Update On Bully Ray's ROH Future, The Hardys Set For ROH 15th Anniversary Show This Friday

[Big Red Machine]

Source: WrestlingInc


By Jon Fuentes | March 06, 2017


Source: PWInsider

- PWInsider reports that Bully Ray's appearance at Ring Of Honor's (ROH's) Manhattan Mayhem VI over the weekend was 'not a last second agreement.' It was actually something that had been planned for some time and ROH is said to be Ray's priority going forward, so we can expect to see him there quite often.



- Speaking of ROH, after having defeated The Young Bucks for the ROH Tag Team Titles, The Hardys will be appearing on their 15th Anniversary PPV in Las Vegas this Friday. Matt and Jeff's role in the event has yet to be announced, but you can check out the current card for this weekend here:

* ROH Championship: Adam Cole vs. Christopher Daniels.

* ROH TV Championship: Marty Scurll vs. Lio Rush.

* The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice in a Las Vegas Street Fight.

* Jay Lethal vs. Bobby Fish for ROH Title No. 1 contendership.

* ROH Six Man Tag Team Championship: The Kingdom vs. Dalton Castle & The Boys.

[cero2k]

* The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice in a Las Vegas Street Fight.

this one will be interesting since now neither team has titles, i figured this match was to build a no 1 contender to either tag titles and now that is no more

[Big Red Machine]

* The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice in a Las Vegas Street Fight.

this one will be interesting since now neither team has titles, i figured this match was to build a no 1 contender to either tag titles and now that is no more

It was originally scheduled as a tag title match, but what it actually was is more concerning. It was a throw-away title defense on PPV (spiced up by a random gimmick) because ROH nowadays is (with a few rare exceptions in the world title picture) about stalling until the PPV (or, in this case, until the Hardys match at SCOH) rather than trying to create multiple contenders and have some actual excitement.

[cero2k]

It was originally scheduled as a tag title match, but what it actually was is more concerning. It was a throw-away title defense on PPV (spiced up by a random gimmick) because ROH nowadays is (with a few rare exceptions in the world title picture) about stalling until the PPV (or, in this case, until the Hardys match at SCOH) rather than trying to create multiple contenders and have some actual excitement.

i guess you could argue that the Bucks had a rematch for the IWGP titles left and RPG Vice winning the Jan 4 match could count as 'pinning the champs' for the ROH title. but yeah, definitely throw away

[Big Red Machine]

It was originally scheduled as a tag title match, but what it actually was is more concerning. It was a throw-away title defense on PPV (spiced up by a random gimmick) because ROH nowadays is (with a few rare exceptions in the world title picture) about stalling until the PPV (or, in this case, until the Hardys match at SCOH) rather than trying to create multiple contenders and have some actual excitement.

i guess you could argue that the Bucks had a rematch for the IWGP titles left and RPG Vice winning the Jan 4 match could count as 'pinning the champs' for the ROH title. but yeah, definitely throw away

Right, and I guess I wouldn't have had a problem with it if any of the build had happened in the US, but in the US all that the Bucks have been doing is treading water until the Hardys match, so this match feels like it's totally out of nowhere (and the Street Fight stip definitely is). This is one of those areas where New Japan really should be working together with ROH better. RPG Vice weren't on FantasticaMania, so there was absolutely no reason that they couldn't have been sent to ROH for the 1/14 TV tapings to do some sort of angle for this match, but instead we got the Bucks doing everything they could to come off as cool heels and getting a pointless win over the freakin' Tempura Boyz, who earned their shot by beating Coast 2 Coast and FerraraBurger.
I've been giving this a lot of thought over the weekend, and I honestly don't know if Delirious is lazy, misguided, or just completely stupid. This company has gotten SOOOO far away from what it needs to be. It will probably be in business for a long time, but at the rate things are going, it feels like ROH will never be relevant again. Between your comment about ROH being the new TNA and Gabe's Tweet about being the future, it really feels like ROH is almost a lost cause at this point. Koff=Dixie, Delirious=Russo/Gaburick/other morons who don't know anything about how to actually book. I mean... Delirious is certainly better than those guys are, but he's not Gabe or Prazak or Quack or someone who knows how to book a product that can really generate its own stars and its own attention.

[cero2k]

I've been giving this a lot of thought over the weekend, and I honestly don't know if Delirious is lazy, misguided, or just completely stupid. This company has gotten SOOOO far away from what it needs to be. It will probably be in business for a long time, but at the rate things are going, it feels like ROH will never be relevant again. Between your comment about ROH being the new TNA and Gabe's Tweet about being the future, it really feels like ROH is almost a lost cause at this point. Koff=Dixie, Delirious=Russo/Gaburick/other morons who don't know anything about how to actually book. I mean... Delirious is certainly better than those guys are, but he's not Gabe or Prazak or Quack or someone who knows how to book a product that can really generate its own stars and its own attention.

I don't think it's a lost cause, if I can still find ways to believe in Impact, I sure as hell can believe in ROH, but I do see that they're getting that 09 sting that Impact had, TV is getting in their heads and they feel they need to bring in big names, but at the same time they're still ROH and they 'make' start, so they're not gonna hire established names from the indie scene. I think that beyond the booking, ROH needs to really study itself and restructure themselves. Re-evaluate your roster, your show schedule, etc

[Big Red Machine]

I've been giving this a lot of thought over the weekend, and I honestly don't know if Delirious is lazy, misguided, or just completely stupid. This company has gotten SOOOO far away from what it needs to be. It will probably be in business for a long time, but at the rate things are going, it feels like ROH will never be relevant again. Between your comment about ROH being the new TNA and Gabe's Tweet about being the future, it really feels like ROH is almost a lost cause at this point. Koff=Dixie, Delirious=Russo/Gaburick/other morons who don't know anything about how to actually book. I mean... Delirious is certainly better than those guys are, but he's not Gabe or Prazak or Quack or someone who knows how to book a product that can really generate its own stars and its own attention.

I don't think it's a lost cause, if I can still find ways to believe in Impact, I sure as hell can believe in ROH, but I do see that they're getting that 09 sting that Impact had, TV is getting in their heads and they feel they need to bring in big names, but at the same time they're still ROH and they 'make' start, so they're not gonna hire established names from the indie scene. I think that beyond the booking, ROH needs to really study itself and restructure themselves. Re-evaluate your roster, your show schedule, etc

Which is why I think they're in an even worse place than 2009 TNA. TNA made A LOT of bad choices, but they always had a fundamental understanding of what they were. They were a "big league" wrestling company that saw themselves as competition to WWE and had a budget to match, so they acted like it. They paid out big money to guys like Angle and Sting and Jeff Hardy and RVD and tried to mix them in with their own talent like LAX and Beer Money and Abyss and AJ, Joe, and Daniels. Meanwhile, they were running house shows in the WWE style and signing whoever they wanted off of the indies like WWE used to do before and started doing again. They saw themselves as competition to WWE and tried to compete with WWE. They just made bad choices and so they failed miserably.
With ROH, they have no idea what they are. They think they have WWE-esque pull in the industry but they don’t. They’re trying to spend money but they’re just grabbing old WWE/TNA cast-offs like TNA used to do instead of locking up promising young talent. They book their house shows like they’re New Japan but then try to promote them as if they’re PWG and try to sell them as important like the ROH of old, all with a style of presentation and a philosophy of booking that combines the absolutely worst of the 2000s with the worst of the 1970s. They seem to have no conception that being on TV doesn’t mean you have to act like WWE and TNA. The way ROH will succeed on TV is by being ROH.

[KILLdozer]

The most important thing of all here is...Is he still being called "Bully", like it's an actual name?

[Big Red Machine]

The most important thing of all here is...Is he still being called "Bully", like it's an actual name?

Yes, apparently. It's one of the stupidest names in wrestling in the past few years, and I can't believe people like it.

[KILLdozer]

The most important thing of all here is...Is he still being called "Bully", like it's an actual name?

Yes, apparently. It's one of the stupidest names in wrestling in the past few years, and I can't believe people like it.

Mhm.

I just don't know how it "works" in any degree shape of form at all. How did this crap "stick"?

[Big Red Machine]

The most important thing of all here is...Is he still being called "Bully", like it's an actual name?

Yes, apparently. It's one of the stupidest names in wrestling in the past few years, and I can't believe people like it.

Mhm.

I just don't know how it "works" in any degree shape of form at all. How did this crap "stick"?

Because people were desperate for something to like in TNA and they decided that this insufferable character was it.

[KILLdozer]

"I'm bully Ray Ooooooohhhhh!"

[Big Red Machine]

"I'm bully Ray Ooooooohhhhh!"

"Look at my calves!"

[cero2k]

"I'm bully Ray Ooooooohhhhh!"

"Look at my calves!"

Scott Steiner says the same thing and gets cheered for it, why wouldn't Ray? The man has calves!

It worked because it was the best thing Ray had ever done in his career character-wise, it may be low praise, but that was it

[KILLdozer]

Too bad he couldn't just stay in WWE forever then no one would ever hear of that name again.

Yeah I've also got calves, ... Thighs, traps, biceps , deltoids...All that muscle under the arms and all along the side as well as abs... But you don't see me standing around shouting to look at it!

[cero2k]

They just added House Hardy to the Bucks va RPG Vice match

[Big Red Machine]

"I'm bully Ray Ooooooohhhhh!"

"Look at my calves!"

Scott Steiner says the same thing and gets cheered for it, why wouldn't Ray? The man has calves!

Because Steiner at least comes up with a cool-sounding way to say it. Bully Ray feels like a first draft of a character who they just dumped on screen. He's a bully, so his name is "Bully" and he points out how muscular his calves are by saying "look at my calves! They're so muscular." Scott Steiner doesn't call himself "Muscular Guy" and tell people that they should admire his "triceps." He's "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner, who wants everyone to admires his "peaks."

It worked because it was the best thing Ray had ever done in his career character-wise, it may be low praise, but that was it

Totally disagree about it being the best thing he had ever done character-wise. Bubba Ray Dudley, the tough, powerful, hardcore brawler and one half of arguably the greatest tag team of all time the Dudley Boyz was MUCH better, both as a face and as a heel. People keep saying Bully Ray was a good character, but I can't possibly understand how people could say that. I can see why someone would like, for example, Toru Yano or Dalton Castle or The New Day as characters, but when people try to tell me that Bully Ray was a great character I just don't understand what they are talking about because he barely has a character.

[Big Red Machine]

They just added House Hardy to the Bucks va RPG Vice match

They also announced Briscoe & Bully vs. War Machine & Davey Boy Smith Jr. They kind of did a good job of justifying it on the website for once, although from reading the article it feels like it would make a lot more sense to me in kayfabe as a three-way tag with Briscoes vs. War Machine vs. Bully & Smith. I assume that the reason they made it a six-man tag is that they want Bully to be on the winning side and that Archer is in there to take the pin (which makes sense because he's a tag guy whose regular partner is injured), but I think they could have easily added another team by saying that both War Machine and the other team responded to the Briscoes' challenge, so then you could stick a fourth team in there that you don't care about as much (maybe ANX or MCMG) to take the loss.
Or, now that I realize that there are only six matches announced so far, do War Machine vs. Briscoes on its own and add in a Six Man Scramble with Bully, Archer, and four other guys you might not want to have taking losses right now (Page/Kaz, Cabana, Jay White, & Silas?) to give you a seventh match that can go kind of short and also be used to hide Bully's weaknesses where Bully can get a win as a singles guy, because that's how you are going to be pushing him going forward. That would round out a good seven match card (if you had some other guys that needed to be booked I'd have tried to throw them in the tag match [so basically adding MCMG and/or ANX in), which is the most ROH should be putting on PPV so that the matches all have time to breathe.

[cero2k]

i actually don't see that much difference from ECW Bubba Ray and Bully Ray, they're both just as they say, their own personality turned up to 11. Only difference I see is that Bully Ray wasn't wearing dorky clothing. He was straight up a bully, acted like it, and it never looked like a character, it just looked like him. Granted he wasn't as hardcore or vulgar anymore, but that just comes because it was 15 yrs later.

I don't count WWE Bubba Ray, because WWE Bubba Ray sucked. Awesome tag team, but by themselves, they sucked.

[cero2k]

They just added House Hardy to the Bucks va RPG Vice match

They also announced Briscoe & Bully vs. War Machine & Davey Boy Smith Jr.

wait, War Machine isn't joining Suzuki-Gun, right?

also, Archer is the injured one.