Billy Gunn has looked back on one of the more unusual moments in recent WWE Hall of Fame history: D-Generation X entering the Hall in 2019 while Gunn was already employed by the then-newly formed All Elite Wrestling.
The DX induction brought together Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, Sean Waltman, Chyna and Gunn, celebrating one of WWE’s most influential and controversial factions. Yet the ceremony also arrived at a fascinating point for the industry. AEW had been announced and had already become a major topic among fans, but the promotion had not yet held its first event.
Gunn’s presence added another layer to the night. He had joined AEW, making him a performer under contract to a competing company while appearing on WWE programming for the DX honor. When fans in attendance began chanting “AEW,” Triple H offered a pointed response. He said Vince McMahon would buy the “pissant company” simply to fire Gunn again.
Years later, Gunn says he expected WWE to acknowledge the situation in some form. Speaking with Kenny McIntosh on Inside The Ropes, the former WWE standout said he was prepared for Triple H to say something once the chants started, even if he did not know the exact wording ahead of time.
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“I knew it was coming,” Gunn said. “I kind of knew they were going to do something AEW because it was hot at the time and I was there and they were all wondering how I got to go there, and that’s because Tony Khan was super cool.”
Gunn explained that he approached AEW President Tony Khan about attending the ceremony and received immediate approval. At that point, AEW was still preparing for its launch, but Gunn’s affiliation with the company had become an obvious subject for WWE fans and performers alike.
“I went, asked, and he said ‘100%. Of course you can. I would never hold you back from that,’” Gunn recalled.
That permission allowed Gunn to take part in a career-defining occasion with his longtime DX partners. The group’s Hall of Fame recognition carried particular significance because it honored an act that transformed the tone of WWE’s Attitude Era. Gunn was an essential member of the faction’s later incarnation, the New Age Outlaws tandem with Road Dogg, and he remained closely associated with DX through reunions and major WWE events after the group’s original peak.
But his AEW employment made the moment different from a conventional legends appearance. Wrestling promotions have often taken verbal shots at rivals, especially when one company’s contracted talent appears in another company’s setting. Gunn believes the crowd reaction made some kind of answer inevitable, and he felt Triple H was the person most likely to deliver it.
“I didn’t know what they were gonna do, but I knew they were going to do something,” Gunn said. “I also knew that if they were, Hunter was going to have something to say. Once I set myself up for that, I just let it go.”
Gunn Says the Remark Hurt Triple H, Not AEW
While Gunn was not surprised by the exchange, he was blunt in his assessment of the line itself. In his view, the jab did not damage AEW or affect his own standing. Instead, Gunn believes it became an unnecessary attempt to protect WWE’s image at a time when a new national promotion was attracting widespread attention.
“The only one that got hurt out of that whole deal was him,” Gunn said. “I don’t want to say it, but it was a dick move. It was kind of trying to save face, and you didn’t need to because it’s going to happen.”
Gunn’s point is rooted in the competitive nature of professional wrestling. Talent movement, public shots and fan chants have long been part of the business, from the territory era to the Monday Night War and into the modern period. AEW’s emergence in 2019 immediately invited comparisons to past challengers to WWE’s dominance, and its early roster included numerous wrestlers with extensive WWE histories.
For Gunn, that made the response less shocking than predictable. He framed it as the sort of reaction that happens when a wrestler affiliated with another company is visibly present in a WWE environment, particularly when the audience chooses to spotlight that affiliation.
“It’s the wrestling business. It’s what we do. They like to stir up shit,” Gunn said. “When you have somebody in another company, which was me, they can’t believe it, and then you see me, they have to do it. It’s like an unwritten thing in a book. ‘If another guy is in another company, we have to say or do something.’”
He also tied the moment directly to the live crowd. Rather than suggesting the response came entirely out of nowhere, Gunn noted that the chants put AEW at the center of the segment. Triple H, who was one of WWE’s key executive figures even then, answered from the stage as the crowd pushed for an acknowledgement.
“They started chanting it, and you get a response from the guy leading the company,” Gunn said.
A Moment That Captured AEW’s Arrival
In hindsight, the Hall of Fame exchange has become a notable snapshot of AEW’s earliest days. The company had not yet run a show, but it was already sufficiently prominent that its name prompted chants during one of WWE’s highest-profile annual ceremonies. Gunn standing alongside DX while representing AEW professionally made that visibility impossible to ignore.
AEW would hold its first event, Double or Nothing, in May 2019. Gunn has remained with the company throughout its rise, initially serving in a backstage coaching role before becoming an on-screen regular. His work alongside his sons, Austin and Colten Gunn, helped lead to the formation of The Gunns and their connection with The Acclaimed, a group that has been central to AEW television in recent years.
His continued presence has also made him one of the clearest examples of a veteran successfully transitioning from an established WWE career into a meaningful role in AEW. Gunn had already amassed major accomplishments before joining AEW, including multiple WWE tag team championships as part of the New Age Outlaws. His later career, however, has given him a different platform: both as a performer and as a veteran presence around a younger locker room.
Triple H’s 2019 comment also did not turn into the scenario suggested on stage. Vince McMahon did not purchase AEW. McMahon is no longer involved with WWE following a lawsuit filed by former employee Janel Grant, which accused him of sexual assault and sex trafficking. McMahon has denied wrongdoing.
The broader business landscape has shifted substantially since the DX induction, but Gunn’s read on the moment remains firm. He does not portray himself as blindsided, nor does he suggest that the remark derailed the celebratory nature of the Hall of Fame induction. Instead, he sees it as a familiar bit of wrestling-company posturing brought on by a competitor’s growing buzz and a crowd eager to provoke a reaction.
For Gunn, the key takeaway is that he was able to honor his history with DX while still having the support of the company he had joined. Khan’s willingness to let him attend gave Gunn the opportunity to share the stage with his former partners, while the AEW chants and Triple H’s response underscored how quickly the new promotion had entered the conversation.
That is why the exchange continues to be remembered. It was not merely a throwaway joke at an awards ceremony. It captured a new competitor establishing relevance before it had even presented its first match, a WWE Hall of Famer navigating ties to both sides, and a public acknowledgment that the wrestling business was entering another competitive chapter.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.