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The Namer of Dummies, Eli Drake, joined the free agent market in June after his contract was terminated by Impact Wrestling. Due to his phenomenal ability on the mic, Drake had offers from both AEW and WWE. He recently revealed on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast that he didn't speak with the WWE before signing with the NWA. Fightful.com carried transcripts of Drake's interview.
Picking a new home
Once Drake became a free agent, it was his turn to decide which promotion would be obtaining his services. He obviously attracted attention from promotions like Ring of Honor, All Elite Wrestling and WWE. But due to the way he felt that he had handled early talks with officials from WWE, Drake revealed that he didn't talk with the the WWE before eventually signing with the NWA.
"I had been contacted by friends of mine who are in WWE and they said, 'You should let them know you're available.' I was like, 'For the last three years, I've kinda jerked their chain. I'm gonna ease off of that for right now.' Because for three years I was like, 'I'd love to come over there.' They were like, 'Great, we'd love to have you.' And I was like, 'Ah, I'm gonna stay where I am.' I don't wanna keep being the boy who cried wolf. So I didn't even bother reaching out to them."
Drake was initially a member of WWE developmental before it became NXT. He left due to unhappiness in the territory and not getting along with some of the coaches. He would later end up in Impact as a member of the Rising faction alongside Drew McIntyre and Micah, aka Tonga Loa.
Watch out, dummies
Now that the NWA has another star like Drake to pair with James Storm and Nick Aldis, they will continue to build themselves into a prominent promotion once more. They have been around for a long time but had fallen out of the limelight for some time. Under Billy Coorgan's leadership, the promotion is looking to recapture some of the spotlight the promotion enjoyed back in the day.
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