At least two people turned down WWE’s invitation to appear on the Raw Reunion special from Tampa on Monday night.
As previously noted, Jim Ross was invited by Vince McMahon and AEW co-founder Tony Khan was fine with Ross appearing on Raw but Ross turned down the invitation. Ross said on Twitter that he politely turned down the invitation from McMahon.
Ross said: “Because some are asking, I was cordially invited to attend #RAWReunion by @VinceMcMahon but I politely refused. @TonyKhan left it up to me. Nonetheless I hope the #RAWReunion is a ratings success.”
Another name that apparently turned down an invitation is former WWE/ECW World Tag Team Champion Bully Ray. Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Bully was invited to reprise his Bubba Ray Dudley character. Bully currently works with ROH so that might be why he declined the offer. His former tag team partner D’Von Dudley works behind-the-scenes for WWE and he will be on the show this Monday.
There are a few notable names not advertised to appear at Raw Reunion. The Rock, John Cena and Bret Hart are not listed to appear. In the case of The Rock, it could simply be that he is too busy to appear and it would make sense to hold him off until the SmackDown Live debut on FOX. Hart recently appeared at AEW Double Or Nothing but McMahon invited Ross to appear so I don’t see McMahon being upset by Hart’s AEW appearance. Perhaps, Hart was not able to attend and he declined the invite. As far as Cena, there could be a surprise on the show. Click here for more on Cena’s status for Raw Reunion.
Most of the names scheduled to appear at Raw Reunion are out thanks to new merchandise on WWEShop.com. Click here for a list of names scheduled to appear at Raw Reunion in Tampa, Florida.
