Impact Wrestling: Is Bully Ray in Line to Win the TNA World Title?

You can almost see this coming. Bully Ray is about to take a step in a direction he is unfamiliar with...that being toward a singles title and possibly the TNA World Title currently held by Bobby Roode.

While both Roode and Ray are heels in TNA Impact, it is conceivable that the two will cross paths at an upcoming PPV event, maybe as soon as Against All Odds in February.

Ray, who has been one of the top heels in the company for some time since his split with former tag team partner, Devon, has been amping up his shtick and proving that the bad boy of TNA is out for more than just beating the hell out of people with a chain.

Right now, Ray is involved in an angle with Roode as an adversary in their fight against James Storm and Jeff Hardy. Both Hardy and Storm are considered the top contenders for Roode's TNA World Title, but like last week will attest, Ray is making noise that he deserves a shot at the company's top strap as well.

And in my opinion, it makes a lot of sense. Could a "Four Corners Match" between the four men be in the offing? It would be a sign that TNA creative powers see more contenders for Bobby Roode's title and would add more depth to the championship title contenders.

It seems TNA is only locked into one or two wrestlers having a crack at a title at one time, which does little to excite the fans or the IWC.

Having been a tag team wrestler for years with Devon, winning championships all over the country, seeing Ray in another angle other than four men in the ring would be good not only for TNA but also for his career.

Look at tag team wrestlers who were either tremendous singles competitors like Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson or Ricky Morton (who never broke from Robert Gibson) or Bobby Eaton (who according to Arn Anderson in interview on WCW once, could have been one of the best singles wrestlers of all time) or even Storm and Roode who formed Beer Money before becoming opponents.

Even Ray made the comment that at one time or another tag team partners question whether they are better than the one person who knows them better than anyone else in the ring.

Ray's rise to the crest of TNA also proves that the company is ready to find other heels besides Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe to lead the pack into the next year.

So when the time is right (hopefully at the company's next PPV), we will have a chance to see if the theory holds true.

If all four men are worthy, then the idea is an instant success.

If the creative team works hard to string the idea out, then a wrestler like Bully Ray will get buried and that cannot be good for him, his opponents or the fans who want to see what the big man can do with another strap on his shoulder.