Wednesday PWTorch Livecast with Pat McNeill
Guest: Current TNA World Hvt. champion Drew Galloway
Aired Live: April 13, 2016
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Recap by Dominic DeAngelo
SUBJECTS COVERED
– Drew Defends The TNA Title Worldwide
– Drew Defends The TNA Title Cross-Promotionally
– The U.K. Wrestling Scene
TIME STAMPS OF COVERAGE
(2:55) Pat McNeill intro
(4:05) Drew Galloway intro
(5:30) Defending the TNA Title in TNA
(10:45) Chances he’ll defend the TNA Title in NXT?
(12:20) How often does the talent visit the TNA headquarters?
(13:05) Was Drew ever connected to The Illuminati in WWE?
(15:30) Is TNA planning on selling the company at all?
(17:00) Defending the TNA Title worldwide
(19:00) Is there a wrestler that travels more than Drew does?
(20:20) Interacting with the McMahons
(21:56) What’s the best part of being TNA champion?
(23:55) Drew’s engagement
(25:38) Drew’s Sports Illustrated interview
(27:35) Has anyone from TNA asked Drew not to mention something?
(29:40) What’s the process of defending the TNA Title outside of TNA?
### COMMERCIAL BREAK ###
(36:20) Drew’s thoughts on the Raw debut of Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson?
(38:00) What other goals does Drew have in his career?
(39:55) Who would Drew like to defend his title against that he hasn’t yet gotten to?
(46:40) How does the U.S. crowd differ from the crowds in the U.K. in reaction?
(49:35) Is there a possibility that Wade Barrett and him will be tagging again?
(51:33) Is there a certain meal Drew enjoys when he does a cheat day?
(53:55) Follow Drew on social media
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
(5:30) Drew guarantees there is going to be some hard hitting fights coming up in TNA since people are gunning for him, particularly Bobby Lashley and Tyrus. He thinks a lot of people underestimate Tyrus.
(8:20) Drew will take on Ethan Page at EVOLVE 60 on May 6. He’ll then take on his former tag partner Johnny Gargano on May 7 at EVOLVE 61. The last time he wrestled Gargano was at WrestleMania weekend last year. He won. He’s got a different kind of Gargano on his hands this time around due to tension around their EVOLVE Tag Titles win.
(10:45) What are the odds Drew defends his TNA World Title against a competitor from NXT since WWE has connections with EVOLVE? Drew says there is a lot of things in 2016 that you can never normally expect in today’s wrestling world. A very interesting response.
(12:20) How often does the talent visit the TNA headquarters? He was at there once to sign his TNA contract and to do a segment on Periscope.
(13:05) Was Drew ever connected to The Illuminati in WWE? Ryan from Cumberland, Md. has seen videos on YouTube of WWE referencing the Illuminati. He can’t say he has, but it’s piqued his interest. Drew is buzzing right now with energy, folks. Pat follows up if he’s ever been asked to occult-like things while working for Vince McMahon. Drew says not unless you consider sacrificing goats and joining in ritualistic chants cultish (surely he jests).
(15:30) Is TNA planning on selling the company at all? All Drew knows is that there is no plan to sell, but to move forward and progress.
(17:00) One of Drew’s goals is to defend the TNA Title all over the world. He recently did that in the U.K. Drew was just recently doing fight scenes for a very large television company (the biggest one in London). He defended his title in Bristol and then he’ll be fighting in Scotland and in Plymoth, England. His fiance never sees him.
(19:00) Is there a wrestler that travels more than Drew does? Probably the Young Bucks, but he’s been very fortunate to be able to wrestle all over the place. He wrestled Speedball Mike Bailey in PWG and considered it to be an amazing experience wrestling for PWG. He considered it to be a great honor to be asked back to wrestle.
(20:20) What was the best decision Stephanie McMahon made when Drew was in WWE? He’s sure Stephanie made a lot of good decisions. Did he get to interact with her a lot in WWE? He said they were all very approachable, especially Shane, who was the coolest to interact with out of all of them.
(21:56) What’s the best part of being TNA Ccampion? Just being considered world champion is all. He’s taking this opportunity to be different from everyone else. He’s wrestled in different promotions and traveled all over the world. He wants to be the first traveling world champion since Ric Flair in the NWA. He brings up a story during WrestleMania weekend where he was invited to a dinner for Flair, and he walks in donning street clothes while everyone else was wearing tuxedos.
(23:55) Drew got engaged about two months ago. When did Drew decide that his fiance was “The One?” It’s been probably a while ago, he just had to give it time since pro wrestling is a trying business. They met about three years ago and she didn’t even know he was in the wrestling business when they first met. They ended up getting engaged at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
(25:38) In a recent Sports Illustrated article, they make comparisons to Drew and Roman Reigns in WWE. Has it crossed Drew’s mind to face some of the newer talent in WWE? You never know what the future holds – he often gets misquoted in these interviews and in this one in particular he was misquoted about TNA’s in-ring work not being good in the past, but Drew actually thinks that’s the best part of the show. He also commented about how he wanted to be back in WWE, and that was the plan initially, but he’s exactly where he needs to be now in TNA. He’s got the freedom of being who he wants to be in TNA.
(27:35) Has anyone from TNA asked Drew not to mention something? No, not really. They trust his judgement – he veers away from negativity. John Gaburick says he can stay true to himself and that’s been true the entire time. The Drew Galloway you see on TV is the actual Drew Galloway. Pat and him talk about the Hardys and Drew says how funny it is when fans say they watched Jeff as a kid and they turn out to be the same age as him.
(29:40) What’s the process of defending the TNA Title outside of TNA? TNA is very trusting with him, and he’s able to defend it where he thinks it’s appropriate. He’d never put the title in a situation where he thinks it doesn’t belong. Everything he does is for the betterment of the title and the company.
### COMMERCIAL BREAK ###
(36:00) Steve Corino will be on the show next week.
(36:20) What are Drew’s thoughts on the Raw debut of Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson? He says it’s a very very good thing. Pat says he hopes it becomes significant in the WWE spectrum.
(38:00) What other goals does Drew have in his career? Unlimited goals, he’s been wrestling since he was 15 and has never had a real job so he’s been real fortunate. He sets his goals as he goes. He’d like to go to Japan, that’s one of them.
(39:55) Who would Drew like to defend his title against that he hasn’t yet gotten to? That’s a good question since everyone on his list keeps signing with WWE at the moment. The scene is so unbelievable – when he left the U.K. there was nothing going on, but now it’s booming. The level of talent is unbelievable. Wrestling there has really built up his talent and in-ring work. He wants to be a guy that 100 percent means what he says. Pat follows up this by asking Drew what he thinks brought on this U.K. upswing? Drew just thinks it’s time. He remembers wrestling Sheamus in Irish Whip Wrestling and being in a faction with Wade Barrett and Marcus Louis. He says right now there are plenty more U.K. guys that folks haven’t heard of that are plenty talented. Sylvester LeFort and Marcus Louis just signed with TNA which Drew is excited about.
(46:40) How does the U.S. crowd differ from the crowds in the U.K. in reaction? A little different, PWG is like a U.K. crowd. U.K. crowds are very much like soccer crowds, heckling players they don’t like and cheering players they do. The PWG crowd is very invested into the matches. It’s also cool to watch the crowd when they are actually just watching the matches. That’s a very cool feeling.
(49:35) Is there a possibility that Wade Barrett and him will be tagging again, considering he’s leaving WWE soon? All he knows is that they’ll be getting beers soon. It’s an exciting time to be in wrestling. Pat mentions Raw will be in London this coming week.
(51:33) Britt from Bruce Mitchell’s Audio Show calls in. Is there a certain meal Drew enjoys when he does a cheat day? Drew first thanks Britt for saying he was a nice person when they met. He sees no point in being an ass to someone if they’re a fan of yours. He doesn’t really have a diet in particular. He tries to eat fairly clean, just judges by how he wants to look. He ate a giant burger and a pizza today. He just trains hard.
(53:55) Follow Drew on Twitter @GallowaySpeaks and Instagram @drewgalloway1985. Keep your eye on his Facebook page.
SCORE & REVIEW
10.0: This was a fantastic interview. Drew is someone that bolsters the TNA World Title as much as he can and really does give it a unique feel by being willing (and picky enough) to defend it internationally. I haven’t watched TNA consistently in years, but if anything can give the company some legs it’s exactly what Drew Galloway is doing. He’s busy wrestling in other promotions, he travels all the time and from what it sounds, he’s got other important things on his plate. It sounds like a champion’s lifestyle to me. Drew even compares it to the old NWA days of a traveling champion which only adds to his credibility cache. The more TNA allows Drew to do this, the better the company will look.
Something to note – Drew was very sly in answering questions relating to the potential of wrestling as part of the TNA roster in WWE by saying “you won’t know what 2016 will bring to wrestling.” He’s also kind of coy in his response when Pat brings up Raw being in London this week. Sure, he may be working us, but Drew says he does take pride in meaning what he says. If things keep up with the way they’re going, Drew Galloway’s future in wrestling may be bigger and brighter than it even is now. (Just stay away from all that Illuminati stuff.)
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