After The Acclaimed tried and failed to take the AEW World Trios Championship from the House of Black on the July 22 episode of AEW Collision, fans were stunned when Billy Gunn (known while teaming with The Acclaimed as Daddy Ass) took off his boots and left them in the ring, a time-honored tradition that signals retirement.
Actually, it wasn’t just fans who were surprised: Anthony Bowens of The Acclaimed was visibly shocked as well, and he says his reaction was 100% legitimate.
Bowens told the Chris Distefano Presents: Chrissy Chaos podcast (h/t Fightful for the transcription) that he had no idea that moment was coming, making his emotion all the more real.
No, I really didn’t. I don’t think the cameras caught it, but I get very emotional when I’m out there because I get connected to the audience, I don’t think I’ve cried in a wrestling ring. I got teary eyed because he stood up and his face was beat red, and at this point in our careers where Billy has been such a beacon of light for us, he’s been guiding us from the beginning since we joined up with him last year. He guided us to the AEW Tag Team Titles in New York City. He’s been teaching us a ton of stuff every single week. To think about not having him out there with us, it hurts.
Bowens added that he and partner Max Caster had been talking to Gunn about potentially changing his mind, though The Acclaimed appeared on the Aug. 5 episode of Collision and said Daddy Ass was going to stay retired.
One thing that will probably live on even if we’ve seen the last of Gunn in the ring: The Acclaimed’s scissoring gimmick, which could even be seen in parts of the crowd at events like WWE SummerSlam this past weekend. Daddy Ass may have caught even his teammates off-guard when he took off the boots, but he definitely won’t be forgotten.