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Exclusive: Grizzled Young Veterans Reflect On WWE Departure, Winning NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Titles & More

James Drake and Zack Gibson have excelled across the world, helping them prepare for challenges outside WWE one year after their departure.

Sid Pullar III

allelitewrestling.com

There might not be another tag team in the wrestling industry today as well traveled as the Grizzled Young Veterans. James Drake and Zack Gibson have established themselves as a premier duo in every promotion they have stepped in.

Signing with WWE to start on the NXT UK brand in 2017, the duo known as GYV became one of the developmental brand's top tag teams and the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions. After leaving the UK to come to the proper NXT brand, their fortunes turned. Undergoing a name change as part of the Schism stable, Drake and Gibson felt they needed a change after five years in WWE.

This led to the tandem asking for their release, which they eventually were granted in October 2023. When asked if there was a time they knew they wanted to leave or a culmination of their experience, James Drake said:

"I think the latter to be honest, I think. So first and foremost, we absolutely loved the WWE, we loved them, we love AEW, we love every wrestling promotion we ever worked for."

"We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for WWE, we got to go in back in 2016 when we were in the UK. But saying that, things change and time goes on. And we're, it's the name 'Grizzled Young Veterans' but we're not as young as we were. As time's going on and we're looking at the climate of the wrestling world how things are booming in other areas, well I can speak on my half and I'm sure Zack's the same, at the end of the day, one of these days, we're not gonna be able to do this anymore."

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The Grizzled Young Veterans have been on an international tour where they have worked for several different companies over the past year, including NJPW, AEW, Ring of Honor and TNA Wrestling. In the process, they have once again become among the most talked about duos in the business.

A desire to explore and experience the entire landscape of the wrestling world became something that helped GYV to know the time was now for them to make a move that could change their careers.

"I think we're gonna be in the wrestling business for the rest of our lives because we've committed 20 years into it so far, but physically, you know that is a ticking clock, it's running down, you know as it respects to other careers," Drake said. "So whilst we're young, whilst we're in a situation where we could do it, we wanted to really bet on ourselves and experience the whole world of wrestling, not just WWE."

"The list of companies that you said there, Ring of Honor, AEW, TNA, New Japan, that's all in the space of 12 months and we've only been afforded that opportunity because we did say the time's now, let's go," Gibson said.

"And then the proof's in the pudding, our stock which was the thing we were most concerned with, is back on the rise, going in that direction again, so it's all coming up Milhouse."

"Betting on themselves" has brought Drake and Gibson success across multiple major and independent promotions since their WWE departure. It has also allowed the duo to go to other countries and has added to their passion again.

"Like you're talking we were in Barcelona, we wrestled some guys from Barcelona that we never even knew about, it was amazing. And we would have never gotten that experience," Drake said. "You know, New Japan STRONG, there is a lot of talent there that I'm gonna look forward to getting stuck in with. I don't know if they're gonna feel the same."

"However, you know, again we wouldn't be able to do that if it wasn't, in other words, not only betting on ourselves and saying we're betting on ourselves, but actually doing it, which is something a lot of people, they go on social media, they have the spiel, but then they don't follow through with a lot of things. But one thing you can say, you know I can sleep at night soundly knowing what we say and what we do is exactly that."

While The Grizzled Young Veterans said this move was what was best for them, this has not deterred some fans from wanting to know who is to blame for their WWE run not working out.

"A lot of people are interested and ask the question, 'do you look for maybe a finger to point or you know what was the reason why you guys wanted to leave WWE?' As JD already alluded to, there were plenty of positives at WWE," Zack Gibson said.

"Ultimately what it comes down to is we are our own product and we have to have our own best interest at heart. And while WWE's business was doing great, other companies are doing great business elsewhere and our own personal stock we felt was at risk of going down. We got to make sure our own personal stock was going up."

Gibson went on to express how the duo had "itchy feet" to get back out there and experience what they were unable to do during their five-year stint with WWE. Rediscovering what made them love their jobs in wrestling also helped them to recapture their motivation.

"Personally, we were getting itchy feet, we wanted to get back out there again and experience all those things that made us love the job in the first place."

For The Grizzled Young Veterans, the two men had to figure out what was the best decision for their careers and to rise their potential stock in the business.

"And it was just the perfect storm of all these things coming together where we sat down and had a serious conversation and we said, 'the best thing for our career right now, regardless of any other outside factors, the best thing for us, the most exciting thing for us is to get out there to the wild west again and go start enjoying the job and traveling around and challenging people,'" Gibson said.

At NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Drake and Gibson defeated TMDK's Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls to win the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championship. GYV will defend the titles against West Coast Wrecking Crew's Royce Issacs and Jorel Nelson this Sunday, December 15 at NJPW Strong Style Evolved.

While The Grizzled Young Veterans won gold in their second match in New Japan, Issacs and Nelson have been mainstays in the NJPW STRONG tag team scene since 2020. Their status as a top unit doesn't bother the champions.

"West Coast Wrecking Crew, there's no doubt they're the top team. Everyone around the world knows they are a top team, we appreciate they're a top team," Gibson said. "We've watched a lot of their stuff, so this is a match that we've requested multiple times, like people have messaged them on all different platforms asking to see this match."

"And I think we may have broke them a little bit the wrong way when we came in and won the titles that alluded them for years, we won them on our second night in the company, so I think they're pretty hot at us right now. So, there might be some fireworks, I'm looking forward to it."

"Yeah so I mean like you said you could argue they are the face of the tag team division, but I mean the face of the tag team division are the champions, that's just the way it is, you know. They want to be the face, but unfortunately that's not the case," Drake said.

NJPW Strong Style Evolved will take place from the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California on Sunday, December 15. The show is available to stream live at njpwworld.com and Triller TV.

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Sid Pullar III
SID PULLAR III

Sid Pullar III, born and raised in New York, is a lifelong pro wrestling fan who fell in love with the business when stars like Randy Savage, Ric Flair and Sting captured his imagination. In 2017, he started the Tru Heel Heat Wrestling podcast. Then in 2020, he began his writing for Sportskeeda Wrestling before moving to WrestleTalk in 2021. He is looking to capture his three decades worth of pro wrestling knowledge through his pieces and interviewing various stars.

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