Hall of Famer Bully Ray offered high praise for the September 14 edition of WWE RAW from Mexico City, calling the main event between WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Penta superior to Reigns’ WrestleMania 42 match against CM Punk.
Speaking on Busted Open, Bully lauded WWE’s performance in Mexico City, describing the broadcast as an elite, high-energy presentation that set the bar for weekly wrestling television.
“An Attitude Era-Esque Monday Night RAW”
Opening his breakdown, Bully urged everyone within the company to look at the Mexico City taping as the gold standard for WWE production:
“If I’m anybody and everybody in that company, from the very, very top to the guy that sweeps up for the company once the ring is torn down, I am saying to myself, this is what we need to aspire to be every week. This is what we do when we swing for the fences. Last night was an Attitude Era-esque Monday Night Raw. Every segment hit on all cylinders. That was two and a half hours of balls to the wall, all killer, no filler pro wrestling. Last night’s show would be a show that I would show a non-wrestling fan.”
Bully then dropped his direct comparison between the RAW main event and the headliner of WrestleMania 42:
“Speaking of that main event and speaking of WrestleMania, here’s my hot take for today. Hold on to your butts. Roman Reigns versus Penta last night was a better main event and a better match than Roman Reigns and CM Punk at WrestleMania. That’s saying something because Roman Reigns versus Punk, a lot of people call a modern-day classic. Last night was better.”
Suspending Disbelief & Addressing the Mexican Destroyer
Bully highlighted how the storytelling and false finishes suspended his disbelief, convincing him momentarily that Penta might pull off the upset despite Reigns entering as the favorite:
“Last night, during one of the false finishes deep into the match, I found myself sliding in my chair to the edge of the seat. I was like, holy shit, they got me. I thought Penta was going to win. We kind of in the back of our mind knew that Roman was probably going to win. But they suspended the disbelief. They had us buying into it at least two or three times with credible, perfectly executed false finishes. Nothing beyond the realm of believability.”
Addressing online debate regarding a pivotal sequence where Reigns absorbed a Mexican Destroyer, hit the turnbuckles, and answered with a decisive spear to win, Bully pushed back on accusations that Reigns “no-sold” the move:
“It was the Mexican Destroyer where Roman got knocked all the way back into the turnbuckle. If it wasn’t for the ropes holding him up, he would have went ass over tea kettle, and then was able to catch that breath, get a shot of adrenaline, come back with the spear. A lot of people are talking about that moment in time. But I bought in so hard because of the performance of Roman and Penta.”
“This is where the moments in time for a match, when the time is right, with the right character, you can get away with a moment in time like they did last night. Roman Reigns did not no-sell the Canadian Destroyer.”
For additional match breakdowns, backstage updates, and live coverage of WWE Raw, visit WrestlingAttitude.com.
RELATED: WWE Executives Eye World Title Run For Penta Following Record Mexico City Main Event
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