Impact Hall of Famer Bully Ray made his surprise return to Impact Wrestling at the Bound For Glory pay-per-view on Friday night, receiving a big pop from the crowd before winning the 20-person Call Your Shot Gauntlet Match to earn a future title shot of his choosing.
Going into the pay-per-view, Impact had 15 participants announced for the match – PCO, Rich Swann, Gisele Shaw, Heath, Moose, Steve Maclin, Bhupinder Gujjar, Bobby Fish, Joe Hendry, Johnny Swinger, Savannah Evans, Tasha Steelz, Eric Young, Killer Kelly, and Sami Callihan. The 5 surprise entrants were Bully, the returning Taylor Wilde, the returning Tommy Dreamer (who inducted Raven into the Impact Hall of Fame on the pre-show), Rhino making his return from injury, and Matt Cardona, who was also making his return to Impact.
The Gauntlet started with Young and the returning Hendry. The final four competitors were Bully, Fish, Maclin and Swann. Ray was triple-teamed, while Swann and Fish were eliminated shortly after that. Maclin and Bully worked the singles match for a few more minutes until Ray got the pin with a Bully Bomb.
Ray earned a future title shot of his choosing, at any time and any place, with the win. The wrestling legend later made clear which champion he has his eye on. The 51 year old Bully cut a post-match promo, seen below, where he said the Call Your Shot trophy is the first step in becoming a three-time Impact World Champion.
The Bound For Glory main event saw Impact World Champion Josh Alexander retain his title over Honor No More leader Eddie Edwards. After the match, Honor No More rushed the ring to attack Alexander. Swann and Heath tried to make the save but they were also taken out. Honor No More went to put Alexander through a table but Bully’s music hit, and out he came to make the save.
Bully and Alexander then teamed up to clean house, but Alexander turned back around to see Bully facing him while holding the Impact World Title. Bound For Glory went off the air with Alexander taking his title back, while Ray warned him that he will be his toughest challenger yet.
Impact released footage of what happened when Bound For Glory hit the air, as seen below. Bully and Alexander faced off until Impact World Tag Team Champion Mike Bennett stumbled back into the ring. The segment ended with Bully and Alexander putting Bennett through a table.
Impact has not announced when Bully vs. Alexander will take place as of this writing. Bound For Glory marked Bully’s first Impact match since October 2014 at Bound For Glory, where Team 3D was also inducted into the Hall of Fame.
It was announced after the pay-per-view that Bully and Dreamer will face The Bullet Club’s Chris Bey and Ace Austin at the post-Bound For Glory TV tapings held later tonight in Albany, NY.
You can click here for our full Bound For Glory recap.
Below are a few related shots from the pay-per-view:
Check out what @bullyray5150 had to say after WINNING the CALL YOUR SHOT GAUNTLET!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/eTKYhw3fgC
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@joehendry and @TheEricYoung are kicking off the CALL YOUR SHOT GAUNTLET!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/jJuBhyzY1d
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@SteveMaclin entered and paired up with @TheEricYoung to take out @joehendry UNTIL Rich Swann HIT THE RING!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/qZNjxMlWSu
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
The SWING DADDY is HERE!@swinger_johnny @ZickyDice #BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/ocFsUQke43
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@Kelly_WP entered and went RIGHT FOR @RealTSteelz!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/z85vI6MsXb
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@RealTaylorWilde IS BACK!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/QiBoCLT8ew
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
The roof just EXPLODED!@bullyray5150 IS BACK in the IMPACT ZONE!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/YgI62YbSth
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
NOW @THETOMMYDREAMER!?#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/A4biFN9Pi2
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@Rhyno313 RETURNS!!!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/cnzac8fnUJ
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@TheMattCardona got a warm welcome back to @IMPACTWRESTLING from @RealTaylorWilde, @bullyray5150 and @bhupindergujj4r!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/dDduJUPC41
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@SteveMaclin and @bullyray5150 are the FINAL TWO! #BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/nDsiJMYoqQ
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
STYLES CLASH!@Walking_Weapon #BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/QgAVYMYBtC
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
C4 SPIKE CONNECTS but Honor No More JUST saved @TheEddieEdwards! #BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/HFQBRTLUWQ
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
THIS IS INSANE!@TheEddieEdwards @Walking_Weapon #BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/Llgb34KW9X
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@Walking_Weapon is being BEAT DOWN by Honor No More!#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/9489oqy3Yp
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
NOT LIKE THIS!
Is @bullyray5150 calling his shot NOW!?#BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/zZ8Boi0Rx7
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
.@bullyray5150 just took out Honor No More with @Walking_Weapon but made sure to leave him with some STRONG words! #BoundForGlory pic.twitter.com/5kXE6aCrvb
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
You can't have @bullyray5150 in a @IMPACTWRESTLING ring with a TABLE without it being used!
Check out what happened when #BoundForGlory went off the air!@Walking_Weapon pic.twitter.com/T8gkYe0RpO
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) October 8, 2022
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