AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson and his old rival Nigel McGuinness clashed for the first time in 15 years on “AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam,” ending with the “American Dragon” getting one last victory in their rivalry. The match was McGuinness’ second outing since coming out of retirement at AEW All In, but did the clash live up to all the hype for Bully Ray?

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“Did it meet the expectations of the build up? No, I did not think so,” Ray said on an episode of “Busted Open After Dark.” He explained that he thought the match itself would have been more akin to the style of ROH, but admitted that McGuinness and Danielson could likely not wrestle that style anymore.

The veteran also noted that the build up was unfortunately bigger than the payoff, although he liked the match and praised how hard both stars worked during the match. “I would’ve gone about this completely differently. There was an opportunity to tell a story throughout the thread of the show and pay it off in the end,” he opined.

Ray added that the match didn’t receive a huge build up, despite him personally thinking there would be a story throughout the show at least. “Not only did we get the match, we got it right off the bat,” he said, noting how the bout ended up opening the show. However, the former WWE star praised McGuinness and noted how happy he was to see the veteran back in the ring again, and that the announcers similarly added to his age-old rivalry with Danielson.

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If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Busted Open After Dark” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.