled. “And I’m like, ‘do we know anybody in Melbourne?’ I’m like, ‘your phone rang and then mine did.
“Should I answer it?’ and [Edge] is like, ‘yeah, yeah, you should answer it!’ So I answered it. It was D-Von. We had a nice conversation and he said he tried to call [Edge], so I said, ‘oh, I’ll pass him to you. He didn’t want to talk to you earlier.’”
You can listen to E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by clicking this link here.
– A fan on Twitter recently asked 2018 WWE Hall Of Fame inductee Bully Ray who he’d like to have induct he and D-Von Dudley into the WWE Hall Of Fame this year. Ray responded by saying that if it were up to him he’d have everyone who was in the ECW Arena in February of 1997 – where he and D-Von hit their first 3D – induct them. However, since it’s a WWE Hall Of Fame he admitted names like Paul Heyman, Edge & Christian, or The Hardy Boyz would also be good options:
If it was totally up to me, I would want something completely different.
I would have every fan who was in the ECW Arena in Feb. ‘97 who saw me and Devon hit our first 3D induct us.
– Rusev has been training Lana hard ahead of their Mixed Match Challenge bout against the team of Elias and Bayley next week. WWE posted the following video of Rusev having Lana break boards in preparation for the match:
Former WWE Superstar and Ring Of Honor (ROH) talent Bully Ray (a.k.a. Bubba Ray Dudley) recently did an interview with Chris Van Vliet of WSVN-TV Entertainment to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Ray discussed his retirement speech from wrestling, advice that he has for young wrestlers, and the possibility of The Dudley Boyz getting inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. You can check out the highlights here:
His retirement speech:
“I don’t plan anything. When you plan stuff, it comes across the wrong way. I go to the ring and I say what I feel. I wasn’t even supposed to be on those shows in Buffalo or Ohio or Chicago. Ring of Honor told me to take the time off to rest and as much as I would have liked to stay home, I can’t do that to those cities because those are the cities I got my start in especially with ECW. That night in Chicago I kind of knew that this was the end of the line. That building was the first building we did flaming tables in. So if I can’t go out in my backyard in New York or in Philly which is where I got my start, the absolute best place would be Chicago.”
Advice that he has for young professional wrestlers:
“Get over. I don’t care what it takes. I don’t care if you crap into your own hand and throw it in the 5th row as long as you can get over. Make the people be interested in you. Make them emotionally invested in you. Make them laugh. Make them cry. Make them cheer. Make them boo. Do something. Get over. Listen, you can go in the ring and do a flip or a dive and do this and that and they’ll go ohhh and they’ll go ahhh, but so many guys are doing that. I’d like to see guys get over more because they are using the entire range of emotions that a human being has.”
Possibly getting inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame with his brother D-Von as a member of The Dudley Boyz:
“I don’t care about the Hall of Fame. I get inducted into the Hall of Fame every single night I go through that curtain. This is my Hall of Fame. It’s the fans. If they’re cheering, if they’re booing, if they’re laughing, crying or throwing tomatoes at my head I don’t care. That’s the Hall of Fame to me. I don’t need anything else and I’ve never really needed anything else. Not that being inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame wasn’t “nice” or if the WWE ever wanted to induct us that it wouldn’t be “nice”. I don’t want to be selfish about it, I know the people would enjoy that. So if the day comes, ok cool. If the day never comes I’m not losing an ounce of sleep over it.”
Bully Ray hosted Busted Open Radio on Thursday and commented on the news that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were sent home from WWE’s European tour for ‘unprofessional conduct.’
“When you go into business for yourself, it means you’re being self serving and selfish,” he said. “You’re doing something that you want to do for your benefit that might not be in the best interest of the story, the angle, or what the company wants to push forward.”
“If they went so against the script or the story, back in the day it might have been tolerated, but today it will not be. Vince sent a very strong message to these young men. He sent a stronger message to his locker room. The message is ‘This is my business. I’m a billionaire. I created this place. Do what you’re told, or I don’t care who you are, I will send you home and I will sit you home so you can think about your screw ups.’”
Bully Ray also commented on the news that Chris Jericho will be wrestling Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4th from Tokyo. As someone who has worked closely with Jericho for many years, Bully Ray is beyond impressed with Jericho’s ability to keep his character is fresh and get people talking about him.
“Jericho is a genius at constant reinvention. Whether he is reinventing himself with Fozzy or the wrestling business, Jericho & Omega is immense. You’re going to be able to witness a match with no restrictions and no handcuffs.”
“This is a perfect storm. You’re going to see a story told. Very rarely am I excited to see a match unfold. This has my full attention.”
“To be able to make it in Pro Wrestling as long as Chris has, you have to be a brilliant Chess player. Wrestling is Chess. You have to know when you move your Pawns, your Bishops and Knights. The most important thing you need is patience, and Chris did a phenomenal job setting his board up on social media.
He set up his board so well, that everybody thought he was getting the match for the cruise. Just when you think you have it all figured out, he looks at you and says ‘check mate’. This match is bigger than a Wrestlemania match”
Earlier this month former WWE, Impact Wrestling, and Ring Of Honor (ROH) star Bully Ray (a.k.a. Bubba Ray Dudley) announced his retirement from in-ring competition after 26 years in the business. He recently joined First Thing to discuss his life outside of the squared circle and revealed that his new passion will be helping young talent in the industry. You can check out the highlights here:
Working with young talent at ROH:
“I’m gonna be able to work behind the scenes with Ring Of Honor, help a lot of the younger guys develop their characters and help them out there,” he said. “I totally enjoy seeing other guys succeed based on some of the advice I’ve given them.”
Wanting talent to approach him versus offering advise to talent randomly:
“I don’t go up to guys and say, ‘Hey, you should do this,’ or, ‘I think you should do that.’ If they come to me I’m more than happy to help them out, because if they’re coming to me they obviously have thought about it and they’ve [sought] out the help on their own,” he said. “‘Hey, can you help me with this aspect of my character,’ or, ‘What do you think I should do for a move over here?’ Anything that they want to do to help tell their story in the ring better, I’ll be there for.”
The biggest piece of advise he can offer young talent:
“Character development and storytelling, because a lot of young wrestlers today think it’s all about the moves,” he said. “They just go out there and flip all around the place, and listen, there is a section of the fan base and the audience that likes that. But for the most part, for 100 years, what has professional wrestling been built on? The art of storytelling and characters. Good vs. evil. Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker. Black hat vs. white hat.”
You can listen to Ray’s interview on First Thing by clicking this link here.
Late last night (Sun. October 15, 2017) Ring Of Honor (ROH) “Global Wars: Chicago” iPPV Bully Ray came out to hit Frankie Kazarian through a table. Kazarian and Christopher Daniels had just gotten through taking on Kushida and Cheeseburger and were about to but Cheeseburger through a table.
After Ray put Kazarian through the table he got on the mic to address the ROH crowd. Ray said that at this point in his career he needs to think about his health and proceeded to reveal that he is bringing his in-ring career to an end. The Chicago crowd then stood up on their feet and gave Ray a standing ovation. He then brought a young child into the ring by the name of Chase and told him that he represented all the fans that he has ever had the chance to perform in front of.
Ray then handed Chase “a piece of the last table I’ll ever put somebody through.” He then thanked the crowd and left. This announcement comes a few weeks after Ray suffered an injury on a PPV due to being hit on the head with a table. Ray is expected to go into further detail about his retirement on Busted Open Radio later this week.
– Former WWE Superstar Bully Ray (Bubba Ray Dudley) took to Twitter last night (Mon. October 9, 2017) to comment on The Shield reuniting. Ray claims that the crowd didn’t ‘go CRAZY for it’:
. #RAW crowd LOVED Shield reunion…but did not go CRAZY for it.
– It seems as though former WWE Divas Champion Kelly Kelly (real name Barbie Blank) has split up with her husband, former NHL hockey star Sheldon Souray, per a report from US Magazine:
“They separated a couple months ago,” a source told US. “Barbie is already going on dates with other guys.”
Kelly didn’t reference the divorce directly, but subtly hinted at the split on Instagram with a few cryptic posts:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZUibrfnlGG/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZdY9L1nmEW/
The pair were married in Cabo San Lucas on February 27, 2016. Their relationship was documented on the second season of the E! reality series, WAGS.
Bully Ray was hospitalized after taking a table shot to the head at Friday night’s ROH Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view from Las Vegas. Here’s a clip of the incident:
Former WWE Superstar and current Ring Of Honor (ROH) star Bully Ray (a.k.a. Bubba Ray Dudley) recently took to Twitter to answer some fan questions. Ray discussed if a singles run was ever discussed for his recent stint with WWE, how he and D-Von got heat, who gives the hardest chair shots, a program with Brock Lesnar, and wanting an epic match with Randy Orton. Check it out here:
Was there ever a potential solo run discussed when you went back to WWE?
Former WWE Superstar and current Ring Of Honor (ROH) star Bully Ray (also known as Bubba Ray Dudley) recently did an interview with A Music Blog, Yea? (AMBY) to talk about a number of professional wrestling topics. Ray revealed who always entertains him in the business, being able to be Bully Ray again after his last WWE run, and how fast ROH contacted he and D-Von Dudley after they left WWE. Here are some of the highlights:
Who in the business always entertains him:
“There’s entirely too many to mention, there are a lot of wrestlers [or] entertainers out there today. I mean in the Ring of Honor locker room alone, man, you can’t even pick one, [Christopher] Daniels, [Frankie] Kazarian, [and] Jay Lethal is like the master of all trades who can do anything.”
Being able to be Bully Ray again after leaving WWE:
“It does feel good to be Bully Ray again, because I believe it’s what the fan want to see. People have been telling me since I created Bully Ray like six years ago, this is the side of me they like the best. Going back to WWE with D-Von and having our final run there as The Dudleys was a lot of fun, we went all over the world, we had a blast. But I know from the fan’s perspective it’s not exactly what they wanted. So, I’m happy to be able to come out here with Ring of Honor and be the version of myself that I enjoy the most and that the fans enjoy the most.”
How fast ROH contacted he and D-Von after leaving WWE:
“Yeah, Ring of Honor did contact me and D-Von a day after our WWE contracts expired and they wanted me and D-Von to come in and work there. We were very interested, D-Von has a larger family, D-Von wanted to take a step back for a little while, so I said, ‘Bro, you do what you gotta do and I’m gonna keep doin’ what I do’ and that was it. I always knew Ring of Honor and Bully Ray would be a perfect fit.”
It has been a very quiet few months for Revolution Pro Wrestling. The UK based promotion has been gearing up for their annual Summer Sizzler event that takes place on August 17th. It was announced earlier in the year that Rev Pro would be collaborating with CMLL, Ring of Honor and New Japan to co-host the War of the Worlds UK tour and the Summer Sizzler is the first stop on the tour.
Several Ring of Honor stars have been announced for the ‘Sizzler and the latest name is Bully Ray. Bully has been making his mark on Ring of Honor ever since his debut and he is set to face one of Rev Pro’s homegrown talents in Sha Samuels.
Former WWE Tag Team Champion and current Ring Of Honor (ROH) star Bully Ray recently did an interview with USA Today’s “For The Win” to comment on a variety of professional wrestling topics, including his evolution from Bubba Ray Dudley into Bully Ray, working with ROH, and the possibility of seeing The Hardys “Broken” gimmick in WWE. Check out the highlights:
His evolution from Bubba Ray Dudley to Bully Ray:
“Bully Ray is Bad Guy 101. I did not reinvent the wheel. I just stuck to the plan of being an effective bad guy and I just put my own little twists on it. …I became that heel that I knew I could be. I got myself in the best shape that I’ve ever been in because I knew that was going to get people to sit up and take notice immediately.
“I’ve had this speaking ability that I’ve had my entire career that nobody really remembered since the days of ECW. For six years in WWE, I didn’t really get to talk too much and then six years as a tag team in TNA, I didn’t get to talk that much. Now here comes Bully Ray cutting some of the best heel promos in the business.”
Now working with ROH full-time:
“From my point of view and from my relationship with the rest of the locker room and my relationship with the fans, things cannot better. The first night here at the Hammerstein (in New York), I said I’m not coming in to be one of those veterans who is looking to take somebody’s spot or come in and grab a quick payday. I said I was coming in to be a full-time guy with Ring of Honor and a legit part of this locker room and that’s exactly what’s happening.
“Nobody understands what it’s like to be part of a company like Ring of Honor more than I do, especially being in ECW. I understand what drives these guys, their passion and their willingness to put their bodies on the line and steal the show every night. I also understand the other side. I’ve wrestled in front of 100,000 people at WrestleMania. I’m trying to help them as much as possible to become better versions of themselves.”
Possibility of seeing The Hardys “Broken” gimmick in WWE:
“I think that they will get the best of both worlds. They can milk this Hardy run for every dime it’s worth and then they can evolve into a version of the Broken Universe that the WWE sees fits. WWE is not going to allow creations that got over someplace else to come in and rule their world. It’s not going to happen. It didn’t happen with the Bullet Club and it’s not going to happen with Matt Hardy’s Broken Universe. They are going to have to put their stamp of approval on it and have their creative input.”
You can read Ray’s full interview with USA Today by clicking here.
Bully Ray took to Twitter earlier today to congratulate a graduate of the “Team 3D Academy”, Kennadi Brink. The 25 year old was recently signed by WWE.
Some speculation is that WWE has signed Brink as a referee, indicating the company plans on brining in female referees. This could be in preparation for the pending women’s tournament, or just to work as a referee in general.
Brink has competed for Ring of Honor, wrestled a job match on NXT once, and has also competed for Shine and Shimmer. She wrestled WWE and ECW alumni, Jazz, at a show over WrestleMania weekend.
As we previously reported, WWE Champion Randy Orton and former WWE Superstar Bully Ray got into a Twitter exchange over Orton’s recent criticism of the professional wrestling indie scene. Ray took to a recent episode of Busted Open Radio to comment on the incident, and you can check out the highlights below:
Orton’s response to his #Dive photo on Twitter:
“The part about Randy Tweeting me is where things get wonky and I don’t understand. Because here’s the deal, that diatribe that you just read, somebody texted that to me about two days ago and I hadn’t read it. I did not read it on Rip Rodgers Twitter or Randy Orton’s Twitter or wherever it came from because I don’t follow either one of them. When I read that I thought it was funny, and I saw the last word and it said ‘dive.’ I was like ‘Oh I have that picture of me diving.’ I was kind of laughing saying to myself ‘I look like the Hindenburg falling.’
“I was making fun of myself, so the post that I put up there of ‘dive’ was kind of a tongue in cheek joke at myself because here I am the veteran and I’m doing a dive. I had no idea about anybody else’s stuff, but I guess it was coincidental. This had nothing to do with Rip Rodgers. As a matter of fact, if you go back a month ago you can see that me and Rip Rodgers, we actually have some really good back-and-forth on Twitter, where we basically agree almost one hundred percent of the time when it comes to wrestling and wrestling psychology, and that old school mantra. Rip Rodgers even went as far to Tweet me ‘Are you sure you’re not my son?’ That’ show much me and him are on the same page.
“So I would not even be talking about Rip Rodgers or taking a shot at him. If I was talking about him I would hit the little ‘@’ symbol so Rick knew I was talking about him. Now, Randy gets in on it. If I was referring to Randy, which I would not be doing at all, I would’ve added Randy. Because I’m a man and I will tell you if I am talking about you or taking a shot at you. So my Tweet had nothing to do with those people. But I did feel the need to fire back and I did. I’m sure you have that Tweet ready to go.”
Ray on his response back to Orton on Twitter:
“And the reason why I said Randy Orton is wrong again, is because me and Randy actually have a very long history. People may or may not know the story, and I’ll try to give you the cliff notes version of what happened – About 15 years ago there was a live event between me and D-Von and Randy Orton and Batista. It was just one of those matches that just did not go the right way. It was a snake bitten match. I wound up hurting my back, Randy wound up hurting his leg and his shoulder, Dave wound up hurting his tricep – it was just one of those bad nights. Those guys held a little bit of a grudge from that night, and it went on for a long long long time. Well fast forward 10 years later, I was back in the WWE.
“Me and Randy saw each other and within an instant, we shook hands, we hugged, sat down, talked about it, and within five minutes we had exchanged apologies. Randy said ‘Bubba I’m sorry, I was young, I was immature, I should’ve never been saying those things I said about you.’ I said ‘Randy, I’m sorry too. I was a bit of a hot head back then, I’m sorry if I yelled at you for anything.’ We totally buried the hatchet. My last year in WWE with Randy couldn’t have been any better. We exchanged funny stories, we talked, we talked about doing the super 3-D together, it was a great time. He was one of the last people I said goodbye to at WWE. We both expressed to each other how happy we were that we were able to bury the hatchet. I still consider him one of the best workers in the world, okay? So I have zero clue why he needed to take that shot at me. But you know what? It’s all fine and good because me and Randy’s paths will cross again.”
The apology Orton sent out soon after:
“Now, he mentioned ‘old timer’ in there right? So he’s probably addressing me as the old timer right? Well, he talks about the money and the 13 titles and everything like that – yeah man, I got to agree with you. Because as far as the money’s concerned, I’ve made a boatload of it Randy, just like you. So counting that money and looking at your bank statement is freaking awesome. As far as your 13 titles are concerned, man, I’m on the same page as you, because I have 24 of them. So I’m on board with you Randy, I totally get it, brother!”
If this is jealousy related due to fans being more interested in what’s happening outside WWE:
“I don’t know if jealousy is the right word. I really don’t know what the right word is. Here’s what I know, I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum and everything in between. I’ve wrestled in front of seven people in the Polish-American club in Piscataway, and 100 thousand people at WrestleMania, I’ve done the Tokyo Dome, Madison Square Garden, I’ve main evented all over the world, I’ve been in ECW, I’ve been in Ring of Honor, TNA, Hustle, Old Japan, New Japan, you name it. I’ve seen all the different promotions, I’ve seen all the different styles, and I appreciate all them for what they’re worth. I understand when it comes to wrestling psychology, I understand what the perfect wrestling psychology is.
“But I also know that there are different genres and that most people like this new style of wrestling. People enjoy it. Just like people enjoy movies like Fast And Furious. You buy a ticket to go see Fast And Furious, just because you want to see everybody crash and burn. You’re not paying because you want to invest in the story. Some people want to invest in Sports Entertainment, and some people want to invest in an entertaining sport. And everything in between. And I think that’s what you’re getting in the world of pro wrestling right now, and I can’t understand why people are upset by 10 dives and 20 super-kicks because half of the roster right now in the WWE got their start doing that style.”
ROH TV airdate May 15th 2017 (Fite App)
Baltimore, MD (taped before War of the Worlds PPV)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PoAoqbUQ3k
1. Will Ferrara & Cheeseburger vs. Chris Sabin & Jonathan Gresham (Search & Destroy)
Alex Shelley cut a promo before the match, talking about how Jonathan “the Octopus” Gresham is one of the best up-and-coming wrestlers in ROH. Gresham would get the win for his team here as well, forcing Cheeseburger to tap to an octopus stretch.
After the match, there was a little teased dissension between Cheeseburger and Ferrara, as Ferrara stormed to the back without his partner.
Winners: Chris Sabin & Jonathan Gresham
We are shown a segment of Jay Lethal in the back being given a script for an upcoming commercial. Silas Young took offence to this and beat Lethal up, injuring his leg against a locker.
2. Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young w/Beer City Bruiser
Silas Young pulled off a big upset here, but under dubious circumstances. The Beer City Bruiser distracted the referee, and Young hit Fish with his knee brace (which he took of earlier in the match) and pinned him. We should get a rematch from this in the not-too-distant future.
Winner: Silas Young
Dalton Castle cut a promo backstage about how much it hurt to lose his ROH championship match to Christopher Daniels. Evidently, it reminded him of a blind date that went terribly wrong while in Dubai. He promised to come back stronger and work towards winning the title.
3. 6-Man Tag Team Championships Bully Ray & the Briscoes (c) vs. the Rebellion (Shane Taylor, Caprice Coleman, Rhett Titus)
Commentary played up how the Briscoes used to ask their Dad to take them to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, so they could see Bully Ray wrestle. Bully will turn on them eventually, but for right now they are a fun team.
Bully Ray got a hot tag to start the closing moments of the match. He took out everyone and got a big pop. He then tagged in Mark Briscoe who did his Redneck Kung Fu on everyone. Mark took out each member of the Rebellion with a moonsault on the floor, then Jay followed with a suicide dive….dive.
Titus blocked the Froggy-bow from Mark, then missed his own frog splash. Mark then tagged in Jay, they did the 3-D with Bully and pinned Rhett. Commentary mentioned that we never got to see Shane Taylor and Bully Ray go at it, which probably means we will eventually see just that.
Winners: Bully Ray & the Briscoes (retain championships)
After the match, the Briscoes brought out a table, and Bully powerbombed Coleman through it from the 2nd rope. Bully led the crowd in “ROH!” chants, and the 3 held up their titles to close the show.
Bully Ray recently spoke with reporters about his latest stint with the WWE. He revealed that his updated “Bully Ray” character almost debuted for the company, but WWE’s anti-bullying charity work prevented it from happening. Instead the company stuck with his “Bubba Ray Dudley” character. He told ESPN.com,
“We were one day away from becoming Bully Ray in WWE. One of the problems with having Bully Ray in the WWE was the word bully.
How could they have a guy named Bully when they had the ‘Be a STAR’ program? It was a little too risky for them.”
Bully Ray in Ring of Honor
After their latest contract with WWE ran out, D-Von stayed on with the company as an agent, and Bully Ray signed with Ring of Honor.
Since debuting in the company, Bully Ray has teamed up with ROH originals the Briscoe Brothers. The trio recently captured the company’s 6-man tag team championships.
“Ring of Honor reached out to me I think the day after I left WWE,” He continued. “They were actually interested in bringing in both me and D-Von into Ring of Honor, which would’ve been insane. D-Von had made a life decision where he wanted to devote a little more time to his family and physically in the ring wanted to slow it down just a little bit. I still have gas in the tank. I think Ring of Honor was the perfect place for me to continue as Bully Ray.”
Ring of Honor TV
airdate: April 11th 2017 (on Fite App)
Las Vegas, NV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IKEkMbo4Qc
1. Punishment Martinez vs. Hanson (War Machine) Martinez turned on BJ Whitmer and Los Ingobernables recently, and is now flying solo. War Machine is on a roll, last week Raymond Rowe defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr. and recently in Japan they won the IWGP heavyweight tag team championships. Martinez has been on the receiving end of a push as well however.
After a back and forth match it looked like Hanson had things under control. He went to the top for a moonsault but Davey Boy Smith Jr. showed up on the stage and distracted him. That allowed Martinez to a hit a kick and the South-of-Heaven Chokeslam for the win. Winner: Punishment Martinez
** A short video segment of Hangman Page attacking Kazarian in the parking lot is shown
2. ROH 2017 Top Prospect Tournament Semi-Final #2 Curt Stallion vs. John Skyler Winner of this match goes on to face Josh “the Goods” Woods in the final. Winner of the tournament earns an ROH contract and a shot at the ROH TV title. Finish of this match came when Skyler countered a hurricanrana attempt into a flying fireman’s carry he calls the “Southern Salvation” for the pin. Winner: John Skyler (advances to finals)
** We cut to a backstage video of Adam Cole trying to reach out to the Young Bucks. Cole attempted to fire the Bucks from the Bullet Club the other week, however they told him he didn’t have the ability to do so. Cole said in the video he wants things to go back to normal. Speculation is that this is leading to a Bullet Club rift between Kenny Omega and Adam Cole.
3. 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match Bully Ray and the Briscoes vs. the Kingdom (c) Due to the injury to TK O’Ryan, Silas Young fills in for the Kingdom along with Matt Taven and Vincent Marseglia. Young has joined the Kingdom in return for he and the Beer City Bruiser (plus partner) receiving the next shot at the Kingdom.
Finish of the match came when Bully Ray received a hot tag and proceeded to take out all 3 members of the Kingdom. Both Briscoes lifted up Marseglia for the 3D and Bully covered him after for the pin.
After the match Taven and Silas Young argued on the outside, perhaps setting up an angle between the Kingdom and Silas & the Beer City Bruiser. Winners: Bully Ray and the Briscoes (new champions)
Next week there will be an 8-man tag team match with the winners facing off in a 4-way match. The winner of the 4-way will receive an ROH World Championship opportunity. The 8 competitors will be chosen by random draw.
Former WWE Superstar Bully Ray took to Twitter to praise Roman Reigns on Monday night. Reigns opened up Monday Night Raw and the crowd showered him with boos and insults. Reigns simply stood there and smirked as the crowd of over 15,000 shouted at him. Bully Ray gave Reigns credit and said that Reigns was “playing 15,000 people like a fiddle”.
Roman is playing 15,000 ppl like a fiddle right now.
Hate to break it to ya jagoff…but this is heat in its purest form. And you and others will continue to watch, pay and "boooo" = 💰💰💰 https://t.co/I9vYBCNIN9
Dillinger first appeared on WWE’s main roster when he entered the Royal Rumble at number 10. Last night on Smackdown, Dillinger officially joined the main roster and will now be seen on Smackdown. In an interview backstage, Dillinger was emotional about his 15 year journey to finally make it to the main roster. Dillinger referred to his debut as the greatest moment of his career.
