Why Bully Ray Is Convinced WWE Was Surprised By Fan Reaction At WrestleMania 40 Event

It may have been a few weeks ago now, but plenty of people in wrestling are still talking about the WrestleMania 40 press conference in Las Vegas, where the expected announcement of Rock vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 turned into Cody Rhodes vs. Reigns. In between it all, The Rock was notably booed by fans in attendance, which began the process of Rock turning heel for the first time in years.

While he's not surprised Rock was booed, Bully Ray still isn't convinced that everything went according to plan. During the "Master Class" edition of "Busted Open Radio," the two-time Hall of Famer explained why.

"Rock repeated himself a couple of times at a press conference, something you almost never see him do," Bully said. "And when guys repeat themselves...it's because they're thinking about how to shift gears because the fans are going one way. And when The Rock said 'I appreciate your passion,' he's basically saying 'I'm acknowledging your boos, but I'm not sure why it's going this way. I don't think things went as the WWE or The Rock had thought they would go, or wanted them to go, but to everybody's credit, they pivoted and switched gears."

Bully also noted two other examples that make him think that not just Rock, but WWE as well were surprised by the boos.

"If you go back and watch that press conference and you take a look at The Rock's face when he's getting booed, you can tell he was not ready for that," Bully said. "You can tell in his cheekbones, his eyes, just the way his face falls. You think The Rock or the WWE expected The Rock to get booed out of the building? Especially when you throw up something like that entire Bloodline family tree?"

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription