Why WWE Hall Of Famers Bully Ray & Eric Bischoff Disagree About ECW

The Dudley Boyz were a cornerstone of ECW, during a time where the "Monday Night War" was raging between the two biggest promotions in professional wrestling: WWE and WCW. While not involved in the battle over ratings, the company that prioritized extreme is still beloved by fans over 20 years later. One half of the Dudleys, Bully Ray, recently appeared alongside former WCW executive Eric Bischoff on his "Wise Choices" podcast, and the two disagreed about the influence ECW had on wrestling. Bully said on "Busted Open Radio" that he and his fellow WWE Hall of Famer agree on a lot of things, but ECW is not one. He said that Bischoff "downplays" the significance and importance of the promotion.

"He brought up how he revolutionized cruiserweight wrestling by creating the cruiserweight division," Bully said. "I'm like, 'Eric, you stole Mysterio, Psychosis, and ... Juvi and Eddie and Dean.' I'm like, 'You stole them from ECW.' They created a buzz in ECW, and then you were able to offer them money that we couldn't. He's like, 'I created a whole freaking division, screw you!' I'm like, 'Yeah, you created a division. We didn't have to create a division.' They were just wrestlers who wrestled in our company." Despite their disagreements, Bully said that Bischoff is a great, intelligent man who gets a lot of flack online. He praised the former WCW President for almost shutting down WWE. He said there are "no rules" to the wrestling industry, and Bischoff had Vince McMahon "on the ropes."

"I don't care how, I don't care why, he almost did it," he said. "Nobody else in the wrestling world almost put Vince McMahon and the WWE out of business. So he must have been doing something right. Right place, right time, right talent, right stories, right characters, right check book. Doesn't matter."

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