Bully Ray Shares His Original Reaction To Aces And Eights Pitch In TNA
12/12/2024 12:33 PM
Bully Ray didn’t really want to be the leader of a biker gang, but things worked out in the end.
Eric Bischoff came to Bully about being the leader of the Aces and Eights. He won the TNA World Championship in 2013 as the leader of the Aces and Eights. This was the first real singles push of Bully’s career, aside from a short stint in the mid-2000s with WWE.
Bully appeared on Maintaining with Tyrus and shared his initial reaction to the pitch, explaining why he wasn’t sold on it. While he didn’t like the idea, Bully Ray knew that Sons of Anarchy was popular at the time. He believed that caveat could help. It ultimately did, and the gimmick worked out well for the WWE Hall of Famer.
Bully Ray hated the idea at first
“At first, though, I hated the idea. You want to know what it was? It was the Aces & Eights—it was being the president of a biker club. Eric Bischoff approached me about it at TNA. I remember exactly where I was—standing at Universal Studios, talking near a trash basket. He asked, ‘How would you feel about being the leader of a biker gang?'”
“I almost threw up in my mouth. My initial reaction was, ‘Oh my God, the leader of a biker gang? That's been done so many times in pro wrestling. It's so passé—it never really works.’
But Sons of Anarchy was hot at the time, really hot. Eric was the head of creative, and when the head of creative comes to you with an idea they've handpicked for you, they want it to succeed.”
“So I told him, Eric, if you think that's the best utilization of the Bully Ray character, I'm all in. And that's how the whole thing started. It was a new challenge for me—one I never expected, never wanted, and never saw coming. But I dove right into it. I'm proud to say that it really, really worked.”
Bully Ray also shared the biggest positive to come out of his singles push, as he noted that this factor resulted in getting the Aces and Eights gimmick in the first place.
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