Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Today we are looking
at a career that is, honestly, it's exhausting
just to read about. Let alone live through. Yeah.
We are talking about Monty Kip's up. If you walked
into a crowded arena, I mean, pretty much anywhere
on the planet right now, and yelled Monty, you'd
probably get crickets. Right. But if you yelled
Billy Gunn. Oh, you might just start a riot.
Or a massive sing -along. Or a sing -along. Usually
both. Usually both, exactly. So the mission for
today is pretty specific. We've got this... massive
stack of sources here, biographical records,
match histories from WWF, TNA, New Japan, and
now AEW. But we aren't just here to recite a
resume. We want to figure out how one guy stays
relevant from like the super cartoonish era of
the early 90s all the way to the high speed style
of the 2020s. It's a masterclass in adaptability.
I mean, you look at the data, you look at the
patterns. Most wrestlers, their shelf life at
the top is maybe five, six years if they're lucky.
If they're lucky. Billy Gunn has just survived
by constantly, constantly evolving. And the numbers
are just, they're staggering. In WWE alone, he
racked up 14 championships. 14. 11 of those were
tag team titles. Which is a key data point we're
definitely coming back to. He is, you could argue,
the greatest tag team specialist in history.
And he's still active in his 60s. He is winning
titles in stadiums while being eligible for a
senior discount. So, okay, where does a guy like
this even... come from well that's what's so
interesting because he wasn't exactly born in
a wrestling ring no if you want to understand
his physical durability you have to go back even
further before he was billy gunn monty sop was
a professional bull rider a bull rider okay that
explains actually wait does that explain it that
sounds like a terrible way to preserve your body
you'd think so right yeah but think about the
biomechanics of it he did it professionally in
his early 20s To stay on a bucking bull, you
need incredible grip strength, insane core stability,
and balance. You're just holding on for dear
life. Exactly. But it's about moving your center
of gravity. We're talking about a guy who's 6
'3", 260 pounds. Guys that big usually move like
trucks. They're stiff. But because of that rodeo
background, he learned to move with the agility
of a much smaller man. So he's got the size of
a heavyweight, but the balance of a lightweight.
Precisely. That's the foundation. He trains,
spends about eight years on the independent circuit,
and then in 1993, he gets the call. He signs
with the World Wrestling Federation. And this
is where we get the first big iteration, the
smoking guns. A classic early 90s gimmick. He's
teamed up with his on -screen brother, Bart Gunn.
And they really, I mean, they really leaned into
the whole cowboy thing. The sources we looked
at talk about these vignettes of them riding
horses. Oh, yeah, and they would literally fire
blanks from pistols in the arena. During their
entrance. Can you imagine that today? No way.
But in 1993, it worked. They were the ultimate
babyfaces, the good guys. And they were successful.
They won the tag team championship three times.
But in wrestling, being the smiling good guy
only lasts for so long, the crowd eventually
gets bored. And the relationships fracture. This
brings us to the first big pivot. They had a
manager, Sunny. Who was basically the it girl
of wrestling at the time. Absolutely. The storyline
was that she abandoned them because they lost
the titles. She only wanted to manage winners.
Brutal. It was. When they lost the belts, Billy
gets frustrated. And in the storyline, he just
walks out on Bart. The team implodes. So the
cowboy era ends. And usually when a tag team
breaks up. There's that unwritten rule. One guy
becomes a star, the other one doesn't. Shawn
Michaels and Marty Jannetty effect, yeah. Right.
And for a minute there, it really looked like
Billy was going to be the one who faded away.
His first attempt at a solo character was rough.
We have to talk about Rockabilly. Oh, please.
Let's talk about Rockabilly. It's 1997. The whole
culture is shifting. We're heading into the Attitude
Era. Everything is getting edgier. And Billy
comes out as the protege of the Honky Tonk Man,
who's basically an Elvis impersonator from the
80s. It was a total mismatch. He was doing this
retro gimmick while everyone else was trying
to be cool and modern. The crowd was just dead
silent for his matches. So they had to do something
drastic or, you know, get fired. Precisely. On
this smaller late night show, Shotgun Saturday
Night, Jesse James, who we all know is Road Dogg,
he just stops the match. He broke the fourth
wall. Totally. He says, this isn't working. Nobody
cares. Let's team up. And Billy Gunn agrees and
just smashes a guitar over Honky Tonk Man's head
to seal the deal. And just like that, the New
Age outlaws were born. Road Dogg, Jesse James,
and badass Billy Gunn. This was the turning point.
I remember this so vividly. They went from like...
Complete mid -card afterthoughts to the coolest
thing on the show almost overnight. It was instantaneous
chemistry. Road Dogg was the mouthpiece. This
incredible talent on the microphone. Billy Gunn
was the athlete. The size, the look, the dropkick.
They covered each other's weaknesses perfectly.
And then they joined D -Generation X the night
after WrestleMania 14. Which is such crucial
context. They had just won the tag titles in
a dumpster match. A literal dumpster match. A
literal dumpster match. But joining DX put them
with Triple H, Chyna, and X -Pac. They were now
part of the most influential group of the late
90s. They were the cool rebels. And Billy was
sort of the enforcer of that group, right? He
was. While Road Dogg was doing the catchy intros,
Billy was the one who looked like he could actually
beat people up. But he did have some solo success
during this time. He won the King of the Ring.
1999, huge year for him. The King of the Ring
tournament is a big deal. It's often used to
crown the next big thing. Right. He defeated
Ken Shamrock, Kane, and X -Pac to win it. And
this was the absolute peak of the Mr. Ass gimmick.
I still can't believe he got so popular with
a name like Mr. Ass. It was the Attitude Era.
It was ridiculous. It was juvenile. But man,
he committed to it. He had a feud with The Rock
that ended in a Kiss My Ass match. And The Rock
is just on another planet on the microphone.
He is. And to be honest... The Rock verbally
destroyed him in that feud. It sort of exposed
that while Billy was a great athlete, he wasn't
a main event level talker. And then injuries
hit. The rotator cuff. Just as he's getting this
massive solo push, his shoulder gives out. He's
gone for months. And that seems to be a theme
here. Every time he gets close to the very top
by himself, something happens. It solves the
momentum. And in wrestling, if you leave for
six months, the whole world changes. By the time
he came back, the attitude era was winding down.
Which leads us to maybe the most controversial
and honestly surprising reinvention of his whole
career. We're talking about the wedding. We are
absolutely talking about the wedding. After a
short, forgettable run as The One, Billy Gunn,
he teams up with Chuck Palumbo in 2001. Billy
and Chuck. Now, you have to think about the cultural
landscape in 2001, 2002. It was very different.
Very. At first, they were just two guys with
matching headbands. But then they added a stylist,
Rico. And they started acting more and more affectionate.
The storyline was heavily, heavily implying a
homosexual relationship. Which was played for
laughs, mostly. Oh, it was absolutely played
for comedy and shock value. But here's the thing.
It worked. They won the tag titles twice. The
crowd was invested. And the climax was pure publicity
stunt. September 2002 on SmackDown. Chuck proposes
to Billie. In the ring. In the ring. They schedule
a wedding ceremony. And the media coverage was
huge. Mainstream outlets were covering it because
they thought WWE was actually going to do this
on live TV. But it was a swerve. Of course it
was a swerve. Right before they say, I do, they
call it off. They say it was all a stunt. They
were just friends. And then the preacher takes
off a mask. And it's Eric Bischoff, the general
manager of the other show. He calls in a team
called Three Minute Warning to beat them up.
It was a classic shock value ending. But what
really stands out to you about that era for him?
It's the lack of ego. A lot of tough guy wrestlers,
especially back then, would have refused to play
a character that, you know, questioned their
masculinity like that. I know, quite. Billy Gunn
just didn't care. If it got him on TV, if it
got a reaction from the crowd, he did it. But
again, the physical toll. Another shoulder injury,
the team disbands. And by November 2004, after
more than a decade, he's released from WWE. So
now he's out of the big machine. He's in his
40s. His body is beaten up. This is usually where
guys just fade away. But he went on the attack.
He was very vocal. In 2005, he did this interview
just blasting WWE and specifically Triple H.
Said he was holding people down. And that animosity,
he carried it right over to his next stop. Total
nonstop action wrestling. TNA. Yeah, he shows
up there in 2005. He can't use the name Billy
Gunn. It's a WWE trademark. So he's the outlaw.
Then Kip James. And he reunites with Road Dogg
to form the Voodoo Kin Mafia. Which, if you look
at the initials, VKM. Vincent Kennedy McMahon.
Not exactly subtle. Not at all. They declared
war on WWE. They were calling out Triple H and
Shawn Michaels on TV. It was a chaotic time.
It feels a little desperate looking back. It
was, but it kept them in the conversation. And
when that anti -WWE thing ran out of steam, what
does he do? He pivots. Yeah. Again. He becomes
Cute Tip. Right. In 2008, he's an image consultant
for a female stable called the Beautiful People.
So now you have this 6 '3 giant wearing velvet
and managing these mean girls. It's another example
of him just finding a role, no matter how weird,
to stay in the mix. Exactly. He eventually leaves
TNA, does the indie circuit, and then, surprisingly,
the hatchet gets buried. He's back in WWE in
2012. As a trainer for NXT. And he reunites with
the New Age Outlaws. They even had one last run
with the WWE Tag Team Championships in 2014.
A nice little nostalgia run, but it ended on
a really sour note. The second firing. 2015,
he was released again. He failed a test for performance
-enhancing drugs, specifically elevated testosterone,
at a powerlifting event. And WWE has their wellness
policy. They do. So he's suspended from powerlifting,
and WWE lets him go. Now picture this. It's 2015.
He's 52. He's been fired for a drug violation.
That is usually the nail in the coffin. You would
think. Great career. Time to retire. You would
think. But this is where the renaissance begins.
And it starts in such an unexpected place. Japan.
New Japan Pro Wrestling. Now for anyone who doesn't
follow in JTW, this is a promotion known for
strong style. It's hard hitting. It's serious.
It is not usually the place for American comedy
acts. But in 2016, there he is. He shows up,
and get this, in 2017, he challenges Hiroshi
Tanahashi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
That's wild. Tanahashi is like the Michael Jordan
of Japanese wrestling. Exactly. Just being in
the ring with him is a badge of honor. It showed
the world Billy Gunn could still go. He wasn't
just a gimmick, he was still a serious athlete.
And that credibility, that set the stage for
the final act. Or maybe the fourth act, I've
lost count. When he signs with All Elite Wrestling
in 2019. AEW. Initially, he was hired as a coach.
But you can't keep a bull rider out of the ring.
Nope. He starts wrestling with his actual sons,
Austin and Colton, the Gun Club. A wholesome
family act at first. Until the betrayal, his
sons turn on him. And this is where it gets really
interesting. He aligns himself with the acclaimed
Max Caster and Anthony Bowens. And Daddy Ass
is born. It was completely organic, wasn't it?
It was. The crowd just loved it. Bowens coined
the name Daddy Ass as a reference to the old
Mr. Ass gimmick, but flipped it to make him this
cool, supportive father figure. I mean, you have
entire stadiums chanting, oh, scissor me daddy.
Which sounds absolutely insane to say out loud.
It does. But it became the hottest act in the
whole company. And it led to championship gold.
Again. At all. In 2023, this is a massive show
at Wembley Stadium in London. Over 80 ,000 people.
And he, the acclaimed, they win the ADW World
Trios Championship. He is 60 years old at this
point. 60. And we have to pause on that. The
sources note he has battled severe asthma his
entire life. He uses an inhaler before matches.
To be performing at that level at 60 with asthma,
it's a statistical anomaly. They held those titles
for a record 238 days before losing them to a
group that, ironically, included his own sons.
It brings the story full circle. He made his
name in tag teams, and even in his 60s, his success
came from finding the right partners. So looking
back... Bull Rider, Smoking Gun, Rockabilly,
New Age Outlaw, Mr. Ass, Billy and Chuck, Voodoo
Kin Mafia, Cute Kip, Gun Club, Daddy Ass. It
is exhausting just listing them. It is. But the
thread connecting them all is adaptability. He
never let his character get stale. He understood
that how good your moves are only gets you so
far. Your character is what gets you paid. He
is a chameleon. A chameleon with a 36 -inch vertical
leap. And he understood the power of tag teams.
That's the other big takeaway. He realized that
by sharing the spotlight, he could extend his
career. He let Road Dogg do the talking. He let
the acclaimed do the rapping. He just had to
be the physical presence. It saved his body and
kept him fresh. So what does this all mean for
you, the listener? I think it's a lesson in reinvention.
You don't have to be the same person you were
10 years ago to be successful today. In fact,
in his industry, and honestly in a lot of industries,
if you stay the same person, you become obsolete.
His superpower wasn't just his dropkick. It was
his ability to read the room and change. And
his name. And his name. Many, many times. Before
we wrap up, I want to leave you with a thought.
We often talk about wrestlers who burn out bright
and fast. But in an industry that usually chews
up talent by age 40, you have to ask, does Billy
Gunn have the greatest second act or third or
fourth in wrestling history? It's certainly the
most colorful. Thanks for listening to this deep
dive. we'll catch you on the next one see you
then