TNA World Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy appeared on an episode of his “Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast and discussed several topics, including Billy Gunn’s 2001 WWE push.
Hardy said, “They hoped Billy Gunn could turn into something, you know? I mean, he was super athletic, he could have good matches. He had a good attitude, he was a company guy, you know, so yeah I mean, I see why they did. I don’t think he developed into who they hoped he would be, but I do think they were hoping he would.”
On why the 2001 Royal Rumble Match was forgettable:
“One thing I think that — I do agree with you, there wasn’t a huge number of people that you really think we’re going to win the match. And they did kind of backend it on that. And I understand, I mean, that makes sense if you know how many you have to work with when you’re booking and putting together. I just feel like now, you know, in the Rumble coming up here… there’s going to be a lot of people that could be possible winners. You know what I mean? So it’s going to be, all throughout there’s going to be people entering that seem like they could possibly win the Royal Rumble, which is great. The more equity you have in people that they are top guys and they could be earning a shot for the Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania, it makes it that much more exciting. So I saw a little bit of an issue. It seemed like there was a limited number of people in this match that could win. But overall, it was still a good quality, entertaining Royal Rumble.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
