Impact Wrestling has stacked the card for tonight’s Rebellion pay-per-view, and while all of the matches have the potential to deliver brutal moments, there’s one match that looks to set the bar for brutality over all others. That would be the hardcore War between Team Bully and Team Dreammer, which will feature Bully Ray, Kenny King, Masha Slamovich, Moose, and Brian Myers on Team Bully and Tommy Dreamer, Frankie Kazarian, Killer Kelly, Yuya Uemura, and Bhupinder Gujjar on Team Dreamer. ComicBook.com had the chance to speak to Bully Ray about assembling his team as well as his feud with Dreamer, being on both sides of the business, his success with Busted Open Radio, and more.
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Team Bully consists of some heavy hitters, and Ray doesn’t think Team Dreamer really knows what they’ve gotten themselves into. “Well, Kenny King has been around for a long time and I knew that Kenny would be a lock, and Masha was an absolute no-brainer,” Ray said. “Masha is just a Russian ass-kicker. She has so much potential and an incredible future ahead of her.”
“And I would venture to say that Dreamer… I don’t think he’s properly conveyed to his team what he’s getting them into,” Ray said. “I could probably take out Dreamer’s team with just Masha by my side and if that was the way the match was booked, him and his young boy Jabroni versus me and Masha. That’s what I would do. Take them on with just Masha.”
Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer have gone back and forth for a while at this point, and they continue to raise the stakes on their feud with every additional chapter. For Ray, it’s about exposing Dreamer for who he really is to the Locker room in a way that only he can, and once they are in the ring at Rebellion, Ray knows he’s in Dreamer’s head.
“I don’t feel underappreciated. I think Tommy feels like he’s constantly living in my shadow or having to ride my coattails. I think Tommy gets intimidated when I’m around. I think Tommy’s afraid when I’m around because Tommy’s not the big fish anymore,” Ray said. “Tommy can walk around in Impact and claim that he’s this big ECW superstar and I’ve been here and I’ve done that. I come along and I squash all of it because compared to me, Dreamer’s done nothing. And I’m the one guy that can expose Dreamer to the entire Impact locker room and I’m enjoying doing it.”
“For years, I’ve had Tommy’s number because I’m in Tommy’s head and I’ve been in Tommy’s head for a long, long time. Tommy talks a lot of crap, but then when he gets in the ring with me and I look him in his eyes, he kind of glazes over and I know I got him and I get, like I said, Matt, he did not properly smarten up his team. I mean this Killer Kelly girl, does she not realize what I have done to women throughout my entire career? You don’t think that in an instant I’ll pile drive her on the concrete floor, or put her through a table. I mean, come on. Not smart business by Tommy, but Tommy’s not the smartest guy in the business, period,” Ray said.
Ray is also a vital part of Busted Open Radio, which has become immensely popular for its honest and entertaining takes on the world of wrestling. It also provides Ray, Dreamer, and Thunder Rosa a unique viewpoint, as they continue to compete in the ring while also commentating on what’s happening in their own companies as well as the expanded world of wrestling. Being a part of both worlds, I wanted to know if that’s changed Ray’s approach to the business at all, and for Ray, it’s about keeping all three versions of himself separate.
“Absolutely nothing. Zero. I am three distinct different people. When I am doing whatever I want to do, I challenge anybody in the wrestling business, anybody to be able to do what I am doing right now in wrestling, Ray said. “There is nobody in this business more hated in Impact Wrestling than me. And I’ll venture to say the entire wrestling business right now, you are talking to the A number one heel in all of pro wrestling. There’s no better. None. Zero, nada, zilch. And if we had an hour, I could prove it to you why. All these people that you think are so hated? Not really. I’m hated.”
“Conversely, on any given night, I can be the most loved wrestler out there as I am in the NWA and then I go on Busted Open every day and I talk about the entire world of wrestling in the most honest and fair way anybody has ever done. Don’t care about getting heat, don’t care about burning bridges, don’t care who I piss off. I am honest and I am fair. Always have been,” Ray said. “Six years with Busted Open. Fans can count on me for giving you an honest assessment. I will never tell you what to watch or what not to watch. I’ll never tell you that I gave something four stars. You’ll never hear me out and out bury anything. I will give you my opinion if I don’t think something worked, but I’ll always back it up on how it could have been done better. And that’s why so many people listen to Busted Open and why it’s the number one sports radio show on the entire Serious XM platform, bigger than the NFL, bigger than Major League baseball, yada yada.”
Part of what Ray loves about Busted Open is that while it appeals to wrestling fans, it also extends past the world of wrestling, entertaining and welcoming people in who aren’t as immersed in wrestling.
“I enjoy every job that I’ve ever done in pro wrestling, whether it be a promoter, in ECW, whether it’s been an agent or producer with Impact, whether that’s just being a wrestler, anything and everything that comes with this business, I’ve enjoyed doing and I really enjoy doing Busted Open,” Ray said. “I think me and LaGreca have a dynamic and a chemistry unlike any other two in wrestling commentary. Not like commentary behind the desk, but I’m talking about whether it’s YouTube or whatever anybody else does out there with their podcasts. We’ve made it entertaining, and some of the best compliments that I get is people will say to me, Bubba, I’m not really a wrestling fan, but I love listening to you and Dave just because of the banter back and forth. So we’ve kind of turned, Busted Open when me and Dave are on, not into a pro wrestling talk show, but almost like a morning show also.”
Rebellion begins at 8 PM EST, and you can order the event on FITE and YouTube.
