Gunner heard TNA might put its world championship on him—and thought his fight with James Storm was taking him closer to that moment. Instead, the push faded, the title talk stopped, and he was left wondering what happened to the opportunity he thought was coming.
Speaking with Ben Veal on Wrestling Life, the former TNA star, later known as Jaxson Ryker in WWE, revisited the stretch when he believed the company was building him for the top spot. Veal brought up his world title match against Magnus in Manchester and asked whether there had been discussions about eventually giving him the championship.
Gunner said there had been talk, but he knew that particular match would not be his crowning moment. The message he remembered hearing was that TNA wanted to build him before making that move.
“And then we we we talk about the world title. So there was talks as I was going through AJ and Ken and Sting and these guys they were allowing me to get a victory over. Um we started this big run with you know Magnus and I and I knew that I wasn’t going to win the title that night in Manchester but there was I I remember hearing hey they may want to put the title on you. They’re just trying to kind of build you right now.”
James Storm costing him that match gave Gunner another major storyline to sink his teeth into. As Gunner understood it, their feud was supposed to help establish him for a future run at the heavyweight championship.
“So Storm and I started our big feud after he super kicked me and I lost the title or lost the match. And that big feud was really what I was understanding at the time was to build me to go on and pursue the heavyweight title. Um I don’t know what happened there.”
Gunner still speaks highly of the Storm program itself. He believes TNA gave them something wrestlers do not always get: time to develop the rivalry instead of racing to its finish.
“I’ll be biased here and say that that was probably the best feud of that year because they allowed Storm and I to take reigns of this and go, let’s not rush this. And they didn’t. And for six months, we built this feud up to this I quit match.”
But the feud did not lead to the next step he expected. Gunner recalled being regularly featured alongside Samuel Shaw in 2014, only to find himself in a dramatically reduced position the following year, describing a battle royal appearance in England that ended with him being eliminated in about 30 seconds. He placed that shift during a period of management changes, while making clear he did not know who was responsible for his lost momentum. Looking back, he compared it to another frustrating stretch later in his WWE career.
“It’s like the story of my career, dude.”
He pointed to his WWE feud with Elias as another example of a substantial program being followed by a slide down the card. Returning to the Storm feud, he said the direction simply faded away.
“I don’t know but after the James Storm thing it just kind of started to fall on the wayside.”
Veal then asked whether being seen as a Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff guy could have worked against him when the people in charge changed. Gunner said he had never heard that explanation directly, although both men had supported him.
“I never heard that but I do know they were always cool with me.”
He recalled Hogan giving him advice about his facial expressions and presentation. While he wondered whether the change in leadership affected his standing, he presented that as a possibility rather than an answer he had received.
“Hogan was always talking to me about my facials like keep that. That’s money. You know wrestling’s big on camera angle facials and stuff like that. And maybe it was, man, maybe it was one of those things where Hogan and Bishoff were so behind me. And then when that regime changed, they came in and started going, ‘No, we’re going to focus more on this here.’”
The frustration eventually boiled over before his June 2015 TNA release. Gunner said a canceled match prompted him to confront management about being underused, but the conversation did not give him the explanation he wanted.
“I think you guys are underutilizing my talent and and I don’t appreciate it.”
He said he received his release call about a week later, without claiming the confrontation caused the decision. Looking back at the bigger picture, he returned to the same unanswered question about the world title.
“I had a fun run, but there were talks about the heavyweight title and then like I said after that storm feud, it just kind of started to fade away.”
Gunner eventually moved on to WWE before retiring from in-ring competition in August 2023 and leaving his boots in the ring. The TNA championship opportunity he remembers discussing never became a title reign.
Gunner isn’t claiming TNA handed him a date for a coronation. He’s saying the possibility was discussed, he believed the Storm feud was building toward it, and then the whole thing fizzled without an explanation—a brutal finish to a push that once had him thinking about the company’s biggest prize.
What do you think TNA should have done with Gunner after his feud with James Storm? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
