Several years ago, Eli Drake found himself the IMPACT World Heavyweight Champion, holding it for 146-days, and atop the food chain in IMPACT Wrestling in 2017 and early 2018. But following a brief reign as IMPACT World Tag Team Champion with Scott Steiner following his World title loss in January of 2018, Drake saw his star diminishing within the company, and was ultimately released in June of 2019. Rumors of heading to NXT ran rampant, but at the June 28 Ring of Honor event Best in the World, Drake appeared as the mystery partner of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) World’s Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis and was revealed to be the newest signee to the rebooted NWA. Eli Drake recently spoke to WhatCulture‘s Andrew Thompson and revealed that he has recently re-signed with NWA. “My current deal, I started it the end of June last year,” he told WhatCulture. “It was a one-year deal, but we recently just signed a new one. I’ll be there for at least the next year.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRvCqsi7Fhc
Since joining NWA, Eli Drake has found himself in a prominent position on the company’s YouTube series NWA Powerrr, appearing on the premier episode where he defeated Caleb Konley. Since then, he’s formed a successful partnership with another former TNA/IMPACT World Champion in “Cowboy” James Storm, capturing the NWA World Tag Team Championships at the NWA Hard Times pay-per-view this past January. In a time where more names are jumping to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Eli Drake has chosen to remain a part of the NWA’s growth in chasing the easy money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7jzZrIG9rw
Speaking of AEW, Drake also revealed in his talk with WhatCulture that he nearly joined AEW when he was first released by IMPACT last summer. “When I left Impact, there was [interest from AEW],” Drake told WhatCulture. “As a matter of fact, breaking news, I had two separate deals ready to go with them, ready to be signed. To the point where I had even sent them my entrance music. We were about to be ‘go’. Then some things just fell through, and it didn’t end up happening. They sent me one deal, we renegotiated, they sent me another. They were just waiting on my signature.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kevJ6wtmGbw
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