Bully Ray on AEW letting 44-year-old star open Dynamite: "Not the right person to kick off the show"
WWE veteran Bully Ray has asserted that NJPW star Katsuyori Shibata should not have opened the most recent episode of AEW Dynamite.
This week's AEW Dynamite opened up with a match between Will Ospreay and Katsuyori Shibata. The Aerial Assassin successfully defeated Shibata in a great wrestling match. The story behind the match was that Ospreay wanted to prove that he was better than his upcoming opponent at the Dynasty PPV, Bryan Danielson. The American Dragon recently picked up a victory over Shibata on an episode of Collision.
Speaking on Busted Open, Bully Ray noted that he enjoyed the match between Shibata and Ospreay. However, the former WWE Tag Team Champion criticized the lack of selling from Shibata.
"I don't think many fans out there other than the AEW diehards know who [Katsuyori] Shibata is. When Shibata came out, he got a very warm welcome, as if not even the people in Quebec City knew who he was. So, Shibata was not the right person to kick off the show. One of the things I found odd about the match even though I enjoyed it, was that one guy was registering and selling and one guy wasn't. The one guy who wasn't was Shibata. Shibata stood there stoic from the beginning of the match to the end of the match, like Ospreay's forearms had no effect on him," he said. [10:48 - 13:41]
Eric Bischoff heaps praise at AEW star Will Ospreay
Will Ospreay is one of the top talents in All Elite Wrestling. The Aerial Assassin is often praised for his in-ring work, and WWE veteran Eric Bischoff thinks no different about the latter.
Speaking on 83 Weeks, the former RAW GM lavished high praise on Ospreay.
"I just got a powerfully good feeling about Will Ospreay. Obviously, the work in the ring and the presentation are otherworldly in many respects, but that's not what got me the most excited about him. He has that 'it factor!' You know that 'it factor' that you can't really define? You can't put it in a pill, you can't put it in a bottle, you can't wear it, you can't manufacture it; there's something different about this cat," added Bischoff. [H/T: Wrestling Inc]
Ospreay will lock horns with Bryan Danielson at the AEW Dynasty PPV event this April. The match has garnered plenty of hype. It will be interesting to see if the encounter lives up to its billing.