Bully Ray Troubleshoots Xia Li's WWE Raw Appearance

Xia Li has made an enemy of Becky Lynch on this week's "WWE Raw," but on the latest "Busted Open Radio," Bully Ray said that the crowd isn't nearly as invested in the upcoming match as they could be.

"If you listened to the crowd last night, from the moment Xia Li's music hit, to the moment we see Xia Li, to the moment that we see Xia Li do her Mortal Kombat thing with the rings, to the moment the bell rings and we see her wrestle, to the moment the bell rings and the match is over, to the moment that Xia Li is off the screen, what did the crowd tell you about their investment in Xia Li last night?" Bully asked, his co-host Dave LaGreca was at a loss, the crowd wasn't making noise.

"What concerned me for Xia last night is it's not like this woman was sent out there cold," Bully bemoaned. They've invested some intricate aspects ... to the presentation of her character." Bully believes Li might be too gimmick-heavy for people to invest heartily in, as even WWE's younger viewers aren't quite invested.

"I didn't even hear kids reacting last night," Bully explained. "I spend a lot of time listening to pro wrestling because it tells you what you need to know and I listened intently last night to Xia Li and there was just no reaction, and they're gonna kinda need to examine that." 

Bully thinks WWE has invested too much in Xia to not look into why none of it is connecting outside of the WWE Performance Center. "No reaction right now on the main roster," Bully said.

"Give her more quality of the time she's in there," Bully Ray explained. "Last night, Becky Lynch makes an entrance and if Xia Li had just thrust kicked her in the throat and laid her out, you would've shocked people ... Do something that is going to get people emotionally interested in her." 

Bully pitches the idea of Xia taking a Becky Lynch appearance away from the audience, as opposed to ducking out of the ring and running off. Li attacked Lynch on the previous week's "Raw" and Bully believes the trend should've continued.

"All she would've needed was a minute to a minute and a half to beat up one of the most beloved characters in the WWE," Bully explained. "And then you could've got something backstage later in the show where the doctors are checking on Becky and Becky issues the challenge for next week or wherever she issued the challenge." 

Bully feels the way that Xia Li fled Becky Lynch undercut all of the various hardnosed gimmickry that WWE has given Li. Bully believes that Xia being afraid of Lynch does nothing for either character. Lynch is at the top of the division, Li is wary of Lynch due to said top-dog status, and the two women's inaction maintains the status quo. The WWE Hall of Famer says that WWE fans want something special, and Li taking matters into her own hands and attacking WWE's top woman would be something special for them to invest in. Li and Lynch are set to face each other on next week's "WWE Raw."