At nearly seven feet tall, Luke Gallows has built one of wrestling’s most versatile careers. First gaining recognition in WWE as Festus, Gallows went on to reinvent himself through roles like the Impostor Kane, CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society enforcer, and as part of The Club with Karl Anderson and AJ Styles. Beyond WWE, he’s thrived in NJPW, Impact, and the independents, earning respect for his adaptability and larger-than-life presence.
Outside the ring, Gallows co-hosts the popular Talk’n Shop podcast with Anderson and Rocky Romero, and runs Lariato Pro Wrestling Guild under his Good Brothers Dojo banner, helping shape the next generation.
With nearly two decades in the business, he’s seen the highs and lows of wrestling, and in this exclusive interview with PWMania.com’s Lee Tarrier, Gallows reflects on his early days, the Festus character, and sharing the ring with legends like The Undertaker.
Fans can watch the complete interview below:
Here are some key excerpts:
You had a huge part to play in the most unique of Wrestlemania matches, the Boneyard Match, which then ended your run in WWE at the start of the COVID era. Tell us about that time:
It really was a whirlwind. We came back in 2019, reunited as the OC, and went into WrestleMania for The Undertaker’s last match. I got thrown to my death, Carl took the final Tombstone ever—and then, just 11 days later, we were unceremoniously fired.
That must have been tough. How did you respond to that setback?
We came out swinging. I’ve always believed it’s great to have the machine and the big company behind you, but you can also do it on your own. That motivated us to produce Talk’n Shop A Mania One and Two. They did really well on FITE TV, which is now Triller TV, and that success set the stage for what we’re doing now.
It was our attitude of, “If you want to kick us out of the sandbox, we’ll build our own.” We had the cinematic Boneyard Match with The Undertaker, and then in my backyard, we filmed the Boner Yard Match. For that sector of fans who like some comedy mixed into their wrestling, it really hit the mark.
Yet, by 2022, WWE came calling again…
Exactly. Triple H reached out in 2022. We had also been working with New Japan Pro Wrestling, but we ended up going back to WWE—for better or worse.
How was that return?
Yeah, when we came back in October of 22 It felt great. It felt fresh. It felt new. And then, you know, a few short months later, we’re in New York, and we’re getting ready to leave the building, and a limousine pulls up, and we see a mustachioed man pop out, and it was, it was Vince McMahon coming back for the first time.
We happen to see him in the parking garage. And I don’t know what goes on behind closed doors there, but from that point on, everything certainly got weird, whether it was the Vince thing and then the eventual sale to TKO and however that timeline worked, but you know, you could feel again, the winds of change.
Sometimes you’re just not in favor, and if that’s the case, it doesn’t matter what you do.
Did you leave feeling bitter?
Not at all. There’s no bitterness, no hard feelings. You just keep on trucking. That’s what you do.
Things continue to change with the audience seeing more, WWE Unreal being an example of this. What are your thoughts on this, do you think it’s scripted?
I think it’s 100% scripted. But then again, all of reality television is scripted. That’s not even a knock on them—it’s just the nature of it. If you’re not scripting it, then what are you really doing?
I’ve always been skeptical about stuff like that anyway. Like, I don’t watch NASCAR, but when NASCAR comes to Atlanta, it’s a huge event. And my pro wrestling brain immediately goes, “If they’re not scripting this, what are they doing? Just slow down and let the guy pass you!”
You can create whatever narrative you want—so why not create it? That’s the essence of any reality show.
You know the gorilla position—I saw an episode of that. My son turned it on, and that part is completely legit. They’re all sitting right there. For years, it was Vince sitting there when you walked through the curtain, and then when you came back. Now it’s Triple H and his team. So all of that is absolutely real.
What I question are the narratives being spun—like, this person is mad at that person, you need to apologize, and so on. I don’t know how much of that is legit. But it makes for great television.
And at the end of the day, that’s the name of the game. Even when you pull the curtain back, the goal is still to suspend the fans’ disbelief. If you can take me from sitting on my couch to thinking, “Man, I believe Tiffany and Charlotte really do hate each other,” that’s beautiful. That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.
Whether it’s through a reality show, a promo in the ring, using social media, or bending the internet a little—that’s the goal. And it makes for good television.
You’ve wrestled in so many eras and roles, but I want to take you back to one of your earliest big moments. Do you remember your first huge singles match in WWE?
Yeah, I do. That was my first huge match. I was 24 years old, and they told me, “Hey, next week, the main event of SmackDown is you versus The Undertaker.”
At the time, I was in this happy-go-lucky mid-card babyface tag team, and suddenly I was going up against the world champion—The Undertaker, the guy I grew up watching. I had a lot of nerves before that match, but I was pumped up and determined to perform at a high level.
I remember Taker coming into the room where I was warming up, and he said, “You’re too big and too strong to be this tense. Please relax.” (laughs) I don’t know if I actually relaxed, but it turned out to be a really fun match. People still ask me about it to this day, and that’s cool.
People often bring up your run as Festus. Some might think it would be embarrassing, but you’ve always seemed positive about it.
Yeah, I’ve never been embarrassed by it. Of course, every wrestler dreams about being Ric Flair with the robe and the long blonde hair, but being a character like Festus was a lot of fun. It literally bought me my first house.
The character worked because kids got it instantly—the bell rings, he goes crazy; the bell rings again, he shuts back down. Was there a ton you could do with it long-term? Probably not. But for its place in time, it was cool. Even now, when we do conventions and signings, I still get a ton of Festus questions.
When they first pitched the “bell in, bell out” concept to you, what went through your head?
Honestly, I thought, “Well, this has a better chance of getting over than being another pig farmer.” (laughs)
See, before Festus, I was in Deep South Wrestling doing this “Freakin’ Deacon” character with a live tarantula—kind of like Jake Roberts with the snake. The problem was, you can’t travel town-to-town with a tarantula. You can’t tame a new one every week, PETA has issues with it, and eventually WWE said, “That’s done.”
So, suddenly, I had no gimmick. Around that time, Henry Godwinn came down to developmental to team with Ray Gordy. They were going to do a new version of the Godwinns, which would have been fun, but Henry had some issues and left. Now Ray needed a partner, and WWE started bringing in big guys to try out.
I was worried I’d get cut, so I asked Dr. Tom Pritchard if I could try out. He said, “Sure, promos tomorrow.” So I went and rented DVDs of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour—Larry the Cable Guy and those guys—and copied their shtick. I went in with a big chaw in my mouth, did the promos, and they basically said, “You got the part.” That’s how Jesse and I became a pig farmer tag team.
And then came Vince McMahon’s idea for Festus, right?
Yeah. We were supposed to debut as Jesse and Justice Dalton, pig farmers in overalls. Then, right before our first TV match, they pulled us aside: “Vince wants to see you.”
So we go into Vince’s office, and he explains this Festus character to me—saying he knew someone catatonic as a kid, which I’m pretty sure was bullshit. (laughs) But he starts doing the Festus face at me, tongue out and all, and makes me do it back. “Not like that, goddamn it—like this!” Here I am, 23 years old, never spoken to Vince before, and suddenly we’re sticking our tongues out at each other. Totally surreal.
Then he looks at Ray Gordy and asks, “What’s your favorite color?” Ray goes, “Yellow.” Vince says, “Good. Get a yellow singlet—you’ll be the handler.” And that was it—Jesse and Festus were born.
A couple days later, they called me and said, “You need to practice—don’t wrestle like a wrestler anymore.” So instead of headlocks and holds, they had me do big bear-paw punches, slaps, weird offense like the nuts-to-the-face spot. They wanted Festus to look like he didn’t know how to wrestle.
Do you remember Vince’s reaction once you first performed Festus on TV?
Yeah, I was fishing for feedback, and all I was told was: “He loves Festus. Just… be weird.” (laughs) That was the guidance.
And it worked. Fans still remember it, kids loved it at the time, and honestly, it was a great way to ease into being a television wrestler.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this interview, please credit PWMania.com with a h/t to PWMania.com for the transcription.
