Eli Drake Talks DeAngelo Williams, Fact Of Life, Cage, EC3, The Rock, More

Global Force Wrestling Champion Eli Drake was recently interviewed by Wrestling Epicenter. You can check out the full podcast at this link, and submitted highlights below:

"Fact of Life" segments:

"You know, I loved those segments. I thought I was going to hate it at first. Something felt campy about having a talk show. I didn't like it. I felt it cemented me at a certains tatus. But, as it started to go, it started to pick up in popularity and it started to get really good. My one qualm as far as the EC3 one is maybe I came off a little too strong in that one… Especially for where it went. I don't feel we got enough mileage out of that whole story whereas if we could have kept going back and forth a little bit more I think it would have meant more. I felt that first segment was really, really good. I was just sad… I was a little disappointed for what it lead into. It could have been something bigger!"

The Rock on the mic:

"There are 4 men on my Mount Rushmore, if you will, of wrestling. That's The Rock, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. If you were to take 3 or 4 guys that I take away from and incorporate as far as character stuff, you've got The Rock, Austin, a little bit of Jake 'The Snake' Roberts, and a little bit of Flair. There's a little bit of all those guys I kind of pluck a little bit from. I can definitely tell you there were some times when I was watching "The Hero" back in 2013, there'd be a voice that would come on the screen and you did not see a face attached, sometimes I'd have a tough time telling who was The Rock and who was me. (laughs) I talk the way I talk. I can't do much about that. (laughs). But, it is funny you mention that. Sometimes I get the weirdest comparisons out of nowhere. I've heard Jericho, I'd heard Michaels, I've heard Austin… I've heard a lot of things especially if you read YouTube comments which is the worst mistake anybody could make. (laughs) There's some comparison to somebody and you have to say, "Really? That guy?"

Working with DeAngelo Williams:

(laughs) "Oh boy! Well! Lets go ahead and dig right in the deep here. I feel like there was a lot of media attention to that match. I feel like there was no media attention to anybody but DeAngelo Williams which is kind of to be expected a little bit. But then, sometimes, you hear people talking about DeAngelo Williams, DeAngelo Williams and it is like, there's three other guys in this match. It is a great chance for us to get some publicity for the other three guys in this match and not once were those names mentioned on the bigger stations like ESPN or whatever. Otherwise, it was great to get a little bit of a rub. But, man, it would have been great to push a Moose or a Chris Adonis or an Eli Drake when the ESPN microphones were running.

"It was great to have those images up there. But, lets get the other talent in the match over as well and the company because that's the whole point of the thing! It's not the DeAngelo Williams show because he's helping us and we're helping him in a sense because we're helping him make a dream come true. He wanted to wrestle and at the same time he's helping us get extra press. So, lets make that a mutual thing by mentioning the company. Mentioning the other talent in the match. It seemed like everywhere I turned, 'DeAngelo Williams is wrestling in this unnamed company with three unnamed guys.' (laughs) That was a little frustrating! But, at the same time, the imagery was out there so it was cool to get a little bit of attention in that way."

New names in GFW:

"Anytime you do a cross-promotional thing or bring in a new face, it is exctiing. At the same time, I kind of look around and think, 'God, we're chock-full of talent right now! Can we fit anymore?' It's kind of a fine line to walk because you want to use the talent that you have to the greatest degree that you can and get the most out of them. But, at the same time, it is exciting to have those prospects!"

Teaming with Cage

"I don't think I've worked in the same ring with Brian Cage in probably 5 years! We were tag team partners for a solid 3, 4 years with Percy Pringle behind us. Cool experience, great experience, "Natural Selection!" That's the old team name for Brian Cage and I."

Check out the full interview at this link.