Update On Grizzled Young Veterans' Contract Status

Ahead of No Surrender on Friday, have Grizzled Young Veterans signed with TNA?

by Andrew Pollard
Grizzled Young Veterans Zack Gibson James Drake
WWE

Set to face Bullet Club's Ace Austin and Chris Bey at TNA No Surrender for the TNA Tag Team Titles on Friday, there's now somewhat of an update on the contract status of Grizzled Young Veterans.

As part of a recent interview with Fightful Select, despite being such a featured act on TNA programming across this past month or so, GYV have not signed with the Anthem promotion as of yet.

At present, James Drake and Zack Gibson haven't signed a contract anywhere and are working completely independently. While the pair noted how this was important to them after departing WWE last year, they likewise didn't rule out signing with any particular promotion - whether that's TNA, AEW, or even a possible WWE return, should the right situation arise.

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One of the very best teams in the industry, Drake and Gibson have been a tandem since 2017 and their Progress days. Initially used by WWE as singles acts in NXT UK, it would've take long for them to be paired up under the WWE banner, becoming the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool at the start of 2019.

2020 would see Grizzled Young Veterans officially move to the main NXT brand, although that switch was soon hindered by the international travel restrictions in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After several months away from NXT, Drake and Gibson would return towards the end of the year and become significant players in the tag ranks.

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By July 2022, Grizzled Young Veterans was sadly no more, as Drake and Gibson became Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler as the Dyad as part of Joe Gacy's Schism. The pair would depart WWE last September when their contracts expired, and they've since picked things back up on the independent scene in addition to working for TNA.

At TNA No Surrender, GYV and ABC do battle in the third and final match in a best-of-three series for Austin and Bey's TNA Tag Team Championships.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.