Exclusive: Doc Gallows Talks Almost Dying After Being Bitten By A Tarantula When He Was The Freakin' Deacon

Throughout his career, Doc Gallows has had numerous personas. He has been Festus, a mentally challenged WWE Superstar, a member of CM Punk's Straight Edge Society, Sex Ferguson, and he even picked up a win over The Big Red Machine Kane at Vengeance 2006 as Imposter Kane. 

One of his most famous characters was during his time in Deep South Wrestling when he was The Freakin' Deacon, a deranged wrestler who came to the ring with a pet tarantula named Willow. 

While he only used the gimmick for two years, it was almost Gallows' final persona as Big LG revealed during a recent interview with Tom Campbell that he almost died after he tried to place the tarantula in his mouth ahead of a promo.

Gallows said: "We had a promo day in developmental and I was The Freakin’ Deacon and, of course, I had the live tarantula that came to the ring with me and stuff. And I was getting familiar with him at home and I was trying to figure out how I could really shock the office and get myself promoted to TV quicker. 

"So, this thing was crawling all over me. Some of the guys would let him do it. I would drop him on them when I win. So, I go, 'I'm gonna up the ante. I'm gonna put this spider in my mouth.' And I told the camera guy, 'Listen, I'm gonna put this spider in my mouth quickly. I'm gonna open my mouth, he's gonna crawl out. I'll start cutting a promo so just stay on me.' And I don't know if you've ever tried to put a live tarantula in your mouth before and close it but they think that you're f*****g eating them. 

"And then what happens is they have a defence mechanism, they have these thick bristly hairs, kind of like a porcupine or something, on their back and on their ass. So, once he thought that he was being eaten by a predator, which I didn't take into consideration he would think, he shoots all those hairs out into the back of my tongue and strikes me in my mouth. And instead of cutting a promo, I began to wheeze, and the spider jumps down, the spider's running around the room and Bill Demott's like, 'Get the spider! Pick the f*****g spider up!' Meanwhile, I'm thinking that my windpipe's closing and I'm nearing the end of my life and nobody seemed to really care that much. I ended up having to drive myself to the hospital while hoping that my throat didn't close at a red light and I didn't pass away."

Check out Tom Campbell's full chat with The Good Brothers here.