Bully Ray Assesses The AEW Character Evolution Of Katsuyori Shibata

Bully Ray has changed his tune regarding Katsuyori Shibata. The WWE Hall of Famer originally felt that the Japanese star was boring in AEW, but he's enjoyed seeing him show off more of his personality lately — even if he's allowing a Siri device to do his talking for him. While speaking on "Busted Open After Dark," Ray said that he loved the May 15 edition of "AEW Dynamite" segment with Shibata, HOOK, and Samoa Joe — especially for the way in which the former NJPW star poked fun at one of the performers' outfits.

"Shibata is using Siri again, and I'm dying... I think it's funny, and because Shibata is entertaining. I tweeted, 'Shibata has never been entertaining. Shibata has been the wrestler's wrestler's wrestler...' Did you ever think you'd see Shibata be entertaining? And then at the end when he made fun of Joe's floral-print shirt. Very, very good stuff," Ray said before adding that the Siri aspect of Shibata's presentation is unique.

The segment in question saw Joe approach HOOK to advise him to pick his battles more carefully, as he'd previously been jumped by Chris Jericho and Big Bill. Shibata was standing next to HOOK at the time, and he commented on Joe not suiting his flowery attire to close out the segment.

Despite having praise for Shibata, Ray questioned the presentation of HOOK on last week's episode. Ray believes that HOOK squashing people is bad booking as it isn't believable, and he's worried that the rising star could be negatively affected as a result. Both HOOK and Shibata have their sights set on Jericho and the FTW Championship, which could open the door to more segments between them moving forward.

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