Scott Fishman of TV Insider is featuring an interview with former ECW, WWE and TNA star Bully Ray (Bubba Ray Dudley) discussing his signing with Ring of Honor and surprise debut last weekend in New York City at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
The article notes that Bully Ray, who negotiated with ROH for around four to six weeks, is committed to the company for “at least a year” at this point. Ray discussed in detail why he decided to sign with the company at this point in his career.
“I’ve been a fan of Ring of Honor since they started. The number one reason I liked the company is because it reminded me of ECW. Wrestlers in the company always had a passion to put on the best possible matches and product they could. The fans are also extremely passionate, as well. Ring of Honor is known for having a great energy and great vibe attached to it. I knew at some point in my career I wanted to be a part of it. This was a perfect opportunity for me. I’ve had a lot of offers come my way in the past couple of months. Nothing was a perfect fit. Then I started speaking with Ring of Honor, and it went really good.”
Ray also talked about being anxious about his ROH debut in New York City.
“On the way to the show I started experiencing this nervous energy. I thought, ‘Wow, I haven’t felt this in a long time.’ It was those good butterflies where you are looking forward to doing what you are about to do because it’s new, it’s different, it’s fresh and people will be talking about it. There was definitely this anticipation backstage to the time I went out there. Me and Devon performed just the year before in front of 101,000 people. The level of anxiousness wasn’t even close to this.”