Billy Gunn talked about his brief retirement and how he dealt with it when he appeared on the latest episode of the “AEW Unrestricted” podcast.
Following his defeat to the House Of Black, consisting of Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Malakai Black, Gunn left his boots in the ring on the July 22 episode of AEW Collision. He returned to wrestling just a month later at AEW All In 2023.
Gunn said, “I think they knew something was up, only because of how the match went; not good for me. When I decided to do that, they all went, ‘oh gosh.’ I think it was more shocking because there is one guy from wrestling phase that moved it to present time that we all still love and have watched for so long that it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it’s over.’ I don’t know exactly how to put that, but it was partly because of me leaving the ring, but it was mainly because it was the end of an era, the end of me taking my kids to show them the guy that I used to watch when I was their age. That was the thing. I was okay with it. I was really okay. People can say what they want about what I’ve done or haven’t done, but I’ve done so much in my career and I have no regrets, not one, not a single one. The only thing is, if I can’t live up to my standards of wrestling, I’m not going to do it, I’m just not going to. My phone blew up and they go, ‘please tell me…you can’t.’ Everyone thinks I’m going to wrestle for the rest of my life. That’s not a thing. No matter how good I think I’m put together, things are going to have to come apart here before too long. I don’t want to be that guy who is hanging on for the sake of hanging on. I want to be able to contribute. I don’t want everyone to do everything for me. I have to hold up my end of the bargain. At that moment in time, I wasn’t, and I felt like that was the best thing to do. Then, just like before, they dragged me back.”
