Forney, TX. – Few people can be called “good” at anything. But when it comes to Doc Gallows, he, alongside his tag partner, “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson, is nothing but the embodiment of what it means to be a ‘Good Brother’ in and out of the squared circle.
Slamwrestling.net had a chance to speak with him as he and Anderson came into the National Wrestling Alliance’s 40th anniversary of The Crockett Cup. As he was suiting up for the tournament, Gallows was in good spirits and explained that The Good Brothers’ next goal is to get the vaunted chalice, despite their multiple titles across various promotions.
“[That’s the] one thing we don’t have on the mantle,’ he said. “But the wrestling world is thriving. It’s been a great year. We’ve been able to just go everywhere and do everything. So, it’s been fun to be our own bosses again. It’s fun to be here talking to you.”
He and Anderson have been featured a bit on the NWA Powerrr show, and the Big LG went into how they managed to make their way into the promotion. “It’s a lot of back and forth, to be honest with you,” Gallows explained, “[and] we kind of got our ducks in a row, and it worked out.
“We knew that this was a place that hadn’t been checked off the list yet, and the timing ended up being perfect with the rise of NWA Powerrr on Roku, and now the announcement today, the movement to the national television deal. Good Brothers are television stars. So, it’s a good place to be. It’s good for everybody.”
At the time of this interview, NWA commentator and COO Joe Galli had announced to the Texas crowd prior to tapings that the NWA would be moving to their new platform, Comet TV, which is part of Sinclair Broadcasting. Obviously, this is huge news, and Gallows was more than complimentary on what he saw with the current roster.
“There’s a great crop of young talent here mixed up with veteran talent,” he said. “So, I think that Billy Corgan and the brass here at NWA are on to something very special.”
“I mean, before you even get into the current crop of talent, when you look at the lineage, and you look at the history of this tournament…like I said, 40 years,” Gallows expounded as he listed previous holders of The Crockett Cup. “I mean, The Road Warriors, Sting and Luger, our friends, the Briscoes, Knox and Murdoch. A lot of really great tag teams have come through the NWA throughout its history. A lot of great tag teams have won the Crockett Cup throughout its history.
“We have teams here from all over the world today. We have the All Japan Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champions in the house,” he noted, referencing the sixteenth-seeded Titans of Calamity, Jack Talos and Ren Ayabe.
But Gallows and Anderson have been Good Brothers as well these last few months.
“We obviously are wreaking havoc in Pro Wrestling NOAH. We’re the first-ever Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling Tag Team champions. We won the inaugural belt last week. We got like five tag team titles right now,” he said proudly. “But as we sit here in this dressing room looking around, I see an untapped crop of talent. Ricky Morton from the Rock and Roll Express just walked past us.
“There would be no Crockett cup if there wasn’t history like that,” Gallows noted. “So, this thing [is] stacked today, it’s locked and loaded, and it’s going to be a hell of an event.”
Gallows noted that as far as the Crockett Cup was concerned, anything can happen, regardless of where anybody is ranked.
“I don’t think seeding matters because you don’t know what’s going to be thrown at you in the next round,” he explained. “You have to worry about each round, and you have to get through it, and there’s not a lot of preparation, because you don’t know what team is going to be coming at you next.
“And that’s the beauty of this thing. Normally, you look at a card or a board, there’s something like that that doesn’t exist here other than the first round, and that’s what makes it so dynamic,” Gallows continued, “and that’s where the element of surprise can come in, and any team can catch any team at any time. It’s also a great opportunity for teams that are lesser known to get in there and mix it up and catch a big ‘W,’ you know? People can be made at something like this.”
We at Slamwrestling.net once asked The Big LG, off the record years ago, about how he said that being in WWE was good for young wrestlers’ marketability. While he didn’t remember the exact quote, he did share his thoughts on his longevity in the business, and anyone reading this should take them to heart.
“When I went the first time [to WWE] in 2005, and I was there for almost six years…the thing about getting a run like that is wrestling can end for you. When that runs over, you have to keep pushing,” Gallows explained. “You have to keep reinventing yourself. You have to keep rebuilding because if you just live off of the name from a run, it’ll fizzle out.
“But if you figure out ways, like I feel like we have done,” he added, gesturing to himself and Anderson, “like the Matt Cardonas have done, as Nick Nemeth has done. Thom Latimer came out of a WWE developmental run and went to a TNA run, and then expanded on that, becoming the NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
“Trevor Murdoch up there,” Gallows said, pointing a few feet away from where the NWA veteran was suiting up for his match with Pretty Boy Smooth, “is the same way. You have to keep evolving, and you have to keep going. And that is a great shot in the arm for any young professional wrestler at any stage of their career to get to the big show like that. But it’s even harder to stay in this business, and to stay in this business at a top level and be a top earner. I’m really proud of Karl and I for figuring out how to do that and fully grasping and understanding the business outside as well. Because you can be your own boss, and it can be a success or a failure. I think we’ve been smart with the way we’ve looked at it, and we’ve been very fortunate as well.”
For now, The Good Brothers will be keeping quite a busy schedule between the NWA, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and MLPW, just to name a few companies on this tour. But Gallows is just as focused on developing his son, CJ Gallows, as he works in the independent scene. At nineteen years old, he recently had his tenth match as of the time of this interview, and you can hear the pride in the voice of The Big LG.
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“Yeah, he’s doing a lot of local stuff in Georgia,” Gallows said. “[I’m] keeping him close right now, keeping him close to the hip as he develops. But he’s super athletic, super tight. Talented. He’s a great-looking kid. I think that hard work, dedication, nose to the grindstone, and the sky’s the limit.”
You can tell that Gallows wants to ensure that when it comes to the squared circle, he comes up the right way.
“I think it’s starting out on the independents and starting out locally the way he’s doing and getting as many matches under his belt as he can possibly get while he continues his training and continues his college education are very important to me and to our household,” he explained. “The biggest thing when you’re that young is to get comfortable in front of a live audience.
“I went out there and started running around when I was eighteen years old,” Gallows recalled of his early years in professional wrestling. “He’s [doing] the same thing, and we have an agreement that as long as his grades stay up in college, we’ll keep pushing forward with the wrestling, and he’s done a great job so far. So, I’m very proud of him.”
He’s also focused on his Talk’n Shop podcast with his tag partner, which anyone can listen to and/or watch on their YouTube channel or wherever you subscribe to podcasts about the tales he and Anderson experience on the road. They’ve even done a parody of WrestleMania, aptly named “Talk’n Shop-A-Mania.” They have made two of those PPVs in the past, which are still available to purchase on Trillertv.com.
Now that he and Anderson are their own bosses, when can we see Talk’n Shop III?
“The storm is brewing,” Gallows said with a laugh. “The time is getting closer and closer for that as well.”
For now, it’s best to see what these Good Brothers do in The Crockett Cup, as well as their various other channels.
