While megastars like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock dominated the singles scene, one of the most popular acts in WWE’s Attitude Era resided in the tag team division. “Road Dogg” Jesse James and “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn were united as The New Age Outlaws, who were ridiculously over with crowds thanks to their association with the stable D-Generation X as well as their shout-along ring entrance spiel, as delivered by Road Dogg himself.
Given that they were such a popular fixture of WWE’s most lucrative period, let’s take a look at the career of the two as a duo, which ran from 1997 all the way to 2015 — albeit with some gaps.
9 Before They Were Outlaws
Before forming a team, the future Outlaws were two separate stars, united in the fact that they were both adrift in WWE. The son of “Bullet Bob” Armstrong, Road Dogg started out as “The Roadie,” a henchman of country music heel Jeff Jarrett and subsequently took his place as Jesse James (or Jammes with two Ms), “The Real Double J.” Billy Gunn, on the other hand, was originally part of a tag team called The Smoking Gunns and already a three-time tag team champion, but then found himself repackaged as Honky Tonk Man’s protege, Rockabilly.
8 Formed After A Feud
Given that they both had musical gimmicks, eventually someone in WWE had the wise idea that James and Rockabilly should feud. The angle involved James violently rejecting Honky Tonk Man’s offer to become James’ manager, leading to a conflict between James and Rockabilly. After several singles clashes, Rockabilly would experience a number of losses on the undercard, which proved to be enough for James to convince him to team up instead. As a result, Rockabilly smashed a guitar over Honky’s head and formed a tag team with his former rival.
7 The Origin Of Their Name
The newly christened Road Dogg and Billy Gunn formed their as-yet unnamed tag team in October of 1997, and by the end of November they would defeat the Legion of Doom for the World Tag Team Championship. However, their victory would hardly be clean thanks to strategic use of a steel chair and subsequent roll-up pin.
As the new champions sped off in a getaway car with their ill-gotten gains, commentary compared the duo to escaping bank robbers. Soon enough, the duo would be officially named The New Age Outlaws.
6 Joining DX
While the Outlaws were firmly established as heels, and even beat down Legion of Doom alongside D-Generation X on an episode of Raw, they didn’t actually join the group until 1998. In fact, it happened on the Raw following WrestleMania 14 as DX Triple H and X-Pac helped Road Dogg and Billy Gunn win back their Tag Title after losing them to Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) in a “Dumpster Match” the previous night.
5 Their First Break-Up(s)
Eventually, D-Generation X would become babyfaces, and the Outlaws along with them, but as 1999 went on the duo began to branch out into singles competition. Gunn eventually turned heel on Dogg and DX broke up, but both the tag team and the stable would reform later that year. Unfortunately, Billy Gunn would sustain an arm injury in the ring, and would be written off television via getting kicked out of D-Generation X. The New Age Outlaws would not reunite again in this period, as Road Dogg would be released from WWE in 2001, followed by Gunn in 2004.
4 Six-Time WWE Tag Team Champions
As established, The New Age Outlaws proved to be a popular act with WWE crowds, so of course they ended up becoming tag team champions — six times, in fact, over the course of their time as active in-ring competitors in WWE. During their initial run in the Attitude Era, the Outlaws would enjoy five title reigns, followed by the sixth in the 2010s.
Of their various runs, the longest reign would be their first, lasting 125 days, while the shortest would be only 21 days as they were in a feud where they traded the belts with Mankind and The Rock.
3 Reuniting In Impact
Following his 2001 WWE release, Road Dogg would join up with Impact Wrestling (then known as TNA) the following year as B.G. James. There, he’d find success teaming with Konnan and the future R-Truth, Ron Killings, as a faction called 3 Live Kru. Billy Gunn would follow, debuting in 2005 as The New Age Outlaw — later shortened to The Outlaw before straight up changing his ring name to “Kip James.” Initially, the former Road Dogg and Billy Gunn were at odds with one another, but eventually became part of 3Live Kru.
2 Teaming In Impact
Following a betrayal at the hands of Konnan and the subsequent breakup of 3LK, Kip James and B.G. James formed a tag team once again as The James Gang. After feuds with LAX and Team 3D, the duo changed their gimmick, delivering “shoot” promos and declaring war on WWE, particularly the revised DX with Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Renamed Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM — the initials of WWE boss Vince McMahon) the duo regularly called out their cross-company rivals and shot footage outside of WWE shows. This run once again ended with Billy Gunn turning on Road Dogg, and the two never held tag team gold in Impact.
1 Reunited In WWE
In 2012, The New Age Outlaws made their first appearance in WWE as a duo since the year 2000 in a DX nostalgia segment on the 1,000th episode of Raw. House show matches followed in 2013, and suddenly, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn were back to being regular parts of the tag team division, turning heel and defeating Cody Rhodes and Goldust for the Tag Team Championship. The Outlaws would eventually drop the belts to the Usos and get obliterated by The Shield at WrestleMania 30, but in 2015 they wrestled their last match to date, losing to The Ascension at Royal Rumble.