Bubba Ray Dudley Reveals Why Bully Ray Didn’t Debut In WWE, Why He Chose ROH Over Impact

When it comes to tag team wrestling Bubba Ray Dudley is a living legend, but he’s also seen his fair share of success as a singles wrestler as well. The Bully Ray character helped Bubba become one of the top stars in Impact Wrestling, and he managed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship twice during his run with the company.

When The Dudleys returned to WWE in 2015 some fans were hopeful that we would see Bully Ray wrestle in a WWE ring, but the character never debuted. During a recent interview with Sporting News Bubba Ray revealed that WWE’s Be a STAR program was one of the things that prevented the company from pulling the trigger.

“When you have something called the ‘Be a STAR’ program, it’s not easy to have a character named Bully. That was one of the reasons. We came really, really close and I know the WWE Universe would have loved to have seen Bully Ray in a WWE ring.”

Bubba Ray recently turned down an offer to return to Impact Wrestling and he decided to sign with ROH instead.

Plans for his Impact Wrestling return called for him to be placed into a World Title feud with Bobby Lashley. Originally Drew Galloway was supposed to fill the role, but plans fell through when he declined to sign a new contract with the company, and Alberto El Patron was later put in the Galloway role.

According to Bubba Ray, he didn’t return to Impact because he didn’t want to be part of a plan that was originally meant for someone else.

“I did not think it was in my best interest to go into a role that was created for somebody else. Bully Ray is one of the most successful performers in the history of Impact. That’s not just because I’m saying it; it’s because the numbers back it up. My ratings on Spike TV along with the Aces and Eights were some of the highest that TNA ever had. Me and Jeff Hardy was the highest grossing TNA pay-per-view and the most people who ever paid to see a TNA pay-per-view.”

Bully Ray will be in action Saturday night in Lakeland, FL when he teams with The Briscoes to take on The Bullet Club at Supercard of Honor XI.