Bully Ray Responds to Accusation of Backstage Interaction With a Ring of Honor Fan
Bully Ray, formerly known as Bubba Ray Dudley and one half of the WWE Hall of Fame tag team The [...]
Bully Ray, formerly known as Bubba Ray Dudley and one half of the WWE Hall of Fame tag team The Dudley Boyz, found himself in the midst of some strange accusations on Monday morning.
On Monday morning wrestling fan Josh Ketch, under the Twitter name "Osh Kosh Big Josh," went online and recounted a story of his time at the Ring of Honor live show in Portland, Oregon on Sunday. You can check out the full thread here.
OK story time... I avoided saying anything until the show was over to avoid any further issue but... this honestly soured my to ROH in a big way. Honest to god story that can be backed up by about half a dozen people... https://t.co/8ECk6ewxJ3
— Osh Kosh Big Josh (@xIAMHOLLYWOODx) June 3, 2019
According to Ketch, he booed and heckled all three members of women's heel faction, The Allure. He stated at one point Velvet Sky even dared him to get into the ring, but he did not. After the trio went backstage, he quickly had a security guard approach him and tell him to follow him backstage. He claimed he was taken backstage to meet Bully Ray, who demanded that he treat the wrestlers with more respect.
""So here's the deal. You're done talking down to them. You need to treat them with respect. Don't be saying anything you wouldn't say to your mom, you got it?!'" Ray said, according to Ketch. He said there was no physical altercation, and that he was allowed to go back to his seat for the rest of the show.
After Ketch's retelling of the story made its way online, Ring of Honor released a statement.
"ROH has always taken fan-first approach, with fan experience being at the forefront of all of our live events," ROH general manager Greg Gilleland told Post Wrestling's John Pollock. "We consider this to be very serious and will be conducting an internal review over the next 48 hours to determine the appropriate actions."
Ray did not appear on Busted Open Radio on Monday, but did give his side of the story via a long Twitter post later in the day.
— Bully Ray (@bullyray5150) June 3, 2019
While he did not deny that the two had a conversation backstage, he said Ketch's side of the story was "embellish to make [the] fan look like a 'victim.'"
"I think we can all agree that in 2019, this type of behavior towards women in unacceptable and goes far beond the scope of... 'I paid for my seat, I should be able to do or say whatever I want," he continued.
Whether Ketch downplayed what he said or if Ray overreacted remains to be seen. For what it's worth, none of the three members of Allure have made a statement commenting on the situation.