Former WWE superstar Billy Gunn was featured on the ‘Five Questions with…’ segment on Sports Illustrated this week, and below are some highlights:
How he got the NJPW offer:
“After I was let go by the Performance Center, I was out working indies. After everything I’ve accomplished, I have a pretty good name and I’m easy to work with. As long as you’re cool with me, I’m cool with you. I liked doing some indie stuff for a year, then Lance Hoyt called me and said that the New Japan office was looking for me to go over to Japan and do this tag tournament. If it’s a tag tournament and you have room, why not have me? My partner was Yoshi and he’s trying to do this Hunter Club thing, so they figured I could help him a little bit. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so I jumped on it.”
Returning to WWE:
“Of course I would. I loved coaching. That is my thing – I love teaching people that want to learn this business. I would go back in a minute if asked. Coaching was such a different avenue for me, and I didn’t think that I had it in me. When Paul [Levesque] hired me, he goes, ‘You can’t be one the boys, and we’ve got to trial run to see if you’ll be a good coach. Just because you’re good in the ring doesn’t mean you’ll be a good coach.’ There are different personalities who you have to coach, and you’ve got to be able to adjust. For me, a big part of coaching is having a trust for the students that are in your class. If they trust you, and you don’t talk beneath them, you can create an even playing field. Yes, what I say goes, but there has to be an open discussion. As long as they trust me, then they’re going to listen to me and then they’ll learn. If they don’t trust me, then what I say goes on deaf ears and they go out there and do whatever. As a coach, I had to have a relationship with every one of my students. I would love to go back.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
