Low-level stuff you might have wanted to see

[Carbomb]

So: Billy Gunn is probably one of the greatest tag wrestlers of all time. Sure, Ricky Morton is the one that everyone rightly refers to, but how many wrestlers can lay claim to as much success with different teams as Gunn? By which I don't just mean good matches, I mean memorable runs.

The Smokin' Gunns, New Age Outlaws, Billy & Chuck, the Gunn-Show (I know, I know), and I'm sure I'm missing others.

It struck me that it was a bit of a shame that no promoter (mainly WWE, but AEW too a bit) did anything with that. I think I'd have liked to see an angle where a tag team tournaments been announced, and suddenly you have a load of guys vying to land Billy Gunn as their tag team partner, really building up how big a deal he is in that field. He'd demonstrated he wasn't really a singles main-eventer, but they could've made him one in the realm of tag teams.

I said "low-level" in the title, because I don't think it likely that tag wrestling will ever be main-event for any meaningful period of time in any promotion; people are just too conditioned against it.

 

As another "low-level" thing, but nowhere near as important, I think "Ricky Steamboat" is a really odd choice for a martial arts-influenced character, especially as his real name is Richard Blood - I mean, come on; there are wrestlers who'd have given their right arms to be born with that as a real name. I would have liked to see "The Dragon" Rick Blood, way more bad ass.

Edited November 1, 2025 by Carbomb
Guy Whittingham

[Chico Torres]

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

So: Billy Gunn is probably one of the greatest tag wrestlers of all time.

No

[SoloJones]

4 minutes ago, Chico Torres said:

No

I hear he's the best pure athlete in the WWF as well.

[DCW]

Same as Taker, ol' booger red and his soup bones, was the best pure striker in the business. 

[Chico Torres]

An actual great tag wrestler rather than a shit one is Bobby Eaton who was in 2 great versions of the Midnight Express with Dennis Condrey and Stan Lane (who was also part of the Fabulous Ones making him also part of 2 legendary teams), a fantastic team with Koko B Ware in Memphis, The Blue Bloods with Regal, the Dangerous Alliance with Arn Anderson (himself a top contender for the best tag wrestler category with Ole, Tully, Barry Windham, Larry Zybysko and many others), even the short lived Bad Attitude with Steve Keirn in WCW.

[Carbomb]

37 minutes ago, Chico Torres said:

No

Elaborate please?

[gmoney]

Something extraordinary funny about citing Smoking Gunns and Show Gunn as being memorable runs. Smoking Gunns has to be one of the dullest long running teams ever. And how long were Billy and Big Show a team? And it was complete shite! 

[FUM]

I can very easily off the top of my head think of wrestlers who aren’t even known as tag specialists that have been in better teams than Billy Gunn. Chris Jericho for instance.

JeriShow. Jeri-KO. Jericho and Christian. All better than every team Billy Gunn has been in with exception of NAO.

He’s not even the best tag team wrestler in New Age Outlaws.

[Chili]

1 hour ago, Chico Torres said:

No

I'd say he's one of the most decorated. Though tag teams were where he shone. Had a great hot tag. But not the bloody Show-Gunns!

[Supremo]

Who the fuck are the, “Show Gunns”?!

Stop getting, “Double Trouble Crap on a Stick,” wrong!

[wandshogun09]

4 hours ago, Carbomb said:

Rick Blood, way more bad ass.

Or Dick Blood. Which I’m surprised Russo didn’t demand be the name of Val Venis in 98. 

2 hours ago, DCW said:

Same as Taker, ol' booger red and his soup bones, was the best pure striker in the business. 

The worst. Bandana wearing, sunglasses wearing, tobacco chewing, shite ‘YOU’RE GONNA PAAAAY, YOU’RE GONNA PAAAAY’ theme having, look how cool I am, plastic hard man Taker from 2000-04 was absolutely awful. Way more rotten than when he was supposed to be an actual Deadman. 

[BomberPat]

on the name Ricky Steamboat, he took the name from an older Hawaiian wrestler named Sam Steamboat.

[Chili]

Always hear about Ricky Steamboats real name sounding cooler for a wrestler and I've never understood it. Well yeah it's a wrestling name, but it's not something you give someone who looks like Ricky Steamboat. 

[Chico Torres]

Also Chico Santana (no relation) had already used the ring name Richard Blood early in his career 

[air_raid]

Prior to Kronik actually being formed the sheets were saying WCW were going to make Wrath & Adams into a “new Road Warriors style team” but there were also rumours the WWF were going to try and sign both back and have them be like a “new Demolition.” Now, we all know that Kronik in the WWF went a bit Pete Tong, but I’d have been well up for Crush & Bomb (I assume) donning the old gimp masks, maybe even using the instrumental of the Derringer tune, and beating the shit out of what passed for the WWF tag division at the time.

Or sticking with Crush, since I always had a soft spot for “Gangstanators” New Jack & Kronus rising from the ashes of their respective teams to (briefly) dethrone Buh Buh Ray & D-Von, I’d have liked Animal to stick around long enough for his makeshift team with Crush to have a proper tilt at taking the belts from Money Inc. Would have bought it better than babyface Nasty Boys, at least.