Bully Ray Believes ROH Is the Modern Day ECW in Wrestling

ROH wrestler Bully Ray was interviewed by The Wrap where he explained why he believes Ring of Honor is the new ECW and why Combat Zone Wrestling is not.

Ray believes that ROH has filled in a void that ECW left when it was purchased and subsequently abolished by WWE.

“One of the whole reasons I’m in Ring of Honor is because of how much it reminds me of ECW. There is not one wrestler out there — or one veteran out there — who understands the Ring of Honor mentality … more than I do. ECW was Ring of Honor before Ring of Honor. Ring of Honor was created because of the void that ECW left when it disappeared.”

CZW is a popular hardcore promotion that many have likened to ECW due to the level of violence displayed at the events. Ray disputes ECW being a ground for pure violence, and they aimed to grow as a business as CZW does not.

“CZW does not carry the torch of ECW at all. ECW was not about violence — it was about passion and it was about a mindset. ECW was truly a rebellious movement, giving our middle finger to the rest of the wrestling business, telling people that we were gonna do it our way. And we did it our way so much that we revolutionized the entire business. CZW is just gratuitous violence for the sake of gratuitous violence, just to shock people. Do they make more money year after year? Are their crowds any bigger? No. So I kind of compare them to GWAR. Listen, GWAR could continue to tour for as long as GWAR wants to. They’ll perform to the same 100 fans every night, and they’ll make the same amount of money. They’ll never grow financially and they’ll never grow as an act — and that’s just a fact when you look at CZW as a business model.”

Finally, the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame inductee likened ECW to a revolutionary company known as Napster.

“ECW was the Napster of pro wrestling. Napster went bankrupt and failed as a business, but it revolutionized the way we listen to music. ECW went bankrupt and failed as a wrestling company, but it changed the landscape of wrestling forever. Without ECW, you would never have the [WWE] Attitude Era.”

Check out a preview of a ROH ‘Final Battle’ match between ECW icons Tommy Dreamer and Ray against ROH veterans The Briscoes.

Final Battle - The Briscoes vs Tommy Dreamer & Bully Ray

Do you agree with Ray? If not, why?

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