Bully Ray Hopes To See Fresh Challengers Facing Chelsea Green On WWE SmackDown

Both top women's title scenes in WWE haven't exactly been red-hot in recent months, but the addition of an interim WWE Women's Champion on "WWE SmackDown" in Chelsea Green is a breath of fresh air. Green won the gold in a ladder match at SummerSlam, after Rhea Ripley was unable to defend her title due to injury, and the star has since had surgery.

On "Busted Open Radio," Hall of Famer Bully Ray said he wants fresh challengers for Green. He also said he wants to see her "fighting from underneath," which is why his perfect challenger for her is part of a faction.

"I would love to see Chelsea Green take on Jacy Jayne and all of Fatal Influence," he said. "We already know from what Jacy did in 'NXT' that she's more than capable of this... We know that all three women are more than capable of this. Fatal Influence screwing Chelsea over, and over, and over again. You have a nice story here. You have definitive heels, a definitive babyface, and most importantly, new faces in the mix."

He said he feels strong about Green's reign since it's new and different. He said he doesn't want to see Green and Ripley or Green and Charlotte Flair. Bully Ray said Green can hold her own in the ring, but it's all about perception.

"Chelsea doesn't wrestle as often as some of the other women, but she can hold her own," he said. "But, if you put her in there with a Rhea or a Charlotte, because of the perception of the wrestlers that they are, it's almost like, should Chelsea be really able to hang with these women? With Jacy, absolutely. Jacy is exceptional in the ring, also, but perception-wise, Chelsea and Jacy could absolutely work."

In addition to Jayne, Bully Ray also offered what he called an "out-of-the-box pick" and "wild card" to attack Green and challenge her in the future. He pitched NXT Women's Champion, and former Women's United States Champion, Giulia. The Hall of Famer said he doesn't believe that the "Beautiful Madness" has caught on in the WWE they way creative had hoped she would. He thinks given the right opportunity, there could be hope.

"They had high hopes for this girl when she first came in," he said. "I would just love to see something for Giulia. I'm a little bit worried that maybe she's going to be on the back burner. I'm not saying that Giulia jumping Chelsea is going to truly, truly work as well as these other names. As a matter of fact, all of these other names that we've thrown out so far, like Fatal Influence, like Tiffany Stratton, Nia Jax, Giulia would probably be last on the list. But, we gotta do something with this woman."

Green is set to appear on "SmackDown" from Philadelphia on Friday, though she's not advertised to have a match. Two other competitors in the five-way ladder match are, however, when Charlotte Flair takes on Jade Cargill.

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