During Death Before Dishonor XV last Friday night, Sept. 22, in a Ring of Honor (ROH) Six-Man Tag title match, Jay Briscoe turned on Bully Ray. The former-Dudley called for the tables, and Jay responded by throwing it at him. The edge caught Bully hard right on the forehead:
What is going through @jaybriscoe84 mind?!?! #ROHDBD pic.twitter.com/wVlc4WTLiS
— ROH Wrestling (@ringofhonor) September 23, 2017
It wasn’t reported at the time, but it unsurprisingly seems to have given Ray a concussion, as these tweets Saturday from the man himself and his friend Tommy Dreamer indicate:
Spent the night in ER @bullyray5150
— Tommy Dreamer (@THETOMMYDREAMER) September 23, 2017
He got his bell rung again
Concerned for him
Thanks for the well wishes. Much appreciated. Was a long night and a rough day so far. Wish I could say I was doing better.
— Bubba Ray Dudley (@bullyray5150) September 23, 2017
On Sirius XM’s Busted Open Radio (a show Bubba regularly co-hosts) yesterday, he addressed the situation. Confirming he spent Friday night in the emergency room, he said doctors have advised him to avoid getting over-excited and being around loud noises. He was also asked if he has concerns about wrestling again after this incident and responded “so much so that I’m not even sure if my career should continue.”
Scary stuff, and really makes you question ROH’s continued allowance of shots to the head - especially with a veteran like Bully Ray. To my knowledge, Ray hasn’t spoken specifically about his own concussion history. But Dreamer says he’s “probably had anywhere from 13 to 16 concussions” which have led to issues like memory loss. They’ve traveled similar roads and worked similar types of matches, so that’s probably a fair comparison point.
That’s a discussion we can hopefully have after we hear that Bubba Ray is feeling better. Join us in sending some positive thoughts his way, and we’ll keep you posted.
H/T: 411mania