Video: The Grizzled Young Veterans Hype “Global Takeover” Ahead Of Post-WWE Return

The Grizzled Young Veterans are on the comeback trail.

Former WWE NXT Superstars Zack Gibson and James Drake have seen the expiration of their contracts with WWE, and are already in promotion-mode as they gear up for their first run outside of the company in the near future.

On Saturday, the duo released a new promo video package where they declared that they are, in fact, back. They also revealed that they are now available for bookings for what they are calling their “Global Takeover,” which they mentioned will be based out of the United States.

In the promo the tag-team veterans released today, they pointed out how they don’t need “spooky lights” or “special effects” or “overproduction,” referring to their run in the dark and ominous faction known as The Schism with Joe Gacy and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s daughter, Ava Raine.

“We took a long look around and we said to ourselves, ‘If this is the big life, then we’re not looking to live it,'” Drake said in the video. “We are sick of taking the safe option. We are sick of reading the same old boring scripts that go absolutely nowhere.”

Gibson added, “A very famous British wrestler told us when we arrived in the States that it was time for us to put our head down and start listening to orders if we wanted to succeed. He said that he wanted us to have all the fun out of our system because there’s no pirates here.”

He continued, “Well I am sorry for anyone that had different expectations for us. I am sorry that we can’t be who you wanted us to be. Simply put: we are not politicians. It’s a pirate’s life for us.”

Gibson & Drake, who used the ring names Rip Fowler & Jagger Reid in NXT, requested their release from WWE this past April, however the request was ultimately denied by the company.

Instead, the two finished out their contracts, with the duo having their final match for NXT in August.

Check out the initial James Drake & Zack Gibson “Grizzled Young Veterans: Global Takeover” video promo via the Twitter (X) post embedded below.