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NewsMark Henry Calls Into Podcast To Challenge Bully Ray's Comments On WWE-ECW...

Mark Henry Calls Into Podcast To Challenge Bully Ray’s Comments On WWE-ECW Version

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On a recent edition of Busted Open Radio, WWE Hall of Famer and current AEW talent Mark Henry called into the show to rebuke Bully Ray’s statements about WWE’s version of ECW.

Henry apparently took issue with Ray’s comments about it being the “most botched, bootlegged version of ECW that ever existed.” Bully’s comment was in response to his co-host Dave LeGreca discussing Ray’s upcoming match against former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona. Ray’s reference to Cardona was his associating the former Zack Ryder with the WWE’s failed version of ECW. Ray added, “It was awful. I don’t care who was involved with it. It should have never been done again,” Ray said, “but Vince [McMahon] was milking every last drop he could get out of that brand.”

Henry’s call-in was reportedly abrupt and unplanned. Reportedly, he was not due to be on the show until the following day. Henry, a former ECW Champion (WWE’s version) on the brand understandably took exception with Ray’s comments. Henry stated the following,

“I felt disrespected because I took a lot of pride in being the ECW Champion and I wrestled the cream of the crop of the guys that came from ECW. The Tommy Dreamer’s, the Eddie Guerrero’s, the Chris Benoit’s, and there was a bunch of guys on that roster that couldn’t hold my jock. It ain’t got nothing to do with Bully, but you gotta’ be respectful with the words that you use when it relates to people that took a lot of pride in their work,” Henry stated. “For me to wake up and turn the show on and hear the ‘watered-down version of ECW’ was very Ryback-like.”

Notwithstanding, Ray was not contrite in his response to Henry. Instead, the ECW original offered clarification on his comments. Bully stated, “WWE’s version of ECW was a watered-down mess. I’m an ECW original, I was in the ring, I was behind the scenes. I’m a pillar of the company. If anybody can say that the WWE version of ECW was a water-downed mess, it’s me,” Ray said. “I didn’t say you were a watered-down mess, I didn’t say any talent was a watered-down mess. I said that the brand was, because Vince McMahon took something and he drained it of every last ounce of money that he could get out of it.”

Henry further challenged Bully’s take, highlighting how the term “watered-down” carries a negative connotation. Henry responded, “I was the most-happy when the WWE acquired it, because I was a fan. The words have a lot power, and ‘watered-down,’ I’m never gonna accept it.”

Ray replied, “[Vince] made himself the ECW Champion. That is a watered-down version.”

Finally, Henry concluded his statements by saying, “Once it was acquired, it became a part of my family. I welcomed it in and treated it like my own, which is what we all should be doing.”

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