10 Disturbing Backstories Behind WWE Gimmicks

6. Festus

Luke Gallows' first run in WWE was as the Southern, intellectually challenged slack-jawed ‘Festus’. The character was a Vince McMahon creation based on a kid Vince went to school with who was somewhat slow but would suddenly snap. Gallows has said on first being informed about Festus:

"So we go to Vince's office and I'm 23 and this is Vince McMahon and I'm like, 'I can't be a mark, but this is some sh*t right here.' I'm looking at Vince and he goes, he starts telling me a story, 'I knew this kid in school and he looked like this' and he did this face. 'This is the way he looked and when something would happen, he'd lose his mind like crazy!' And I'm looking at him, going, 'I can do that - that's not a problem.' So he goes, 'do this face!' and I do the Festus open mouth, tongue out face and he looked at me and he goes, 'can you do that?' And I start doing it and then we start doing it back and forth. And Vince is like, 'not like that! Like this! Make your jaw more slack!' And I'm like, 'Oh my God! I must make Vince happy!'"

The backstory of the Festus character would take a dark twist when Luke Gallows joined CM Punk in one of the most underappreciated and underrated stables ever, The Straight Edge Society. In that run, Punk would reveal Festus and the way he acted was in actuality a side effect of Festus’ family and friends drugging him with large amounts of prescription pain medication. Gallows would thank Punk for being the one to get him clean and “showing him the way.”

The majority of the time when WWE repackages a talent they cover up any previous incarnation they had but this a rare case of Luke Gallows and Festus being the same character.