{"id":203987,"date":"2025-09-04T10:53:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T15:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=203987"},"modified":"2025-09-04T10:53:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T15:53:23","slug":"luke-gallows-details-bizarre-meeting-with-vince-mcmahon-when-he-pitched-him-the-festus-character-a-claim-mcmahon-made-that-festus-thought-was-bullsh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/09\/04\/luke-gallows-details-bizarre-meeting-with-vince-mcmahon-when-he-pitched-him-the-festus-character-a-claim-mcmahon-made-that-festus-thought-was-bullsh\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Gallows details bizarre meeting with Vince McMahon when he pitched him the Festus character, a claim McMahon made that Festus thought was &#8220;bullsh&#8211;&#8220;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3164205587\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Luke Gallows says Vince McMahon yelled at him, &#8220;No like that, goddamn it &#8211; like this!&#8221; as he showed him he wanted him to portray the Festus character when McMahon first pitched it to him. In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwmania.com\/luke-gallows-on-working-with-vince-mcmahon-the-undertaker-wwe-exits-njpw\">PWMania<\/a>, Gallows described the meeting and how he felt about the character. He also said he had to adjust his wrestling style to fit the character. The following are key excerpts provided to PWTorch by PWMania.<\/p>\n<div id=\":6xn\">\n<div class=\"wl4W9b\">\n<p><strong>On Vince McMahon pitching the Festus character:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe [Good brothers] were supposed to debut as Jesse and Justice Dalton, pig farmers in overalls. Then, right before our first TV match, they pulled us aside: \u2018Vince wants to see you.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>So we go into Vince\u2019s office, and he explains this Festus character to me\u2014saying he knew someone catatonic as a kid, which I\u2019m pretty sure was bullshit. (laughs) But he starts doing the Festus face at me, tongue out and all, and makes me do it back. \u2018Not like that, goddamn it\u2014like this!\u2019 Here I am, 23 years old, never spoken to Vince before, and suddenly we\u2019re sticking our tongues out at each other. Totally surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Check out the latest episode of &#8220;PWTorch &#8217;90s Pastcast&#8221; with Patrick Moynahan and Alex McDonald, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/pwtorch-90s-pastcast-moynahan-mcdonald-discuss-pwtorch-newsletter-348-8-12-95-including-wcw-clash-31-review-watts-joining-wwf-more--67567157\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cwade keller\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PWTorch \u201890s Pastcast - Moynahan &amp; McDonald discuss PWTorch Newsletter #348 (8-12-95) including WCW Clash 31 review, Watts joining WWF, more\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=67567157&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>On Vince\u2019s reaction after Festus debuted on TV:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was fishing for feedback, and all I was told was: \u2018He loves Festus. Just\u2026 be weird.\u2019 (laughs) That was the guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>On how Festus came to life:<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3316464032\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cA couple days later, they called me and said, \u2018You need to practice\u2014don\u2019t wrestle like a wrestler anymore.\u2019 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\u2019t know how to wrestle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>On never being embarrassed by Festus:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gallows also opened up about working with C.M. Punk in the Straight Edge Society, his time with A.J. Styles and Karl Anderson in The Club, and his current ventures outside WWE. You can check out the <b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwmania.com\/luke-gallows-on-working-with-vince-mcmahon-the-undertaker-wwe-exits-njpw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.pwmania.com\/luke-gallows-on-working-with-vince-mcmahon-the-undertaker-wwe-exits-njpw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1757072221047000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2qhZXUu42CK7iWduSBsLug\">complete interview at this link<\/a><\/b>.<i><\/i><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pro Wrestling Then and Now - WWF In Your House 1 (May 1995)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rSpH89VYkEk?start=23&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2575902849\"><div id=\"pwtor-2993725959\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Luke Gallows says Vince McMahon yelled at him, &#8220;No like that, goddamn it &#8211; like this!&#8221; as he showed him he wanted him to portray the Festus character when McMahon first pitched it to him. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2025\/09\/04\/luke-gallows-details-bizarre-meeting-with-vince-mcmahon-when-he-pitched-him-the-festus-character-a-claim-mcmahon-made-that-festus-thought-was-bullsh\/\" title=\"Luke Gallows details bizarre meeting with Vince McMahon when he pitched him the Festus character, a claim McMahon made that Festus thought was &#8220;bullsh&#8211;&#8220;\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prowrestlingnews","category-news_wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/11\/GallowsLuke_McClairBrandon3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203988,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203987\/revisions\/203988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}