The push that should have been Billy Gunn in 1999

[Savion83]

Many people don't remember this (the PG fans) but back in 1999 course Bad Ass/Mr. Ass Billy Gunn won that years King of the Ring torney. And the winner of each years KOTR is suppose to receive a main event push. That never really happened for Billy Gunn!

Because soon after that BG served once again as Triple H's goon in there fued with X-Pac and Road Dogg the following month. And yes Billy Gunn had a tease main event fued against the Rock with a match at that years Summerslam in which BG lost. And soon after that, WWF/E creative team put Billy Gunn back together with Road Dogg as the tag team the new age outlaws. So really BG only got half the push he should have gotton after winning the KOTR torney. Now that sucks!

So where would the all around career of Billy Gunn be if he received the main event push he should have gotton?

 

[Hawkeye]

That's kinda hard to gauge,because in the PG era,I just don't think "The One" Billy Gunn would have survived.They would have had to massively alter his gimmick and he would have lost alot of fans for it.But he should have stayed in the upper mid card alot longer than he did IMO

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

TBH....not everyone got that main event push....some got pushed, but never achieved much...look at Owen Hart, he never won a world title after his win, sure he had a few matches but that about it, Mabel won in 95, had a few WWF title matches but never got the title...Ken Shamrock in 98 never got that push, and lastly Edge never got it in 2002....Billy Gunn is just one of them, i serously can't see him winning a world title...

Out of all mentioned, only Edge got a world title and it came 5 years later!!!

I think if he got the push, he would have beena round until at least 2005 and if he had won a world title, he would have probably had just the 1 reign, if he was a good champion, maybe 2... Other than this tournament back-firing on him, you have to say he had a good career..

 

[ncpowell]

He was just wasted talent in general. KOTR or not, wasted. I liked the guy. He didn't even have to say a word, he was just legit with his theme and his attire...wasted.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

I think he would have been a pretty damn good heel, you could put him in the main event, maybe give him a title run and when his time in the ME is done, you could easily put him back in the Mid Card, he could have been a major player and a helpful guy to have on the roster (not that he wasnt already).But instead "The One" became just another guy that got lost in the busy shuffle that is the WWF/E.

 

[ccotreau1]

IMO, I would put Billy Gunn in the same group as Gregory "Hurricane" Helms, both were great as a member of a tag team, Gunn with not only Road Dogg, but with Bart Gunn as well and Helms with Rosey. Both had mini pushes, Gunn with the KOTR and the little push he got after winning it. Helms with the Cruiserweight reign. IMO both were underrated and at times not used properly. I would have loved to see Gunn with a world title run at some point.

 

[AttitudeAJM]

Billy Gunn was given tons of chances as a singles wrestler but could never get over enough to become a main event player. He won KOTR, was given a semi-main event slot against The Rock, and several long running feuds. Unfortunately he could never turn that into something sustainable.

The idea that Billy Gunn should have gotten more of a push is just not correct. He was given a push. It just went nowhere.

 

[Dangermartin]

The fact is, that although Billy Gunn had 'the look', he just wasn't a very good wrestler. He was always carried by whoever he was in the ring with. Road Dogg was easily the better wrestler of The New Age Outlaws, but he didn't have 'the look'. If Gunn had Road Dogg's wrestling ability, and mic skills, he probably would have had a world title run, or several.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Personally I think the reason he never got to that main event level was because he wasn't really a singles star, he didn't have that single star power that SO many guys who worked in the WWE had in the late 90's (there were seriously 7-8 guys on the roster at the time that would DESTROY billy gunn in star power). I always liked Mr. Ass, but he was always superior in the tag team role, as a singles star he never really cut it for me. Billy Gunn was a decent mid-carder by himself, but he never should of gotten above mid-card status because he wasn't good enough in my honest opinion.

 

[Buster]

The fact is, that although Billy Gunn had 'the look', he just wasn't a very good wrestler. He was always carried by whoever he was in the ring with. Road Dogg was easily the better wrestler of The New Age Outlaws, but he didn't have 'the look'. If Gunn had Road Dogg's wrestling ability, and mic skills, he probably would have had a world title run, or several.

Actually I would argue that Billy Gunn had the wrestling ability, but not the look (at least in his hair & face) or mic skills. Road Dogg got over purely because of his mic skills, his IC title win came purely from the face DX gimmick and mic skills.

Billy Gunn would carry Road Dogg through matches, Road Dogg would carry Billy Gunn on the mic.

As for Billy Gunns pushes he had plenty. He even had the Honky Tonk Man as his manager, but I must admit it was his injury in 2000 combined with HHH's rise that really knocked him back down the card.

On their own the Outlaws were pure mid-carders, but get them together and something magical happened, their flaws complimented each other and their good points stood out.

We've also gotta remember that they rose to prominence before they were part of DX.

As a whole together they were main event.

 

[DJrayray]

Actually I think I remember hearing that Mr. Ass & The Rock were going to have a couple month feud but Rock complained about how Mr. Ass' Summerslam performance wasn't on par and he didn't want to work with it. The night after SS 99, Mr. Ass fought Gangrel and The Rock was on commentary and he made comments about Mr. Ass' abilities. Y'all might be able to help me with this, but wasn't Mr. Ass & Jeff Jarrett both on tap to feud with Austin and he turned them both down saying they weren't over enough?

 

[Jeff]

Billy Gunn got the push he just never could do anything with him. He was a great second guy. He was great in DX, Great with Road Dogg but by himself he wasn't much of anything. He had a great finisher and a entertaining gimmick but that's about it.

Also someone mentioned he would of had to have a complete gimmick overhaul for the PG era. He actually did before he left the WWE. Anybody remember Billy and Chuck?

 

[FoleyIsGod]

The BG push would have never worked. In 1999, you had The Rock, Stone cold, Vince, Mankind and the start of the Triple H "push".

Those guys had the talent on the mic and in most cases, in the ring too. Billy Gunn had neither. Yes he had a gimmick that would provoke a "pop", but so did Scotty Too Hotty. People would cheer for them, but would never buy into them beating a guy like Taker or Stone Cold.

The King was supposed to be a great way to build a superstar, but the beginning of the end for the KOTR after its brief revival(ie Stone Cold winning it) was having a guy ;like BG, a lifetime midcarder , winning the thing. He didnt have the "spark" to match his inring skills.

Now you might say, well Benoit didnt have the "spark", but he had the inring skills to back it up, to the fact he got over due to him being one of the best workers ever to grace north Americans rings. He might have turned out to be a loon, but by god, he could have a great match with anyone.

 

[Morpheus101]

I remember very clearly when Billy Gunn had a match against then champion, Triple H (I believe this was during the summer of 1999). It was a good match, very much "on the edge of your seat" kind of stuff, but of course, he lost the match.

Like others have pointed out, Gunn was 'OK', but in terms of receiving a major push, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, since The Rock was becoming mega-popular at that point and was engaging in a feud with Triple H that lasted almost 2 years. I liked Billy Gunn though, although not the "Mr. Ass" gimmick. He was great in DX and the New Age Outlaws, but was probably one can short of a sixpack when it came to taking it to the next level (a credible main event singles competitor).

 

[Trance Metaphor]

I think Billy Gunn was a fine all-rounder. He got one of the best pushes you could ever receive as a mid-carder in the WWE. He wasn't WWE Champion material, but he had a lot of success for a guy that was popular when big names were around. He's a 10-time World Tag Team Champion. I know tag team wrestling may not come across in a lot of people's minds as being anything significant, but I think it's a lost art. I think it's overlooked more often than not. Having ten reigns looks awesome and he's only behind Edge in terms of record in that regard. He's won the IC title and he has won the KOTR (he holds that honour along some of the best in the WWE with the exception of Mabel). Both titles were still important back then. As far as his in-ring abilities and mic skills go? He was good in both areas, albeit more in wrestling. His "Bad-Ass" Billy Gunn look was probably his best and the closest he's ever come to looking more main event-like. I think his WWE run was just right for him. In today's era however, he might have been WHC simply because of the MitB opportunity. Who knows? He probably could've been repackaged into someone Vince McMahon liked such as the "Bad-Ass" gimmick which worked for the Attitude era.