Why Bully Ray Liked CM Punk Vs. Samoa Joe On AEW Collision So Much

Bully Ray was paying attention to the little details, callbacks, and references during CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe IV, and those aspects pleased him more than anything else. While analyzing the match on "Busted Open Radio," Ray touched upon a spot where, during a commercial break, Punk continued to sell an injury on the outside until Joe broke the 10 count.  "That, to many people, would mean absolutely nothing," Ray began. "I saw that, and I was like, 'That is the way you do it.' That is good offense countered by good defense, and Punk was going to go hit an offensive maneuver, and then one chop from Joe — not 900 chops from somebody, not this bull—t spirit of the fight ... 'I chop you, you chop me.' Nobody registers, nobody sells, and we stand there until people start chanting, 'This is awesome' and it gets you absolutely nowhere."

Ray continued to admire "the beauty of the sell," which made him feel like the solitary chop from Joe actually hurt Punk. While applauding two masters in their craft going to work, Ray would also get emotional watching the match when Punk and Joe stood across from one another, more than 20 years after their first encounter. "Two warriors, from 25 years ago, who cut their teeth in Ring of Honor — now standing there in [an] AEW [ring]. So much was done in that match."

In conclusion, Ray called out the fans who "talked s–t" to him on social media for choosing to not watch "AEW Collision" live on Saturday night. Ray disputed the notion that a match must be watched live, in order to soak in the emotions, and thereby analyzed accordingly.