10 Failed WWE Stars Who Re-Invented Themselves In Japan

7. Luke Gallows

WWE€™s decision to release Luke Gallows was a confusing one. He was big, he could talk, and had an overall €˜presence€™ about him. He could€™ve been an excellent bodyguard or monster heel, but instead WWE gave him a series of disappointing gimmicks (the mentally challenged Festus, Fake Kane etc.), before giving him a decent one as a member of the Straight Edge Society. Although he worked well as a member of the SES, he was released (via phone call) by Jon Laurinaitis, much to the chagrin of the audience (and CM Punk), and soon set about finding work elsewhere. After an underwhelming stint in TNA, Gallows made his way to NJPW, where he changed his name to Doc Gallows (a combination of his WWE and TNA names) and joined the highly-successful Bullet Club stable. As part of the Bullet Club, Gallows has been teaming primarily with established tag team wrestler Karl Anderson, and the duo have enjoyed a lot of success. Together, they won the 2013 World Tag League (a big deal in NJPW), and have won the IWGP Tag Team Championships on three occasions, with Gallows playing the simple role of strong enforcer to Anderson€™s crafty veteran. This simple psychology has allowed Gallows to shine as a straightforward strong man in a country where the native wrestlers are normally much smaller, making him stand out by default. Gallows looks comfortable in NJPW, far more so than he did while he was working for Vince and Co.