Billy Gunn's 'retirement' took AEW star by surprise, claims he got "teary-eyed" witnessing it

Billy Gunn took everyone by surprise when he seemingly hung up his boots on a recent episode of AEW Collision. The Hall of Famer's ally, Anthony Bowens, has now detailed his initial reaction to the development.

The Acclaimed and Gunn challenged the House of Black for the World Trios Championship on the July 22, 2023, edition of AEW Collision. The WWE legend was pinned in less than five minutes and left his boots in the ring after the match was over. Many believe the 59-year-old has now retired from active competition.

Billy Gunn's gesture surprised everyone, especially his tag team partner, Anthony Bowens, who didn't know it would happen. He genuinely started to tear up at the thought of never teaming up with Gunn again. Here's what he had to say to Chris Distefano on Chrissy Chaos about the veteran hinting at his retirement.

"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."

Bowens further highlighted Gunn's role in The Acclaimed's recent success:

"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."

But will Billy Gunn stay retired? Bowens added that he and Max Caster have been trying to talk to the Hall of Famer about his future in the business.

"Billy is Billy, he's going to do what he wants to do, we've been trying to talk to him." (H/T Fightful)

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Billy Gunn's son broke character after his dad's 'retirement'

During his time in AEW, Billy Gunn has had a rocky relationship with his sons, Colten and Austin. This has led to the duo joining forces with Jay White and Juice Robinson as part of Bullet Club Gold.

But even Austin couldn't help breaking character when he saw their dad seemingly retire. The former champion tweeted a series of messages praising his dad for his remarkable in-ring run and mentioning how proud he was to have shared the ring with him.

The Acclaimed will be in action on this week's AEW Collision. With All In 2023 just around the corner and the trios division still very competitive, only time will tell if the Hall of Famer stays retired.

Do you think Billy Gunn will come out of retirement? Let us know in the comments section below.