Road Dogg has discussed turning down WWE’s offer to be a part of the infamous wedding segment in 2002.
The team of Billy & Chuck formed in late 2001 when WWE veteran Billy Gunn and relative newcomer to the WWE Chuck Palumbo joined forces.
As the team of Billy & Chuck grew, they were involved in moments where they would appear very happy to be in each other’s company and the pair had their own “personal stylist” as a manager, Rico. The team went on to become two-time WWE Tag Team Champions.
There were a lot of subtle hints that maybe Billy & Chuck were a gay couple, which led to a “commitment ceremony” on SmackDown in September 2002. When it happened, it was revealed to be a publicity stunt that went a bit too far while both men were actually straight.
The angle drew significant criticism from fans as well as numerous LBGTQ groups.
WWE Hall of Famer, Road Dogg has recently revealed he was asked to play the best man in the segment. Speaking on his Oh…You Didn’t Know podcast, Road Dogg explained how he got the call just after he had joined TNA:
“They called me to be the best man at the wedding at Billy and Chuck’s wedding. The WWE called me and I had just gotten the gig with TNA. I said, ‘Let me check with TNA and make sure it’s cool.’ Jeff (Jarrett) said, ‘Yeah, you can do whatever you want to.
I called them back and they were like, Okay, we’re gonna give you such and such amount of money, and I said, ‘Well, that doesn’t sound like a very good deal. You want me in that picture for something, don’t you? I’d appreciate it if you double that and then we’ll have a conversation.’”
Road Dogg then spoke about WWE refusing to offer more money, claiming the company lowballed him because they thought he might be desperate:
“Then they were like, ‘Oh, we heard you are hard to deal with.’ I said, ‘You called me to be in the thing. Somebody threw my name out there. Now I want you to pay me like somebody threw my name out there and not like y’all picked a friggin name out of a hat.’ They were coming to me and literally lowballed the fire out of me to try to see if I would bite because I was desperate.
They know when you’re down, I can offer him less money. So that’s business acumen, just heartless. I turned it down and didn’t go. It was because they wouldn’t give me what I asked for and I didn’t ask for anything incredible. It was just double what they offered me.”
Road Dogg is currently signed to WWE where he serves as the Senior Vice President of Live Events having taken over the role from Jeff Jarrett in August.