AEW announcer and Senior Advisor “Good Ole’ J.R.” Jim Ross took to an episode of his “Grilling Jr” podcast to talk about a number of topics including why Billy Gunn didn’t win the King of the Ring in 1999 and how WWE could have done more with him.
Ross said, “I don’t know. It’s a good question. It’s a very good question [that] you asked. But I don’t know the reason, unless it was somebody made a decision late in the game in the bottom of the seventh or the top of the ninth, or whatever analogy one would like to use. And the decision was made that, ‘Well maybe we’re a little premature with this decision. Maybe we didn’t have somebody quite ready. Maybe Billy wasn’t quite ready for this opportunity.’”
“I don’t agree with that. I think that — I don’t know that we ever got everything out of Billy Gunn that he deserved, and that we could have done more positive things with. You’re not gonna get anybody that looks better, that’s bigger, stronger, faster. Got a physique, knew how to work. So physical, he had all the pieces. But for some reason, the powers that be just never develop the confidence in Billy that he probably deserved, quite frankly.”
On whether the King of the Ring tournament idea had run its course in 1999:
“No, I don’t think so. It had been around a while, but I don’t think it has run its course, Connie. I think it’s still gonna be a matter of who’s in it, who’s wrestling who, and how they perform. So no, I don’t think that ship had sailed whatsoever.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
