The current Global Force Wrestling Champion Eli Drake, sat down with Interactive Wrestling Radio to discuss the everything GFW Impact. Eli Drake spoke on GFW’s house shows and if he thinks they were successful or not. Drake also gave his thoughts on Johnny Mundo coming into GFW, working with EC3 and much more.
Here are the highlights:
Drake On Johnny Mundo & Drago Coming Into The Company:
“Anytime you do a cross-promotional thing or bring in a new face, it is exciting. At the same time, I kind of look around and think, ‘God, we’re chock-full of talent right now! Can we fit anymore?’ It’s kind of a fine line to walk because you want to use the talent that you have to the greatest degree that you can and get the most out of them. But, at the same time, it is exciting to have those prospects.”
Working With EC3:
“You know, I loved those segments. I thought I was going to hate it at first. Something felt campy about having a talk show, I didn’t like it. I felt it cemented me at a certain status. But as it started to go, it started to pick up in popularity and it started to get really good. My one qualm as far as the EC3 one is maybe I came off a little too strong in that one, especially for where it went. I don’t feel we got enough mileage out of that whole story whereas if we could have kept going back and forth a little bit more, I think it would have meant more. I felt that first segment was really, really good. I was just sad, I was a little disappointed for what it lead into. It could have been something bigger.”
Eli Drake’s Thoughts On GFW’s House Shows:
“I think it was good, it was a lot of fun. I think it was a litmus test of sorts just to feel out how the people know the product outside of the Impact Zone. For instance, a lot of times at the Impact Zone, you get the same fans for the most part over and over again. Sometimes there’s new faces, but for the most part it is the same crowd. So you start to wonder how people will react to the product outside of there. It was actually pretty good, everybody was up with everything, they knew everything that was going on, they were familiar, I think it was a great experience. It was a great test for us being in this rebuilding process and I think it says a lot for us going forward.”
“I think it was very well attended actually. I mean, again, we’re not packing stadiums, we’re not filling stadiums. I think that for now, what we need to do is be humble within a certain degree while working within our means to where we’re not trying to fill a giant stadium. But also, take chances to see what we can do and what we can fill. I think our street team, for example, is above and beyond what it had ever been in the past. One of the guys in particular, Raphael, he is renowned for being very strong as far as promoting and getting everything moving, getting eyes on the product and people in the seats. I think that moving around the parts in that part of the company is going to help in a big way and also, having an exciting product as we do with all the exciting characters, people are going to want to see that right in front of their face.”
Drake On His Mic Skills Being Compared To The Rock’s:
“There are 4 men on my Mount Rushmore if you will of wrestling: that’s The Rock, Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. If you were to take 3 or 4 guys that I take away from and incorporate as far as character stuff, you’ve got The Rock, Austin, a little bit of Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and a little bit of Flair. There’s a little bit of all those guys I kind of pluck a little bit from. I can definitely tell you there were some times when I was watching “The Hero” back in 2013, there’d be a voice that would come on the screen and you did not see a face attached. Sometimes I’d have a tough time telling who was The Rock and who was me. I talk the way I talk, I can’t do much about that. But, it is funny you mention that. Sometimes I get the weirdest comparisons out of nowhere. I’ve heard Jericho, I’d heard Michaels, I’ve heard Austin, I’ve heard a lot of things especially if you read YouTube comments which is the worst mistake anybody could make. There’s some comparison to somebody and you have to say, “Really? That guy?”
