When CM Punk went up into the stands on an episode of Monday Night Raw last year, it resulted in his getting pushed around and punched. It wasn't so much that he had great heat with the crowd as it was that he was simply close enough to touch and a few overzealous idiots wanted to make themselves famous, if only for a few minutes.
But this is different.
During Thursday night's (March 14, 2013) episode of Impact Wrestling in Chicago, the first show TNA ran on the road with its new schedule, Bully Ray opened the evening by officially joining Aces and 8s as its President and explaining his big heel turn at the Lockdown pay-per-view (PPV) this past Sunday night in San Antonio.
It was a fine segment with Ray cutting a solid promo demonstrating what made him a desirable champion in the first place. He actually got over so well with it that while he was exiting to the back during a commercial break, a fan reached over the barricade to punch him.
We Watch Wrestling has a fan shot video of the incident:
Yes, Aces and 8s have been a bust until now but with Ray leading the charge who knows how far they can take this. If you're getting heat so strong fans are willing to risk the repercussions of trying to brawl with you while you walk to the back, you're doing something right.
For full results and the live blog from Impact click here. For complete reactions to the show click here. And for a playlist of the entire night's events click here.