Jay White’s AEW booking is so bad that he got his ass beat by 60-year-old Billy Gunn

Jay White became All Elite on April 5 of last year, so he just wrapped up his first full year in AEW on last night’s (Apr. 3) episode of Dynamite. And holy crap, I think his match with Billy Gunn may very well be one of the worst or most baffling segments in the history of the show.

White was protected from taking pin falls in AEW for most of 2023, and that booking led him to the main event of November’s Full Gear pay-per-view against MJF. Around that time, there was a rumor that White wasn’t thrilled with his booking at that event, perhaps because he lost to a wrestler who only had one good leg.

Things have only gotten worse for White since then. By March 2024, he was part of the Bang Bang Scissor Gang comedy group and working pre-show duty on the Revolution pay-per-view.

That brings me back to last night’s Dynamite, where White had a singles match against 60-year-old “Daddy Ass” Billy Gunn. On a recent episode of Collision, Billy said this match would show everyone how good Jay really is:

“...he’s gonna lose next week. You see because next week on Dynamite, it’s Jay White against Billy Gunn. And then we’re gonna see how good you really are.”

So, how good did Jay White turn out to be? Well, based on what happened in kayfabe, the guy is a total fraud in the ring. Billy Gunn completely dominated him for 10+ minutes and then won the match by disqualification. If you didn’t see the match or think what I’m saying is hyperbole, here are some timestamps I recorded of notable points of the fight along with the AEW commentators explaining the story of the match in their own words:

• 0:00 - Billy Gunn attacks Jay White during his entrance
• 1:15 - The bell rings to officially begin the match
• 4:24 - “Billy Gunn just continuing to trounce Jay White.”
• 5:09 - “That might be the opening that Jay needs...that was his first offensive move.”
• 9:24 - “Switchblade Jay White just trying to survive this onslaught...”
• 9:33 - “Billy, maybe his first misstep of the match...Jay White picking up the pace. Getting his first real offense of the match.”
• 12:37 - “Colten and Austin Gunn, Billy’s sons, are pleading for mercy.”
• 12:56 - The bell rings and Billy wins the match by disqualification
• 13:43 - “Jay White trying to make a hasty retreat but he tripped. Oh man, The Acclaimed is all over Jay White.”
• 15:07 - “They just saved the life of Jay White, is what The Gunns did.”

As you can see, the commentators tell the story of a one-sided massacre that went on for 15 minutes. if you count the pre-match and post-match angles. White didn’t get “his first real offense” of the fight until nearly 10 minutes in. Billy’s sons begged their father to have mercy on the guy, and the Ass Boys then had to “save the life of Jay White” during a post-match beatdown.

In kayfabe, the idea is that Billy was extra motivated and pissed off in this match due to White invading his home last week. But did that really warrant a 15 minute segment where White looked like a total jabroni who can’t hang with a 60-year-old guy who mostly sticks to trios matches these days (and isn’t exactly booked like Sting)? Yikes. I don’t know who Jay White pissed off backstage in AEW, but this booking is about as bad as it gets for someone who has previously main evented a pay-per-view card.

What did you think of Billy Gunn’s extended massacre of Jay White on Dynamite? Let me know in the comments below, Cagesiders.