Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: Rockabilly

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Great-ing Gimmicks of the Past: Rockabilly

History
Longtime grappler (and self-proclaimed Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All Time) Honky Tonk Man had made a return to the WWF in early 1997 as a color commentator. Still, Honky felt there was something missing — he needed a protégé.

After weeks of hinting, Honky Tonk made his decision on the March 31, 1997 Raw. He made his way down to ringside as the Real Double J Jesse James defeated Jesse Fox. Honky Tonk talked about his respect for James and then began outlining his plans for him — plans which included jet black hair and sideburns.

James seemed to consider, then destroyed Honky Tonk’s guitar and left.

Honky Tonk didn’t waste any time in plotting his revenge. On that week’s Shotgun Saturday Night, Sunny mentioned that Honky Tonk had chosen a new protégé to teach JJ a lesson, and hinted that it might be Rick Rude.

Steve Austin was wrestling Billy Gunn on the next Raw when Honky Tonk came out with Billy Gunn by his side. Gunn lost and popped Honky on the jaw afterward.

Honky had an interview with Kevin Kelly on Shotgun, and he was furious. He promised that his true protégé would be at the next In Your House to take care of JJ.

On Raw, JJ was taking on Hunter Hearst Helmsley when Honky Tonk distracted him long enough to get hit with a Pedigree and pinned.

That brought us to In Your House: Revenge of the Taker. James made his way out and waited in the ring as HTM introduced his protégé — Billy Gunn! Well, not Billy Gunn — now he was known as Rockabilly. James finally got the win and then avoided a post-match guitar shot.

We got a rematch the next night and Rockabilly won this one thanks to the Shake, Rattle and Roll. After the match, HTM blasted James with a guitar for good measure.

Rockabilly took on Flash Funk the next week. Funk got the win after Rockabilly accidentally decked HTM. Afterward, HTM started distracting Funk, which let Billy hit him with the guitar.

And that was about the end of Rockabilly’s winning ways. Gunn would continue wrestling as Rockabilly until he finally joined forces with Jesse James and the two became one of the WWF’s most popular tag teams — the New Age Outlaws.

Analysis
Let’s be honest. It’s not hard to think of bad gimmicks in wrestling. A wrestling trash man. A wrestling baseball player. A tag team who ring a bell through the entire match. The list goes on and on.

A shorter list is that of bad gimmicks that the person given it made work. A wrestling zombie sounds ludicrous, until you look at how the Undertaker made it work. A wrestling Elvis impersonator is even crazier, until you look at what the Honky Tonk Man did with it.

Honky Tonk got the Elvis impersonator gimmick over incredibly well — so well, in fact, that he wound up wearing the Intercontinental title for a year. While he never won the WWF world title, HTM is still a very recognizable face from the company’s past.

Unfortunately, while Billy Gunn may be an incredible athlete, he has always been greatly lacking in the charisma department. HTM’s charisma got the Honky Tonk Man gimmick over. With Billy’s lack of it, Rockabilly became just another failed gimmick in the WWF vaults.

Where are they now?
The Honky Tonk Man soon disappeared from WWF television and began working in the back. He made one last in-ring appearance at the 2001 Royal Rumble and vanished from the company. Today, Honky Tonk still competes on the independent scene around the world and also keeps a website at http://www.thehonkytonkman.com.

Billy Gunn and Jesse James formed the New Age Outlaws, a tag team which would eventually become part of D-Generation X.

By late 2000, James was released from the WWF and began competing in Australia’s World Wrestling All-Stars promotion. In 2002 James debuted in TNA as BG James, part of a stable with Ron Killings and Konnan called the 3 Live Kru.

Billy Gunn continued in the WWF, although nothing raised him to the levels of popularity he’d known with the New Age Outlaws. He was released from the WWE in 2004.

It didn’t take long for Gunn to show up in TNA, where he redubbed himself Kip James, and tried to draw BG away from the 3 Live Kru. Kip was eventually invited into the newly-renamed 4 Live Kru, which triggered Konnan’s destruction of the group and foundation of his own Latin American Exchange.

Today BG and Kip James remain in TNA, tagging together as the James Gang.

Next Week
ECW arrives on Raw.