Bully Ray Re-Signs With TNA; Devon Contract Status Still Unknown

[It's Damn Real!]

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/TNA/article10027195.shtml

TNA has re-signed Bully Ray to a new contract, according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Ray works as an in-ring talent and behind the scenes as an agent.

This is fan-fucking-tastic news for TNA. Losing Ray would have hurt quite a bit in the short term, as his rise to the top of the ranks as arguably TNA's best heel (and possibly best heel in the wrestling industry right now) has been an incredible ride. The sting of losing him would have been felt for quite a few months IMO, and this is huge that they were able to retain him, because like so many others, I also think he's the one ultimately behind Aces and Eights.

Thoughts?

 

[IHW]

Somewhere up in the skies, the angles are rejoicing.

Thank God for Bully Ray re-signing. This is great. I honestly hope to see him as World Champion sometimes in 2013. He is as good as they get when talking about a heel. Hopefully at BFG, he has a great match in the upper card against someone like Hardy or RVD.

As for Devon, I still don't care. I mean, he hasn't done enough to make me care. Maybe he is better of in WWE as an agent or even working with building new tag teams.

All is good in the Wrestling World now.

 

[DX Mols]

Excellent news. As much as I used to hate them both, Bully Ray has really become one of the best things going on TNA and definitely Top 5 Heels in the business right now. Devon is a stiff and I wouldn't care if he never was on TV again. And I'm willing to testify to that.

 

[shadyfozzie]

Somewhere up in the skies, the angles are rejoicing.

When did Kurt Angle go to heaven?? lol

Good for TNA... Wonder if Devon will try and go back to WWE for one last run...

 

[LegendKiller716]

I don't really care too much either way. I'm not a fan of Devon, he's boring as shit. Bully Ray is really good, so it's good for him to stay in TNA's title hunt. However the flip side is if they didn't resign they'd probably go to WWE as a team again, which I also would have liked to see.

Now that Bully resigned, that just furthers my speculation that he is one of the Ace's and Eights leaders. I think Jarrett is behind the whole thing, but I think Bully is kinda like a 2nd in command. In football terms, Jarrett is the head coach and Bully is the QB.

 

[3drinks]

Congrats on your TNA World Title reign Bully Ray. Congrats on headlining Bound For Glory this year!

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Here's my question: can Bully Ray continue to be a main event presence in TNA in the next two years. He is damn good, and come so much further than I think any of us, even the most most non-judgmental, open-minded of us, had expected. But can he continue that momentum?

My worry is that Bully Ray, while fantastic on the mic and nearly as good in the ring, simply won't be able to hold a World Title in TNA while Bobby Roode is in the picture. Both of them are, I'd say, on equal footing as far being the top heels in wrestling. Unless you count Daniel Bryan and CM Punk as full-on heels, then that's a different story. In any case, I worry that Roode is going to over-shadow Bully Ray, or that he won't be able to draw as much heat as the Champion. Bubba is a fantastic talent, but he hasn't been involved much in the title picture outside of competing in the BFG Series. If he truly is behind the Aces & Eights, then maybe this is finally his way of taking the top position. But more often than not I think he's taking a back seat to other guys; that's not a bad thing, but I do worry about his longevity playing the same character for the next two years.

Any thoughts?

 

[New Hot Fed]

Should have had him beat Devon for the TV belt when they had the chance in my opinion. Because it would have made him a greater heel sticking it to his former partner and how it nice it would have been Bully having a good tv title run? It would have been great for Bully and great for the legitimacy of the belt.

 

[MINISTRYrising]

This is good news in my opinion. Bully has come a long way in a short time and have really been enjoying his matches as of late. as for Devon the sooner he leaves the better. I just hope he takes Garrett Bishoff with him.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Awesome, AWESOME news. I really don't want to see Bully Ray in WWE as I feel as a singles competitor he is thriving with his current character. He's easily the best heel TNA has currently and losing him would hurt big time.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with his involvement in the Aces and Eights storyline (like you IDR I think he's the leader) and he has done more than his fair share in making TNA programming more interesting than WWE programming has been lately in my personal opinion.

I think it would be a good idea to try and sign Devon too. I'm not his biggest fan but the TNA fan base seems to like him so no sense in him going right now unless he demands too much money (which I see). Nonetheless if there is one to keep its Bully Ray so good on TNA for doing just that.

 

[MWRedskins]

well, this only helps my guessing that what's going to happen is Roode will screw James Storm vs. Bully. Bully will beat Hardy, then take on Aries and likely win the world title and be revealed as the one behind Aces and Eights, though i hope that's not the case. i think Bully would be fine on his own and not having a group with him.

 

[Lowdown]

Considering the outcome of his match with RVD last night, I had a feeling that Ray would be re-signing. Him and Roode are the top heels in TNA, although if he didn't come back the sting would've lasted for a little while. I do think Devon might stay on as an agent of sorts. He has done wonders for himself I think as TV champ, and I doubt he wants to go back to the grind of WWE. Either way, good job, TNA.

 

[Uncle Sam]

First thing's first - fucking thank you for putting a hyphen between "re" and "signs." As Mighty NorCal has said to me on many occasions, next time we make love I'll be gentle.

Obviously - obviously obviously - this is good news for TNA. I never expected Ray to go to WWE; I seem to recall seeing Twitter rants about how he'd only go back to them if they returned to the Attitude Era, as if they'd do that just to get the signature of an ex-Dudley Boy. He could quite easily have taken a break from wrestling, toured the indies or, as is in fashion, simply retired.

That TNA has one of their best on-screen characters locked back up is encouraging, and I wouldn't be totally averse to seeing the Bully versus the greatest man [who] ever lived at Bound For Glory. Bully has plateaued since last year, it's true, but he's plateaued on a pretty high ledge. Is he the one behind Aces and Eights? Nah, it's probably James Storm - in an epic triple bluff!

Don't Be A ★. Be A Bully.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Sorry, would have edited this in but apparently I've been mulling my thoughts about Devon over for half an hour. He makes you scratch your head, that one.

I hope Devon re-signs as well and I never thought I'd give a damn. People think of him as a joke, but he's been solid as TV Champion. No, more than solid - good. I enjoyed his feud with The Pope. Fuck you, I did. He's not been incredible, but he's been consistently, well, good. Reliable. A rock.

 

[IHW]

When did Kurt Angle go to heaven?? lol

My account got hacked by a 3rd grader who cant spell.

Here's my question: can Bully Ray continue to be a main event presence in TNA in the next two years. He is damn good, and come so much further than I think any of us, even the most most non-judgmental, open-minded of us, had expected. But can he continue that momentum?

Any thoughts?

I don't think he has come near his potential. We are still getting a upper-mid card Bully Ray. The main event, possible World Champion, Bully Ray will have more material. He can continue to grow from where he is at now. So, he can definitely continue with this momentum.

 

[kidmetal24]

TNA needs Bully Ray. Believe it or not, Ray is TNA's best and top heel. Roode is a great heel but without the title he hasn't done alot it seems. Daniels and Kazarian are good heels (Daniels probably number 3 in the company) but cannot top the heat Bully Ray gets. Devon however was not getting over. I said it on Wrestlin Reality on TribLive on tuesday that Devon needs Ray. Fact is this, Devon needs the Dudley's gimmick to get over. Devon's est singles feud was with The Pope and his singles WWE career was an abomination. Bully Ray was getting over in WWE without Devon but was paired back up with him due to Devon not getting over. Bully Ray is having amazing feuds with A double, James Storm, and Abyss/Joe Parks. Bully can hang with the top shelf guys but Devon still struggles with the lower to midcard guys. TNA would be dumb not to give Bully a contract and would be just as dumb to give one to Devon. Pay him for one more appearence and have him drop the TV Title to someone who can benefit or restore some prestige. If Bully and Devon decided to go back to WWE it would only save Devon's crap singles career and destroy everything Bully did to get over as a monster heel.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I don't think he has come near his potential. We are still getting a upper-mid card Bully Ray. The main event, possible World Champion, Bully Ray will have more material. He can continue to grow from where he is at now. So, he can definitely continue with this momentum.

I sure hope so. I don't think it's absolutely fair to say he WILL have more material. Or even that he'll be a phenomenal Champion. I worry we're placing too high of expectations on him before we've really seen what he can do with "the ball". I hope he continues to be great; I think he has all the potential to lead TNA for quite awhile. But I also want guys like Bobby Roode to remain on top for as long as possible. There's no denying that Roode has a lot more longevity; with as good as Bully may be, making him THE guy may just not make a lot of sense for the future.

Bottom line is, don't count your chickens before they hatch. Weirder things have happened, and Bully Ray could very well be a terrible World Champion. If that happens, it's probably more Creative's fault than his, but still. I thought Austin Aries would be a great Champion - even though I thought it was a terrible idea to take it off Roode - and thus far I've been totally disappointed with his run.

 

[IT Factor]

I'm glad that TNA realized that they needed to re-sign Bully Ray. He's probably the most interesting character they have currently and has improved more than anyone else on the roster. If ever there were anyone deserving of a TNA Title reign, it would be Bully. As for the claim that Bully hasn't "reached his potential", that's simply bad booking on Impact's part. They haven't put him any meaningful feuds, nor have they given him alot of tv time since his feud with Joseph Park ended. You cannot continue momentum of any kind without a decent amount of tv time. Bully's BFG series matches have easily been the best of the tournament each time he's had one on Impact.

I do feel bad for Devon though. Although I've never been a huge fan of his work, he did have the impossible task of trying to help get a no talent hack like Garrett Bischoff over. Sorry, but not even big name WWE stars could get that shining example of nepatism over. I'm sure Devon will sign on with WWE as an agent or with a legends type of deal.

 

[Chicago1989]

Bully Ray right now is the most credible and most experienced heel in TNA. Keeping him can only be a positive. Even at his age, I feel that he still has plenty to offer as he keeps going with his character. The Bully Ray character has grown on me, so I'm glad he'll still be around.

The only thing that I question is if only Bubba came up with the Bully Ray character earlier in his career, I wonder how it would've turned out for the long term...

 

[HBsam31]

Very glad Bully Ray is staying. He has been one of my favorites of this past year, and definitely one of the top heels in the business. I hope he wins the title sometime in the near future. I am really curious to see how he does as the top guy. As far as Devon goes I think he would fare well at this point to go and try to be an agent in WWE. I always liked Devon, but what could he really do as a singles in WWE? Glad to see Bully Ray is staying in TNA though. Great news.

 

[IHW]

I sure hope so. I don't think it's absolutely fair to say he WILL have more material. Or even that he'll be a phenomenal Champion. I worry we're placing too high of expectations on him before we've really seen what he can do with "the ball". I hope he continues to be great; I think he has all the potential to lead TNA for quite awhile. But I also want guys like Bobby Roode to remain on top for as long as possible. There's no denying that Roode has a lot more longevity; with as good as Bully may be, making him THE guy may just not make a lot of sense for the future.

Bottom line is, don't count your chickens before they hatch. Weirder things have happened, and Bully Ray could very well be a terrible World Champion. If that happens, it's probably more Creative's fault than his, but still. I thought Austin Aries would be a great Champion - even though I thought it was a terrible idea to take it off Roode - and thus far I've been totally disappointed with his run.

I have to agree. We don't need to think that he can do it, without seeing it happen. Maybe they should test him out with a TV Title run? It could degrade him though. Guess we will just have to sit back and watch it all play out.

 

[blockanWo]

Yeah I was really worried there for a minute they would let him walk. Really good news they resigned him.

 

[whoopin' ass]

i do find it funny that tna has been able to do something wwe couldn`t - turn bubba and devon into single`s wrestlers. i think this is a good thing. even if he never gets the title, he is a good talent and had a good character going right now so TNA keeping him is a win.