Billy Gunn believes modern pro wrestling is at a crossroads, where shocking visuals are starting to replace the fundamentals that once drove emotional investment. Speaking candidly about the current state of the industry, the AEW veteran questioned whether promoters are relying too heavily on extreme angles instead of letting stories and in-ring work do the heavy lifting.
Appearing on the ALL Real Wrestling podcast with Eric Novak, Gunn admitted he’s conflicted by today’s approach. “Sometimes I think it’s easier for them to hit people over the head with bricks and shove things in their face to get that reaction,” Gunn said, explaining that shock can become a shortcut when patience runs thin. He went further, drawing a hard line between wrestling fiction and real-world consequences: “You put a bag over someone’s head and try to kill them. You go to prison for that… If you come and burn down my house, you die the next day.” While Gunn stressed he understands the intent behind these angles, he emphasized that, for him, they often go too far too fast.
Why it matters is simple: credibility. Gunn argued that wrestling works best when fans are allowed to suspend disbelief, not when stories escalate so quickly they break logic entirely. “We are entertainers at the heart of it… They want to be worked, but we don’t work them,” he said, pointing to the need for slower, more layered storytelling rather than instant escalation. Though he cited the Swerve Strickland–Hangman Page rivalry as an example, Gunn clarified he wasn’t singling them out, only highlighting a broader trend. Looking ahead, his message is clear: wrestling doesn’t need to be louder or more violent to be compelling, it just needs better stories given room to breathe.
