Doc Gallows Recalls Funny Exchange When Vince McMahon Revealed Festus Character To Him
Impact Wrestling star Doc Gallows of The Good Brothers was on a recent episode of the MCW Cast. Gallows shared some stories of his experience in the Maryland area, and he recalled his early run in WWE. Gallows first run in WWE was as Festus, and he recalled working on the gimmick with Vince McMahon.
"I had gimmicked called The Freakin' Deacon, and I had this tarantula and I had this face paint. Me and my opponent would drop the tarantula on him," Gallows recalled. "They loved it. You couldn't get an tamed tarantula in the city, and at the time, you couldn't travel with a tarantula. They had Terry Gordy's son at the time, his name was Jesse. They tried out all these guys to begin with, and I was like, I could do that, so I just watched the redneck comedy tour, all the ones that I could find on DVD, and I went in did a couple promos.
"They're like, okay, so you're gonna debut as pig farming hillbillies. We were in the ring, talking about what we're gonna do for our debut for SmackDown. Vince wants us in his office. It's 20 minutes before doors open, and I was like, are we getting fired before we even start? We go in, and Vince sits us down. He's like, 'We're not gonna have anymore pig farmers. Can you do this?' (Gallows does the Festus face).
"And he just sticks his tongue out at me, and I go, 'I think so, sir.' 23 years old, I stick my tongue out. He's like, 'Not like that, like this.' So Vince and I are just sitting for five minutes sticking our tongues out of each other back and forth, and Ray Gordy's just sitting there. Finally, he goes, 'You're going to be in a catatonic state at all times, until the bell rings, you're gonna go crazy in rage. When the bell rings, you're gonna turn to catatonic state. I knew a guy in high school that did that. Then he looks at Ray, he's like, 'You, what's your favorite color?' Ray didn't say anything. He's just sitting there. 'Uh, yellow.' He's like, 'Go buy a yellow singlet, you start next week.' That's how I became Festus."
Gallows' first work in WWE was as an imposter Kane. Gallows recalled the work he did to prepare for the feud.
"I was 22 when I did that. That was my first TV stuff," Gallows noted. "You saw a guy, terrible wig and suit. They sent him down to Deep South. That was the developmental I was in. He just taught me all of his stuff, and all of the guys hated me. Well, maybe not hated me. Kofi, Rick Knox, there was a crew of them just training. We did this hard practice, just Power Plant style. Then for the Kane practice, I had to stay behind just eating chokeslams, tombstones, clotheslines off the top rope for two hours. It was just to promote the movie (See No Evil) for a month. In the match, I went over for some reason. I beat him with his own finish, and then the next night, he beats me and throws me out the door, and that's the end of it."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit MCW Cast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.