Bully Ray Shares Concerns About AEW Fans' Emotional Investment

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Following last week's edition of "AEW Dynamite," WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray opened up "Busted Open After Dark" by discussing his current perception of the promotion's fanbase. Bully has been  listening carefully to AEW live crowds over the last month in an attempt to find out which performers the fans care about, and the wrestler was not thrilled with the results that he found.

"Tonight, after watching 'Dynamite,' I'm coming to the conclusion that AEW fans care very little, and in some cases not at all, unless what they're seeing is just action and movement and gymnastics and good spots and athleticism," Bully said. "Like Will Ospreay, Ricochet stuff. I'm not sure where the real emotional investment is in characters."

Bully acknowledged that there are some AEW stars that still get strong reactions from the audience, such as Toni Storm and the aforementioned Ospreay. However, he doesn't believe it's enough, and that has caused Bully to develop a "bad feeling" that fans are losing interest in the promotion.

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Considering last week's show took place in Tennessee, Bully was expecting the crowd to be hot for the segment involving Jeff Jarrett and MJF, especially with teases of an impending retirement for Jarrett. However, Bully felt slightly disappointed with the back-and-forth, stating that he expected more emotion out of the performers.

The wrestling business will always have natural "ups and downs," according to Bully, and AEW's recent downtick in live attendance is not unexpected. While it's something they can fight through, the "Busted Open" host believes the smaller crowds could be having an effect on the performers.

"There's about 2,500 people in that arena tonight, and those 2,500 people deserve to see the best show that they possibly can," Bully continued. "But the talent knows that there's only 2,500 people out there, and sometimes it's hard to really, truly get into what you're doing when the company is struggling, at times, to keep the audience invested."

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