They say the best surprises always sneak up from behind. Well turn around, because the one Billy Gunn joins James Guttman for a 55 minute shoot interview on ClubWWI.com about everything from DX to WWE to TNA.
With a career spanning more than two decades, Kip “Billy Gunn” Sopp has had plenty of high points. To many fans of the WWF Attitude Era, Gunn is most remembered as DX’s “Mr. A$$”. Alongside Road Dogg, X-Pac, Chyna, and Triple H, Billy created some unforgettable TV moments. However, when he left the company in 2004, he made waves with some harsh comments pointed at his former DX stable mate Triple H. He lashed out at the Game and appeared to blame him for his WWE departure. Years removed from those comments, James Guttman asks Bad a## Billy about those stinging shots. Gunn takes responsibility and explains some of his reasoning to ClubWWI.com members:
“Know what it was? I didn’t want to take the blame for what I had done- things that I was doing, things that (made it so) they couldn’t keep me around. I just couldn’t take it that (WWE) called me and said – not that this matters – but they had said that when I’m done wrestling, “there will always be a spot here for you as an agent or something like that.” I love helping other people. I love teaching now. I love trying to give away what I have if anyone is interested in knowing a little of what I know. My frustration came out on the one person that was the main guy there and that was Hunter. I just opened fire on him because it was all about me and not wanting to take responsibility for me and my actions.”
Guttman asks Gunn if his position has changed on Hunter. ClubWWI.com members are familiar with wrestlers unloading on the authority figures in WWE, but it’s rare that someone owns up to saying something they regret in hindsight. But that’s what Billy does…
“Has my position changed with him? Yeah. It has. Do I want to pick up the phone every day and call him to apologize? Yeah. Because it was something I did out of selfishness and the selfish person that I was back then. Not that I blame it on anything, but I had a bunch of things going on in my life that was really not that good. I took it out on him and, like I said, I wasn’t taking responsibility for my own actions. That’s what I did. I lashed out at him and everybody I could and I had somebody who was willing to listen and let me go on a live shoot tape to say whatever I wanted. Why would I not? It was all about making me look better and making someone else look bad. I know now that people were going, “Yeah, well it’s really just you. It’s not anyone else.” So yeah. I regret what I did then and for sure now because I’m sure something like that is keeping me from being back there training people. I wish I could change it, but I can’t change it. So I just have to live with the things I’ve done and the actions that I do from here on forward.”
July 30, 2011
Billy Gunn Apologizes for Negative Comments Made About Triple H
This Day in Wrestling History
Happy Birthday to Captain Lou Albano
July 30, 1933
Danno O'Mahony defeated Ed "Strangler" Lewis for the NWA Heavyweight Wrestling title.
July 30, 1935
Booker T defeated Kurt Angle for the WCW Heavyweight title.
July 30, 2001
July 29, 2011
WWE RAW’s Michael Cole, Zack Ryder Match Bombs After Big HHH Segment
During the WrestleMania build, WWE could generally count on the feud between the heel Michael Cole and the babyface Jerry Lawler to spike viewership interest.
That interest appears to have faded, as a significant portion of Monday’s WWE RAW audience tuned out during Cole’s match with Zack Ryder.
According to a quarterly ratings breakdown at F4WOnline.com, Triple H’s “State of WWE Address” popped an impressive 3.8 cable coverage rating, representing one of the biggest “top of the hour” spikes in a while for the weekly wrestling telecast. The segment with Zack Ryder versus Michael Cole, the match that Triple H’s promo built, fell to a 3.1 rating, which conceivably represents a loss of more than one million viewers.
Given the immense fan interest in Triple H’s follow-up to the angle with Vince McMahon, that segment undoubtedly benefited from “curiosity buzz” that would not customarily trickle over to the next segment. But a drop of this magnitude, especially since the Cole match was plugged during Triple H’s promo, is still a disappointment.
The low rating, of course, also speaks negatively to Ryder’s drawing ability, indicating that his online buzz has not yet translated to television interest.
source: headlineplanet.com
This Day in Wrestling History
Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman were on the Late Night Show with David Letterman. Lawler and Kaufman started yelling at each other. Lawler started pushing Kaufman and Kaufman was cussing him out, which led to Andy Kaufman walking off the set. The incident made headlines everywhere and basically gave huge publicity to the two men. We later found out that it was all a work and that they were friends.
July 29, 1982
July 28, 2011
Paul Levesque Granted Another 5000 Shares of WWE Stock
Paul received 5000 shares in September of last year around the time of his promotion. According to the SEC filing, he received another 5000 shares this month. Click here to see a copy of the SEC filing.
C.M. Punk reveals when he decided to stay with WWE, Vince McMahon's thoughts on the angle, More
WWE star C.M. Punk was interviewed by ESPN's Bill Simmons on the new Grantland.com in a podcast interview. Punk acknowledged that he used "The Cult of Personality" in Ring of Honor and thought it would be a fun throwback. He said no other songs were considered.
Punk said his big promo that started the angle "was 100 percent real because it came from the heart." He said he knows where the line is and while he may have went too far in a couple of areas, he knows that things like saying hello to Colt Cabana isn't going to hurt the company.
