It's reigning men!

It's reigning men!

When it comes to Billy & Chuck, one can only paraphrase that famous line in Brokeback Mountain: we wish we knew how to quit them. Throughout 2002, WWE fans believed this touchy-feely tandem were looking for love in all the wrong places—most notably, inside the wrestling ring—but there was so much more to WWE.com's No. 4 Whoa-mance.

From the instant the Superstar formerly known as "Mr. Ass" hooked up with Chuck, they were tight; uncomfortably so. Wearing matching headbands and fire-red ring gear (and on at least one occasion, matching thongs), their entrance theme suggested that they looked so good to each other, even though most WWE fans didn't concur. It was also evident that Billy & Chuck had no problem expressing their desire to be as one in the squared circle. They'd grunt and groan through the most rigorous of stretching exercises; pat each other's back(side) for a job well done; give each other boxes of chocolates for Valentine's Day (Chuck's contained a steel plate, leaving a bad taste across the mouth of APA member Faarooq); and sign up for posedown competitions with WWE Divas.

That said, there was nothing ambiguous about Billy & Chuck's aspirations to be on top—of WWE's World Tag Team division, that is. By their two-month anniversary, they had already adorned themselves in World Tag Team gold, with each praising the other's sparkling personality, beautiful physique and fun-loving attitude for making their first time together—as champions—so special. To further ensure peak conditioning, they'd enlist the services of "personal stylist" Rico, who from ringside made them a flamboyant threesome that got off on tangling with other WWE Superstars.

Billy & Chuck would enjoy their second and final go-round as World Tag Team Champions that summer before losing to Hulk Hogan & Edge in July. Yet the true nature of their relationship wouldn't come to a head until early September. It was at that time when Chuck dug into his tights and pulled out the love for all to see: a small box containing an engagement ring. Going down on one knee, Chuck proposed a lifetime partnership, to which a joyous Billy answered with a resounding "yes." The buildup to their public "commitment ceremony" on SmackDown would result in a mass media circus, with the happy couple featured prominently on The Today Show and ESPN, plus in elite publications like Variety and The New York Times.

Come the big day, however, after happily strutting down the aisle to "It's Raining Men," both Billy and Chuck got cold feet. Halting the ceremony moments before they were officially pronounced husband and…husband, Billy admitted that neither of them were gay (emphasizing that even if he was, he wouldn't marry Chuck), and that the whole affair was a publicity stunt cooked up by their wedding planner, Rico. What they didn't realize was that Rico had secretly conspired with then-Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff, who used the worldwide-publicized event to establish the Raw brand's dominance in sports-entertainment and embarrass SmackDown GM Stephanie McMahon.

"Manning up" from the incident, Billy & Chuck would gain some measure of revenge against Bischoff and their former stylist, though life for them was never the same. Injuries and other setbacks eventually caused the duo to part ways by year's end, and ultimately ended Billy & Chuck's story not with a bang, but a whimper.

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