Billy[3] Billy G[3] Billy Gunn[4] Cute Kip[3] Daddy Ass[5] KIP[3] Kip Gunn[3][6] Kip James[3] Kip Montana[3] Kip Sopp[4] Kip Winchester[3] Mr. Ass[3] The G-Man[3] The New Age Outlaw[3] The Outlaw[4] Rockabilly[7]
On February 15, 1996, the Gunns vacated the title because Billy was in need of neck surgery.[16] After Billy returned from hiatus, The Smoking Gunns won the Tag Team Title for the third time by defeating The Godwinns in May.[17] After the match, The Godwinns' manager Sunnyturned on her team in favor of the Gunns.[17] On September 22 at In Your House: Mind Games, the Gunns lost the Tag Team Title to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. After the match, Sunny abandoned The Gunns, saying that she would only manage title holders. Billy, frustrated with losing both the championship and Sunny, walked out on Bart, breaking up The Smoking Gunns. The two would feud in late 1996.
Rockabilly, The New Age Outlaws and D-Generation X (1997–1998)
After The Smoking Gunns disbanded, Gunn took some time off to nurse an injury. At WrestleMania 13, he defeated Flash Funk[18] catching the attention of The Honky Tonk Man, who made Gunn his protégé.[19] During this time, he adopted a new gimmick, Rockabilly,[19] He would use this gimmick throughout much of 1997 and eventually had a short-lived feud with "The Real Double J" Jesse James. On the October 4, 1997, episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, James realized both of their careers were going nowhere and suggested that they become a tag team. Gunn agreed and smashed a guitar over the Honky Tonk Man's head to solidify their new alliance.
James and Rockabilly were quickly rebranded as "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, respectively, and their tag team was dubbed the New Age Outlaws. They quickly rose to the top of the tag team ranks and won the Tag Team Championship from the Legion of Doom on November 24.[20] They also defeated the LOD in a rematch at In Your House: D-Generation X.[21]
"Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn (right) in 1999
The Outlaws slowly began to align themselves with D-Generation X. At the Royal Rumble, the New Age Outlaws interfered in a casket match to help Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker. At No Way Out Of Texas, the Outlaws teamed up with Triple H and Savio Vega (who replaced the injured Shawn Michaels) to face Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin. They were, however, defeated.[21] On February 2, The Outlaws locked Cactus and Chainsaw in a dumpster and pushed it off the stage. This led to a dumpster match at WrestleMania XIV where Cactus and Chainsaw defeated the Outlaws for the Tag Titles.[21] The next night on Raw, the New Age Outlaws won the Tag Team Championship for a second time by defeating Chainsaw and Cactus in a steel cage match, but only after interference from Triple H, Chyna, and X-Pac.[22] After the match, the Outlaws officially became members of D-Generation X (DX).[23]
In March, Gunn won the Hardcore Championship from Hardcore Holly.[26] At WrestleMania XV, Gunn lost the title to Holly in a Triple Threat match which also included Al Snow.[28] The New Age Outlaws then reunited to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart at Backlash.[28] After Backlash, Gunn left D-Generation X and aligned himself with Triple H and Chyna. Gunn defeated his former partner, Road Dogg, in a match at Over the Edge.[28] Gunn then won the King of the Ring tournament by defeating Ken Shamrock, Kane, and his former ally, X-Pac.[28] After King of the Ring, Gunn, Triple H, and Chyna went on to feud with X-Pac and Road Dogg over the rights to the D-Generation X name. This feud culminated at Fully Loaded when X-Pac and Road Dogg defeated Gunn and Chyna.[28]
Gunn then began a brief feud with The Rock. At SummerSlam, The Rock defeated Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match.[29] Following this, Gunn then briefly feuded with Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental Title before reuniting with Road Dogg to reform The New Age Outlaws. The Outlaws won their fourth tag team championship by defeating The Rock 'n' Sock Connection in September 1999.[30] The Outlaws later reunited with X-Pac and Triple H to reform D-Generation X. During this time, The Outlaws won their fifth Tag Team Championship after defeating Mankind and Al Snow.[31] At the 2000 Royal Rumble, The New Age Outlaws retained their title against The Acolytes after interference from X-Pac.[32] The Outlaws then had a feud with The Dudley Boyz, who won the Tag Team Championship from The Outlaws at No Way Out.[32] After suffering a torn rotator cuff in the match with The Dudley Boyz, Gunn was kicked out of D-Generation X for "losing his cool" to explain his impending absence to recover from his injury.
The One (2000–2001)
Gunn made his return in October and immediately teamed with Chyna to feud with Right to Censor, who wanted to "censor" his Mr. Ass gimmick. At No Mercy, Right to Censor members Steven Richards and Val Venis defeated Chyna and Gunn.[33] Due to a stipulation in a match with Steven Richards on the October 31 episode of Monday Night Raw from the Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts, Gunn could no longer use the Mr. Ass gimmick, so he renamed himself Billy G. for a few weeks before settling on "The One" Billy Gunn. Gunn then feuded with Eddie Guerrero and the rest of The Radicalz. At Survivor Series, Gunn teamed with Road Dogg, Chyna, and K-Kwik in a losing effort against The Radicalz.[34] A few weeks later on SmackDown!, Gunn won the Intercontinental Championship from Guerrero.[35] However, the title reign was short-lived, as Chris Benoit defeated him for the title two weeks later at Armageddon.[35] After feuding with Benoit, Gunn participated in the 2001 Royal Rumble where he made it to the final four, Gunn interfered in the Hardcore Championship Match at No Way Out, and taking advantage of the 24/7 Rule, pinning Raven for the title.[26] The reign was short-lived, as Raven won it back a few minutes later.[26]
In a 2001 match on Sunday Night Heat, Gunn was defeated by Chuck Palumbo, who recently left The Alliance to join the WWF. After the match, Gunn suggested that they form a tag team. Palumbo agreed, and Billy and Chuck quickly rose to the top of the tag team division. Initially they were a generic tandem, but they were given a gimmick where they grew increasingly affectionate toward each other, showing evidence of a storyline homosexual relationship.
In February 2002, Billy and Chuck defeated Spike Dudley and Tazz to win the WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time as a team.[36] After winning the titles, Billy and Chuck found a "Personal Stylist" in the ambiguously flamboyant Rico. After retaining the title against the Acolytes Protection Agency, the Dudley Boyz, and the Hardy Boyz in a Four Corners Elimination Match at WrestleMania X8 and against Al Snow and Maven at Backlash, Billy and Chuck began a feud with Rikishi.[37] At Judgment Day, Rikishi and Rico (Rikishi's mystery partner of Mr. McMahon's choosing) defeated Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship after Rico accidentally hit Chuck with a roundhouse kick.[38] Billy and Chuck quickly won the title back two weeks later on SmackDown! with Rico's help.[39] They held the championship for almost a month before losing it to the team of Edge and Hollywood Hulk Hogan on the July 4 episode of SmackDown!.
On the September 5 edition of SmackDown!, after Billy lost a match to Rey Mysterio, Chuck proposed to Billy, asking him to be his "partner for life" and gave him a wedding ring. Billy agreed, and one week later, on the September 12 episode of SmackDown!, Billy and Chuck had their wedding ceremony.[40] However, just before they tied the knot, they revealed that the entire ordeal was a publicity stunt and disavowed their on-screen homosexuality, admitting that they were just friends. The "preacher" revealed himself to be Raw General ManagerEric Bischoff (who was wearing a skin mask), who then summoned 3-Minute Warning to beat up Billy and Chuck.[40] Rico, furious that Billy and Chuck gave up their gimmick, became the manager of Three Minute Warning and defected to Raw. At Unforgiven, Three Minute Warning defeated Billy and Chuck.[41] Their final match together occurred on the October 3 episode of SmackDown! in the first round of a tournament for the newly created WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost the match to the team of Ron Simmons and Reverend D-Von.[42] Afterwards, Gunn took a few months off because of a shoulder injury and the team of Billy and Chuck quietly disbanded.
SmackDown! and return to singles competition (2003–2004)
On November 1, 2004, Sopp was released from his WWE contract.[48] In June 2005, Sopp gave an interview in which he was heavily critical of WWE and the events that led to his release. Many of the negative comments were directed towards Triple H, who Sopp claimed "runs the show up there".[49]
On February 13, 2005, Sopp debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) without a name (as Billy Gunn is a WWE trademark, although announcers recognized him as such) at Against All Odds with the same gimmick, helping Jeff Jarrett retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match with Kevin Nash.[50] Sopp, using the name The New Age Outlaw, then formed a stable with Jarrett and Monty Brown known as Planet Jarrett. However, WWE threatened TNA with legal action if Sopp continued the use of the name "The New Age Outlaw", so he shortened his name to The Outlaw. Due to the legal issues with WWE, all TNA -DVD releases featuring footage with Sopp as "The Outlaw" (and presumably also as "The New Age Outlaw") have had the name on on-screen graphics blurred, the name silenced out of the audio, and match commentary completely replaced to reflect a retroactive name change to "Kip James". One such DVD is the pay-per-view Lockdown, included in the "TNA Anthology: The Epic Set" box set, in which the silencing of the name during a segment where Dusty Rhodes picks his name from a lottery leaves DVD viewers in the dark as to who just got picked.[51]
The Outlaw began a campaign to make former ally B.G. James leave the 3Live Kru and defect to Planet Jarrett, reforming the old tag team with Outlaw. At No Surrender, he renamed himself Kip James and was announced as "wrestling out of Marietta, Georgia" (the family seat of the Armstrong family) as a psychological ploy.[52] As a result of his campaign, Kip attracted the ire of 3Live Kru members Ron Killings and Konnan, leading to a series of tag team matches pitting Kip and Monty Brown against Killings and Konnan, with a conflicted James unwilling to take sides. Kip's efforts ultimately proved futile; James, the guest referee in a final match between Brown and Kip versus Konnan and Killings at Sacrifice, attacked Kip enabling a 3Live Kru victory.[53]
In September at Unbreakable, Kip teamed with Brown to defeat the team of Apolo and Lance Hoyt.[54] There was clear tension between the partners because Brown was unhappy at the series of losses at the hands of the 3Live Kru, and Kip was irked by Brown's decision to leave Planet Jarrett. Despite the victory, the partners argued after the match. On the October 8, 2005, episode of Impact!, Kip rekindled his feud with the 3Live Kru, running to the ring after a bout between the 3LK and Team Canada in order to prevent Team Canada captain Petey Williams from beating down B.G. James.[55] He saved James, and then engaged in a staredown with Konnan and Killings. Kip saved James from Team Canada once again at Bound for Glory.[56] Though Killings showed signs of gratitude, Konnan remained skeptical as to his true intentions. Later that night, Kip took part in an over-the-top-rope gauntlet match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[56] After he was eliminated, he tried in vain to prevent Killings from being eliminated as well, before being sent away from ringside by the referees.
The James Gang/Voodoo Kin Mafia (2005–2008)
Kip and B.G. James during their time in TNA
On the November 26 episode of Impact!, B.G. brought Kip and the 3Live Kru to ringside and asked Killings and Konnan whether Kip could join the stable.[57] Following a heated argument between Konnan and B.G., both Killings and Konnan gave their approval, and the 4Live Kru was born.[57] However, at Turning Point, Konnan attacked both B.G. and Kip, costing them their match against Team Canada and initiating a feud between himself and the remainder of the Kru.[58] Shortly thereafter, B.G. James's father, Bob Armstrong, attempted to reconcile the group, but was instead attacked by Konnan and his new stablemates, Apolo and Homicide. Killings later stated that he had severed his ties with the Kru. With Konnan and Killings no longer members of the Kru, Kip and B.G. began referring to themselves as The James Gang and continued to feud with the Konnan-managed Latin American Exchange, whose third man position as Homicide's partner would switch from Apolo to Machete, and then from him to Hernandez, who finally stuck, during the course of this feud. At Final Resolution, The James Gang defeated The Diamonds in the Rough (David Young and Elix Skipper). At Against All Odds, The James Gang defeated LAX (Homicide and Machete). At Destination X, The James Gang and Bob Armstrong defeated Latin American Exchange in a six-man tag team match. At Sacrifice, The James Gang defeated Team 3D which led to a rematch at Slammiversary where Team 3D defeated The James Gang in a Bingo Hall Brawl. At Victory Road, The James Gang and Abyss defeated Team 3D and their newest member Brother Runt. At No Surrender, The James Gang competed in a Triple Chance tag team battle royal but failed to win the match. At Bound for Glory, The James Gang competed in a Four-way tag team match which was won by Team 3D.
By November 2006, Kip and B.G. began to show displeasure in TNA and threatened to go find work elsewhere if they did not receive gold soon. They began performing the crotch chop, a reference to the WWE's DX. On the November 2 edition of Impact!, Kip and B.G. threatened to quit.[59] Kip grabbed the mic and tried to say something to the TNA administration and Spike TV, but each time his mic was cut off.[59] Kip then tried to use the announcer's headset, but it was cut off as well. Frustrated, he started yelling loudly to the crowd, but he was cut off again as the show went to a commercial break.[59] When the show returned, the announcers speculated that they may have been frustrated due to the influx of new talent entering TNA. It was reported that the segment was a worked shoot that Vince Russo had written in order to renew interest upon their eventual return. Kip and BG appeared in an internet video on TNA's website where they addressed the owner of WWE Vince McMahon.
Sopp in a match against Sheik Abdul Bashir
A few weeks later on Impact!, The James Gang re-emerged under a new name Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM for short, a play on Vincent Kennedy McMahon's initials). They mentioned their new right of 'creative control', meaning they could do whatever they wanted. They also declared 'war' on Paul Levesque, Michael Hickenbottom, and Vincent K. McMahon (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon, respectively).[60] Kip then declared that 'Triple Hollywood' and 'Shawn Kiss-my-bottom' were failing as the group they (Kip and BG) used to be a part of: D-Generation X.[61] After the initial shock value of this incident wore off, at Genesis, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Kazarian, Maverick Matt and Johnny Devine in a handicap match. VKM began a feud with the villainous Christy Hemme. Hemme then searched for a tag team to square-off against VKM. At Destination X, The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated Hemme's handpicked team of The Heartbreakers (Antonio Thomas & Romeo Roselli). On the Lockdown preshow The Voodoo Kin Mafia defeated another one of Hemme's handpicked team Serotonin (Kaz & Havok) in a Six Sides of Steel match. The final tag team was Damaja and Basham, who appeared on an episode of Impact! and beat down VKM. They also held up Kip James so Hemme could slap him. B.G James was taken out by Basham and Damaja which led to Kip James competed against Basham and Damaja in a handicap match at Sacrifice where he lost. However, they beat Hemme's team at Slammiversary. After the match, VKM were betrayed by their associate Lance Hoyt. At Victory Road, they introduced their new manager, the Voodoo Queen, Roxxi Laveaux, to embarrass Christy Hemme. At Hard Justice, The Voodoo Kin Mafia lost to The Latin American Exchange. At No Surrender, The Voodoo Kin Mafia competed in a Ten-team tag team gauntlet match which was won by A.J. Styles and Tomko. At Bound for Glory, Kip James competed in the Fight for the Right Reverse Battle Royal which was won by Eric Young. On the October 25 edition of Impact!, VKM teamed with A.J. Styles and Tomko in a losing effort to the Latin American Xchange and the Steiner Brothers. At Genesis, B.G. was present along with Kip in the corner of Roxxi Laveaux at ringside for the Fatal Four Way knockout match for the TNA Women's Championship in which Gail Kim retained the title. At Turning Point, James competed in the Feast or Fired where he grabbed a case but threw it to BG James. It was revealed that the case was for a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship and BG James picked his dad to be his partner at Against All Odds, James and Bob Armstrong failed to win the titles and on February 21, 2008, episode of Impact! he turned on B.G. and B.G's father "Bullet" Bob Armstrong by hitting them both with a crutch.
On April 13, 2008, he faced former partner B.G. James at Lockdown and lost. After the match, he appeared to want to make amends as he raised B.G.'s hand after the match, only to clothesline him down to the mat and taunt him with a DX crotch chop. Kip went on to declare himself "The Megastar", an arrogant gimmick similar to "The One" gimmick from his WWF tenure. Kip later stopped making appearances on Impact! until April 24 when he was attacked backstage by Matt Morgan for no reason. The next week on Impact!, Kip got back at Morgan by attacking him backstage in Jim Cornette's office. On May 8, 2008, Cornette forced Morgan into being Kip's tag team partner for the Deuces Wild tournament at Sacrifice, though both were unable to win. Kip went on another brief disappearance from television until the June 5 edition of Impact!, where he partnered with Lance Hoyt and James Storm in a losing effort against Morgan and The Latin American Xchange.
As of March 19, 2009, Sopp was taken off of TNA Impact! along with Jacqueline Moore to become road agents. Sopp returned as Cute Kip and lost to Awesome Kong in an intergender stretcher match on May 14, 2009. On the May 28 edition of Impact!, Kip was fired by The Beautiful People. On the June 18 edition of Impact!, Mick Foley hired him as his handyman, turning Kip into a face. he made another appearance on the August 6 edition of Impact where Kip had to clean up the IMPACT Zone after a chaotic fifteen minute "riot". On October 9 edition of Xplosion, Kip was defeated by Rhino. On October 30 edition of Xplosion, Kip defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir. on the November 13 edition of Xplosion, Kip lost to Rob Terry and on December 3, 2009, edition of Xplosion, Kip competed in his final TNA match where he lost to Kiyoshi.
Sopp's profile was removed from the TNA website on December 29, 2009, confirming his departure from the promotion.[62]
Independent circuit (2009–2012)
After leaving TNA, Sopp reunited with B.G. James to reform The New Age Outlaws, with both men resuming their Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ring names. After joining TWA Powerhouse in 2010, the Outlaws defeated Canadian Extreme to win the promotion's Tag Team Championship on July 25.[63] They re-lost the title to Canadian Extreme on June 5, 2011.[63]
On July 30, 2011, Sopp, working under the ring name Kip Gunn, made his debut for Lucha Libre USA as a member of the heelstable The Right. Later that night, Gunn lost in his debut match against Marco Corleone.[6] On June 26, 2012, Sopp won the American Pro Wrestling Alliance American Championship.[64] However, he lost the title due to travel issues. On September 8 and 9, 2012, he wrestled in a Bad Boys of Wrestling Federation tournament. He defeated Rhino in the semi-finals and Scott Steiner in the final, winning the BBWF Aruba Championship.[65]
On July 23, Sopp, under his Billy Gunn name, made his first WWE appearance in nearly eight years as he reunited with Road Dogg, X-Pac, Shawn Michaels and Triple H to reform D-Generation X for one night only on the 1000th episode of Raw.[66] In December 2012, he was hired by WWE as a trainer for the NXT Wrestling territory in Tampa, Florida.[67] On March 4, 2013, Gunn and Road Dogg made a return at Old School Raw, defeating Primo and Epico. On March 11, 2013, they accepted a challenge from Team Rhodes Scholars and faced them in a match, which was interrupted by Brock Lesnar, who hit both Outlaws with an F-5 as part of his ongoing feud with Triple H.
He then appeared alongside Road Dogg to help CM Punk clear out The Shield in aid of Roddy Piper on Old School Raw on January 6, 2014. On the January 10 episode of SmackDown, the Outlaws teamed with CM Punk in a six-man tag match against The Shield in a losing effort. On the January 13 episode of Raw, the Outlaws again teamed with Punk in a rematch against The Shield, only to abandon Punk and lose the match. On January 26 during the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show, Gunn and Road Dogg beat Cody Rhodes and Goldust to win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The next night on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust via disqualification when Brock Lesnar attacked the brothers. The next week on Raw the New Age Outlaws retained the championship against Rhodes and Goldust in a steel cage match. On March 3, the Outlaws lost the Tag Team Championship to The Usos. Gunn sustained hemoptysis after he and his New Age Outlaws partner, Road Dogg, suffered a double-Triple Powerbomb by The Shield at WrestleMania XXX.[68]
On November 13, 2015, WWE officially announced that Sopp was released from his WWE contract after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs. He had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone at a powerlifting event on July 25, 2015, and was suspended from powerlifting for four years.[70]
Return to independent circuit (2015–2020)
Gunn in 2019
On December 26, 2015, Gunn teamed up with Kevin Thorn to defeat Brian Klass and Rob Street. One month later, Gunn defeated Ken Dixon for the MCW Pro WrestlingMCW Rage Television Championship. On February 5, 2016, Gunn defeated Joey Hayes in the Preston City Wrestling PCW Road to Glory tournament, on February 6 he lost to T-Bone in the quarter-finals that same night Gunn teamed up with Mr. Anderson and Tajiri to defeat Dave Raynes, Joey Hayes, and Martin Kirby. On February 7, 2016, Gunn challenged for the Pro Wrestling PrideHeavyweight championship losing to Steve Griffiths. On March 19, 2016, Gunn lost the title to Ken Dixon. On June 12, 2016, Gunn won the Smashmouth Pro Wrestling championship from KC Huber but lost it on the same night, Gunn teamed again with Anderson in a losing effort against the UK Hooligans at PCW Tribute to theTroops on June 25, 2016. He defeated Hardcore Holly in a singles match at PCW Top Gunn on July 2, 2016.
On September 4, 2016, Gunn made his debut for Chikara, representing DX alongside X-Pac in a tag team gauntlet match. The two entered the match as the final team and scored the win over Prakash Sabar and The Proletariat Boar of Moldova.[71]
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2016–2017)
On November 5, 2016, at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) event Power Struggle, Yoshitatsu announced Gunn as the newest member of his Hunter Club stable and his partner for the upcoming 2016 World Tag League.[72] Gunn and Yoshitatsu finished the tournament on December 8 with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance from their block.[73] Gunn returned to NJPW on January 4, 2017, taking part in the pre-show New Japan Rumble at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, from which he was eliminated by the eventual winner Michael Elgin.[74] While Gunn did not appear for NJPW for the next six months, he was brought up in May by Yoshitatsu, who told Hiroshi Tanahashi that Gunn had requested a match against him.[75] When Tanahashi captured the IWGP Intercontinental Championship the following month, he immediately nominated Gunn as his first challenger.[75] Gunn was defeated in the title match on July 2 at G1 Special in USA, and it was his final match in NJPW.[76]
WWE appearances (2018–2019)
Gunn and numerous other WWE legends appeared on the January 22, 2018, episode of Raw 25 Years as part of the D-Generation X reunion. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.
In January 2019, Gunn was hired by All Elite Wrestling as a coach.[77] At May 25 at the AEW Double or Nothing event he competed in the pre-show battle royal. Gunn made his first televised appearance for AEW on the November 20, 2019, episode of AEW Dynamite, competing in a battle royal. He also appeared during the January 1, 2020, episode of Dynamite, wrestling in a dark match with his son Austin that aired on January 7, 2020. They wrestled again together on another dark match during the January 8, 2020, episode of Dynamite, airing on January 17, 2020, with the tag team name "The Gunn Club", defeating the team of Peter Avalon and Shawn Spears. Gunn has also appeared in the crowd (made up of AEW wrestlers and other employees) on numerous episodes of Dynamite during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the May 27, 2020, episode of Dynamite, Gunn, now under the shortened ring name of Billy, participated in a battle royal match to determine the number one contender for the AEW TNT Championship. He also would wrestle MJF in a singles match on the June 17, 2020, episode of Dynamite as well. The Gunn Club would wrestle in more tag team matches on more episodes of AEW Dark.[78][79]
On the November 4, 2020, episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club teamed with Cody Rhodes to successfully defeat The Dark Order (John Silver, 10 and Colt Cabana). On the November 17, 2020, episode of Dark, The Gunn Club, which now added Austin's brother and Gunn's other son Colten to the stable, defeated Bshp King, Joey O'Riley and Sean Maluta by pinfall in a six-man tag team match.[80] On the same day, the AEW website's roster page got updated and his name was once again changed to its long form, Billy Gunn.[81] The three man Gunn Club would then defeat Cezar Bononi, KTB, and Seth Gargis in another six man tag team match on the November 24, 2020, episode of Dark.[82][83] On the December 8, 2020, episode of Dark The three man Gunn Club-which entered the ring on a golf cart with the words "Taz Taxi" on the side, defeated Shawn Dean, Sean Maluta & RYZIN.[84] On the December 1, 2021, episode of Dynamite, The Gunn Club stable's undefeated streak in AEW ended when Billy and Colten Gunn lost to the team of Sting and Darby Allin.[85][86] On the April 15, 2022, episode of AEW Rampage, the Gunn Club lost a six-man tag team match to Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Wheeler Yuta), after Yuta pinned Billy.[87][88]
Sopp married his first wife Tina Tinnell in 1990.[94] Together they had two sons: Colten and Austin, who are both professional wrestlers working for All Elite Wrestling.[95] Sopp and Tinnell separated in 2000 and finalized their divorce in December 2002.[94] Sopp has since married his long-time girlfriend Paula on January 24, 2009.[96]
Sean Michael Waltman is an American retired professional wrestler and martial artist. He is currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac; World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Syxx; and NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA) as Syxx-Pac and under his real name.
Sean Allen Morley, better known by his ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from 1998 to 2009. He has also worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
William Jason Reso, better known by his ring name Christian Cage or Christian, is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of The Patriarchy stable. He is a former two-time AEW TNT Champion and a one-time AEW World Trios Champion. He is widely known for his time with WWF/E. He is also recognized for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Kevin Scott Nash is an American retired professional wrestler and actor currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is also known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Andrew James Robert Patrick Martin was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/WWE) under the ring name Test.
Dustin Patrick Runnels is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes, with a nickname of "The Natural" and is a member of The Sons of Texas. He also appears in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) where he is a double champion: he is currently one-half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions alongside Sammy Guevara, and one-third of the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions alongside Marshall and Ross Von Erich in their first reign both as a team and individually.
Brian Girard James is an American professional wrestler signed with the WWE, where he performs as the Senior Vice President of Live Events, and as a commentator on WWE Main Event.
D-Generation X (DX) is an American professional wrestling stable, and later a tag team, that consisted of various members, most notably Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Chyna, X-Pac, and the New Age Outlaws, a tag team consisting of Road Dogg and Billy Gunn.
Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development.
Charles Ronald Palumbo is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with professional wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWE) in the late-1990s and 2000s, where he held the WCW World Tag Team Championship and WWF/E World Tag Team Championship. He hosted the Discovery Channel series Lords of the Car Hoards and "Rusted Development".
Charles Rudy Ashenoff, better known by his ring name Konnan, is a Cuban-born American professional wrestling personality, manager, and former professional wrestler. He is signed to Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). In Impact, he was the manager of The Latin American Xchange (LAX) and serves as a member of the creative team. During a career spanning almost three decades, he has wrestled for independent and national promotions in the United States and Mexico, and held fifteen title belts in nine promotions. He was also involved in the creation of Lucha Underground, where he was supposed to serve as a writer and producer, but ended up in an on-camera role as manager to Prince Puma throughout the first season. Outside of wrestling, Konnan is an occasional rapper.
The Hardys, also known as the Hardy Boys, also stylized as the Hardy Boyz, are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy. They are currently performing for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where they are currently in their third reign as TNA World Tag Team Champions.
Ronnie Aaron Killings is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name R-Truth.
The 3 Live Kru (3LK) was a professional wrestling stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). It debuted in July 2003, and was initially a trio consisting of Ron Killings, Konnan and B.G. James. Each member exemplified an ethnic stereotype, and rapped as they approached the ring in camouflage clothing.
Michael Polchlopek is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1993 to 1999 under the ring names Bart Gunn and Bodacious Bart, as well as his appearances with All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) from 1998 to 2002 and with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) from 2002 to 2004 as Mike Barton.
Alastair Charles Ralphs is a Canadian professional wrestler and former bodybuilder, better known by his ring name, A-1. He is best known for his appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), from 2004 to 2007, as part of Team Canada.
The Smoking Gunns were a professional wrestling tag team of kayfabe brothers Billy Gunn and Bart Gunn. They portrayed cowboys in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1993 to 1996, where they held the WWF Tag Team Championship three times.
The New Age Outlaws are an American professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Federation (WWF) made up of Brian James and Monty Sopp. The duo became popular in the late 1990s as members of the second incarnation of the professional wrestling stable D-Generation X. Regarded as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, the promotion has described James and Gunn as "the most popular duo of WWE's Attitude Era." Over the same period, The New Age Outlaws had the third highest merchandise sales in the WWF after Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.
Over the Edge: In Your House was the 22nd In Your House and inaugural Over the Edge professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place on May 31, 1998, at the Wisconsin Center Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Eight matches were contested at the event.
Austin Sopp, better known by the ring name Austin Gunn, is an American professional wrestler and reality television personality, signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) where he is in a tag team with his brother Colten as The Gunns, and is a member of the Bang Bang Gang stable. Gunn is a former one-time AEW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time AEW World Trios Champions and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. Sopp is a second-generation professional wrestler, as he is the son of professional wrestler Monty Sopp, better known as Billy Gunn.
↑ WWF Raw 1993 Results, History of WWE, "The Smoking Gunns defeated Tony Vadja & Glenn Ruth at 3:42 when Bart pinned Ruth after the backdrop into a piledriver double team; prior to the bout, the Gunns fired blanks from their pistols"
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
