10 Times WWE Tried (And Failed) To Make You Cheer For Former Heels
9. 'The One' Billy Gunn
A provocateur and profiteer of the Attitude Era after grafting his soon-to-be-famous *ss off during the New Generation, Billy Gunn appeared to have avoided the fate saved for fellow Triple H underlings X-Pac and Road Dogg when he sustained a shoulder injury in February 2000.
D-Generation-X were destined for the bargain bin as WWE soared commercially in 2000. The product was moving so fast that characters went out of date without the wrestlers realising, and 1998's shiny new toy gathered and ate the dust left The Radicalz, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle racing past them at the turn of the century.
Billy Gunn's year went from bad to worse when he lost a potential spot as Stone Cold Steve Austin's hit-and-run assassin, and his own name when WWE booked the Right To Censor stable to take the 'Mr *ss' moniker away. The company struggled with the rebrand after the fact, going first for Billy G before settling on 'The One' Billy Gunn.
It gave him a theme and some trunks that nearly looked the same, almost as if they were preparing him for life on the independent circuit when they finally sh*tcanned him in 2004.