Insight with Chris Van Vliet - The Gunn Club - Don't Call Austin & Colten Gunn The "Ass Boys"

Episode Date: June 9, 2022

Austin Gunn (@theaustingunn) and Colten Gunn (@thecoltengunn) are brothers known by their AEW tag team name "The Gunn Club". They join Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios at Wynn Las Vegas to talk about how they got started in wrestling, having WWE Hall of Famer Billy Gunn as their father, their reaction to his Billy and Chuck storyline in WWE, what they think of the "Ass Boys" nickname given to them by Danhausen, their goals in pro wrestling, Austin's music career, why Colten left his job to pursue a career as a wrestler and much more! For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Believe! Well, hello again, my friends, and welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Vanfleet. Thank you so much for joining us Inside. The beautiful, incredible, unbelievable, blue wire studios here at the Wind Las Vegas, and we've got the one and only ass boy. Sorry, Gun Club joining us for this episode.

You can't call them the ass boys. They are, of course, the sons of the legendary Hall of Famer, Mr. Ass himself, Billy Gunn. And I think you're going to like this peek into who they are away from the lights and the cameras of AEW. If you're not following them, I'm sure you're going to want to after this conversation. Austin is at the Austin Gun. Colton is at the Colton Gun. And if you're not following me, I'm just at Chris Van Fleet, no, the in front of it. And take a screenshot.

Post it on social media and tag. us so we can share it as well. Rock and roll beer guy. He's our fan of the week. And all you have to do to be our fan of the week, by the way, is just to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. That's, that's it. Or if you've already left a review, just go in, add a word or two, and it will update. It'll repopulate to the top as a new review. So this one says, CVV forever. CVV is one of the very best in the game, and one of the nicest dudes I've met. Definitely worth a listen. Well, thank you so much. I read one review in every single episode. There's no reason why it shouldn't be your review. So leave a few words. And I will shout you out on the next episode. And I'm going to assume that you're listening to this because you're also a subscriber of the YouTube channel. But I just want to know, do you subscribe to my CVV clips channel as well? We're just a few days away from hitting 100,000 subscribers on there. Oh, man. So if you haven't subscribed yet, CVV clips on YouTube, It's the most memorable and funny moments from all of these interviews.

So sometimes you don't have 45 minutes or an hour to watch the whole thing. You just want to see a little snippet of the ass boy. Sorry, the Gun Club. So that's exactly what you can do here. CVV clips. And I just want to thank you in advance for the 100,000 subscribers that we are about to hit on there. All right, let's do this thing. Please welcome Austin and Colton Gun, the Gun Club.

We're live. We are alive. How'd you know we were live? You just counted me down. Yeah, six cents. Wow. How was the pool party that I pulled you from? The pool party was lit.

Me, Colton, the acclaimed were there. We were drinking Fiji water. Am I allowed to say that? You could say whatever you want. Yeah, Fiji goes hard, dude. You weren't just drinking Fries with a side of ranch. Was this a children's birthday party or at? Yes, it was.

Dude, don't ask any more questions than that. I was having a good time. I was asking you about a pool party in Las Vegas. No, I was like this in Vegas. Chicken strips, fries. Is this the chicken strips and this is the fries and the other arm? This is like me dipping in the ranch.

This is me with the Fiji water here. Like this motion. Okay. It was a pretty cool dance. Yeah. I mean, it is a Thursday. So I guess the pool parties, I mean, chicken wings might be, or chicken fingers might be the craziest you'll get.

But we also know we had to be responsible. Absolutely. Yeah. We're businessmen. Yeah. We put business first. So like when I went to the pool party, everybody was like, yo, drink some alcohol, take some shots and I was like, no, I have to go do a very important interview.

And after that, then also have to go to Chris Van Fleet's interview. Yeah. I've got two interviews. One's very important. One super serious and then one's going to go completely off the rails. So we haven't done an interview. Well, Colton and I have never done an interview. No, we have not.

Austin, the very first interview that you ever did was on my show. Four years ago. Ever. I was just a green horn in the business. And it's so funny because so much has changed since then. A lot. Yeah. So it was summer of 2018.

Remember this? Yeah. Because I don't remember it. Yeah. It was in central Florida. Yes. And you hadn't really started training yet. Not long after that, you did start training.

Then you were going to go overseas. Yep. You were going to go to Japan. Yeah. What happened? That fell through. I think that's all I can say about it, to be honest. And that's okay.

It's like, it fell through. It just, Like we were, we were right there. I was about to go over to Japan and just separate from my dad for a little bit. And just life happened. I remember seeing you backstage at the very first dynamite. And I was like, wait a second. Yeah.

But you're not in Japan right now. Yeah. So the funny thing about that is like I invited family and friends for a going away party. I was invited. Your mom mailed me a card. Colton flew back from California and like put everything on home. I was like, dude, I got to be there for Austin's going away party. Had a going away party.

And then the next week I had to stare those same people in the face and go. I'm not going away. And they did the same thing you did. They were like, you're not in Japan. And I was like, gotcha. Thanks for the cash. Appreciate it. Thanks for all the presents.

And, uh, but I understand the going away party. Like, you know, your kid or your friend or your nephew or whoever it is is about to move to the other side of the planet. I was so nervous. Yeah. And it just didn't happen. So then, so you stay in America. Stay in America.

How does then what you're doing here with Colton? How does this come together? So, Colton's been in California when I started. So when I was doing that whole thing. We're in California, by the way. So I lived in Santa Monica. Oh, wow. Yeah.

14 blocks. I also live in California. Yeah, it's awesome. I loved it so much. You know Santa Monica? Of course. Joe's Pizza? You don't know Santa Monica?

I have Big Deans. Big Deans. By the boardwalk. Angola? That's just my spot. We got them all. We don't know it. We just, we just have a couple spots.

So at the time, this is four years ago, were you the only one at that time that was going to be a wrestler? And Colton, what were you going to do? So I, like, at a college, went to corporate America and then I moved to L.A. and was building custom houses out there, like three stories with elevators. And I had a couple Lakers players in there, like, Snapchat CEO. And I was just doing that. And for some reason, I was in my trailer or driving on the job site. And I just always, because him and dad were on AEW now and doing their thing. And I just kept thinking of, like, promos or like moves or names of stuff.

He would text us. He would text me out of the blue and go, Hey, this would be really cool if you and dad did it. Be cooler if we did it, though. He was like, subtly, like, over time to subtly, like, pushing, pushing. Yeah, so then I called Rikishi because he has a school out there. I was like, hey, don't tell my dad.

He's in where Van Eyes, right? Yes. I was like, don't tell my dad. Don't tell any of your student. I'm going to come in just for like one time, see what it feels like. Of course, when I got there, I'm like a clone of my dad. So everyone knew who I was. Great.

That didn't work very well. It's daily good. So I did that. And then I called my dad and I was like, I think I want to try this. I went to Rikish school. He was like, why would you not tell me? Like, I don't know. He was heated.

Yeah. He was heated. I was like, I thought I needed to do by myself. We were on the road, like, going to like some town and he goes, you know, uh, you told him to Krikeshis the other day. And I went, I went. Yeah. And he goes, why didn't you tell me?

What's going on here? Does he want to be a, like, he started asking me. Like, I was like, dude, I don't know. He just like went. Great feeling. He just went. Yeah. Yeah.

And I got. So then I came home, took two weeks off of work, went to the Breeze and Spears School. Flatbacks, I've been there. Flatbacks. And my dad said, you want to do this? 110%? No half-ass. No pun intended.

And then so I quit my job in LA and drove across the country and started. And in November, we'll be two years. That's a forbidden word. I know. We'll get into that. So you picked up your life, moved from California to quite, I mean, the furthest spot you could move. No. To dive in to this.

Just did it, yeah. So November, two years. Yeah, crazy. I just couldn't be 50 and think. I never even tried. So I just... That is the biggest regret ever. And that's such a big narrative for, I think, anybody. Not even 50. You don't want to be 80 or 90 or however old you're going to be. And go, yeah, I really wish I should have done that. I could have done that. Yeah, that would just eat at you and you just don't want that. Like, we grew up in the business. We're around like everything. We know how it works. It's like subliminally. Subconsciously. Subconsciously, like, in. our brain like when it comes to like moving in the ring or being an entertainer and it's just like yeah it's just like it was just destined to be but i think that we talked about this in the interview that we did like you either run to it or you want away from it and i you guys ran to it but there's a lot of kids who have famous parents whatever they do whether the musicians or actors or directors comedians whatever and they go that's your thing i don't want to try to i don't want to try

to you know live in your shadow that's how i was at first i was like i do not want to wrestle He ran away from wrestling. I ran to it. Yeah. I was like, I do not want to do this. And then for some reason, I was like, I want to do this. It just hit me. Yeah, because I kept getting more and more texts.

Just like, hey, this would also be a good idea. Hey, by the way, I don't know what you're doing. Hey, what are you up to? And I was like, dude, just doing laundry goes, well, let me run this by you. And I was like, dude, what do you? Like, if you want to do it, just like, dad will train you. Like, don't worry about it. Colton, how do you look so much like your dad?

I think that's just, you know, people look like their parents. sometimes. No way. You look like him, but like you're like, you're Billy Gunn 30 years ago. He's smoking guns, Billy Guns.

We were looking at photos the other day. And I posted him on my story and I was like, dude, this is kind of freaky. It's really weird. My dad, like younger looks just like Colt. It's crazy. It's like a time travel or something.

Your dad does this thing. Wait a second time. Wait a thing. Did I have this power? I didn't know. Are we living in the Matrix? Your dad does this thing. and you do it.

Like, it's this squinty smile. Yes. Yes. That was a terrible impression. But the face was perfect. But you know what I mean. The face was good. I don't know if I've ever gone,

yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. What? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

It's like a cartoon guy. All right. But you know what I mean? Like your dad has so much charisma, which you guys innately have as well, which is also why you've been so successful. Does that just kind of ooze into you when you're growing Yeah, I think, I think I've always been the entertainer and over the top, like, my whole life, people have been like, dude, shut up.

You're so much. And, like, over time, it's just like, you find the friends that can, like, tolerate that and, like, that want to be around you. And then it's like, when we first started me and dad were wrestling at AW, he would come. And then we'd be like, dude, you want to come out on the entrance with us? He'd go, you, what? He's like, what do I do? Do I go out there and, like, raise my hands or, like, what pose should I do? And, like, I'm getting ready for the match right behind Gorilla.

and me and dad are just like, we're nervous because he's so nervous. And it's like, he would freak me out before the match. He's like, Austin, by the way, what post should I do? Like, is it this one or this one? But like seeing him develop over time, it's just like once he got in front of cameras, like you could see like he was trying to find himself and then just each match, it just like progresses. Yeah, I'm not, Austin is very center of attention.

There's the camera I'm going to. He's very entertaining. Yeah, move out of the way. He's very entertaining. That's why sitting in the center here. Yeah, exactly. And people are drawn to him and he's funny and he can like, you know, entertain everyone.

Me, I have to kind of switch it on. Warm up. It's Colton Gun. Like, I have to switch into this entertaining. But sometimes I make this joke all the time. It's like, we're both single. We go out.

And like when we're at the bar or something, like, I'm having a great time. I love entertaining people. And if there's women around, I'm just like entertaining and being funny, I'm like, dude, I have a chance. Like, this girl's super cool. Like, and I'm in the zone. And then they get tired of that. And they go, who's that mystery man?

Who's that mystery man in the corner? He has great hair, locks down to his shoulders. And he's just being like super introverted. And he looks like one half of the new age outlaws, too. Yes. Is that? Is that smoking gun? Your suspicions are correct.

You know. So you reap the reward. wards of like, they're like, this guy was, he's very handsome and he's so charismatic. He's a bit much. So, uh, yeah, dude, that's what they do. And you can say, I can tell. Dude, and I can tell their facial expressions and their demeanor just change. And I go, oh, you did it again, Austin.

You've just peddled to the metal. You can't just, you can't help just be like to be yourself. Yeah, just fed to gas. I can't, man. I'm all gas. No breaks. Oh, hashtag hardest worker in the room. You can put that right up there.

Okay. We will. Inside, all gas, no brakes. You talk about Colton finding himself as Colton Gunn. You were the MVP of Daly's Place. A hundred percent. Now I'm owning that. No, that's not even debatable.

Yeah. At first I was like, oh, well, I'm doing a good job. And then I was like, you know what? I'm going to own this one. And I get it. You know, it was a strange time for everybody. Because at first it was like no fans. Yeah.

Then it was like the handful of wrestlers and like what you guys were doing there. and you being so vocal made people that were watching the other programs go, Oh, yeah. That's how it should be. Yeah, that's the crazy thing too. It's like, other companies were like, maybe we do need a crowd. How do we get them out there? Bang on the wall.

We don't have an Austin gun. I'm surprised they didn't try to hire you. It's like, BT, Nick Jackson was like, there is no crowd. There's just Austin Gunn. And when I heard that, was like, you know what? That was like kind of true because me and dad, it started in Atlanta, the pandemic era. and we had their first show because we had, we thought we had to film in Atlanta for like the rest of the time.

At the nightmare factory. And we were like, oh my gosh. I was like, well, like it's very quiet in here. Dad, I was injured at the time.

I tore my PCL in my debut actually. So I was like recovering from that. And I was like, you know what? You want to go out there and just have some fun? Like while we're like sitting here and doing nothing. He goes, yeah,

I'll go out there with you. So I made water bottles with coins in them. I was like, dude, how can I make as much noise as possible? Just to let like our like talent and our wrestlers know that like, like you have somebody cheering for you, like fans are a crucial thing in our business.

We feed off them. We switch direction based off them and stuff like that. So I was like, well, if they can just feel a presence out there, I think it'll make them feel comfortable. So we went out there. And the opening scene to AEW that Atlanta one is a camera right in my face going,

oh, I love it here, whatever. And it was just like, people online didn't know me as a wrestler yet. And they were like, who is that annoying kid? And I just kept reading terrible comments about me.

Just like, do the tell this kid to shut up. I was like, I'm doing something right. I'm getting their attention. So then every week, I would buzz Jamie, our camera guy,

and I'd go, dude, opening scene and he would just be like this in my face. So I was like over and over and over. And then when we went to Daly's place, I just ramped it up and ramped it up. And like, my voice does not give out very often.

And I can keep it going. And there was times late at night at like 2 a.m. Seven hours of just yelling. A lot about. And I remember, was it you that walked by somebody? And somebody in our company goes, well, how hard can it be to like cheer in the crowd? And me and Colton looked at each other and went, I dare you. I dare you to do what I'm doing out there for seven straight hours like rinse and repeat.

And it's just like match after match. And then everybody in. And then we had to wrestle. Yeah. And then we would go in the back, change into our wrestling gear and then wrestle after that. Without the support. A lost and gun in the crowd. 2.30 in the morning.

And then when I went out there. there, everybody was just like, yeah. I was like, really? Really, that's how we're going to do this? I was like, I'm doing my job. Like, let me just take advantage of what I can do in the meantime while I'm injured. So that's how that came about. With you guys being a tag team and the New Age Outlaws being arguably one of the greatest

tag teams of all time. No arguing. Just how, you know, there's a big shoes to fill. How do you go out there and try to. reform your own legacy. You don't try to fill those shoes ever, ever. And that's one of the things dad always told us is like, it's like, it was never like pushed on us like you have to live up to this level. He's like, if you have fun doing this, like, if you have fun wrestling and being an entertainer and doing this business, I'll teach you everything you want to know. If you don't love it

from like inside your heart and you think you're just trying to fill these shoes that I had, it's like, get out of the business. So we still get super nervous before shows. we go out there and we just be ourselves. Like literally every match, I'm just myself. Yeah, I think if you're like, how are we going to fill the shoes in the age house? How do we be like them? You'll just think about that and you'll lose sight of who you are.

What makes you different? Yeah. So then it's just kind of we just got to, the more we're in front of a crowd, the more we find ourselves. Yeah. You know, because we even have we tagged together 10 times.

Yeah, maybe a handful or six times. But it's like every time that dad's not in the match, it's like me and him work together. and I'm like, oh, let's steal that. Like, I really liked what we did tonight in that era. We need, or in that little section of the match, we need to fix this about ourselves. Like, it's just, we're always. And you're doing it in front of a million people.

Yeah, that's the crazy thing. His story is nuts. It's like he, he didn't do the indie scene. He didn't do anything that, like, and that's why we get so much hate is like, I know people want to see like second generations put in the work and go to the indie scene and try to make a name for themselves, then get. to a company. It's like Colton literally moved back from California, took an eight-week course. At the end of the eight weeks, we were like, dude, how is he this good already? And me and dad

were like, dude, we're in trouble. We were like, dude, is he ready? I don't know. Let's have our first match. We had our first match. Dad starts crying in the ring. And then literally from that point, it's just like, we always have to take a step back and go like, dude, this is nuts. Yeah, we just wrestled like a co-weeks ago. We just wrestled FTR on dynamite. On dynamite. A year later was like my debut, I mean a year earlier. On TV, Colton is wrestling. Like, it's just a dream match for us. So it was like, looking back at those moments, it's like,

dude, this is all worth it. Like, this is awesome. Yeah. Growing up with your dad doing what he did was Brian, road dog, like an uncle to you guys? They traveled so much. So it wasn't like, we always went on the road sometimes with dad during summer when we didn't have school.

So we knew all the guys. But it was, they traveled so much when you're home for like two days. No one's really going to come over. but everyone was super friendly backstage and everything. We didn't see Road Dog as much unless we went to the shows. We saw maybe Big Show More. We saw Big Show More. He gave us our first PlayStation and Xbox for Christmas at the same time.

He's like, hey, I have a little present for you. And we were like, all right, cool. He's like, it's in my back of my trunk. And he opened the trunk. And it was an Xbox with five games. P.S., whatever it was at the PlayStation with five games. He's like, yeah. And he goes, Merry Christmas.

Christmas. We were like, Wow. Take us to shows more often. Was he like your godfather or something? He's our, I think he's the closest one to be, being like our uncle. Like, we were on a cruise,

wrestling crews one time for Disney. And me and Colton, we're getting too crowded in the adult pool. So he took us or in the, something in the cable. And there was like a captain's pool or something. It was a very private, like you had to have a membership or whatever.

And Big Show took us over there so we could have some time and kind of like have some privacy. And the cat, the boat captain came out and he goes, he goes, those kids, like started yelling at us. Those kids, you guys need to get the hell out of this pool. And Big Show was in the water. And you ever seen those workout videos where the people jump out of the water onto the like thing?

That's exactly what he did as heavy as he was. And he grabbed the captain by the collar and goes, if you ever, ever talk to them like that again, I will throw you over this boat. and I will drive us home. Wow. And then we trashed the pool because we're home. The fear in that guy's eyes. Of course, it's the big show.

Dude, I can't even imagine, especially back then. He was just, oh, wow. I would poop my pants. Seven foot 500 pounds just grabbing you there. Who were your, other than your dad, who were your guys growing up? Who were your favorite wrestlers? I mean, I have to go with Stone Cold with the rock. I mean, those are so entertaining.

It's how can you not, how can you not? They used to let us beat us, beat them up backstage. I would give the rock stunners every time I saw them. Wow. And then Stone Cold, you give him the rock bottom or do whatever you want to them. And then it was just like super cool. They were so welcome, welcoming. I also like Scotty too hotty.

Ryan Christopher, they always used to like give us their hats and spike our hair and like do all the stuff. And then when we went to the show, Rikishi would always give us push pops. Yeah. You'd always take us to get push pops. And you're what, five, six years old? Dude, every time we go, where's Rikishi, get push pops, go Scotty, Too Hottie, Brian Christopher, let him style our hair. Go scun the rock really quick. Go talk trash to stone cold.

And then we go to the merchandise guy. Then we go to the merchandise. Take us to the table and said, all right, you each get three things. He passed away. Yeah, he passed away. But every time we went there, we'd go to the merch stand and just he'd go, whatever you want. Three things each. Yeah.

So those are the little small things that we look back on and go, that was cool. Yeah. But at the time, you're just like, yeah, this is my dad's work. This isn't weird. I hate being here, but at least I get a cool stone code wallet for free. But like, looking back now, it's like, dude, that was awesome. But at what point do you realize, like, not all the other kids have a dad who has this job? Is that pretty young?

Elementary school, I think, was my first time. I think you realized that my dad doesn't have a regular job, but I don't think you realize the scope of it until... I don't know. I don't think I hit, like, wow, my dad was, like, almost a rock star. The attitude era was insane. I mean, all of your classmates are doing suck it because of your dad. Yeah. Elementary school people were like, your dad's not famous.

And then I would try to prove them wrong and be like, oh, yeah. Hey, dad, can you wait in the car line like 15 extra minutes and tell that kid like that you're famous talent? Like, I would try to prove it to people. I think I didn't realize like how much my dad's had a footprint in wrestling until I actually started. So like probably right when we had our first interview, like that was kind of the time where like when I would go and venture out on my own, people like, dude, your dad did this for me or your dad taught me this. or like, dude, I'm a learned the most about your dad when he did this. And I was like, damn. It's like, this is cool. And then when I

went to AEW and we're around him, it's like, all that stuff comes back to me. And it's like, that's what that guy was talking about. That's what he just taught me. It's like we're just sponges right now. So I like, I know it when I put out an interview with your dad, like the views are insane. And he's done so many interviews.

Yeah. But still, like he has that staying power. He means something to different people, I think, too. Yeah. And he's just like you're drawn to him when he's on camera. Oh my gosh. He's more of a camera hog than me. He is.

He tries to downplay it. He tries to downplay. Thank you for. This is the problem is like I'm the third. So like you got Austin and my dad just fighting for this camera. It's not necessarily. Well, when we're out there we're fighting, but I'm not even to try to. Yeah.

That red light goes on there. They're just hounds. Dude, you're just in the moment. What's the, I'm in front of the camera and then I feel. And dad just like. But the thing about my dad having like some star power and just having an impact, it's like me and Colton would go out there first. It's like, let me and Colton go out first so they can see us. Boo!

The whole crowd. Boo! We don't want these kids. We hate you. And then we always hear a boo right behind us and we turn around and dad just like this. Camera right here obviously. And you just live it in the moment. He still has so much fun.

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Your dad told me that, I remember I had a conversation with him as a few years ago, and he's like, if we had this conversation 15 years ago, he's like, I was a raging alcoholic, I would have been a total asshole to you. Yeah. I'm like, I don't believe it. Because he's such a nice guy. He's so nice. Yeah, he is very nice to us.

Yeah, he's not nice to us. Travel days. Come on. How is he not nice to you guys? Oh, travel days? Do you want to take us through our travel day? Please. Okay, so we wake up and then we go to the airport.

He doesn't say any. to us. I go to the Delta Club and I sit away from him. So like he's literally here in the Delta Club. I sit on the opposite side. Don't talk to each other. And then we'll go on our plane, land. Is he flying first class? And you're on the bus. Of course. And then he always makes the joke like, hey, I go what's see to you guys? I'm in like 34 C, which we know he's in 5C every single time. So and then we have our travel day, which he's miserable about like complains about everything. We land. We get the rental car. I'm driving. He's doing the directions. Can't be good enough.

He's like, dude, can you guys stop at a gas station? Dude, I need to eat right now. You need to take me to my hotel. I was like, hey,

our hotel's right here. Can we make it just a quick trip? And he goes, no, take me to my hotel, 30 minutes away and then drive back. Like, can we just do this?

He's like, you know how you fix that? Get your own car. That's his line. You know how you fix that? It's like, hey, dude, like,

this is getting a little too much. Can we like fix this? And he goes, you know how to fix that? Get your own rental car. Wow. So he has that. He's doing the power play.

How much more over are you guys now since everything with Dan Housen? We don't really talk about that guy. Yeah, we don't. This interview was going well. Wherever the camera is, is that they can't wait, right there. Edit that part out. Bleep that out because that's a curse word to us. Yes.

No pun intended. Dan Housin or ass. Or both of them. Both are. Yeah, both are curse words. Yes. And if you say them again, we're going to have a problem. Can I say As Boys?

That's literally the forbidden one, man. I think the Bible, Genesis 101, thou shall not call the gun club ass boys. Yes. And then Genesis 102 is refer back to Genesis 101. Yes. And then so long- Must have missed that part in the Bible.

All the way to Revelation. At the end of the book, it goes, revert back to Genesis 101. Every signing you're at. It's the bestseller. It's literally the most sold book in the world. It is. that reason.

Wow. Every signing you're at now are people like, can you sign this under ass boys? Yeah. And you know what we do? What do you do? No. T.

Underline, not ass boys. Every single time. Your father's Billy Ass. It's not. His name is Billy. He had a great career being called Mr. Ass.

I'll give him that. That's his last name. It's not his last name, though. It was on the back of his shorts. Yeah, but it's Billy Gun, man. That's just what it is.

Is it not Kipsop? Oh, is this a shoot interview? Are we shooting? Are we shooting? That was his name and impact, right? Kip James. That's right. Kip James.

Kip James. What's your, if we're not going DX version of your father? What's the second best version? To make fun of? Sure. I'll tell you mine. And then you guys can go. The one Billy gun.

Unbelievable. Wait, what is that? Dan, dan, dan, I got them all. Oh, so good. I remember how I've ever had like, look it all I've got. That was beautiful. That sounds like it. That was great.

Like a bad man, see. Hey, let's add some auto tune in that. Everything you wish you. Oh, you know. Have you seen, have you seen there's a Twitter account that puts that theme song to 90s sitcom openings? No. You haven't, I showed your dad this. And he's like, I can't believe this is real.

You know a professor in college, like the Mr. Ass song? Yeah. Like dissected it for class. Like lyric for lyric. Lyrics for lyric. I like to kick him. Well, what does that mean to you guys? Like, that guy actually, so I told your dad about that.

Or, you know, he told me about that. And the guy was actually like a comedian giving like a speech in front of people. Oh, was it? He ended up responding to me like, I can't believe like years later that Billy Gunn has seen this. It took years, but it finally got to him. Okay, so what is the second best iteration? I mean, the smoking guns is great because that's where you guys start. But if you go back and watch the vignettes of like Billy and Chuck,

Oh my gosh. It's just pure. They're in like the women's dressing room and they're doing like a calendar and you think it's going to be of like women and it's just a them, just like posing. They did like, yes, this is awesome. They're doing like the strip teas. I don't know. It's just so fun.

And the deep stretches. Dude, deep stretches. Just like, oh, I was like, what is going on here? But it's just entertaining. He had a sit down with us. Like when we were, I went out, I was like five. Yeah. He would be eight.

And, like, he sat us down on the kitchen table. And he was like, hey, I don't, I don't mean to alarm you guys. But this is what I'm going to be doing on TV. And this is what I'm going to be playing. Dude, we don't care. He thought it was going to be serious. And then Colton started crying. No, no, no.

I did not start crying because of that. He told us about the story. like his character and he's like I just want you guys to know this is where the character's going like yeah whatever but later I went out and uh the dog got out of the kennel and like chase the pizza guy he's it through the pizza in the air he jumped on top of his car I'm like uh so I run inside completely unrelated to me yeah that was that was not going where I thought it was I didn't know that's the reason he got but I was crying and my dad's like okay now you know oh yeah yeah yeah because he thought he was crying about the billion chuck thing I won't do it I won't do the

Billy and Chuck thing makes you this upset. I'm like, no, the dog. The dog is eating the pizza guy. Yeah. But when you're a- But when you're a kid and your dad is doing this, yeah, everyone can see us. Yeah, I like this. Yeah.

She'll be at the pool party later. Yeah. I invite her to eat some chicken tenders and fries. But when you're a-G- When you're a kid and that's the storyline on TV, aren't you like, this is really awkward for me and my friends? I was in fifth grade and the teacher I had in second grade, I'd be in like, Carline is your other dad?

What? Sometimes it's like For me personally It's like when you're talking to a new like Girl or like you're hanging around new friends And they don't know what wrestling is And I'm like yeah I had a great time tonight The whole crowd chanted ass boys and like

Like we hated it and like it was just like crazy And then they're like what? Like oh they don't know about wrestling And then you got to really go deep. Yeah, growing up, it was like whenever you had to explain what your dad did, it's like, especially during the Billy and Chuck area, it's like they would Google my dad and be like, oh, what? What is this?

This is weird. What are you guys into? And, yeah, it's just sometimes super awkward or like, it's like hard to explain what we do. Such a unique sport. I think people forget the payoff of Billion and Chuck was actually really good. Like Bischoff being the officiant at the wedding, taking a lot of, off the mask saying three minutes, three minute warning comes in. Like, I was not expecting that to happen.

What just happened here? Didn't they make like news and tabloids? Oh, they did. Wasn't that the first time in like. Yeah, they were on like USA Today. Yeah, USA Today. Good morning America. Yeah.

It was like a big movement. Well, it was going to be a gay wedding on, on Raw. Yeah. It was crazy. Big, big thing. At the time, it was just. Yeah. And then the payoff was like, you know, a wrestling storyline.

after all the Good Morning America cover. All right. So Billy and Chuck for you. What's your... I think I agree. I think the Vinay, it's a Billy and Chuck. I also love acting like Billy Gunn during smoking guns.

And just making fun of the way he moved in the ring because we are so much better than he was starting off. And he'll tell you that. I'm not just like being cocky. Dude, the way he hit the ropes and just flew through moves and just didn't care. dude, he didn't hear one person in the crowd. He was just like, yeah, yeah, headlock, all right, let's do moves.

I was just like, Billy, slow down. But, yeah, I think smoking guns is really funny when I do it in the ring and imitate him and, like, just make fun of them. What's the best piece of advice that you've got? Not from Billy Gun the wrestler, but from Billy Gun the father, whatever we're, whatever we want to. I know mine. You go first. I would just say, if you're going to do something, give it 110 percent and just don't quit, I guess. would be, you know, if you're going to do it, commit to it.

And you're living proof of that. Right. It's like the same with his wrestling career and his gym dedication. Like if you're going to do it, like, do it 110%. Don't go out there and do 70% and cheat yourself and then not be the best version of it. I was just about to say that as like it correlates to his like real life. It's just like every time I skip the gym, I skip the gym today. It's just like every time I have to utter those words, he goes, whatever.

And I just feel awful, right? It's just like he is so dedicated. and more dedicated than ever today. I think the best quote that he ever told me, I think it was like before my first match, he goes, you ready? And I go, yeah. And he goes, go out there and have fun.

It's all that matters. It's all that matters. If you're having fun, that's all that matters. Does it bother you when like you're at a signing with your dad? And they meet you guys and that's awesome. And they're like, I can't believe how jacked he is. And you're like, well, what about, but us? We're in good shape.

Every time. Sometimes they're like, oh, I didn't know you guys are this big. It's like, yeah, we got to stand next to this Greek statue every time. Dan next to Shrek every time we have a match. It's just unbelievable. He is, like I said, he's so dedicated now. He's huge. And locked in, dude.

He does not miss a meal. He doesn't go astray unless he wants to. And it's just, it's crazy. And he's in the best shape of his life. And they come up to us. He's so big, man. Yeah, man. Cool, dude.

He's the tall one. So imagine how I feel. I'm 5.11. And I'm just like sitting there next. I feel like, I'm feeling good about my. and then Colton stands next to me during the signing and then dad is just over here and just like budding me out of the way. It's just it's a little, why didn't you get the height? What happened? I don't know. Why not mom? Thanks a lot. No, I got my mom's hide, I guess. I don't know.

Yeah. You got, you can't bless this body. If I had everything, you know how unbearable I would be. You know, you know who I was tall? You know who had it all? If I had a good set of it. If I had a good set of hair, like, I don't know. And I don't. And I don't. And I was tall. You know, if I was tall. You know, I was six four. I would literally text you and go, I'm not coming to the interview. You don't deserve it. You wouldn't be able to rap then.

Something would have to give. Yeah. There has to be some flaw, right? And mine just happens to be my hype. Are you still? Are you recording new music? I've been slacking to be honest.

Sometimes I like go in these stages where I like, I love music and I want to write and freestyle every chance I get. Then sometimes I'm so focused on wrestling that it's just like, I just, I literally, I don't want to say I don't have time for it. That's just me being lazy, but it's like, if my heart's not in it at that time, I don't want to force lyrics or like come up with something. Yeah. Well, but I love, I love the quote.

It's, you know, the man who chases two rabbits catches none. And the idea is that if you aren't all in on wrestling or music, you're only going to be kind of good at both. You're going to be half. Don't do it. Anas sing it. Yeah That'll work

Good job Dad Dad also I felt like I felt like some tension and some pushback when I first started wrestling and I needed to be

100% into it and I was that was at the time where I was so dedicated about music too So like when I would Go to the studio He'd be like Hey what are you doing

Are you meet me for the gym And I was like No I'm at the studio And he And like I felt that I was like damn I'm not Dubo And then over time

It's like no at that time I needed to be 100% about wrestling. Now I can kind of prioritize it and kind of do both kind of. But that's why I've been slack and it's just like I want, we're getting into a groove now. So I want to just dive into our wrestling career and make sure, because that's, that pays the bills. Yeah. Who is the dream match? Doesn't need to be someone who's wrestling right now, but you already had it. Yeah. It's FTR. Yeah. What about a tag team who's maybe retired or something like that? And you can't say

the new age outlaws. That would be awesome. Of course. course it would be awesome. Yeah, if we could wrestle them. Actually, no, because dad hits really hard. Yeah, he does. He beat the crap out of us in practice one day. Yeah. We were like, hey, I was like, hey, me and Cole are going to wrestle this, this new kid that we want to like help get better. And dad was like, hey, maybe maybe I'll jump in and be his tag team partner. You're like, all right, cool. Yeah, whatever. What you? Bang, bang, bang, whatever. Whatever. It's like, cool. Literally. Mind you, this is in a warehouse. Warehouse. With three people. Sean Spears. Tyler Brees. Yeah. And like two students.

Yeah, two students. Just watching in a warehouse. And when that guy tagged my dad, it literally, I don't know, I don't know if his pupils just went, and just like,

I don't know, he turned into a machine. You could feel it right when he hit, I was like, oh, I was coming in like this. I was like, oh,

is he going to hit me? And he was just coming in like this. Boom. It hits me right in the nose. And I went, oh my gosh, I'm getting up coming back at him. Boom.

right in the head again. I went, dude, or do you realize you're doing this? And he goes, sorry, guys, I get a little jacked up in there. And I go, dude, my nose is bleeding. And I'm like, did you not realize what you just did? And he goes, no, I kind of blacked out. Dude, I got the tag and I blacked out. Punching.

I look at Colton. As I'm running at Dad, I feel like I turn to Colton and he goes, no. Boom, and just cracked us. Yeah, he was killing us. He was killing us. Psychopath. Yeah. What's the one-year goal for the Gun Club?

What would you say, what do you guys want to do? If we sat back down here next double or nothing, what would you have wanted to accomplish in this time? I would say, fight for the tag team titles on a pay-per-view or defend them or win them. Like in the next year would be, that's the ultimate goal for me, at least,

is to win the tag titles with Austin. That would be. And if it can happen within a year, which I don't see why not. And then who's turning on who here? Oh, never. Never. Yeah, never.

Yeah, of course. We can't do that. I never have. I always tease that I want to hit dad with a chair one day. I don't have to turn off. I don't have to turn off. I just want to hit him with the chair. He goes, you're not doing that.

So like everything we like try to go into like wrestling wise, it's like, hey, we want to work with these people and like fight them. And then at the end, what if I get you over the head with a chair? Like, I always sneak it in there. It goes, I always get him like really dialed in. I'm like, hey, what if we take it this way? And they mean, Colton, like, do this, do this. And then right at the end, hold on, you got me, Billy? Right at the end, I take a chair and whack you over the head.

It's just like, throws his hands up and just shakes his head. You're not doing that. We are not doing it. Well, sorry to pull away from the big pool party. I hope that you can go back there and eat some more chicken tenders. Oh, the party finds me every time. Well, the gun club brings the party. That is true.

That's, yes. That's true. Thank you guys so much for coming by. And I end every conversation with the same question. So I'm all about gratitude. I start and end every day. Talking about gratitude. Downer.

No, this is great. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now, Austin? Three, huh? Three. I think the freedom to be able to do a job that I absolutely love. I think I'm grateful for having a sibling that also wants to take this career path and share that moment with him. I think that's super rare, especially in wrestling. But this is just like, you don't know what it's like until you're in there.

And you're just like, dude, this is my brother, not just some like random person I was paired up with. Yeah, yeah. Another thing I'm grateful for, I think just extending off that is like being able to wrestle with my dad. I think being able to absorb knowledge and just be a sponge at 24-7 by one of the best teachers and like workers to ever do it. Yep. that he doesn't get credit for for some reason. I think it's just like being able to do that and be around my family and enjoy this job and do what I love to do.

And dude, I'm in Vegas. I get to come here and have an interview with you and then go eat chicken fingers and fries. And then tomorrow I get to go wrestle. Yeah. And it's just like I'm doing everything that I love to do and I have freedom to do it and I'm healthy and I'm just having a great time. I love it.

Colton? I'm going to be very cliche with this, I think. I think I'm just going to say, Just that like I'm healthy. My family is healthy. You know, we're, you know, this sounds. But like everyone has a roof over their head. Yeah, struggling, you know, health-wise, stuff like that.

And then as Austin said, just that I have a job that I love and friends and family that I love. Yeah. And like he just said, we're in Vegas. And then we're going to L.A. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they were going to L.A. And then we're wherever we go. Ontario after that.

It's Ontario, California on Friday. Yeah. Yeah. So it's crazy. It's a world win. Yeah. We have spots all over Cal. What about the dream match of these brothers versus the Uso's?

So we always talk about that, I think, for some reason. Our first one that was available to us was DeVon's kids. Yep. Team 3D. That was awesome. They were super cool. I went to their school and I trained there. So like being there and being like, dude, this is crazy.

We used to like wrestle each other. when you're super little. And having that was cool. I think the Uso's is just like, I think that's just top tier. I think that's the next one. Yeah, and it's also like a, it's like a full circle moment

because when my dad first started smoking guns, Rikishi was the one that helped him the most. They literally ran house shows for a year straight. And then he trained you. I went to his class once. Dude, don't let edit that part out.

Dad's going to be. He's going to take credit for that. It's all stink faces all the time. Yeah, that's it. That's the only movie learned. Lock up and stink face. All right, back to the full party. Back to the chicken tenders.

Guys, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Now this is interview number two. No. Imagine in 10 years when it's interview number three. Ten years? Yeah. I'm kind of a big deal.

Well, I know. This is the last time literally. This guy is a reality. I'm a reality star. That's true. A professional artist when it comes to singing, rapping. I'm a wrestler.

Philanthropist. Philanthropist. Fashionista. A entrepreneur. I'm good at drawing I'm good at drawing. I'm sorry you've been trying to end this interview and he's just going to keep going.

I love to party. You can cut this anytime you want. I think we have to do the closing statements. I don't think this is just like a running down list. I thought that would be funny like you guys just fade out with me just naming things like that. I think we'll end it right. There.

Boom. Anyways, as I'll say. Well, there we go. Austin and Colton. Don't call him the ass boys. Gun. The Gun Club. Road Dog said it recently that they're going to be huge stars and I think it's really hard to disagree with him. And the great thing about Austin and Colton is they are just getting started. And I think we're going to see a lot from them in the next 12 to 24 to 36 months.

For sure. Hope you enjoyed this podcast. Please, if you did like this, give a listen to one of our other 350 plus episodes and make sure that you're following or something. subscribing on whatever app it is that you're listening on right now. And take a screenshot, share it on social media, make sure to tag the Colton Gun, the Austin Gun, and me at Chris Van Vlead, so we can share it out as well. And I'll leave you with the words of Winston Churchill. This is such a great quote. And I think it really helps to put things in perspective. The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. That's so good. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one tomorrow with Jeff Goldblum.

Oh yeah. For some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987, Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them?

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