10 Wrestling Fates Worse Than Death

5. Festus

Festus is the sad tale of Luke Gallows’ origin story; it’s not a case of WWE repackaging a wrestler.

Festus was portrayed as the mentally challenged slobbering oaf of the ‘Jesse and Festus’ tag team on SmackDown! from 2007–2009. When CM Punk was ruling SmackDown! with the Straight Edge Society in 2009/2010, Punk revealed that Festus’ real name was Luke Gallows and he wasn’t mentally challenged but was hooked on prescription medication drugs the entire time. His body was living a lie as Festus for years.

Punk was able to ‘save him’, ridding him of his addiction and enslavement to pills. Punk spoke of how Luke’s closest inner circle were the ones that got him dependent on the drugs. Punk said in a promo: “His friends and family were there but they enabled him. They didn’t help him. They thought they were but they were slowly rotting him from the inside out.”

Festus was a laughing stock who drooled and was drugged out of his mind with large anger issues. For years Luke was haunted by the caricature of his former self, Festus. A tragic storyline fate indeed.