Bully Ray: Nobody Loves To Hate Me, They Just Hate Me

He calls himself “Bully Ray” for a reason.

Over the last decade, Bully Ray has made a name for himself as a singles competitor under a name that flat out states who he is. Even so, he’s one of the few who is purely hated because of the character he portrays. Bully recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet on Insight and discussed his place among the heels in the industry today.

“It goes back to giving my all, investing in what I’m doing. If you’re gonna hate me, I’m gonna be the most hated guy in the entire industry,” Ray said. “There are maybe three or four really good heels in wrestling right now, and I would put my name in there with that group. When I’m on my game, I don’t think there is anybody in this industry that can elicit the emotion of hatred, of pure disdain like I can. You know, some guys go there and the fans love to hate them. If people are loving to hate you, then there’s an emotion of joy involved. When I go out there, nobody loves to hate me. They just f*cking hate me.”

Bully also talked about the way he uses eye contact to his advantage and has learned not to yell as much except for when the situation calls for it, taking a note out of Jake Roberts’ playbook. When it comes to another polarizing heel though, Bully says fans love to hate MJF. He noted that , unlike MJF, nobody smiles when he comes out.

“See, everybody wants to talk about Max. ‘Oh, he’s the best heel.’ But people love to hate Max,” Ray said. “When Max comes out for his entrance, there are a lot of people smiling. There’s a lot of people going, ‘Oh, my god, what is he gonna say? I can’t wait for the zinger?’ When Bully comes out, nobody is smiling. There’s worry. I love Max to death, I am his biggest supporter and biggest fan and he knows it. But, it would be very easy for Max to go out there to a sea of boos, but also to a standing ovation. If they love you that much, then they can’t hate you that much.”