Bully Ray On Why WrestleDream Shove Derailed Excitement For Shelton Benjamin In AEW

AEW is building something interesting with Swerve Strickland and the newly-arrived MVP and Shelton Benjamin. After weeks of MVP pitching an alliance with Strickland, Strickland made it clear at WrestleDream that his loyalty remains with Prince Nana. The segment ended in a scuffle after Strickland shoved Benjamin, despite highlighting his influence on Black wrestlers just seconds before. The resulting pull-apart suggests this feud is just getting started, but according to Bully Ray on "Busted Open Radio," it may be starting off on the wrong foot.

"The shove bothered me," Bully said. "Because when you're rebuilding, establishing somebody, all it takes is one thing to go wrong. And I'm not saying the shove is gonna be that one thing. But all it takes is one thing. If I'm the producer of that segment, I'm saying, no no no, that shove is entirely too aggressive." Bully said he would've kept the segment mostly the same, but suggested Benjamin should've been booked stronger against Strickland.

"You get in MVP's face where MVP goes wide-eyed like, 'This kid's got some gumption. He's got some guts.'" Bully said, in his proposed version of events. "That's when Shelton moves MVP to the side [and] you see the concern in Swerve's eyes. Because if Swerve sells concern, you know that Shelton must be a bad mother trucker. Swerve treated Shelton like he would've treated anybody else in the ring. And when that happens, nobody gets over." Mark Henry, Bully's co-host, also criticized the shoving of Shelton, albeit for slightly different reasons. With Benjamin slated to make his AEW in-ring debut tonight on "AEW Dynamite," it remains to be seen if Strickland will crash the party. Meanwhile, rumors persist about Bobby Lashley joining AEW, fueling speculation over how he might fit into things.