Bubba Ray Dudley (or Bully Ray) has managed to make a name for himself in wrestling for the past twenty years, most notably as part of the Dudley Boyz tag team with D-Von Dudley.He first rose to prominence in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the nineties before moving on to WWE back in 1999. The wrestler has been a multi-time tag team champion in just about every single promotion that he has worked for, and he even scored two runs as TNA World Heavyweight Champion during his final years in the promotion, and he was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2014 as well. Ray is celebrated as a trailblazer for tag team wrestling.
Unfortunately, Bully Ray’s in-ring career appears to be over now. During ROH’s Global Wars: Chicago iPPV, Ray appeared and put Frankie Kazarian through a table. He then took the microphone and announced to the crowd that he is ending his in-ring career due to a recent incident involving his health. Ray invited a child into the ring and handed him a piece of “the last table I’ll ever put somebody through.” Ray said that the child represented everyone that he has performed in front of over the past two decades before thanking the crowd and walking to the back. The crowd in attendance gave a standing ovation to the pro wrestling veteran.
During a match at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor XV pay-per-view, Jay Briscoe threw a table at Ray, hitting him harder than expected in the forehead. This caused Ray to receive a major concussion that immediately put his career in jeopardy. D-Von Dudley retired from the ring last year after joining WWE in a backstage producer role instead. If this truly is the end of Bubba Ray Dudley’s in-ring career, wrestling fans should celebrate some of the greatest (and most outlandish) aspects of one of professional wrestling’s most entertaining tag teams. Ray is expected to address his future in wrestling in more detail on this week’s Busted Open Radio show.