Bully Ray Talks His First Experience Wrestling In MSG, Possibly Having More Matches In Japan

Former WWE and IMPACT star Bully Ray spoke to Sporting News to promote the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring Of Honor (ROH) G1 Supercard.

The show goes down this weekend from Madison Square Garden on Saturday, April 6, 2019. Ray will be facing Juice Robinson in a New York City Street Fight. Ray discussed what it was like working in Madison Square Garden for the first time in his career, and also talked about possibly having more matches in Japan in the future.

Here are the highlights:

Working in MSG for the first time ever:

I’m not sure if I wrestled in Madison Square Garden before our tables match with The Hardyz, I believe that might have been the first time because I don’t think we worked a live event before that. But the Royal Rumble 2000 was the first-ever tag team tables match in the WWE and it was The Hardyz versus The Dudleyz.

We tore the house down. That’s the night that The Dudleyz really put their name on the map in the WWE. It’s a night that I will always say, for me personally, that’s where I staked my flag in the ground and I said that myself and Devon are here for a reason.

We’re out to prove ourselves and that night we really did. If you’re going to prove yourself someplace, if you’re going to put your name up there with everyone else in the company during the Attitude Era, you might as well do it in The Garden. You can’t make a bigger stake than that.

Possibly having more matches in Japan:

I would love to reestablish a working relationship with New Japan. I would want to work with the right person. Me and Devon had tremendous success in all of the companies we worked for in Japan whether that was All Japan, Hustle, and especially New Japan. Two-time IWGP tag team champions.

We wrestled in the Tokyo Dome three or four times on their big show. Singles-wise it would really have to be the right guy to tell the right story. The most important part to me is the story. I’m a storyteller in the storytelling business and I tell my stories in a wrestling ring. To me, it’s not just about a wrestling match.

It has to be bigger than that. If you saw my match with Flip Gordon at Final Battle, that wasn’t a wrestling match. That was ending scene in an action movie like Die Hard. And that’s what I want; larger than life scenarios that when a fan goes home, they know they saw something special. And not just another match that although it might have been exciting, was just a wrestling match.

My Final Battle match with Flip, I’m extremely proud of and I’ll go on record to say that match stole the show. It stole the show excitement-wise. It stole the show surprise-wise. I’m happy that we surprised the people, shocked the people, have the people on their feet.

At the end of the day, the people got what they wanted and that’s what I like about pro wrestling. I can appreciate just a wrestling match but I want to be entertained beyond a wrestling match.