Bully Ray Shares Concern Over WWE Relationship With TNA

For the most part, the working relationship between TNA and WWE's "NXT" brand, which started unofficially last year but became official in January, has seemingly been a positive for both sides. That perception may be changing a bit after this past weekend though, after TNA Slammiversary drew a decent house at Long Island's UBS Arena, but left some fans cold after TNA stars Masha Slamovich and Mike Santana either lost their titles or failed to win them back from "NXT" stars Jacy Jayne and Trick Williams.

Oddly enough, one person who appeared on Slammiversary was raising concerns over the TNA/WWE partnership just a few days beforehand. On the Friday edition of "Busted Open Radio," Bully Ray, in a mostly positive assessment on the partnership, discussed some potential issues that could befall TNA if things went wrong.

"There is so much positive to the working relationship of the two companies, where the positives [are] benefiting TNA a lot more," Bully said. "But there's also a bit of concern, and I voiced this concern the very first day that the press release came out. And the concern is that yes, everything is great while this working relationship is going on. But if something were to happen tomorrow, or when the working relationship would come to an end, anything can happen in pro wrestling. 

"Can TNA stand its own? Because at the end of this whole process, if it has an end, maybe it's going to go on forever, who knows? Maybe in some way, TNA becomes what ECW was in a glorified way for the WWE, which is a feeder system. Not a developmental system, but a feeder system. My concern for TNA is can they stand on their own two feet, with their homegrown talent?"

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