Bully Ray Believes Nic Nemeth Would Make Bigger Impact As TNA Champ Than Mike Santana

Bully Ray has advocated for Nic Nemeth to defeat Mike Santana at the upcoming TNA Slammiversary pay-per-view.

Santana, who is in his second reign as TNA World Champion, will face Nemeth for the first time in a singles match in TNA. On "Busted Open," Ray explained that Nemeth is a bigger name than Santana and argued that Santana hasn't significantly moved the needle during his time as champion.

"I think Mike has done as good of a job as he possibly can with the opponents that he had. I don't think they maximized the potential of the Steve Maclin story and angle. It's time to change. It's not like Mike Santana as champion is putting tons of asses in seats because people want to see him defend. And by the way, in TNA, that's a very tall order," Ray began. "Nic Nemeth is known more than Mike. He's an exceptional wrestler. Nic could go out there on every single show — and I'm not trying to put Nic in a bad spot here — but I think we all know the type of wrestling machine that Nic Nemeth is."

The WWE Hall of Famer revealed a recent conversation he had with Nemeth, who confidently stated that while he may not possess the same level of ability as the likes of Kurt Angle and Chad Gable, he brings something different to the table.

"Nic admitted Kurt Angle and Chad Gable, they have a gear that not even Nic has. He goes, 'But I got a gear that's really close.' Nic Nemeth could do something really different if he became champion," he said. "He could go out there and go, 'I'm sick and tired of champions wrestling once a month. I'm sick and tired of champions never really defending their championship, whatever, blah, blah, blah. Every single week, I will defend my championship here on TNA Wrestling.'"

Ray also pointed out how Santana's contract is set to expire soon is also an important aspect of the Santana-Nemeth match, with him arguing that TNA has to choose a wrestler who they are sure will be with them after Slammiversary.