Bully Ray vs. Mr. Anderson Speculation...

[UFOcalling]

Last night on iMPACT, we saw Mr. Anderson return to the funeral home where the "funeral" for Aces & Eights took place. During the segment, Bully alluded to the fact that Anderson "took everything" from Bully (or something along those lines), when he "stripped the colors" off of his back & placed all of the A&8 "cuts" in a coffin. The editors at TNA even laid some creepy music underneath Bully's promo in post...similar music was added to Bully's "public breakup" with Brooke Tessmacher last week (or maybe that happened earlier, I can't remember).

Bully Ray instructed Mr. Anderson to "look inside the coffin" during his creepy promo, and Anderson obliged. Anderson looked disturbed and angry after seeing what was actually in the coffin, then turned around (seemingly) to confront Bully. However, when Anderson turned around Bully had disappeared (there may even have been some "wind-blowing" sound effects; maybe those were just in my head! lol). When the camera finally panned down to show what Anderson was holding, it looked like two sweatsuits. They were neatly folded, and had ribbon tied around them. One of the suits was gray, the other was pink (if memory serves). The segment ended with a close-up of Anderson's hands (holding the two suits).

When the segment ended (and we went back to "in-ring action"), there was no mention of the funeral home segment by the announcers. I don't know if that was done to keep speculation going, or if the segment was added after the show was already taped. I suppose it's better that neither Taz nor Tenay said anything about it, since it was supposed to be a "mystery" that we won't know anything about for a little while (at least not until next Thursday at Genesis).

What were those two items of clothing in the coffin? Who do/did they belong to? What do they mean to Anderson? It's my guess that they were, in fact, sweatsuits. The pink one possibly belonging to Anderson's wife, and the gray one to his child maybe? I don't know anything about Anderson's personal life, or his family. The only thing I remember is that Bully made reference to Anderson's wife being pregnant in the recent past. I have no idea if that's kayfabe or not, and I also don't know if this is Anderson's first child (if it's legitimate). Bully told Anderson that he "took everything" from him, so it's quite possible that the clothing represented Bully's intentions to "take everything" from Anderson...ie: his wife and child(ren). I can't think of anything else those items of clothing (or sweatsuits) could have represented, but it always helps to get a fresh set of eyes on the scenario.

I didn't see any mention of a match between Anderson & Bully at Genesis, but it's possible that it was already announced (and I just missed it). If these two don't have a match next week, then there will at least have to be a confrontation between the two. I've been enjoying Bully's "descent into madness" (or whatever it is that's been happening), and I think this side of Bully could be very interesting once it's fully developed. Ever since the inception of A&8s, Bully has been getting better & better as a performer. This storyline gives Bully a chance to go even deeper into his character, and also gives him the opportunity to become a much more sinister kind of heel. Again, I like it so far...I could do without the ominous music during Bully's promos, however; I know the TNA producers/editors are just trying to make his promos sound creepier, but it comes off a little cheesy to me. I think Bully's most recent promos are creepy enough without the background music, and they should just let his words stand on their own.

What do you think the items of clothing in the coffin meant? Do they represent Bully's possible intentions to harm Anderson's immediate family (like I thought), or something else? How do you feel about Bully's new direction in character? Bonus question: how do you feel about the inauspicious music that has been added to Bully's promos lately?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

They looked like swaddling cloths for infant children, and the significance I thought was clear, based on the fact that Ray already threatened Anderson's pregnant wife weeks back. It was a shot across the bow warning/threat essentially telling Anderson that his family is not safe so long as Bully is breathing.

If they're going to go full force with this, I'd expect there to be a point at which filming is done outside the IMPACT Zone, maybe even in the same way was done for DDP's eventual debut in WWE, where he was shadowing Undertaker's wife Sara (at the time) with a hand-held video camera. Maybe they go that route, or just a similar one, but this feud has assured me of two things:

1. At some point, somewhere down the line, someone will be set on fire.

2. This is about to get real personal, and I'd put good money on Anderson's wife somehow being introduced into this.

Oh, and yes, the ominous music is added. You are not hearing things that don't exist. They are pumping that in intentionally, and have been since he came back and cut his first promo.

 

[three count bout]

I think the clothing was in reference to Andersons soon to be children as his wife is expecting to have twins according to wikipedia. Bully ray is more than likely threatening to take everything from Anderson as Anderson did to him by disbanding the A&8s. Not sure how this will work if she's pregnant unless he intends to bully bomb her causing a miscarriage(jk).
In terms of his character I'm willing to give it a chance I like to see Rays versatility with these mysterious promos and his brooding character because I think it's ultimately better than him crowing on about the A&8s no longer being a faction. The music is a little much for me though it almost takes me out of the segments due to how out of place it seems. It should be ominous but it comes off a tad comical which I don't think is the intention.

 

[UFOcalling]

They looked like swaddling cloths for infant children, and the significance I thought was clear, based on the fact that Ray already threatened Anderson's pregnant wife weeks back...

That makes more sense, especially with the colors of the clothing. If Anderson & his wife don't know their unborn child's gender, then they have their bases covered (pink if it's a girl, gray if it's a boy). The other possibility is that they're expecting fraternal twins (hence the two different gender-biased colors).

1. At some point, somewhere down the line, someone will be set on fire.

I hadn't thought about that, but you're right: it does seem likely. Since Bully was trying to set Joseph Park on fire not too long ago, maybe he's the one who will get burned (bringing Abyss back permanently). Whomever gets "burned" during this feud will possibly get a major character change, involving a mask (à la Kane - circa 1997, or even the extremely short-lived "masked" Sting in WCW 2000).

Oh, and yes, the ominous music is added. You are not hearing things that don't exist. They are pumping that in intentionally, and have been since he came back and cut his first promo.

I knew the music was intentional, and added in post. It reminds me of when the WWE was adding similar ominous tones under Kane's promos during his last run with the WHC. I think that was when his moniker "The Devil's Favorite Demon" was also introduced. I agree with three count bout too, the music tends to take me out of the promos. The music added to Kane's promos ("The Devil's Favorite Demon" promos) had the exact same effect on me.

The thing I thought was maybe in my head was when Bully disappeared from the funeral home; I seem to remember some "blowing wind" sound effect added to make Bully's disappearance seem "supernatural" or something. Like I said, though - maybe that "blowing wind" sound was just in my head. If it wasn't there, and I'm just remembering it there, it's a testament to how cheesy the music makes Bully's promos seem in the grand scheme of things. Hopefully they'll nix the music in the future. At the very least, TNA creative won't be able to use the music when iMPACT is ran live, and hopefully they'll realize that Bully's promos sound better "a cappella".