Billed from Hollywood, California | Debut 2001 | |
Members Billy
Chuck
Rico (manager) Name(s) Billy and Chuck
Chuck and Billy Heights Billy:
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Chuck:
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Combined
weight 535 lb (243 kg; 38.2 st) | ||
Billy and Chuck was a professional wrestling tag team of Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo who performed in World Wrestling Entertainment from 2001 to 2002. They were two-time WWE World Tag Team Champions.
Contents
History
Near the end of the Invasion storyline, Chuck (Palumbo) was kicked out of the Alliance. In response, he defected to the WWF, where he began teaming with Billy (Gunn) in an affront to the Alliance. After the Invasion ended, the duo were turned heel.
A storyline began in which Billy and Chuck became increasingly affectionate toward each other, showing evidence of a homosexual relationship. The duo adopted matching red ring gear and bleached their hair with Chuck beginning to wear pigtails, although Chuck would later cut his hair short due to the bleach affecting his hair negatively. Developmental talent Rico was placed in the role of their crafty "personal stylist". Billy and Chuck would win the World Tag Team Championships on two occasions, and primarily feud with the APA.
In September 2002, Chuck proposed life partnership to Billy, and Billy accepted. Their ceremony was aired on SmackDown!. During the commitment ceremony, Gunn and Palumbo revealed that the ceremony was merely a publicity stunt that had gone too far, and they admitted they were strictly hetero. Eric Bischoff, who had disguised himself as the priest officiating the wedding, and 3-Minute Warning from Raw then led an attack on Stephanie McMahon, the General Manager of SmackDown!. Following this incident, Rico defected to Raw and managed 3-Minute Warning. Billy and Chuck remained a team, turning face and dropping all facets of their gay-sweetheart gimmick.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which had consulted with WWE on the storyline and helped the angle secure mainstream media coverage, denounced WWE for securing GLAAD's assistance under false pretenses. "The WWE lied to us two months ago when they promised that Billy and Chuck would come out and wed on the air."
Billy and Chuck's final match together occurred on 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. Gunn received a shoulder injury during the match, and was taken off of television. The team quietly separated with Chuck going into singles competition and Billy returned with his Mr. Ass gimmick.
In a shoot interview years later, Billy Gunn stated that he had no regrets over the Billy and Chuck storyline, feeling that it was his job to perform the gimmick as presented to him, and would do it again if asked to do it.