Doc Gallows on His Time In TNA, Getting Involved in Pro Wrestling

Bullet Club member and current New Japan Pro Wrestling star Doc Gallows was a recent guest on the “Main Event Madness” podcast. Within the interview, Gallows hit on a number of topics in regards to his wrestling career, including how it all began.

The two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion opened up on how he came to love professional wrestling:

“I first saw pro wrestling on television when I was eight years old. I saw Hulk Hogan, and I was obsessed ever since. I was a serious lifelong fan. From the magazines, to the toys, to the posters, to dragging my dad all over the place to take me to see pro wrestling, you know. I knew that’s not only what I want to do, but had to do, and I ended up leaving a football scholarship to pursue it on my own. So I kind of went back on a deal with my dad. Once I finished, he would pay for any wrestling school in the country, but I offered to try to do it on my own, and started traveling the independent circuit when I was 18 years old. I did that for about three years until I was eventually signed with WWE’s developmental system.”

He also discussed his time in TNA as D.O.C. and what led to his departure:

“I went to Ring Ka King in India and worked for Jeff Jarrett, as a biker character, and then the opportunity came up to form Aces and Eights. I took the contract in TNA. It was fun. TNA was fun. I was working with a lot of my friends, a lot of really good guys. The new contracts came up, and it was a business decision on my behalf, and maybe on their behalf too, and I wasn’t sure where I’d land up next.”

“Well, Aces & Eights was cluttered. It was a little underproduced, and the creative direction, I guess was there at first, but then maybe there was some internal stuff, and then there wasn’t as much creative direction. All we could do was make the best of it and have a good time, because you had some veterans mixed with some young guys, and you just had to make the best of it. The coolest thing I got to do was do stuff with guys I grew up on, like wrestling Sting on pay-per-view, and getting to do a couple big beat downs on him, and doing some stuff with Hulk Hogan. That’s just cool stuff we did, because a few years before that, I never thought I’d ever do anything with Sting or Hulk Hogan, but the opportunity came up, and it’s just one of those little things for me personally that was a really good time. It was like coming full circle from being 10 and playing with these guys’ figures on my bed, to being out there, trading punches with them.”

Listen to the entire podcast, here. Gallows also discussed his time in WWE and much more.