Bully Ray Can Work

[Cracka Jack]

After losing a TNA Tag Title match to the Motor City Machine Guns, Team 3D retired as a tag team. Not long after, Brother Ray turned heel after attacking Devon during their retirement speech, starting a feud between the two. I was initially doubtful that either man could get over on their own, but Ray has shown that this new bully gimmick of his can work. In fact, I'll outright state it: I'm loving this gimmick.

His always good mic work (as a heel at least) seems to have improved dramatically, he's looks remarkably comfortable in this role, and he's actually getting loads of heat in the iMPACT! Zone. Ray has found a gimmick that people legitimately care about, and has already found a good balance of being cocky and cowardly. I think he may have struck gold here.

Do you like the Bully Ray gimmick?

How successful do you see this gimmick being?

 

[LSN80]

I do. Ive always felt that Rey works better as a heel, especially in his mic work. He's been quite successful all the time at drawing a crowd reaction, but even moreso as a heel. The reason that it works is that Rey is doing classic things that a bully does. He cuts a loud, mouthy promo, but hides behind So Cal Val when confronted by Devon. It's simple, classic heel stuff, but so few heels do it these days. So many feel they need to show acts of bravado to prove their point, and Rey is doing the opposite. He truly is being a bully. I like it for that reason.

The gimmick itself can be successful, Im just not sure how much it can be with Rey. If he continues to cut promos then run from fights, he will be quite successful. The longer he stays out of the ring, and the shorter his matches are in this role, the better. His match with Devon at Genesis would be one time where a quick DQ followed by a cut and run would be a good thing. It would draw added heat to the gimmick, and not rush the feud.

If the match at Genesis is decisive in either way, there's really little for Rey to do here as a single's competitor. But if they can drag this out, drawing more heat, I truly believe Rey can sell this feud and gimmick with his mouth and his antics. A long, successful angle with Devon, win or lose, could mean a successful gimmick here for Rey. So how they book this will be especially pivotal.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

I think myself and everyone else should forget about the fact that he's a fatso and focus on his real talent, in order to be able to sit through one of his promos.

I always liked Buh Buh. I always thought he was awesome on the mic and a genuine bad guy. My only conern is his wrestling ability. I don't know if he can pull off a good singles match.

If Bully Rey can perform in singles competition I see no reason why he shouldn't move up the ranks and take the place of guys like Abyss. If he can wrestle then why the fuck not.

 

[MoizH28]

Im really digging this Bully Ray gimmick. I think if TNA has Bubba go over Devon in the feud, they should write Devon off TV for awhile. Then for 2-3 months have Bubba go trough smaller wrestlers like Red, Lethal, Moore and Jesse Neal. Have Devon come back act like he is gonna attack bubba then attack the face star instead and wala you have a heel 3D and they become interesting again.

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

I'll admit I'm starting to come around to Bully Ray (Rey?). He's become a genuine heel bully and is performing the part almost perfectly. Edging Devon on every week but never letting him get close to him.

The longer he stays out of the ring, and the shorter his matches are in this role, the better

LSN80 said it best; as long as they keep teasing Devon finally getting his hands on him this will turn out well. I was skeptical, as everyone was, of this feud at first but it has the capabilities to turn into a very solid feud. The only problem has been mentioned before, can they put on singles matches that are good? If they can then this feud will be alright and after it I could see Ray joining Immortal/Fortune as a muscle.

 

[GetsHeat]

God, do we really need more heel and face turns in the matter of month? Simple answer, hell no. I mean especially with Team 3D, during that Jessie Neal crap.

I don't mind Bully Ray, but it's not really that unique of a gimmick. I mean he's the prototypical cowardly heel. He does it well, but it is what it is.

 

[This Is My Name Thank You]

I have to say Bully Ray is an can go far. I like the hole gimmick an he is a bully but, i believe it will last somewhat long. Specailly if devon goes back to the Reverend Devon, god that was awful.
I see Ray getting heat an working his way about but to me he's lacklauster as a single competor. He needs to works his ass of to BE something then maybe he'll be a major player. I def don't wanna see a 3D reuinion in months, i rather see what typr of fued this can build into.
I say if Bubba i mean Bull Ray gets the finally win an looks like an actually competitor then yes this can go good for him.

Hell even a TV title shot an he could be a major mid card heel. An i can say i hope Bully Ray can keep a single's career only to get The younger teams to maybe win 23 tag team titles.

So yes Bully Ray can have success an I hope he does. He has wlays been a bully an he can run wild with this. an can only progress with time. an thats what i'm giving him is time.
i just hope no 3d get back together, an teams lik INK INC, BEER MONEY, MCMG, GEN ME don't have to worry about 3d anymore. so yes go BULLY RAY you mean SOB!!!!

 

[TellMeWhy]

I like Bully Ray. He is like a veteran version of Kevin Steen from ROH. All Ray haters are funny to me. He maybe a big guy that people like to discredit but the man can talk on the mic and can sell himself and can sell water to a whale on top of that. He can be a good mid-uppercard heel. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have a breakthrough year for 2011.

 

[Y2JChrisJericho]

i'm sorry, i'm just not digging it. No matter what Bubba does I just never like it, and from what I hear he's quite the a-hole so I guess the gimmick works, he's more comfortable in his role as you mentioned before because he's being more like himself. He draws that "X-Pac Heat" from me, nothing else. His in ring work isn't that good, and I don't even find his mic work to be all that good either. D-Von isn't that bad, like him more than Bubba, but they just can't draw as singles stars.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Between them, Ray has much more talent and much more of a chance of succeeding as a singles wrestler, but I just think it's too far past his time for it to truly work outside of this feud. Where does he really go with this after he quite obviously puts Brother Devon over? Worse yet, where the hell does Devon go?

Do you guys really wanna see these guys eating up air time or feuding for championships after this?

I just don't really see the long-term value here...

 

[ABMorales787]

Oh, Bubba. I look at him and laugh. He reminds me of Big Bubba Rodgers/Big Boss Man. The dude knew how to be an absolute jerk to the bone. But he was so unappealing and so bad in the ring, that he got to headline one PPV and then went back to jobbing. Which is pretty much what Bubba or Bully or whatever Ray should stick to afterwords. A big name jobber to put over talent. I can just picture him talking trash like he always does only for Little Red come and kick his ass.

As far as I'm concerned, TNA shouldn't look into something too deep for the guy. As good a heel as he might be, he's still totally unattractive. He should be used to put over talent at the most.

And Devon should just be a manager.

 

[shattered dreams]

I was supporting the idea that Bubba could work from the beginning so I am not going to stop now. Where would he go after this? Bully someone else. He does not have to be and probably will not be in a title picture. He will take on a Jarrett type role. These recognizable veterans can put on feuds without titles. It is something I have said many times TNA has lacked compared to WWE in the past. Odd enough WWE has cut ties with a big chunk of that advantage and their product suffers for it IMO. It isn't eating up airtime if it is entertaining. You cannot build everything based on long-term value because then you are always discounting the present for the future while people are watching based on the present. A good mix is needed and I see no reason why someone as good at working a crowd as Ray is has no use, especially when he has shown a willingness to put just about anybody over.

 

[RicSpade]

Honestly with the exception of how he is dressing right now, to me Bully Ray is just another way of rehashing an old gimmick to another tag team competitor, and I know some of you are asking WTF I am talking about. Barry Darsow went from being apart of Demolition to being The Blacktop Bully. Now in WCW I have to admit this was an extremely extremely stupid gimmick with his only memorable match happened in the back of a truck going down the road until someone rung a bell.

Now I'm not saying this is another reincarnation, what I am saying is that to the older wrestling fan its going to look like the same crap, kinda like how they are grooming Ryan to be the next Batista in FCW. I think if that if they are going to do this right they need to monster him out, I mean c'mon the whole anybody can be my Devon crap and then losing because his partner loses and then he blows up, I honestly don't draw any heat from that.

let him attack people, let him bust someone open if he's a bully hell put him in immortal and maybe push him like they did Steiner (I mean he did win the world title eventually because of the NWO push) I mean Ray can put on some decent matches, but I think that after the PPV he needs to start his actual bullying and destruction of people, otherwise Bully Ray will be just another failed way to split up a tag team

 

[fenfool]

Seems like a lot of people are liking it, which is honestly surprising to me. I think The Dudleys worked well as heels, and the few attempts at going solo have been disasters. The angle isn't horrible, but I'll stop short of saying it's engaging, or that I have a lot of interest in seeing Bully Ray have a long singles run. Past their one-on-one match, I don't know if there is much left after that point. The 'Bully' persona is a good heel vessel, but I don't know if I want to see Bully Ray start destroying X division competitors ala Kevin Nash...but I'll withhold judgement until I see where they go with him.

 

[Big Smack]

I wasn't overly excited about this move, but I think this has a shot to work. I agree, have him go over on Devon, write Devon off for a bit and have Bully Ray push the little guys around for awhile. It looks to me like Bubba is losing weight as he looked trimmer on the last show than he has in awhile.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Ray is more entertaining than Devon on the mic, and to tell you the truth, this bully character isn't that bad, but I would not want to see him move up through the ranks in TNA. There other guys on TNA's roster who could use a big push a lot more than Bully Ray. I don't want to see this character have more air time on Impact, and I sure as hell wouldn't want to see Ray going for a World Title. I don't think too many people would want to see him headlining a pay per view. Impact is already crowded enough as it as. They don't need to take up more time by pushing this gimmick hard. He's fine staying in the mid card, but I wouldn't want to see him as a Monster Heel, because Bubba's glory days are long gone.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Ray's mic work has always been solid but, in my view, he's always had questionable ability inside the ring. Neither he or DeVon are anything to crow about seperately but they've always done alright together. They've always had just enough to put on good tag team matches, at least much of the time.

Right now, I'm also wondering if it's just too little too late for Ray to go this route. He's almost 40 years old, weighs about 320 pounds, far from athletic and has just never done anything of real relevance as a singles wrestler. The closest he's come were the 8 runs he had as WWE Hardcore Champion, which lasted a grand total of 27 days, so that's not exactly anything to brag about. Besides, after his feud with DeVon, what exactly does he have left? I'm not exactly going to be lining up to see Ray against Jay Lethal or Douglas Williams or, really, anyone else.

 

[ramblinroy682]

Bubba Ray, Bully Ray, or Brother Ray has always been able to work a crowd. He is great as a heel on the mic. Yes he does all the cliche things heels do, but the reason they're cliche is because they work. After he beats up Devon, he should find two lackeys to do his work for him. Basically, become a manager. He should just stick to the mic, find two tough guys to do his fighting for him. He could thrive in that role.

 

[gd]

Absolutely not. Any argument trying to portray Ray as a valuable singles wrestler is not a good one. For the past few years their tag team work has barely been bearable. Now they branch out on their own? A lot of you are praising his superior mic work, but I simply can't stand it. That yelling makes me want to injure a small child. Just awful.

And as IDR said, past this terrible feud with Devon, what else can he do? I know he's over with the crowd, but even that is slowly deteriorating. Unless he's in a limited role, he really has not value for TNA anymore. Same with Devon.

 

[jaceynightheat]

Honestly with the exception of how he is dressing right now, to me Bully Ray is just another way of rehashing an old gimmick to another tag team competitor, and I know some of you are asking WTF I am talking about. Barry Darsow went from being apart of Demolition to being The Blacktop Bully. Now in WCW I have to admit this was an extremely extremely stupid gimmick with his only memorable match happened in the back of a truck going down the road until someone rung a bell.

Barry Darsow was Repo Man, using his real name & other failed gimmicks. Which is a shame because as a kid I loved Demolition, I think after Ax had to quit, Smash should've gone solo as Smash.

But I think he became Repo Man because when he came back he was too small to how he was as Smash.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think it is quite easy for Ray to play the "Bully" role, he is well known as being something similar backstage.

If you look back at the Dudleys as heels in ECW, Ray was fantastic at getting heat, sometimes the crowd would literally want to fight him, he was that obnoxious and offensive to them. If he can recreate that kind of intensity in TNA then this gimmick could really work. Obviously in WWE and later in TNA the Dudleys played more of a face role or a toned down heel role, but TNA need to let Bubba go all out and try to bring back some of the mega heel ECW character to get this gimmick over and let it go as fas as it can.

I dont see much future for Ray in a tag team any more, maybe it was time to let the Dudleys die off, but as a singles guy (which I initially thought would fail), the bully gimmick is something that could actually work.

Check out this ECW videos as to how good a heel Bubba can be

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[Cradleoffearitsself]

I personally like bully ray gimmick. Its alot better then the toned down bubba of the WWE. I remember when they first debuted in WWE. They got major eat from powerbombing mae young through a table and wreaked havoc in tag devision. But WWE decided they'd rather have team 3d be faces rather then heels. Look, at bubba he can get tons of heat just by dissing your mother and devon gets heat all the time when there heels. Quite honestly they both work better as heels and I doubt there face turn can top there heel turn. Just look at TEAM 3D in ECW they all gained heat because they were the dudley boys. They were the guys who'd cut to the point and make an entire crowd wanna kick there a**s all over the arena. Bully ray is who Bubba is naturally. So I agree this is one of his best gimmicks hes ever played in 10 years.

 

[DangerousDave]

Won't TNA let anyone retire, quit or get fired? First it was Foley, then Ev2, then Angle, now Team 3D. All these guys were supposed to leave TNA and didn't. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Angle and Foley are back. Good riddance to EV2, they sucked.

As for Bubba and Devon, where is this thing going to go after Genesis? Nowhere I hope, the last thing I want is to see this drawn out. If Bubba stays on as a singles wrestler I can only see this thing going one of two ways, the right way and the wrong way. The right way would be to use him to put over the up and comers. Occasionally bring in a jobber from outside for him to squash to allow him to retain some credibility. The wrong way is to let him consistently beat the younger talent, undermining anything that has already been done to build them up. Somehow I don't trust TNA to do this the right way.

Devon will really be a lost cause after Genesis, win or loose. If he looses, it proves Bubba was right, if he wins the feud is settled and its time to retire.

Even though Bubba can still work, this is another case of the older guys stealing the spot light from the younger talent. How many times has it been typed on this forum that the young guys need to be pushed to build home grown stars in TNA?

 

[mrpops]

Bubba is good on the mic and has a good gimmick.

Sadly, he sucks hard in the ring as a singles competitor. He never had any good matches singles wise. His only memorable moves is him spinning his hands/grabbing his crotch then elbowing someone in the head. Also he has his bubba bomb.

Thats 2 freaking moves. Oh im sorry, 3 actually because he does his 3 elbow drops in a row. How entertaining! The guy sucks wrestling wise and thats why he needed d-von to balance them out. Without d-von bubba would be working at burger king the rest of his life.