Bully Ray slams AEW for "sheer ignorance or laziness" in one particular aspect; considers it harmful to matches
AEW came under fire again this week, this time from WWE Legend Bully Ray.
While the Jacksonville-based Promotion has its fair share of success stories, fans and veterans have brought up some specific criticism over the past few months. Most of the criticism has been focussed on storylines and general inconsistencies during matches.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray brought up the recent match between Orange Cassidy and Jay Lethal. He slammed the referee for not counting out the stars when both of them were outside the ring, among other things:
"I'm bringing to light the refereeing issues in AEW which continue to happen week after week for no good reason other than complete, utter, and sheer ignorance or laziness, and that's all I can chalk it up to. The refereeing s*** just bothers me to high heaven and I think it needs to stop. To me, the referee is as important as the competitors. They're part of the story of the match... Did the guys have a really good match? Yes they did, but it's moments like that, that just, I'm sorry ... it should never happen." (H/T: WrestlingInc)
Orange Cassidy vs Jay Lethal was a match straight from the oldest of old school playbook of wrestling.
Lethal working on Cassidy's legs the entire match but losing in the end because he forgot about his own hurt shoulder was some incredible psychology. https://t.co/z3ChbsJGu8
The WWE veteran has also praised AEW on occasion
While the Jacksonville-based Promotion has been the recipient of a lot of criticism over the last few months, a few matches have managed to stand out enough to garner praise.
Speaking about the match between Bryan Danielson and Rush earlier this year, Bully Ray took to Twitter to praise the Los Ingobernables member:
"RUSH is a tough SOB who wasnt afraid to take it to BD. Hell of a fight. 👊🏽#AEWDynamite @BustedOpenRadio @rushtoroblanco," Bully Ray tweeted.
You can check out the full tweet below:
🏽RUSH is a tough SOB who wasnt afraid to take it to BD.
Hell of a fight. 👊🏽
#AEWDynamite
@BustedOpenRadio
@rushtoroblanco
As of now, Tony Khan's company is struggling to maintain viewership. However, the Revolution pay-per-view brought up the numbers significantly. It remains to be seen what is next for Tony Khan's promotion in the coming weeks.
Do you agree with Bully Ray's thoughts about the All Elite matches? Sound off in the comments section below!