Austin asks Gallows about the origins of his ‘Festus’ gimmick in WWE. Gallows says that he spent 3 years working on he indies and he was constantly calling and e-mailing WWE, urging them to give him an opportunity. Finally he received a call because WWE needed a replacement for Henry Godwinn on a certain string of shows.
He was 23-years old at the time and was very intimidated working in WWE, and one day he was asked to meet Vince McMahon in his office. McMahon said that he knew a kid in high school who was very slow but when someone angered him he’d snap, and McMahon wanted Gallows to adopt this character. Gallows says that he and McMahon sat in the office for 10 minutes, doing the ‘Festus face’ back and forth to each other until Gallows successfully made the face that McMahon wanted to see.
Austin points out that it’s like talking to God when you initially have a conversation with McMahon because he’s been around for a long time, and he has seen and done everything. Gallows agrees but adds that he and Anderson have had a couple of personal talks with McMahon and he’s been terrific. He wishes that they were a bit closer with McMahon so they could have those talks more often. He adds that Triple H has been terrific to talk to and deal with as well.
