Part of the reason WWE fans were excited about the return of The Dudley Boyz in their most recent stint was because it was thought that we may finally see the debut of the Bully Ray character.

It’s a gimmick he made famous in TNA and made him perhaps the greatest heel in their history because of how different he was from his tag team persona alongside D-Von, where he proved to be one of the dastardliest villains around.

GIMMICK CHANGE

However, nothing came of it and their latest run ended with a whimper as their contracts had expired. Now, D-Von works as a backstage producer while Bully Ray is competing in Ring of Honor.

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ESPN recently caught up with Bully Ray and discussed the character, where he revealed that a run in his current gimmick was in the works in WWE, but it never came to fruition.

In fact, he revealed that they were only one day away from having him debut on WWE television – which will surely frustrate his fans but the reasoning was understandable, at the time anyway, as the Be a STAR campaign wouldn’t have made it possible.

BULLY RAY

He said: “We were one day away from becoming Bully Ray in WWE.

“One of the problems with having Bully Ray in the WWE was the word bully. How could they have a guy named Bully when they had the ‘Be a STAR’ programme? It was a little too risky for them.

“I mean [the WWE] have other characters there that do bully-ish type things, but the whole basis of Bully Ray is he is the quintessential bully. His entire character is built around bullying people. Built around making people do things against their will.

“And with the business they have going on now – the Be a STAR programme and more PG-rated stuff, bullying being such a sensitive subject around an entire world – it just wasn’t gonna work out.”

While it would have been a brilliant sight seeing such a successful TNA gimmick finding its way to WWE, you can understand why the company would opt against it – even with the current drama surrounding the bullying scandals.

The company has been under the microscope recently with plenty of stories regarding John Bradshaw Layfield emerging and some outlets claiming he’s the reason former SmackDown LIVE announcer Mauro Rannalo left the company, even though he denied it.

Bully Ray probably wouldn’t have wanted his gimmick altered either, so it’s probably the best decision not to have it all.

Then again, WWE did give Ryback a bullying gimmick before his exit.

What do you make of Bully Ray almost finding his way to WWE television? Have YOUR say in the comments section below and the second episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here! Check out the inside info from our coverage in Orlando. https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/givemesport-inside-wrestlemania-33

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