Vince McMahon accused of putting WWE Superstar into "forced" and "over-the-top" segments by Bully Ray
Several big names switched brands during the 2023 WWE Draft. It has allowed them to enjoy varied levels of success over the past few months. Bully Ray thinks Zoey Stark is one of the stars who hasn’t done well since her move to the main roster.
Ray was one of Stark’s biggest supporters during her time in NXT. He also talked about her earlier this year when Shawn Michaels appeared on his podcast.
While many have been impressed by Zoey Stark’s move to the main roster and alliance with Trish Stratus, Ray doesn’t feel the same way. In a recent episode of the Busted Open Radio, the Hall of Famer was critical of the WWE star’s work on the main roster.
"In NXT, I really enjoyed Zoey Stark. So far, on the main roster, not so much," Ray said. "I feel that her promo and verbiage are extremely forced and that she's trying to memorize her lines. I didn't feel the same way about her in NXT — I felt she was a lot more relaxed and going out there and letting it flow. Now, is it because of the big spotlight of Monday Night Raw? Maybe she's not used to someone from Gorilla telling her to do things? Not sure."
The WWE Hall of Famer added that he was critical of the way she was delivering her words instead of the script itself.
"I go by the way things make me feel — the tone, inflection, volume, energy, and personality. I'm actually looking in Zoey's eyes, and watching her memorize stuff."
Ray ended his comments by stating that he suspects Vince McMahon could be playing a major part in her character progression.
"End of the match, when she's sitting atop the ladder – after Becky defeated Chelsea — she's got this mean, 'I'm gonna get you' pro wrestling face on. To me, all of that stuff screams Vince. I will defend Vince [McMahon] on a lot of the great things, but some of the stuff he wants is so over-the-top sometimes."
Zoey Stark’s pairing with Trish Stratus will likely reap some fruits. However, she will need to work on herself to get ahead in the rivalry with Becky Lynch instead of waiting for the two top WWE stars to carry her.
WWE legend claims Vince McMahon’s return had the company fearing the worst
Vince McMahon stepped down from the business in July 2022. This allowed Triple H to take the reins of the creative team. However, it did not take long for Mr. McMahon to return to the company, this time as the Executive Chairman of the promotion.
On a recent episode of Smack Talk, WWE legend Dutch Mantell claimed that The Bloodline story was the only big story making waves in the company when Triple H took over. However, ever since Vince McMahon’s return, a number of other superstars are also getting the spotlight and new rivalries are building.
"If we look back nine months ago, they had one story. That's all they had. They had Roman and all that. They didn't have any other stories. Now, since Triple H has taken over and I did fear when Vince came back that things would change. But I think Triple H has kinda righted the ship and they're still on track. They got a lot more going on now than they did nine months ago," said Mantell.
Vince McMahon has likely continued to have some influence over weekly programming in WWE in recent months. However, that hasn’t taken too much away from the entertainment.
Do you think Vince McMahon should take back creative control of WWE from Triple H? Sound off in the comments section below.