Luke Gallows Talks TNA Departure, Recent Releases, Potential WWE Return, CM Punk, Bill DeMott, More

Total Wrestling Show recently interviewed Luke Gallows, f.k.a. DOC in TNA. The show airs live every Sunday and Wednesday at 7pm GMT / 2pm ET. Here are some highlights from the interview:

His TNA departure: "My contract expired July 12th and we were in negotiations for a new contract. What happened was strictly a business decision on my behalf and on TNA's behalf I think. I have no hard feelings towards them. I wish them the very best going forward. It was just that at this point in time we could not get together on something that we both thought was fair for both sides so I moved on, they're moving on. It is what it is and we may see each other down the line.

"It all kind of came to play the same week that we were hearing about of these releases so there was a little bit of controversy surrounding that I guess, for that reason. It is what it is."

The recent TNA releases, and if he had any idea they were coming: "You know, this is wrestling. Wrestling is a business where people get hired, people get fired, people come and people go and people come back again. That's just kind of the nature of the beast so whatever's going on there; if they're restructuring the company budget wise or whatever it may be. It's always initially a shock but in Wrestling these things happen. That's something I tell young guys all the time, 'when you come in, you're gonna get fired. You just continue on.' In this case I kinda left and it is what it is. It's just the way that the wheels spin sometimes. I wish everybody there all the best. I had a lot of great friends there, the same as I did in WWE. I hope everyone lands on their feet and comes out OK that's not with the company anymore."

The transition from WWE to TNA: "It wasn't really a transition at all because I had been working overseas independently for almost a year and a half when I took that TNA deal. I had been overseas and working in Japan. Probably 15 different countries on my own working independently. Then I did Ring Ka King in India. That's when the heavy TNA talks came about. I portrayed an Outlaw Biker Character there which is of course my real personality anyway and TNA saw it, knew where they were going with the Aces & Eights thing and figured that I would be a nice fit. I'm glad that I went in there and took that role for the year that I did. It's sad that the fans won't get to see how that was all going to turn out but again that's just how things go."

If he preferred working as Luke Gallows or Festus in WWE: "I mean, they both had their pros & cons but I had fun doing both. The Straight Edge Society came with obviously more high profile. Jesse & Festus is something fans ask me about all the time because Festus is a character which, in a lot of ways, has been missing from Wrestling for a long time. People remember the guy that went crazy when the bell rang. I think that's kind of neat. A lot of fans will come up and think that that was like a negative point in my career but I really enjoyed doing it and I think that, for its little place in history, it worked at that point in time."

Working with CM Punk and if the Straight Edge Society ended too quickly: "Yeah. Punk's said this publicly too. Everybody thought there were more legs in it but the fact is the group ended at Summerslam 2010 when we wrestled the Big Show because Joey Mercury tore his pec and he was going to be out of action. Serena got, whatever happened there, personal reasons or whatever, gets fired 3 days later. Then it basically fell apart from there for us. They wanted to move Punk to Raw so we ran into a wall at that PPV. I think it's unfortunate."

If the door is open for a WWE return: "I don't think that that door ever really closes as long as you haven't done something heinous. Yeah I would be open for a return in the future. Either place. I'm 29. I feel like I'm really coming into my prime as a Performers and I look forward to what lays ahead. Wherever it's going to be. It's going to be very fun, very exciting. The best is yet to come."

Training under Bill DeMott and the recent allegations against him: "He's old school. I was with Bill DeMott from the day Deep South opened until the day that it closed. I guess you could say that I'm a Bill DeMott guy. I went in there at 21 years old. Off the independents for a couple of years, very green and Jody had told Bill to make me quit. We would go in there and we would squat and bump. I would do 500-1000 squats a day & run 2 miles. Bill would make me do all of these things and then when they saw that I had heart and I had guts and that I deserved to be there, they really nurtured me and took me under their wing. I do think that sometimes in the past, in recent years, it's been too easy for guys. The sexual harassment thing, the allegations, seem like complete rubbish to me. I don't believe any of that. I think that those are people who are weak and they don't want to work hard. I'm more thankful for things that I have got and received from Wrestling than I would have been if it had just been handed to me coming in. I still have that old school perspective. If people disagree with that then so be it."

His career highlight: "I guess if it were one singular thing it would be when I main evented Smackdown against The Undertaker. Being 24 years and being able to pull off that match. I was really proud of that. There were so many things after that. Being a part of Wrestlemania. Working with Rey Mysterio in Mexico. Just a lot of different things. Going to Budokan Hall for the first time in Japan. Wrestling Sting on PPV. There's just a lot of stuff that were really cool things for me that I'll always remember. Like I said, I really think the best is yet to come. My prime years are ahead of me so there's going to be a lot more of that stuff."

His future: "I think the possibilities are endless. There are different things and places on the table. I am going to land on my feet. I always feel like that. When I came out of WWE I had a great year and a half working overseas and independently. Earning a great living, getting to see places I wouldn't have got to have seen in a big company. It'll be a big company sooner or later."

Source: Total Wrestling Show

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