Former WWE star Rico Constantino has opened up about his surprise All Elite Wrestling appearance earlier this year alongside Billy Gunn, revealing that the segment fans ultimately saw on AEW Dynamite was very different from the idea he originally pitched.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Constantino discussed his March 2026 appearance on AEW Dynamite, which marked his first appearance on a major U.S. wrestling broadcast in more than two decades. The segment referenced the memorable Billy and Chuck storyline from WWE in the early 2000s and played as a nostalgic reunion for longtime fans.
However, Constantino admitted he felt the story could have connected more clearly with modern audiences if AEW had used a pre-taped package to provide context.
“Oh yeah, I just wish we could have told a story in the pre-tape, because people weren’t really getting it, because the crowd had changed over 20 years.”
Constantino also revealed that Gunn improvised much of the live promo segment himself, including the references to their infamous Billy and Chuck wedding storyline from WWE.
“Billy just off the cuff went down, and he cut a promo off top of his head, saying, ‘I know you’re the guy that almost made me marry Chuck, you know. So then maybe brought some stuff back, and we did the match, and Billy got his revenge at the end, you know, I interfered with the match and stuff like that, and then Billy snuck up behind me, and all of a sudden you saw the match, and, uh, oh, I know this face, I know that ass. Oh, turn around, no, Billy, no.””
According to Constantino, the version of the story he envisioned behind the scenes was ultimately rejected.
“I told you off camera what I thought of, and it was shot down.”
The Billy and Chuck wedding segment remains one of the most talked-about storylines from the closing years of WWE’s Attitude Era. The angle culminated in September 2002 with what appeared to be an on-screen wedding ceremony between Billy and Chuck, only for Eric Bischoff to be revealed as the officiant before the segment descended into chaos when Chuck backed out of the wedding and Three Minute Warning stormed the ceremony.
Constantino noted that WWE went to extreme lengths to preserve the surprise at the time, believing the angle would have had an even greater impact had it aired live instead of being taped days earlier.
“If that had been on Raw, that’d have been one of the best K-fabs ever. It’s that we taped it on Tuesday, dirt sheets got it, and it showed Thursday. So, if it was live, because the whole wedding party clan K-fabed everybody, even Vince, K-fab, everybody brought Eric Bischoff to the arena in his limo, all dressed up as the minister. And Vince, in catering, Vince was giving Eric, he was bringing Eric’s lunch to introduce him as the minister to everybody.”
Constantino added that Bischoff fully committed to the role backstage before the segment aired.
“I watched him walk around, had the Bible in one hand and shake people’s hands like this. He was great.”
He also jokingly called out Bischoff for recently revisiting the storyline in another interview without mentioning him by name.
“I just heard that he did an interview about the wedding again, and he’s always put the whole thing over and mentioned me. This time, he didn’t mention me at the wedding, and in his latest interview. I was wondering about ‘what’s up, Eric?’ Tell me that you didn’t say that you didn’t mention me. I thought we were tight.”
While brief, Constantino’s AEW appearance generated significant nostalgia among longtime wrestling fans and served as another reminder of how memorable the Billy and Chuck era remains more than 20 years later.
