Drew Gulak (April 28, 1987) is an American professional wrestler previously signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Before WWE he has worked for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he is a one-time CZW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time CZW World Tag Team Champion, one-time CZW Wired TV Champion, and 2005 Chris Cash Memorial Battle Royal winner. In addition he has wrestled in Wrestling Is Art, UWA Hardcore Wrestling, BATTLEWAR, Wrestling Is Respect, EVOLVE, Beyond Wrestling and Dragon Gate USA.
Professional wrestling career
Combat Zone Wrestling (2005–2016)
After beginning training in 2004 during the merger between the CZW Wrestling Academy and the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory Drew Gulak debuted at the inaugural Maven Bentley Association, a sister company of CZW, event at Northeast High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 16, 2005. Six months later Drew Gulak made his Combat Zone Wrestling debut at Down With The Sickness 4-Ever, a tribute show to the late Chris Cash defeating over 20 participants in an over the top rope battle royal on September 10th, 2005.
Team AnDrew
Gulak was paired up with fellow CZW student Andy Sumner in training due to his amateur wrestling background being similar to Sumner's background in Sambo grappling. Together known as Team AnDrew the duo captured the CZW World Tag Team Championship twice before disbanding in 2009 after Sumner had a falling out with CZW and disappeared from contact at large except for a lone appearance in 2010.
Wired Television Champion
After venting frustration following the abandonment of his partner in 2009, Gulak began finding success as a singles wrestler capturing his first single's championship in the CZW Wired TV Championship in early 2010 by defeating Tyler Veritas in a TV taping at Swinging for the Fences.
Gulak would go on to hold the title for 429 days defeating the likes of Nick Gage, Zack Sabre, Jr., Rich Swann, and several others including the one-off return of his former tag team partner Andy Sumner before losing the title to AR Fox in June 2011.
Campaign for a Better Combat Zone
During his run as Wired TV Champion Gulak began to characterize himself as that of a political leader and activist within the company speaking out against ethical issues of violence including CZW's famed ultraviolence and the frequent manhandling of company referees, specifically targeting the actions of long-time fan favorite Nick Gage.
Gulak interjected himself in a match pitting Nick Gage against Big Japan Wrestling star and then Ultraviolent Underground Champion Yuko Miyamoto at Cage of Death XII and served as a special guest referee for the bout. After strictly enforcing the rules of a regular professional wrestling match Gage attacked Gulak forcing him to leave the bout and be replaced by another official. This was the last time the two of them shared a ring together.
On December 30, 2010, The State of New Jersey made public that it was seeking Nick Gage as a suspect of Bank Robbery on which he later turned himself in and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Gulak, feeling justified by this turn of events, went on to mock the former CZW Champion the following month so far as donning Gage's ring attire and associating himself with Gage's former manager Dewey Donovan taking him on as his "Personal Title Belt Transporter" and "Investment Management Specialist."
In the following months Gulak would continue to speak out against ethical issues of violence and mismanagement within CZW using Nick Gage's incarceration as a prime example as well as the stories of several other ill-fated wrestlers that worked for the company in the past. This drew the ire of several roster members such as former training partner Danny Havoc, Jon Moxley, and Devon Moore, leading them to interrupt Gulak as well as physically assault him during his so-called "paid presentation time." In response to this Gulak hired Nui Tofiga, a gigantic Samoan wrestler to become his "Enforcement Agent."
After holding the Wired TV Championship for over a year, Gulak was defeated for the title by AR Fox at Prelude to Violence 2 on June 11, 2011 in Philadelphia. After the match Gulak was mocked by Danny Havoc, who held the Ultraviolent Underground championship at the time. Gulak then took a leave of absence to tour Europe over the summer as an ambassador for CZW while the company was expanding its international ties but not before proclaiming that he was looking to expand his campaign and grant an opportunity to other wrestlers who might not always get a chance to wrestle in the spotlight. These tryout matches were overseen by Donovan and Tofiga in his absence.
At Tournament of Death X, while Gulak was away, Donovan and Tofiga interjected themselves in Danny Havoc's first round match against BJW Star Abdullah Kobayashi where Mr. Tofiga shoved Havoc off the top rope through some light tubes positioned outside the ring causing him to lose the bout. At Tangled Web 6 on August 10, 2013, Gulak defeated Masada to win the CZW World title.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2016–2024)
Cruiserweight Classic (2016)
On May 7, 2016, Gulak defeated Tracy Williams at EVOLVE 61 to qualify for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic 2016, a 32-man tournament being held by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to crown a new WWE Cruiserweight champion. Drew won his first round match but was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Zack Sabre, Jr. On the September 26 episode of Raw Gulak made his main roster debut in a tag team match alongside Lince Dorado in a loss to Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann.
205 Live (2017-2019)
In December Gulak officially signed a contract with WWE to be a part of the promotion full-time in the cruiserweight division of 205 Live. In 2017 Gulak introduced a new campaign in WWE in which he lobbied for a "Better 205 Live". This campaign would be similar to his previous campaign in CZW with this campaign being against the high flying style of most the cruiserweights on 205 Live. Complete with a picket sign reading "No Fly Zone" and PowerPoint presentations outlining Gulak's ideas for a better 205 Live, Gulak began feuds with Mustafa Ali, Akira Tozawa and others on 205 Live. During this time Gulak briefly aligned with Enzo Amore in Enzo's Zo Train.
In 2018 after the disbandment of the Zo Train Gulak was entered into the WWE Cruiserweight Championship Tournament (2018) but lost in the semifinals to Mustafa Ali. After this Gulak stopped his campaign for a better 205 Live and instead focused on being the hard hitting submission specialist he had once been. Gulak entered the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament 2018 but lost in the first round to Gentleman Jack Gallagher. Gulak next entered into a feud with Cedric Alexander for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. At SummerSlam 2018 Gulak challenged Alexander for the Cruiserweight Championship but lost the match.
On June 23, 2019 at Stomping Grounds Drew defeated reigning WWE Cruiserweight Champion Tony Nese and Akira Tozawa in a Triple Threat Match to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. He held the championship for 108 days before losing it to Lio Rush.
Smackdown (2019-2020)
As part of the 2019 draft, Gulak was drafted to SmackDown. In his debut on the main roster, Gulak, reverting to his political gimmick, attempted to show Braun Strowman a PowerPoint Presentation on how to beat Tyson Fury, but he was quickly defeated by Strowman. The following week, he would attempt to show a PowerPoint Presentation on how Braun Strowman can lose to Tyson Fury before his match with Kalisto, but he was once again attacked by Strowman. On the November 15 episode of SmackDown Live, Gulak along with The B-Team (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas) would taunt Strowman for his loss against Tyson Fury, but Strowman would attack all three men. In February, Gulak began a feud with Daniel Bryan after claiming to have "found holes in his game" and placed him in matches against opponents such as Heath Slater and Curtis Axel to test his weaknesses but Bryan came out victorious. On the March 6 episode of SmackDown, Bryan challenged Gulak to a match at Elimination Chamber. At the event, Gulak lost to Bryan by technical submission in a match that was praised by critics.
On the March 13 edition of SmackDown, Gulak and Bryan formed an alliance after both gained mutual respect for each other, and Gulak managed Bryan during his match against Cesaro, where both were subsequently attacked by Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Sami Zayn, effectively turning Gulak into a face. The following week, Gulak and Bryan teamed up to defeat Cesaro and Nakamura in a tag-team match. On the March 27 episode of SmackDown Live, Gulak defeated Nakamura to earn Bryan an Intercontinental Championship match against Zayn at WrestleMania 36. At the event, Gulak was defeated by Cesaro on the Kickoff show while Bryan was unsuccessful in winning the Intercontinental Championship from Zayn on the main card. On the April 24 episode of SmackDown, Gulak was defeated by King Corbin in a Money in the Bank qualifying match due to a distraction by Cesaro and Nakamura who attacked Bryan at ringside and proceeded to attack him afterwards. On the May 15 episode of SmackDown, Gulak faced his training partner Bryan but was defeated in the first round of the Intercontinental Championship tournament.
Personal life
Gulak has a younger brother who wrestles under the ring name Rory Gulak.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Gu-Lock / University Stretch (Dragon sleeper)
- Trailblazer (Figure 7 Ankle lock & Indian deathlock Combination)
- Spine Splitter (Belly-to-back suplex backbreaker)
- Cyclone Crash
- Signature moves
- Bataclan (Snap suplex into the turnbuckles)
- Bodyslam sometimes draping an opponent's legs into the ropes
- Flying clothesline
- Gulak Attack (Corner clothesline usually followed by a running clothesline to the back)
- Single leg boston crab sometimes preceded by heel kicks
- O'Connor roll
- Running slingshot splash
- Southern Lights Suplex (Inverted Northern Lights suplex)
- Tree of Woe sometimes followed by a running dropkick
- Nicknames
- "University City Stretcher"
- "Legal Eagle"
- "The Militant Mat Mite"
- Managers
- Rodney Rush (2010)
- Dewey Donovan (2011)
- Tag teams and stables
- Team AnDrew (w/ Andy Sumner)
- Campaign for a Better Combat Zone
- Gentleman's Club
- Amazing Gulaks (w/ Rory Gulak)
- Catch Point
- Fourth Gunn (w/ Biff Busick)
- The Colony
- No Quarter Catch Crew
- Entrance music
Championships and accomplishments
- Beyond Wrestling
- Tournament For Tomorrow 3:16 (2014) with Biff Busick
- Championship Wrestling From Hollywood
- CWFH Heritage Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Timothy Thatcher
- CHIKARA
- CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas (1 time) - with Fire Ant
- CHIKARA King of Trios (2011) - with Fire Ant and Green Ant
- CHIKARA Tag World Grand Prix (2008) - with Fire Ant
- Combat Zone Wrestling
- CZW Wired TV Championship (1 time)
- CZW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- CZW Tag Team Championship (2 times) (with Andy Sumner as Team AnDrew)
- Eastern Wrestling Alliance
- EWA Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
- EWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Andy Sumner
- Evolve
- Evolve Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Tracy Williams
- New York Wrestling Connection
- Master of the Mat (2014)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #60 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2020
External links
| 2018 WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament participants |
|---|
| Amir Jordan • Ashton Smith • Dave Mastiff • Drew Gulak • Jack Gallagher • James Drake • Joe Coffey • Jordan Devlin • Joseph Conners • Kenny Williams • Ligero • Morgan Webster • T-Bone • Travis Banks • Tucker • Zack Gibson |