Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated is featuring an interview with former ECW, WWE and TNA star Bully Ray (Bubba Ray Dudley) about his signing with Ring of Honor, how his Bully Ray character was close to debuting in WWE and addressing reports from last week that he was close to making a return to Impact Wrestling before the company’s reboot.
On the Bully Ray character almost debuting in WWE:
“We came one day away in August from debuting Bully Ray in WWE. At the last second, the decision was made to not go forward with it. Bully Ray was ready to go, but that’s all I can tell you. We were one day away, and they had to pull the plug on it.”
Why a return to Impact Wrestling was “pointless”:
“At the last minute, TNA came in hard and heavy and made me a significant offer. But the way I look at it is this: If I can’t go back some place and top what I did before, then it’s kind of pointless. I’m not blowing smoke up my own ass here, Bully Ray was the top heel in TNA. I generated ratings—me and Jeff Hardy drew TNA’s biggest house of all time at Lockdown, and I had my run with Hulk and with Sting. If you take a look at the landscape of TNA and their locker room, I don’t have anybody to top what I did before.”