WWE Fires Billy Gunn

Monty Kipp Sopp, better known to wrestling fans as Billy Gunn, was fired Friday by WWE. He had been working as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Sopp, who turned 52-years-old on Nov. 1, was fired for testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone at a powerlifting competition in Florida on July 25, 2015. His drug test came up with a 37-1 testosterone/epitestosterone ratio, well above the 4-1 limit, and he was suspended from the sport for four years.

Following an eight-year hiatus, Sopp returned to WWE in 2012 to work as a trainer and producer. He had a New Age Outlaws nostalgia run alongside Road Dogg in early 2014, which culminated with a WWE Tag Team Championship victory at that year’s Royal Rumble.

More recently, he appeared on television as a trainer on Breaking Ground and Tough Enough. He also did occasional run-ins at the end of some non-televised NXT events with he and the babyface wrestlers ending shows doing DX crotch chops.

Until a few weeks ago, WWE officials were not aware that Sopp was competing in powerlifting, nor his suspension from the sport.