9 Best WWE Attitude Era Gimmick Changes

The Road Dogg and Billy Gunn looked liable to be cut at any moment when they were thrust together at the tail end of 1997 and essentially told to get over or get lost.

Gunn had enjoyed some success as a member of the Smokin' Gunns tag team, winning the WWE Tag Team Titles on three occasions. Since splitting from partner Bart, though, he'd floundered. A turn as Rockabilly, country music protege of The Honky Tonk Man did him no favours whatsoever.

Road Dogg, meanwhile, had enjoyed a gig as Jeff Jarrett's Roadie but languished in the undercard when J-E-Double F split for WCW. In 1997, 'The Real Double J' Jess James and Rockabilly engaged in a feud that precisely nobody wanted to see. Realising they were fighting an uphill battle and that their careers were going nowhere, James suggested onscreen that he and Billy boy team up.

Billy agreed, blasting Honky with his own guitar and never looking back. As the Outlaws (soon to be New Age), 'Bad A*s' Billy Gunn and Road Dogg were allowed to go out there and express themselves, running down their opponents and spouting off catchphrases. Their we-don't-give-a-sh*t attitude, complete with wearing officially-licensed South Park apparel, helped them connect with the rabid Attitude Era audience.

The duo went from going nowhere to being the most over tag team on the roster, shifting a tonne of merchandise along the way.