Bully Ray & Tommy Dreamer Critique AEW's Devil Storyline
AEW World Champion MJF has been terrorized by a "devilish" masked figure for months, but the person's identity is still unknown. Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer recently discussed the angle and gave their takes on the payoff it should have on "Busted Open Radio." Dreamer noted that he's often categorized wrestling angles into 'best' and 'worst' and that if the wrong person ends up being "The Devil" it could easily become the latter. Additionally, he compared it to the panned "Black Scorpion" storyline in WCW. "Remember when it was 'The Black Scorpion'? The worst payoff because we all knew it was Ric Flair the moment he came out to wrestle."
Despite this, Dreamer still believes that fans will likely not be happy with anyone, regardless if it's Britt Baker, Adam Cole, or even Jack Perry. Additionally, he also noted that the best outcome would likely have been CM Punk. "Eventually, before he signed with WWE, a lot of people said this is all storyline, it's gonna be Punk. I mean, Punk would've been an insane choice if he was still with AEW." Bully then commented on the possibility of it being Perry, and explained that AEW will have to get a ton of heat on him for the reveal to work. He also explained how the promotion should retell the story like his "Aces and Eights" angle in Impact Wrestling. "This was a year story that unfolded where you might have forgotten some storyline points, and then it was narrated by Bully Ray and he took you through the entire year."
Bully additionally made the case that the payoff should be twofold, and include both someone inside and outside of AEW. Following this, he hinted at knowing who the perfect reveal could be, but in an attempt to preserve the surprise he refused to elaborate. "I'm never gonna stooge it off on this show beforehand, I don't want to ruin it for AEW fans. Much like I gave Retribution every chance in the world or any other act out there, I wanna give this the chance [to] also knock it out of the park."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide Wrestling Inc. with a h/t for the transcription.