Road Dogg recently claimed that those within WWE, including Triple H weren’t happy that Billy Gunn missed the recent DX reunion, hinting an appearance was blocked by Tony Khan and AEW.
Speaking on his Oh… You Didn’t Know podcast, Road Dogg claimed that Gunn was all set to appear on the October 10th edition of Monday Night Raw. At the end of the show, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Sean Waltman and Road Dogg appeared to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the legendary faction.
Road Dogg stated that he was unaware of what caused the apparent U-turn, but that no one involved was happy about it.
Tony Khan Agreed To Let Billy Gunn Appear On One Condition
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer went into detail on the situation and broke down why the appearance didn’t take place. Meltzer explained that no one expected Gunn to be able to appear, but there were “meaningful talks” on the subject.
“Brian James [Road Dogg] on his podcast said that Billy Gunn wanted to be part of the DX Reunion Raw and as late as the day before the show he thought he was going to be able to do it and was disappointed he couldn’t. So here’s the actual story of what happened. I don’t think anyone expected Gunn there in the first place and WWE only advertised Sean Waltman, Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg Brian James and HHH.
However, there were meaningful talks, which surprised me, for this to happen. If I was Tony Khan right now, based on the situation right now between the two sides, it would have been a hard no, with no discussion, particularly when they did allow Gunn to do the Hall of Fame already and HHH made the remark about how Vince was going to buy that pissant company you’re working for.
Then again, Khan allowed Chris Jericho on the Austin podcast on Peacock, which in hindsight was a smart move that many thought wasn’t. He allowed his guys on the Cena show in taped interviews which was a nice gesture and in hindsight didn’t hurt AEW in the least.”
Meltzer went on to state that Khan was willing to agree to Gunn appearing on Raw, but only if AEW was mentioned on the air.
“It was actually a long involved story that didn’t involve any money exchanging hands as WWE never offered money and Khan never asked, and basically came down to this. Khan agreed to let him do to the show but on the air they would have to mention he’s from AEW, or that AEW allowed him to appear or some wording, but there had to be one mention that in some form he works for AEW, just as WWE already did when they got Mickie James for the Royal Rumble this past year.”
In a fresh update, a report from Fightful Select has revealed that WWE went as far as preparing travel in Billy Gunn’s name. One of the solutions pitched regarding mentioning AEW was “a lower third graphic with an AEW logo.” However, WWE “weren’t too keen” on making that a reality.