ECW Region, Los Angeles Subregion, First Round: (6) CM Punk vs. (27) Bully Ray

Who Wins This Match?

  • CM Punk

  • Bully Ray


Results are only viewable after voting.
And it is still way less anything goes, tough, rugged experience than Bully has. The only reason singles would matter is if Bully has proven he can't do it. That isn't the case. He merely chose to dominate tag wrestling. He has transitioned to singles just fine.

He transitioned to singles in TNA, facing far less big name, in-their-prime wrestlers. Again, he hasn't faced the same level of competition CM Punk has.

There is no "cheating" in anything goes. That is kind of the point. I don't see any way Punk inflicts more damage to Ray than vice versa in such an environment and even if they inflict the same amount of damage then Punk would lose.

I don't understand how Punk beats anyone, ever. He looks like a homeless bum. But he does. A lot of the time. He beats bigger, tougher, stronger, faster men, including several who are far ahead of Bully Ray in the world of professional wrestling.

Seems like a bad draw for Punk to me. This is essentially a gimmick round, not a first round singles matching in WWE. Context matters and nothing here benefits Punk other than the amount of grease in the hair of most of the likely voters.

It's a tough draw for Punk, but not a bad one. Punk would take quite the ass whipping, but I can't see him losing in the first round of this tournament. Not to Bully Ray.
 
The sad thing is, Bully Ray had this potential to be a star when he had his singles run back in 2003. Unfortunately it took 10 fucking years for either of the big two to see the potential that man has to be a solid main eventer. Bully Ray is a natural heel. His a big, mean, nasty son of a bitch that is very easy to hate.

Unfortunately he's going up against a heel heat magnet. Punk is a better heel than Ray, period. Punk is a better singles wrestler than Bully Ray, period. Bully Ray has had two good years as a singles worker, Punk has had over 600 days as a World Champion in the WWE.

You might say it was watered down or he wasn't the man, fair enough, but his list of title defenses and wins are better than anything Bully Ray could throw at him. Down play Punk all you want, but nothing you can say about Bully Ray can prop him up alongside Punk.

Punk defended his world title against a former champ in JBL.
Punk defended and won multiple titles from Jeff Hardy.
Punk went 2-0-1 in PPV's against John Cena.
Punk beat a multi time world champion in Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania.

Those guys might be overrated, but it's better than anything you can argue for Bully.
 
Bully Ray and TNA marks can argue all they want but it's all just smoke and mirrors.

I'll start off by saying that this doesn't mean Bully Ray isn't a tough opponent. It just means that his opponent is better here. But in no world, universe, or time period could Bully Ray defeat CM Punk in a kayfabe match unless some kind of third-party swerve and crazy storyline was going on.

CM Punk has done more than establish himself as a formidable world champion. Bully Ray's been chasing the title for 20 years and has held it for two days.

No contest... CM Punk wins.
 
This is going to sound immensely pretentious, given that whole I can't wrestle deal. But it's really easy to have a 434 day run as champion when you aren't even the main deal on your show for a good portion of it. I've said it before and I'll say it again; I don't hate CM Punk, at all. What I hate is this idea that he's a game changer; he isn't. Hell, for about half of his reign, the focus of the show was on Cena, People Power, and Brock Lesnar.

A couple of questions I want for people to think about this round:

Of the 434 days Punk spent as champion, how many can you legitimately say were meaningful? SD said earlier that the WWE has a weakened talent pool, which is true, but they also have the luxury of having John Cena, and using him whenever they want. It protects Punk in a way, but how can I look at this guy as the top guy in the promotion, when he clearly isn't?

Bully has been. For the past two years, Bully has skyrocketed to the top, and has been everything TNA needs. When Sting needed a partner to go against the debuting Aces & 8's, who did TNA turn to?

That's right, Bully Ray.

When TNA needed someone to establish Austin Aries as a credible competitor in the heavyweight division (and let's not pretend there was a guarantee Aries would have been ok; there wasn't), who did TNA go to?

Yup, Bully Ray.

Finally, when TNA needed someone to help them from the meandering path Aces & 8's, who did TNA turn to, and get in one night, get this disorganized group of heels over?

Bully. Ray.

Let's not pretend that Punk has been setting the world on fire since he got to WWE; I can remember at least three or so years where Punk did fuck all with the company. Punk's recent rise to power has been off the back of two years worth of work.

Roughly the same as Bully Ray.

And, if I'm really thinking about it, consider this; are you going to ignore Bully Ray, and then the next day praise Jeff Hardy and Edge for what they did for ladder matches? Because I tell ya what, I seem to remember Bully and Devon were in those matches, too, and saved the other competitors from killing themselves with those ladders

Listen, Punk is really great. He has damn good matches and his promos are good, outstanding in the current era. I loved his work with the Straight Edge Society, and even though I just shat on how meandering and pointless he was at the time, he still gave some great, great promos. And he clearly is talented, perhaps one day I'll watch his DVD's and see all of his severely underrated matches with Rey Mysterio and think, "you know, I miss him"

But he isn't as great as people think he is. And if you're asking me if I enjoy watching him more than Bully Ray?

Absolutely not

This is a great post. I'm still voting Punk, but there's not a single thing you can disagree with here.

I mean, it comes down to how highly you rate TNA compared to WWE within a tournament like this. If Bully Ray was maineventing and winning the WWE title, I think it's a whole different story for everyone. When ANY bog standard WWE midcarder can jump to TNA and win a world title, it becomes not a big deal. Christian. Killings. Rhyno. Jarrett. Raven. Ken Shamrock. Mr Anderson. RVD.

Everyone there was predominantly a midcarder in WWE. Christian and RVD flirted with main event and had a title reign each, but other than that all of them went nowhere. I hear rumours of a Rhyno push that fell to Lesnar instead, I know Kennedy had the briefcase, Shamrock was considered for a main event push too. Point is, they were generally midcarders in WWE and almost immediately won the biggest title in TNA.

Do I think Bully could cut it as a WWE main event heel? Yeah i do. I think he'd do well, but I doubt he'd ever be the WWE champion. He certainly wouldn't be the WWE champion for 400 days. He wouldn't be chosen to lead a federation forward like CM Punk has.

This is ECW which plays slightly towards Bully - Punk's no slouch hardcore and as previously stated Bully doesn't exactly have a ton of experience in singles matches in his career.

I get Bully Ray, i respect him and I'm happy he's finally maximising his potential. It's too late and CM Punk is too good.

Just to put into perspective, Bully Ray turned heel and started his singles career at the start of 2011. Roughly 800 days. Punk has held the WWE title for 462 days. He has held the World Heavyweight Championship for 160 days. He held the ECW championship for 143 days. That's 765 days. He has been a world champion in WWE for almost as long as Bully has even been a singles star in TNA.
 
I'm glad that Bully Ray has finally become a major singles performer and I have to admit, he's been better than I ever thought possible. He has earned and deserves our respect.

With that said, however, who has he really beaten? Punk has been a multiple time World Heavyweight and WWE Champion and has beaten some pretty big names along the way. He's better on the mic and far better in the ring. There should be no way that Bully Ray can go over Punk.

I'm sorry TNA marks and Bully Ray fans, he just got a bad draw.

Vote Punk.
 
I think its unfortunate but understandable shame that Bully's acheivements wont be considered to mean as much simply for the fact that they are TNA achievements rather than WWE, and that he has faced lesser opposition because the WWE guys are 'better' because theyre in a bigger company.

If you want to know why I'm voting Bully Ray, read Haiku's bit up top.

Punks the number what... Two (Cena), three (Rock)... Fourth (Brock), Fifth (Taker), Sixth (HHH), seventh most important wrestler in WWE? And that was mostly WITH the title. Bully is on top in TNA right now, rivaled only by the prospect of a returning Hulk or Sting.

If there was ever a time Bully would go over Punk, its now. If there was ever a place, its the ECW region. I'll gladly fight a losing battle. GO BULLY!
 
This is just a terrible draw for Ray. He's been white hot this year, but that's not enough to get him by Punk in the first round. Both thrive in extreme rules environments and add Heyman booking into it and it's almost a toss up. Tough luck for Bully. Hard fought match concluding with a GTS and [YOUTUBE]wTPe1Dd-1fY[/YOUTUBE] at about the twenty minute mark.


VOTE PUNK
 
Wow, it's already degenerated into what's basically a WWE vs. TNA thing.

I like Bully Ray a lot but I've seen absolutely nothing whatsoever from Bully Ray to make me believe he's superior to CM Punk inside the ring. It's a ludicrous suggestion. If this were a contest of promos, then Bully Ray would be on a level playing field.

I get that some people think Punk is overrated. At the same time though, Bully marks are jizzing themselves over Bully Ray as if winning the TNA WHC just 48 hours ago somehow renders him equal or superior to CM Punk.

Bully Ray just won his first major singles championship, not counting the running joke that was the Hardcore Championship in WWE. Bully Ray is a completely untested singles champion.

Like I said, I like Bully Ray but Punk has proven himself against big league opponents on numerous occasions. Ray's good, but I believe people are definitely exaggerating Ray's abilities and what he's proven.
 
For years I have been extolling the virtues of Bubba Ray Dudley, and it looks like someone in TNA was listening and they have now capitalised. Well, probably not, but understand that my vote for Punk is not without respect for Bubba Ray. Both have unquestionably had their best singles years last year, yet Punk's achievements are so far above and beyond Dudley's that it starts to seem like less of a good match. Punk has achieved more in less time, and has never had periods just going through the motions, unlike his opponent here. Punk should win.
 
Should have been the TNA region. I could have been even more indignant.

Anyway, instead of seeing how long I can get HGR to respond seriously to clearly tongue-in-cheek statements I will take this opportunity to highlight a great flaw in accepted tournament logic. That is where people pretend like you can directly compare the level of competition in the attitude era with the current era just because they are only a couple of years apart. Bully Ray came into the WWF in 1999, CM Punk came into WWE in 2006. If you really want me to believe that you can directly compare the type of spot Bubba had then vs what Punk got now you are not credible. Eras do matter, if you put Punk in Piper's era then he never wins a world title. Just because Punk had the fortune of coming in when guys without the traditional look got a chance because they were desperate for talent doesn't make him greater in my book.
 
For these things I like to look at them as "how would they be booked?" I'd imagine Punk is the babyface and Bull Ray is the heel. Punk is much better as a babyface because his style in the ring fits in and for whatever reason, people want to cheer the man, and Bully is the heel because his name is Bully. Punk had nearly a 9 month reign as a babyface (before he turned heel) and had a character like Bully Ray existed (basically Mark Henry but less intimidating) in the WWE, he'd be a guy that's fed to babyface Punk. Heck, that's what Bully's role was in TNA for 2 years. His role was to generate heat and lose big matches. This is a big match, so he loses. Pretty easy in my opinion.
 
Since both are Heyman guys and both would be comfortable in the Extreme environment, the region factor shouldn't effect the outcome here.

So ultimately considering Punk has far more prestigious singles accolades despite a much shorter time in the business, and the fact that even recently when Bully has done his best work it has occured during a time when Punk has also been having his most success holding the WWE title for 16 months while Bully was busy trying to manipulate himself into a title opportunity, it seems Bully has little ground to stand on.

Also Bully losing to Aries at Sacrifice last year doesn't help his chances when you consider that Punk and Aries are similar workers, similar size(much smaller than Bully) with similar backgrounds yet Punk has been the more successful of the two. Alot of the run as "Bully" has been about Ray doing great heel work and ultimately making a smaller resiliant babyface look good, he did against an injured Hardy at BFG last year as well.

Also Bully won his title with a lot of help against a babyface coming off a kayfabe injury. There is no proof he could have pulled off the same feat against an equally dastardly heel. While Punk on the other hand has had championship success as a heel against top faces, as a tweener against faces and heels, and started his historic reign as a babyface defeating a world champion heel in Del Rio.

I would have loved to try and make a case for Bully to get a first round upset, especially in this region, but this is one of the worst possible matchups, and one he can't overcome.
 
I voted for Punk simply because both of these guys are in their prime right now and punk would dog rape Bully Ray. Punk is climbing the rungs of the all time greats ladder and climbing it fast. Ray is slight work here
 
Bully has gotten to his position in TNA via the old fashioned route, he worked his tail off to establish himself as a singles guy when the opportunity was given to him in 2010. He lost weight, he proved himself the best guy on the mic in the company and he showed just how phenomenal he was in the ring and (best of all) he did it the respectful way - rung by rung. For some reason, he is getting put down for that here.

Punk on the other hand, held the WWe to ransom in the middle of 2011 when they were lacking 2nd tier guys so that he was given the WWe belt (after a WWe tenure that had seen him dominated by Taker, Show, Orton and Ray to name four). Despite this, we have been left in no doubt where he sits in the grand scheme of the WWe. From June '11, he has been overshadowed by John Cena, John Laurenitis, Triple H and even AJ Lee. Even recently, Rock has beat him twice, Cena has beaten him, Paul Heyman has seemingly ditched him in favor of Brock and Kane cleanly pinned him and yet we are meant to take him seriously as a challenger to the streak? Even his, supposed, strongest attribute - his promo have resorted to the cheapest of the cheap, mocking Jerry Lawler's heart attack and using the real life death of William Moody as being the death of the kayfabe Paul Bearer to forward the WrestleMania storyline... so much for the Straight Edge straight shooting CM Punk who liked to break the fourth wall.

CM Punk has just had the 6th longest reign in WWe history used to push Rock vs Cena 2. Bully Ray has just had a 9 month storyline used to make him the company's top guy.

For these reasons, I prefer Bully Ray to CM Punk and I'm giving him my vote.
 
Bully does deserve more credit than he gets at times. Really his singles career is in the early stages, but he has been so damn good at it for one huge reason. His experience from 23 Tag Title reigns. The moments he has made for fans are some of the biggest & best in the past 20 years.


But this is a singles tournament. Punk has had one of the biggest singles title runs in the past 20 years. Now we can take in to account past titles & matches all day long, but as a singles wrestler Punk has had far more stellar of a career than Ray.


Take away what you will from Punk & his most recent run- it is still a feat no one will likely duplicate or beat for quite a long time. His previous runs have had a hit\miss effect on fans. Some love it, some hate it. What you cant deny is that he made it his own & got people talking either way.


Bully brings D-Von, Punk brings Colt. 2 men with their best friends watching their back. After a pretty hard fought match, Bully hoists Punk for the Dudley Device. Colt shoves D-Von off the top through a table & Punk hits Bubba with a few elbows to the head bringing him to his knees. Punk misses a big roundhouse kick, Bubba goes for the Bubba Bomb & Punk hits a low blow mule kick. He nails the GTS & gets the 1 2 3.

CM Punk. Round one victory.
 
Punk goes over here, with little effort. CM has beaten bigger name wrestlers(John Cena) on multiple occasions, in bigger matches than "Bully Ray" has ever THOUGHT about winning. I am am not now, nor have I ever een a fan of Phil... that being said, I do not begrudge the man his sucsess in the wrestling busness. The bottom line is that Bubba Ray or Bully Ray, whatever, yadda, yadda, yadda, doesn't pack the gears to hang in this tourney. Punk wins, and goes on to the 2nd round.
 
I am a huge fan of Bully Ray's recent work in TNA, but as a singles wrestler he has accomplished very little to compare with CM Punk.

Punk has overcome the odds, his relatively small size and all the people who didnt want to see him succeed to become a multi-time World Champion in the biggest wrestling company on the planet, holding the belt for over a year and beating everyone that came his way, including the promotion's golden boy John Cena on numerous occasions. He has won all there is to win in WWE, multiple times. His mic work is almost unrivalled and he is a surefire Hall of Famer.

Bully is in his prime now, he is producing fantastic work now and very few can work a mic like him, but he has only been a singles star for a couple of years now, and only won his first ever singles title of any value last week, so you can't really say he compares to Punk on any level.

If this was tag-team wrestling, then obviously Bully would have a major advantage, but it isnt and even in the place where he made his name, ECW, Bully Ray wouldnt beat CM Punk

Winner: CM Punk
 
Bully/Bubba is at the peak of his career right now. Unfortunately for him, that peak has seen him win his first World Championship just 4 days ago. Being that this is the ECW region is the only way he has a prayer, and that's only if he had Aces and Eights as backup. It's why he's World Champion right now. But during his time in ECW and WWE/F, he received a total of one major championship(outside of the Hardcore Championship) title match, where he was soundly defeated by Kurt Angle for the WWE title in his signature Tables match.

Punk wrestled in the WWE version of ECW and won the ECW championsip as well. After he moved to Raw, he won the World Championship, the Intercontinental Title, and the World Tag Team Titles, and has gone on to win two more World Championships on Smackdown, then upon returning to Raw, won two more WWE titles.

Punk is a weird case of having several times that could be considered his "prime." Most would assume his prime started after he beat Cena at the 2011 MITB PPV, but he was already a 3 time World Champion by that point, and had main evented three PPV's in 2009, more then he did in 2012-13 during his historic title reign. In between, he had some great feuds(Rey Mysterio) and some lousy ones(Big Show). He lost essentially every feud he was in in 2010.

Regardless, what he did in 2008-09 and 11-13 is more then enough to beat Ray here. Ray fought in the "hardcore" ECW, but Punk's no stranger to weapons himself, including his wild brawl with Daniel Bryan at MITB 2012. Ray's track record, since he became "Bully Ray", is still very spotty, ande while I think he'ld put up a hell of a fight, Punk eventually puts him to sleep and moves on to round 2.
 

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