Why Bully Ray Says He 'Absolutely Loved' Ridge Holland's Segment On WWE NXT
Bully Ray has praised "WWE NXT" star Ridge Holland's recent promo, where he said goodbye to wrestling due to him not being in the right frame of mind.
"I absolutely loved Ridge Holland's promo. Loved, loved, loved," declared Ray on "Busted Open." "I loved it because I have no idea if it's a work or a shoot. If it's on TV, it is what it is. Everything he's talking about is 1000% legitimate. If you do hurt a wrestler once, it'll screw with you. If you hurt a wrestler twice, these things stay with you and makes you gun-shy and skittish, enough where you might want to reassess what you're doing out there. You've got to think about your friends, your family, your fellow workers. Then he brought mental health in too and how this could be affecting his mental health. Did you listen to the crowd? They were silent. They had no idea. This was so, so real. And I thought Ridge did a phenomenal job with his tone, his inflection, and his volume."
Ray suggested that Holland may have spoken to "NXT" head Shawn Michaels and WWE creative head Triple H about his intentions to step away from wrestling, and they may have asked him to speak to the crowd. He thinks WWE's creative team may have asked Holland to speak to the crowd so that they could use it in a future storyline if he ever returned to wrestling.
But, Ray also feels there's a possibility that it's all part of the storyline, which is why he loved the promo, adding how they've left him guessing. A report following "NXT" has revealed that the angle is actually part of a storyline.
Dreamer on what he liked about Holland's promo
The injury angle refers to the time Ridge Holland injured Big E, which the "NXT" star once again recreated in his match with "NXT" Champion Ilja Dragunov, after which the champ was stretchered out. Tommy Dreamer, who was also on the "Busted Open" show, praised Holland's promo, as well as small things WWE did to make it look legitimate.
"Kudos to WWE for immediately moving him to the Alumni section on their website," began Dreamer. "The other part that Bully talked about is perception, but it's also perception from the company. If you're the guy that goes out there and hurts a lot of people, even if it isn't your fault, then that becomes your perception."
Dreamer praised Holland, stating that he saw potential in him to become someone like Brock Lesnar — a big wrestler who could move swiftly in the ring. The veteran star suggested a few ideas for Holland if he returns to WWE in the future.
"You could go a lot of different places with this as well. He could come back as a bigger babyface or he could come back with a vengeance and start being somebody who purposely goes out there and hurts people and has this moniker of a guy who [says], 'You blame me for things that weren't my fault, now I'm going to hurt the fan favorites that you guys like,'" said Dreamer.
He added the promo got him more invested in the Ridge Holland character than at any time in the past. Dreamer feels the promo showed Holland in a different light, which he feels "NXT" has done a good job in the past with other wrestlers.