This was released in July 2015
The interview was conducted by Brian Myers with guests Luke Gallows, Mica (Camacho in WWE), and Brad Attitude.
It runs for two hours and nine minutes long
The interview starts with all the guys drinking Bud Light Lime as Myers runs down all of the gimmicks Gallows had in developmental, WWE, and everywhere else.
Myers starts things off by asking the panel about the first time they did extra work for the WWE. Attitude said he started in 2004 when Tommy Dreamer was in charge of getting extras as he faced Lodi in a dark match, which Myers got a kick out of as this was apparently a tryout for Lodi. This blew Myers mind that Lodi was getting a look from the WWE in 2004. Attitude said Lodi won with a DDT and after the match Arn Anderson told him he should have died after taking that move. Myers noted his first segment had him stand around “like an asshole” as he wore a suit. Attitude said he did so much extra work he was going to make a t-shirt that read “Where’s Catering” on the back. Attitude goes into his work on Heat and Velocity as he worked against Nunzio, Lashley and others. Attitude said he was going to face Snitsky but they decided he was “too tall” to face him in that match. Attitude said it was a compliment that they trusted you to not completely fuck things up as he recalls Arn telling him that he wasn’t going to get any moves in during his match against Mark Henry, who was feuding with the Undertaker at the time. Attitude said he understood that he was going to get in an elbow or some move like that.
Gallows is asked about his extra work but first tells a few other stories. He said that he obtained the cell phone numbers of John Laurinaitis and Tommy Dreamer through an indy worker. He then talks about being on the $1 Million rendition of “Tough Enough” where he did first met Bill DeMott and tells a story of how he was doing an obstacle course when his shorts kept falling off so DeMott kept yelling if he was going to quit on him and to pull up his shorts. As Gallows was doing an army crawl, his shorts fell down and he ended up completely naked as he was doing pushups into the sand as they were in Venice Beach. Gallows was pretty funny telling this story. After that Gallows tells a story of how he went to a house show in Maryland with his father, who encouraged him to go in with a suit and try to get into the company like a reall businessman. He ended up getting past security after saying he was there to meet Arn Anderson, who he named because he knew Arn was an agent. Arn actually happened to be there as he was walking around backstage with a small suitcase containing his DVD. He happened to see Rodney Mack, who was getting ready for his match. Mack asked him what he was doing and Gallows responded by saying he had to give Arn his tape. Mack then left, as Gallows notes he was probably trying to find someone to get him the hell out of there as he was clearly a “mark.” Tim White then arrived, who they all recognize as a great guy, as Arn came and asked Gallows if he could help him. Gallows gave him the tape and Arn told him he would make sure it got to the proper people and left. White then told Gallows that he could not be back here and he ended up getting a pair of tickets as they told him he had “balls” for going in there like that. Myers then notes how Gallows dad made him business cards that said he was a professional wrestler, with his parents phone number listed to call.
Now, Gallows talks about driving around in his Hyundai Accent to his waiter gig at the Ponderosa when Tommy Dreamer called. He got an extra gig and showed up but had no idea what to do backstage. He said that HHH and Stephanie were around and had no clue about shaking everyone’s hands or getting dressed in the extra’s locker room. Gallows mentioned how Bob Holly told him he could not get dressed on that side as it was all his then Gallows felt awkward and walked out into the hallway and ran into Laurinaitis. Myers brought up how Gallows was told to grow in his hair previously by him then Laurinaitis came up to Gallows then and started to circle his finger around his head, saying that his hair was coming in nice. Gallows thought he was being ribbed at the time while doing a pretty damn funny Laurinaitis impression. In fact, Gallows does funny impressions of everyone that he talks about.
Mica talks about how he was almost an extra at WrestleMania 24 when he was going to be part of Floyd Mayweather’s entourage. At the time he was training at the Team 3-D Academy. Attitude mentioned that he was a druid then while Gallows talks about being in Snoop Dogg’s segment. Attitude was also supposed to be the photographer for Melina but told that his bleached hair ruled him out as Colt Cabana and Matt Sydal got the gigs as Myers jokes about how miserable Cabana must have been doing that. Mica said he went to get paid for being there and had to see Tim White, who said he had a lot of stories about his father (Haku), but would not re-tell any of them.
They now talk about how they were first signed. Attitude said that he did about three years of extra work as Myers talks about meeting Attitude, who was an extra at the time, while they were bullshitting in the stands before the show. Attitude said that being in the stands on your phone as the ring was getting up was a key time as you did not want to go to catering too soon as Myers talks about how being with Zack Ryder and they were so nervous about handshakes they would post-up everywhere and make sure to constantly shake hands. Attitude said that Ken Kennedy went to bat for him one day when he asked why he was not hired and got him a sitdown with John Laurinaitis, who asked Attitude what he could do to make him money? Attitude said that he was told to think about it and have an answer the next day. Attitude said that he shaved his beard and took out his piercings and waited for Laurinaitis as he came up with the “Campus Legend” character who was basically a “Van Wilder” character. Laurinaitis asked him what made this different than the Miz as Attitude explained he was college affiliated while Miz was a celebrity. Attitude then cut his hair and spiked it up while he asks for another beer. Attitude said he had a match against Johnny Curtis (Fandango) that went okay then worked Mike Mondo that was better. He then said he had already moved to Florida but never heard about whether or not he got hired after a week as he was working as a ghost in Busch Gardens. Attitude then called Ty Bailey, who they all said was useless, and asked about his status. Bailey then told him that he forgot to call him back but he got a deal. Attitude said he was going to wait until he signed the actual contract before telling anyone. However, the next day, Attitude got the call that his mother got killed in a car accident.
Gallows talks about how he got signed as he got a call while heading to his waiter job from Tommy Dreamer that he was getting a Developmental Deal to report to Deep South Wrestling for $500 a week. He reported down to Atlanta a month earlier and spent his nights drinking and hitting on women until training began, joking around how he thought he was the man.
Mica talks about how after training at the Team 3-D Academy, he did a tryout with his brother (Tama Tonga in New Japan) at FCW that they got through Ricky Santana. Mica also spoke about living in a shitty apartment with his brother in Florida while they washed cars at their father’s car dealership. Mica said his parents did not want them in the business and his dad wanted them to break in this way to see what it was like. He then talks about older wrestlers telling stories about his dad as Myers chimes in on how Haku beat the crap out of a few of his students and they all loved it while Gallows talks about his friend driving 14 hours to wrestle Haku, who in the end of the match decided to show him “Something from the old school” as Haku picked up the guy, who was almost 300 lbs, and killed him with a piledriver. After that, they briefly mention how a lot of the second generation wrestlers and former football players got in a lot easy. Back to the story as Mica and his brother were called into the office where he was offered a deal while his brother was told that he was not getting a deal. Mica said his brother burst into tears afterwards as his dad told them they are in a tough situation but need to make money so while Mica went to FCW, Tama was sent to work in Puerto Rico.
Myers now talks about moving down to Developmental. Attitude said he was told recently you have to sit a month before getting into the ring, no matter who you are. Gallows then brings up how they have to wear helmets as Myers tells us that is called the “Max McGuirk” rule, which was named after the son of former announcer Mike McGuirk. Max apparently kept on getting concussed and got fired as he was terrible. Myers talks about how they brought charts to developmental that compared the amount of concussions from developmental to the main roster and it was falsely elevated because it was all McGuirk. Myers tells some stories of how awful McGuirk was as he apparently knocked himself out taking a front bump off of an arm wringer courtesy of Michael Tarver and when he attempted a dropkick.
Gallows is asked about the origins of Deep South. He was part of the original crew (Shane Twins, Mike Knox, Derrick Neikirk, Mike Taylor, Tony Santorelli, Angel Williams (Angelina Love), Jack Bull, Ryback, and Ryan O’Reilly (Konnor) and comments on how the facility was in a plaza but when they first reported the construction was not ready so there was still a dirt floor and no ring. DeMott had them do workouts at the Gold’s Gym as he talks about how brutal they were. When the ring finally arrived, they worked out in the building that was extremely hot and how the canvas was always soaked with sweat as DeMott made them bring four shirts with them for each practice. Gallows recalls being the worst one there and how Jody Hamilton said that he sucked and wanted DeMott to make him quit. So, DeMott made a “Developmentally Challenged” practice that took place after the actual practice. They would do more blow-up drills as Myers comments how Ryback told him that Gallows was like “Bambi” at the beginning as he could barely walk as Gallows himself says that Ryback was always blown up.
We then get a funny story told by Gallows. Some guy came into Deep South for a tryout and went up to DeMott and extended his hand, saying “the man called Sting said hello.” DeMott was pissed as the guy came back out in a pair of Sting pants and boots as they get to the “man-in-the-middle” drill which is when a guy gets in the ring and takes a bunch of slams and suplexes in a row from everyone else then at the end you would have to shoot wrestle against DeMott.
The guys briefly talk about how people would constantly puke and a few even shit their pants as they would barely eat before practicing so prevent this from happening. They also talk about Gavin Spears (Tye Dillinger) who would constantly eat McDonald’s at practice yet always have a great physique.
Mica speaks about having to call Ty Bailey to get his contract and how it took forever and it came the day before he got checked out in Pittsburgh. Myers said they never had to checked out before signing and recalls Ace Steel signing a Developmental Deal while he was hurt with a torn ACL and came to one practice and immediately grabbed his knee after trying a springboard move, basically so he could get the company to pay for his surgery. Back to Mica as he said Bailey asked him why he wasn’t in Tampa, after two weeks of Mica calling him up on where to go and for the money the company gives you to relocate. Mica ended up staying at a family friend’s house for a few months as they all put over Joe Gomez for letting guys stay at his house. This leads to them all talking out how he teamed with the Renegade in WCW and refer to him as a “Tampa Legend.”
Myers talks about the guests that came through. He first tells a story about how Sgt. Slaughter came to practice and didn’t say a single word. The next day, Slaughter had written up an entire card based off of the practice and wanted to see it happened. Myers said at the end of the last match, Slaughter got up and said “The RAW General Manager has restarted this match as a No DQ Match” as they started to beat the shit out of each other with chairs as all the guys watching in the stands went nuts. Myers said it was awesome. Gallows talks about an agent, who we will not name but says that he loves and is still with the company today, came into practice with two foot-long subs and the USA Today and sat away from the ring for a few hours until he finished eating then waved bye and left.
Gallows now talks about “Dr. Death” Steve Williams coming down to OVW. He said Williams was “not as friendly as he had hoped” then goes into how they had to take a quiz on his autobiography. Gallows said he had already bought and read the book and thought it sucked, saying it was all about football and religion with very little wrestling. They were all given a copy and after a week had to turn it in and take a quiz. Gallows got all 10 questions right then looked over at his partner, Ray Gordy, who sat with his arms folded and refused to answer any questions. Ray was the son of Terry Gordy, former partner of Dr. Death. The next day, a pissed off John Laurinaitis called them into the office at TV. Gallows’ impression was hilarious. Laurinaitis chewed them out for not listening to Dr. Death and failing the quiz. Gallows reminded Laurinaitis that he got them all right as he was excused. Gallows then sat near the door as Laurinaitis talked to Gordy, who proceeded to say “fuck Dr. Death” then went off on how he was his dad’s partner and owed his mother money and hope he fucking died. After all that, Laurinaitis told Gordy he never realized that and excused him. Gordy then came out, as Gallows was nervous, and said “let’s go to catering.”
Myers and Mica disagree with Attitude saying how he liked Jim Ross as a guest. Myers said that every time he came to visit he used the same exact speech. Attitude talks about working a match with Drew McIntyre while hungover in FCW, stating he is one of the stiffest workers in the ring and that his punches kill. Myers then talks about Bruce Prichard also giving the same speeches, doing an impression of how he said the Nation of Domination was originally used as a vehicle to get D’Lo Brown over but that Rocky Maivia made it into his own.
They talk about dressing room stories as Myers tells a story of how he was with Ryder when they were extras. The room was a small closet next to the seamstress. Trish Stratus then walked in and asked if they mind if she changed there so they said sure and just sat there until she said “leave” as Myers talks about feeling really embarrassed about that. Myers then talks about having to ask to change in the regular locker room as they all discuss changing with the Miz in the extra’s room because he was always kicked out. Myers then said after Benoit died, Miz still didn’t know how to ask to get back into the locker room and was shit out of luck for a bit. Attitude speaks about how one day there was not a sign for the extras to change in so he found a random room and walked in to see Bob Holly grabbing Rene Dupree by the shirt so he walked out and got changed at catering.
Now they all discuss which guys in developmental shocked them by even getting signed in the first place or guys that they were surprised that never got called up to the WWE. They all said that Mike Kruel was a top guy in OVW but somehow never got a shot on the main roster. Now they talk about how guys might never leave NXT as Attitude says they will probably end up taking their indy bookings. Myers also said he was shocked Sonny Siaki never got called up as Gallows talks about how he had some heat on him. Attitude said a football player named DeSean Bishop was an asshole who never cared about anything or anyone. This then evolves into a discussion about how they finally got the Developmental system right by bringing in top wrestlers from the Indy scene and focusing less on actors and football players.
They talk about how bad the disconnect was from the office to developmental and how HHH has finally changed that around. They also said that Vince had no clue who the fuck any of them were while in Developmental. Attitude said he only got direction once during his stay as he was put with Nick Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) as a frat boy team with Taryn Terrell has their valet. Myers also tells a story about how when he was in OVW, Ziggler got sent down when the Spirit Squad were broken up and was wrestling in his high school singlet with his straps down just looking defeated and going through the motions.
We not get some stories about Rob Terry, who was the bodyguard for Attitude in his tag team gimmick. Attitude said that Terry would eat six chicken breasts and twelve sweet potatoes each practice as Gallows chimed in how Batista would always be riding Terry hard backstage. Attitude then tells a story of how he was at a bar with Terry and offered to get him a beer as Terry declined, stating it would take him back three months of his workout as the others all cannot believe that would be the case.
Attitude talks about getting fired. Ziggler kept on getting called up for shots on the road as Attitude felt they had plans for both Ziggler and Terrerll while he was the odd man out and shortly after that he was gone. Attitude said he had a great match teaming with Ziggler against Harry Smith & Tyson Kidd during the first FCW tapings but it never made it to air as he got fired beforehand. Attitude also said he was engaged to a diva at the time and lightly hints that might have hurt his chances as well. That lead Myers to tell a story about while in Deep South, Mike Bucci (Nova) pulled aside all of the guys and gave them a speech about being careful about dating someone here as one day they could get called up to the main roster and the next thing you know they are “banging the Undertaker.” Gallows also has a story of how Laurinaitis brought down Kelly Kelly and Alicia Fox, who were both 18 years old at the time, to Deep South and after they left, Laurinaitis told the guys “I don’t care what happens, do not fuck them” as they were only 18 and he would fire anyone who did. Gallows said the next week, one guy who he would not name but said the guy is “still in the mix” today came up to everyone and said he nailed one of them.
Myers now brings up “Dalip Duty,” which was when you had to drive around the Great Khali for a week while in Developmental (For those unaware, Khali’s real name is Dalip Singh). Myers said one of the reasons he created this series was that they went through stuff which would never happen today. Myers then explains Dalip Duty and how you had to do anything he said for a week, whenever he called. Gallows tells a story of how Khali would call him up and would ask to go to Walmart all of the time. So, Gallows drove a Hyundai Accent hatchback and Khali sat in the front with his seat all the way to the back while his wife was in the fetal position on the other side of the back seat. Gallows tried to explain to him that he could not get clothes his size as Walmart and should go to a Big-and-Tall. Khali then went to the shirts at Walmart and would put them up to his chest and just toss them up in the air as they did not fit. Gallows then said on the way home from Walmart one day, with Khali’s wife in the backseat again in the fetal position as the groceries fell all over her, they got to the apartment. Khali gets out and lights a cigarette so Gallows helps Khali’s wife carry the groceries as Khali keeps yelling “no!” Gallows asks him why he is yelling that as Khali made his wife do it by himself as she would carry the groceries up three flights of stairs by herself. They also joked how Khali got “Westernized” quickly and immediately loved cigarettes and porn.
We now get stories about Khali in the ring. Gallows talks about how they had to get him ready to face the Undertaker and would practice big boots as Khali would always fall down as he was too large to balance on one leg. Gallows said that Khali knocked him out one time and he remembers waking up in the locker room as he kept asking DeMott if he was mad at him.
Attitude now tells a story that took place while he was an extra. Khali came up to him backstage and wanted him to set up the voicemail on his cellphone. Attitude said that Khali’s hand was way too big to use his phone and he kept on slamming it with his hand. Attitude set it up for him then went out for a dark match against Shelton Benjamin, who accidentally knocked him out but he worked the match and didnt really remember anything that happened. Afterwards, Attitude was still out of it as he sat in the extras locker room not knowing where he was then all of a sudden, Khali burst in and asked him what he did to his phone.
The guys talk about the trainers as they all put over Tom Prichard. Myers then talks about how being a trainer is such a thankless, shitty job as the others agree, adding that the lack of communication made it even worse. They also love Steve Keirn. Myers said that Al Snow was a horrible trainer and end the show by giving cheers to Tom Prichard.
Final Thoughts: Another fantastic installment in this series. Sure, they stray off topic a lot (which should be expected since they were drinking through the shoot), but everything was entertaining and funny for the most part. Myers really is awesome at shoot interviews and with the exception of the Timeline series, this is the second best shoot interview series going today. Its a great listen and mind-boggling how badly managed the Developmental System in the WWE was until HHH came along.
As far as the guests, Gallows spoke the most and was pretty damn funny. Attitude, who was not well known, seemed like a pretty cool guy who did not have an agenda or anything. Mica was soft-spoken and didnt add all that much to be honest but the story of his tryout with his brother was a bit sad, although nothing in comparison to what happened to Attitude after he signed.
I highly recommend this interview. It is both funny and informative. You can’t go wrong with this one.
You can purchase the DVD for $19.99 or the digital download for $14.99 by clicking on the links below:
http://www.highspots.com/p/develop-2.html
http://www.highspots.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=HS&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=VD_develop_speaking2