Billy Gunn

Monty "Kip" Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, is an American professional wrestler and coach, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is one third of the current AEW World Trios Champions with Max Caster and Anthony Bowens as The Acclaimed in their first reign.

Billy Gunn is also a member of Bullet Club after The Acclaimed and Bullet Club Gold united on AEW Collision to form the ‘Bang Bang Scissor Gang’.

He was previously known for his tenures in World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) from 1993 to 2004 and from 2012 to 2015, while also serving as a coach on WWE's Tough Enough and was a trainer in NXT.

Trained by Jerry Gray, Sopp wrestled on the independent circuit for eight years (including a brief stint as enhancement talent for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) before signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1993.

After weeks of vignettes, Sopp, under the name Billy Gunn, made his WWF debut on the May 17, 1993, episode of Raw, teaming with his on-screen brother, Bart Gunn to defeat Tony Vadja and Glenn Ruth.

The duo, now known as The Smoking Gunns, made their pay-per-view debut at King of the Ring, teaming with The Steiner Brothers to defeat Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers in an eight-man tag team match.

At SummerSlam, the duo teamed with Tatanka to pick up a win against Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers.

On January 22, 1994, Gunn entered his first Royal Rumble match at the namesake event, but was eliminated by Diesel.

In early 1995, the Gunns won their first Tag Team Championship by defeating the makeshift team of Bob Holly and 1-2-3 Kid.

They held the title until WrestleMania XI, where they were defeated by the team of Owen Hart and Yokozuna.

They won the titles again in September 1995.

On February 15, 1996, the Gunns vacated the title because Billy was in need of neck surgery.

After Billy returned from hiatus, The Smoking Gunns won the Tag Team Title for the third time by defeating The Godwinns in May.

After the match, The Godwinns' manager Sunny turned on her team in favor of the Gunns.

On September 22 at In Your House: Mind Games, the Gunns lost the Tag Team Title to Owen Hart and The British Bulldog.

After the match, Sunny abandoned The Gunns, saying that she would only manage title holders.

Billy, frustrated with losing both the championship and Sunny, walked out on Bart, breaking up The Smoking Gunns.

The two would feud in late 1996.

After The Smoking Gunns disbanded, Gunn took some time off to nurse an injury.

At WrestleMania 13, he defeated Flash Funk catching the attention of The Honky Tonk Man, who made Gunn his protégé.

During this time, he adopted a new gimmick, Rockabilly, He would use this gimmick throughout much of 1997 and eventually had a short-lived feud with "The Real Double J" Jesse James.

On the October 4, 1997, episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, James realized both of their careers were going nowhere and suggested that they become a tag team.

Gunn agreed and smashed a guitar over The Honky Tonk Man's head to solidify their new alliance.

James and Rockabilly were quickly rebranded as "Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, respectively, and their tag team was dubbed the New Age Outlaws.

They quickly rose to the top of the tag team ranks and won the Tag Team Championship from the Legion of Doom on November 24.

They also defeated the LOD in a rematch at In Your House: D-Generation X.

The Outlaws slowly began to align themselves with D-Generation X.

At the Royal Rumble, the New Age Outlaws interfered in a Casket match to help Shawn Michaels defeat The Undertaker.

At No Way Out Of Texas, the Outlaws teamed up with Triple H and Savio Vega (who replaced the injured Shawn Michaels) to face Chainsaw Charlie, Cactus Jack, Owen Hart, and Steve Austin.

They were, however, defeated.

On February 2, The Outlaws locked Cactus and Chainsaw in a dumpster and pushed it off the stage.

This led to a Dumpster match at WrestleMania XIV where Cactus and Chainsaw defeated the Outlaws for the Tag Titles.

The next night on Raw, the New Age Outlaws won the Tag Team Championship for a second time by defeating Chainsaw and Cactus in a Steel cage match, but only after interference from Triple H, Chyna, and X-Pac.

After the match, the Outlaws officially became members of D-Generation X (DX).

He also won the 1999 King of the Ring tournament, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of D-Generation X.

Gunn trained as a bull rider while attending Oviedo High School in Oviedo, Florida.

After a stint as a professional bull rider in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Sopp left the profession in his early-20s in order to pursue a career as a professional wrestler.

He also wrestled for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2005 to 2009.

Primarily a tag team wrestler, Gunn is an overall 11-time tag team champion in WWE with three different partners (with Bart Gunn as The Smoking Gunns, with Road Dogg as The New Age Outlaws, and with Chuck Palumbo as Billy and Chuck).

He is also a former WWF Intercontinental Champion and a two-time WWF Hardcore Champion, giving him 14 total championships in WWE.