Bully Ray for World Champion

Who knew?
Photo Credit: Impact Wrestling.com

Impact Wrestling has hit this stride lately where the show has been mostly good. This has been very much due to their cast of characters, guys like James Storm, Robert Roode, a rejuvenated Jeff Hardy, Austin Aries and even Sting. One guy who has stood out for a year or so now has been Bully Ray. After dissolving the Dudley Boys, many people, myself included, didn't think that either guy would amount to any success as singles stars. We were right about Devon, but Bubba Ray was a gross miscalculation.

In the last year, he's become one of the strongest villains in pro wrestling. He's done well for himself in all facets, from eating shit and taking his lumps from the good guys to smarming it up on the mic to wrestling in main event-level matches. One could argue that it was his presence in the Bound for Glory Series that helped Roode become acclimatized to being a main event player as well as get as over with the crowds as he did. He's done so much for TNA and has become so much of a star player that I feel like he's earned a run with the World Championship.

Granted, I've sort of gone away from the "give this guy a run with the title because he's earned it" mindset because how does one earn a trinket in wrestling? By getting over, obviously. Titles really shouldn't be handed out to guys who don't connect with crowds just because they've been there for awhile. That being said, tenure and hard work should certainly be kept in mind for the guys who have connected with the crowds as a bonus consideration. Bully Ray is certainly in that category. He was pigeonholed as a tag team wrestler for the longest time, all the while not knowing that there was this character inside of him that was busting to get out. When WWE pushed him solo, they kept him as the same character as he was as a Dudley Boy and gave Devon the makeover. Outside of giving us Batista in his first incarnation, it turned out to be a mistake.

Obviously, he shouldn't be beating Bobby Roode. I can see it happening because Vince Russo is still in charge and boy do they love breaking up alliances in short order. That being said, over the course of the year, Bully Ray in a story where he gets a title run would be more than appropriate to break out further down the line. And why not? He deserves it.