Doc Gallows Recalls Being Suspended By WWE For Painkillers In 2006

Doc Gallows signed with WWE in 2005, wrestling in Deep South Wrestling as Dorian “Deacon” Deville. 

In May 2006, he went up to the main roster as imposter Kane, which didn’t last long before he returned to being The Freakin’ Deacon. 

During his early stint with WWE, Gallows was suspended by the company after testing positive for painkillers. 

“In the year 2006. I’ve never been a painkiller type guy, this is not a story you should tell, but during that era in pro wrestling, a lot of guys used painkillers. I had two ruptured discs in my back, I was really fucked up at the time. Again, I wasn’t a painkiller guy, but a guy said to me, after seeing me in pain at practice, ‘Here, take this painkiller.’ I go, ‘Okay.’ The next morning, drug testers are there. So me, the biggest jobber in the company who is 22, gets popped for painkillers and suspended without pay for 30 days. At the time, my ex and I were not getting along, which sounds weird, and instead of doing what you should do in that scenario and really buckling down on training and coming back like a million bucks, my friend Danny had just gotten let go, so he wasn’t in a great place either. Every day, we would go to the gym and started doing these massive hour and a half, two-hour workouts in the morning, and we’d try to be done by 11 for the sushi lunch special and drink sake. The workouts got shorter and shorter because it would get closer to 11 when we get to the gym. By the end of the month, these are 15-minute workouts and a whole lot of sake. I come back and they’re like, ‘You screwed up, but we really like your character and you’re going to do a dark match.’ I did eight minutes with Val Venis and I thought I was going to die. I was blown up sky-high. They sent me back to developmental and Jody Hamilton calls me into his office and goes, ‘Get a top.’ I said, ‘What?’ ‘A top.’ ‘A top, what do you mean?’ ‘The tits. They’re everywhere.’ That’s when I became a singlet guy,” Gallows recalled on Talk N Shop. 

Gallows would eventually become Festus on WWE TV before being released in 2010. 

He is currently one of half of the IMPACT Tag Team Champions alongside Karl Anderson. The duo successfully defended the belts at IMPACT Bound For Glory in a triple threat match. 

If you missed anything from IMPACT Bound For Glory, check out Fightful’s full report on the show by clicking here. 

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