Bully Ray Explains Why WWE WrestleMania 40 Was The First One He Got To Appreciate

Bully Ray, better known as Bubba Ray Dudley in WWE, has been involved in his fair share of WrestleMania matches, including the infamous Triangle Ladder Match at WrestleMania 2000. Despite his historic moments on the "Grandest Stage of Them All," he said his involvement with WrestleMania 40 was the most enjoyable. Bully was the special guest referee in the Philadelphia Street Fight pitting Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits, The Pride, against the Final Testament, Karrion Kross and the Authors of Pain. 

Speaking on "Busted Open Radio," Bully said that people backstage were telling him they had never seen him smile so much. He said it was a blast for him, and he jumped at the opportunity. It was the first WrestleMania he got to appreciate.

"People are going to say, 'Oh, that sounds crazy, you've been involved in so many great ones and had so many memorable matches,' but the level of stress that came with those matches," he said. "You're not able to take it all in. You're so inside your own head because you expect perfection from yourself, and it's a lot of pressure as we all know ... It's really not fun because it's so stressful. Last night, I went out there and instantly I saw the whole stadium, I was able to take it in ... I was able to sit back and smell the roses for the first time."

His own match wasn't the only thing Bully got to enjoy during Night 2 of WrestleMania. Bully said he was backstage in the locker room during the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match that saw Cody Rhodes finish his story and capture the title from Roman Reigns.

Bully wasn't sure if he wanted to watch it backstage or go into the arena and watch it. He also said he had a "weird taste in his mouth" from Night 1, and thought he might just watch it on TV. He said unlike the first night, he was immediately invested in the match.

"Ten minutes in, 15 minutes in, I was like, 'You know what? I want to hang out and watch this,'" he said. "Me and Damian Priest were sitting together watching the match and we were enjoying it so much and all of a sudden that Cena run in happened and I was so shocked by it ... I said, 'I think I want to go watch this live.' We got up like kids, we ran through the halls, brother just won the WWE World Championship, there we are running through the halls, we go out into the arena and we're standing there just waiting. When the gong hit for The Undertaker ... the both of us just turned into 12 year olds."