In extended cuts, Chuck says Billy captured his heart, evoking some cheers but mostly boos from the crowd. That WWE edit conveniently omits the ceremony’s other big drama, but more video of the ceremony is out there (at least until WWE issues a take-down order). The above official WWE edit on YouTube captures the night’s drama, as the ceremony’s officiant was revealed to be Raw general manager Eric Bischoff in elaborate makeup, turning the event into another plot point in the seemingly eternal feud between WWE’s two weekly televised shows. In the fall of 2002, Billy and Chuck were joined in the ring by Rico and Stephanie McMahon, the boss’s daughter who was then serving as general manager of Smackdown. But they weren’t exactly fan favorites the way the Outlaws had been because, instead of being renegades, they were queers who could get people over when they got smeared.Īll this led up to a “ commitment ceremony”-a sort of legal substitute for gay marriage in places where it’s still illegal. Palumbo has also confirmed that the angle was a ratings push, telling the same interviewer as much earlier this year.Ĭombined with their stylist Rico and their sensual R&B entrance music, the duo was framed as heels not unlike the Outlaws, winning matches with Rico’s interference or losing despite his best efforts.
Originally intended to basically be metrosexuals, romance was projected onto them and Gunn said Vince McMahon escalated the gimmick to the ceremony, which turned into a national media story in 2002, as states were legislating marriage equality. In 2018, Gunn told interviewer Chris Van Vliet that he viewed the Billy and Chuck gay angle as “a challenge” for him as a performer.
You Look So Good to Meīut there wasn’t as much truth behind his next tag team. A kernel of truth at the root of their in-ring characters is what makes a lot of wrestlers famous, and Gunn was no exception. What made their success was the authenticity behind the veneer of the characters-Road Dogg’s redneck motor mouth could talk circles around almost anybody and Gunn was either flexing, dancing, or kicking ass, usually with a big smile on his face. And if you didn’t know that, your ass better call somebody. As DX waxed and waned, the Outlaws stayed one of the promotion’s hottest tag duos, a fan-favorite phenomenon by the turn of the century, having mixed it up with The Undertaker and Stone Cold and getting over on the likes of The Rock and Mick Foley. They solidified as major heels in the late ‘90s before becoming a part of the DX faction, one of the biggest forces of the Attitude Era. Gunn became a big name in WWE thanks to the New Age Outlaws, his duo with “White Dreads”-sorry, I meant “Road Dogg”-Jesse James. Ass, as he was called, was both technically masterful and openly erotic, mooning opponents and playing sexy to the crowd like a himbo Shawn Michaels, a potent gimmick for a pre-teen fan grappling with questions about their sexuality. He was never as big as Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock, but there was something about Gunn that transfixed me, from the opening peal of his intro music declaring him an “ass man” to his middle-school goth choker necklaces to his lime-green or hot-pink trunks covered in lipstick marks. I admire his tag partner from this debacle, Chuck Palumbo, as well, but I was an Attitude Era kid, and Gunn’s role as a pillar of D-Generation X made him part of the reason I was temporarily banned from watching WWE for my liberal use of the “Suck it!” taunt. I consider it indisputable that Gunn is one of the best to ever step in the ring. The entire ordeal is more than just a failure on WWE’s part it has a lot to teach us about the way storytelling shows us what’s possible, for better or for worse. A perfect case study in this was the night Billy Gunn broke my heart, revealing a gay wedding for the farce it was from the start. Rarely addressing issues directly, they seem to prefer oblique references that give audiences the visual cues to know what something is without ever saying what’s actually happening. WWE Creative loves a political flashpoint. But in the same way that trans people’s rights to access bathrooms, youth sports, or medical care has become a target of reactionary conservative politicians, commentators, and legal projects, gay marriage was once a similar flashpoint in the United States’ early 21st century politics, even prompting considerations of a federal constitutional amendment backed by the president.
These days, with Supreme Court precedent hopefully decided for good, it’s easy to take gay marriage equality for granted.