It ain't easy being cheesy: the campy platinum blondes explain their improbable climb to the top of the WWE tag-team ranks - Interview: Billy & Chuck - Interview - Brief Article

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT THE '80s are back. This year Fox brought us "That '80s Show" on TV. Among the acts touting this summer are Poison, Simple Minds, and David Lee Roth with Sammy Hagar. And a certain bombastic and balding wrestler recently found himself the champion of the WWE (the former WWF).

Also riding the '80s nostalgia craze are the WWE's resident cheeseballs Billy and Chuck. Chuck Palumbo and Billy Gunn each have had varying degrees of tag-team success in the past, but ever since the "E" put the duo together earlier this year it's been a match made in heaven. The duo won the WWE tag-team championship on February 19 in Rockford, Ill., and at presstime were still the champs. They even defended their title at the this year's WrestleMania.

After winning the title, Billy and Chuck became ever, er, closer. And the fans loved it. Their entrance, one of the most appropriate in the WWE, constantly draws some of the biggest heel reactions of the night. And that doesn't bother Billy or Chuck. After struggling as singles for some time, they're back on TV, back in the spotlight, and doing a lot of back-to-back posing.

Recently, we took some time to talk headbands, hair spray, bathrobes, and the mat game with the improbably popular tag-teamers.

WRESTLING DIGEST: When you guys were first put together, it seemed like an odd mix. Did either of you have reservations about the teaming?

BILLY GUNN: When we first brought the WCW guys in, that was really the first time I ever got to see what Chuck could do. We had some similar moves, similar style. I had been doing various things, so I was very acceptable to doing something different. We actually came up with the idea since both of us weren't getting a lot of television time. We approached some people, and they thought it was a good idea.

CHUCK PALUMBO: I thought it was a good idea. I was still trying to feel my way around after being picked up after the WWE bought WCW. I was happy Billy would want to do something with me.

WD: How much did you guys know about one another before WWE's purchase of WCW?

BG: Because of our schedule, I didn't get to watch much of WCW's show. I really hadn't seen Chuck before he came to the WWE. I knew he was a former WCW tag champion, was a great athlete, and was a young guy willing to learn. He listens and is always coming up with new things to do. I was really impressed watching him, but I didn't know anything about him, honestly, before he came here.

CP: Of course, I had seen Billy on TV with The New Age Outlaws. They were on top for so long and did so much for tag teams. I always tried to watch "RAW," so I was very familiar with his stuff in the ring even though I had never met him.

WD: What made you guys think this is going to work? And, when you first started, did you sometimes get the sense that the crowd looked at Chuck like "Who is this guy with Billy Gunn?"

CP: I was on TV a little bit before we got together, so the crowd isn't completely unfamiliar with me. Actually, it's pretty amazing to us the recognition we get from the fans. Even though we've had very little TV time to this point, when we come out the crowd just comes unglued.

BG: I don't feel like that at all. I've been a WWE tag champ 10 times now, and the New Age Outlaws were some good times and were a great team. But it had run its course. It was time for me to move on. Road Dogg and I had a great run, and I hope Chuck and I have the same kind of run. I'm not going to say that having that recognition from the fans from those days doesn't help because it does. Hopefully, that only helps me and Chuck.

WD: Billy, you've been in the WWE a long time. What were you able to offer to Chuck early in the teaming to help him ease into the WWE environment?

BG: I've been here nine years, so I've seen a lot of good things. Basically, I've told him to always want to learn and listen. He's done that so far.

WD: Billy, you've won 10 tag-team titles. Chuck, you've been a WCW tag champion. What did it mean to become the undisputed tag-team champions?

BG: Winning the belts meant a lot us because it established us as a team that's going to be around awhile. We know the tag team division is a little down right now. There's a lot being done to rekindle the fires. But I look at us holding the belts during this sort of transition time as a compliment. We're the ones that, I don't want to say entrusted, but are being asked to carry the load and we're appreciative of that.

CP: It meant a lot to me because it meant I had arrived here. Billy's fight in that it's a transition time for our division and we're happy to play our roles. But winning the titles and having held them as long as we have really did mean a lot to me.

WD: What do you guys think about your overall gimmick? At first, you didn't really have a gimmick and now there's the cheesy gimmick, complete with bathrobes, calendars, a hair stylist, etc. Any reservations?

BG: None at all. The fans seem to like it and it gets us on TV and gets us known a little more to the fans. No reservations whatsoever.

CP: I'm a pretty cheesy guy anyway. It's just an extension of my personality. And now we've added our manager Rico, which just makes it even better. The fans react to him and he really adds a lot to us as a team. Even if we did have some reservations at first or thought people might look at us as sort of strange, it's definitely worked out. Now, the cheesier, the better. That seems to work pretty well. Plus, how many other guys have their own calendars.

WD: How many other guys get to do cheesy dances down the aisle?

CP: Not many. Not many. Once again, for the record, just doing that for the fans.

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