Bully Ray Reveals His Biggest Piece Of Advice To Young Talent

The recently-retired Bully Ray was a guest on First Thing to discuss his life away from in-ring competition. He talked about his transition into a backstage role and some of the advice he gives to younger wrestlers.

Bully Ray announced his retirement at Ring Of Honor Global Wars earlier this month, in storyline ending a storied 26-year career in the business. He said his new passion will be helping younger talent improve their storytelling.

"I'm gonna be able to work behind the scenes with Ring Of Honor, help a lot of the younger guys develop their characters and help them out there," he said. "I totally enjoy seeing other guys succeed based on some of the advice I've given them."

Instead of imposing himself on younger wrestlers, Bully Ray said he prefers to let them seek him out for advice. He said if a wrestler approaches him he'd be more than happy to help them because that lets him know that they are truly committed to improving themselves.

"I don't go up to guys and say, 'Hey, you should do this,' or, 'I think you should do that.' If they come to me I'm more than happy to help them out, because if they're coming to me they obviously have thought about it and they've [sought] out the help on their own," he said. "'Hey, can you help me with this aspect of my character,' or, 'What do you think I should do for a move over here?' Anything that they want to do to help tell their story in the ring better, I'll be there for."

Bully Ray said the biggest advice he can give to new wrestlers is to develop their characters and work on their storytelling. He said he believes those two aspects form the foundation of professional wrestling, and they have become a lost art in the new age of wrestlers who rely on huge spots all the time.

"Character development and storytelling, because a lot of young wrestlers today think it's all about the moves," he said. "They just go out there and flip all around the place, and listen, there is a section of the fan base and the audience that likes that. But for the most part, for 100 years, what has professional wrestling been built on? The art of storytelling and characters. Good vs. evil. Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker. Black hat vs. white hat."

Source: First Thing