Ring of Honor star Bully Ray spoke with USA Today’s “For the Win” section ahead of his appearance at ROH’s 15th Anniversary Show. Below are some interview highlights:
Surprising wrestling fans:
“If there is one thing I do is it’s I keep my mouth shut and keep everything a secret. I’ve been able to pull off more legitimate surprises in the last few years than just about anybody else. I’m talking about where people had absolutely no idea. Take a look at the Royal Rumble a couple of years ago in Philadelphia. If you go to the WWE Network and look at the reaction of the people, they go insane. A couple of months later, you had the Dudleys returning to WWE at the Barclays Center. It was probably one of the loudest pops you’re going to hear. Me returning to the Hammerstein the other night for Ring of Honor was another example. I keep my secrets very well and when the time is right, I spring them on the wrestling world.”
Signing with ROH:
“At the end of the day, Ring of Honor was the best fit for me because I feel like I can accomplish the most in Ring of Honor. When I say accomplish, I mean from a character point of view for Bully Ray, but also helping move the company forward and helping the talents that are there become better performers. Ring of Honor is a breath of fresh air. They have the best wrestlers in the world. I’m not going to Ring of Honor to wrestle every night. I don’t want to see Bully Ray every single night. If I’m a fan, I want to see Bully Ray tell stories that can lead to matches that draw money. My goal is to help Ring of Honor in that capacity — give Ring of Honor the one storyteller that they might not have had in their locker room for the past 15 years.”
His most recent run with WWE:
“I don’t know how you or anyone else can say that it didn’t meet our expectation. Me and Devon knew exactly what our job was before we even entered the company and we did so knowingly. The Dudleys are a legendary act in the WWE. They are the most decorated tag team in the WWE and the most decorated tag team in the history of professional wrestling. We were going back there to help out some of their other teams – teams like the New Day, who took steps forward after working with us; teams like the Wyatts, who took steps forward after working with us; or team like the Usos, who took steps forward after working with us. The WWE run was great. I do believe the WWE Universe was a bit disappointed because they wanted to see more out of the Dudley Boys. Me and Devon knew we were capable of so much more. We wanted to do so much more and we were ready to do so much more and the fans wanted us to do so much more. But, that’s the role and the job that WWE had for us at that time. It was a mutual respect that we were going to get the job done. And we made a lot, a lot of money doing it.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
