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WWE 205 Live Superstar Drew Gulak stopped by NXT for a pair of matches this past week. If Full Sail University again becomes a “No Fly Zone,” here are some matches we’d love to see Gulak booked for.
I’ve been a Drew Gulak fan for a very long time. Even before the submission specialist joined WWE, or had a single match in NXT, Gulak has been someone I’ve loved to watch compete. So when the Philadelphia native was announced for the Cruiserweight Classic in 2016, I was thrilled that a larger part of the wrestling world would get to see what they had been missing.
Over the past two and a half years or so, Gulak has done enough throughout the WWE umbrella to fill one of his signature PowerPoint presentations. Whether on 205 Live, as a part of the cruiserweight division on Raw, or even NXT, Gulak is capable of putting on a technical masterpiece in the ring. And though he is presented as the stuffy, no-nonsense kind of person with no personality, he’s an intriguing character.
Gulak’s recent return to NXT television for the first time since the summer of 2016 was a pleasant surprise. Though there’s no telling if it was a one-time occurrence, or the start of something bigger, it would be great to see Gulak get to break out of the confines of 205 Live. His former arch-rival Mustafa Alia has done well for himself moving to SmackDown Live; perhaps the same is in store for Gulak?
A victory over the debuting Eric Bugenhagen led to a defeat at the hands of Matt Riddle, but after the show Drew Gulak vowed to return to get even with the King of Bros. So if Gulak sticks around for a bit, let’s come up with some other names for him to face.
Here’s five dream opponents for Drew Gulak inside an NXT ring. (I’m leaving off Riddle, because we got a great nine-minute match already, plus it seems like there’s more on the horizon between those two.)
Eric Bugenhagen
This may be cheating, since Gulak literally just faced off against Eric Bugenhagen in NXT. But I’m bending the rules a bit for a few reasons. That match was Bugenhagen’s television debut, so there wasn’t a whole lot to it. It was only booked to get to the Riddle/Gulak match immediately after. And, most importantly, this is my list, so I can break my own rules!
In all seriousness, though, the idea of an actual match between Gulak and the Boog is too intriguing to pass up. Bugenhagen, as our own Joe Soriano wrote not too long ago, is someone who is immediately someone to pay attention to. And GSM followed that up by calling Bugenhagen the next breakout star of NXT.
The articles linked above paint a fantastic picture of Bugenhagen, and it should be painfully obvious as to why he matches up with Gulak. The amateur background of Bugenhagen would fare well with Gulak’s mat-based style. And the Boog’s bodybuilding background is evidence of a kind of showmanship that might be a great contrast to Drew’s no-nonsense style.
Of course, the idea of a promo war between the two to build a potential match is too much to pass up. The sheer charisma exuded by Bugenhagen, who always operates at full-blast, is the polar opposite of Gulak and his desire to avoid flash at all costs. Imagine Drew getting furious at the idea of going for a riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!
Velveteen Dream
Speaking of flashy NXT superstars that Drew Gulak may have a problem with…
There’s no denying that Velveteen Dream is one of the hottest stars in NXT right now. He’s been one of the fastest developing superstars on any brand inside WWE, and his hard work is resulting in high-profile match after high-profile match. Besides his talent in the ring, his persona is infectious — the gear, the mannerisms, the promo ability — everything screams “megastar.”
His booking is consistent with that idea, too. Dream is consistently near the top of the card, and he’s succeeding, as well. He won the inaugural Worlds Collide tournament at Royal Rumble Axxess, and a week later scored the pinfall in Halftime Heat — which, by the way, is the most watched NXT match in history.
So pitting Gulak — again, a no-nonsense technician — against Dream — a master of mind games who revels in getting in the heads of his opponents — is too much to pass up. I can already envision Dream in a Rocky Balboa-inspired outfit, getting under the skin of the Philly-born Gulak. And Gulak would counter with a PowerPoint about how disrespecting the great Sylvester Stallone is immoral, and things would go from there.
The match itself would be top-notch, because look at who’s involved. The style difference is enough to build some excitement in wondering how it would play out. And the psychological aspect of the confrontation would also be incredibly entertaining.
Mia Yim
This is probably where I lose some people, because of the polarizing nature of the intergender wrestling world. “WWE will never do true intergender wrestling, only stunts!” “It’s uncomfortable to watch!” “The sponsors will abandon ship!” Yeah, whatever.
Gulak cut his teeth in promotions like CZW and CHIKARA, the latter of which has no gender divisions and treats all competitors equally. Over the years, he’s faced opponents like Kimber Lee, Ruby Riott, Manami Toyota, Sara Amato, and Meiko Satomura. If anyone on any WWE brand has intergender wrestling experience, and can be trusted to make it both acceptable and, for lack of a better word, tasteful, it’s Drew Gulak.
Mia Yim is another well-traveled former independent wrestler with intergender wrestling experience. Her opponents in promotions like WrestleCircus and Beyond Wrestling include Joey Ryan, Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, and Brian Cage, among many others.
With that much experience in the ring, both in standard wrestling competition and the intergender world, Gulak and Yim could really help to legitimize the idea for the WWE Universe. As the company begins seemingly testing the waters with Nia Jax — even going so far as to announce Jax vs. Dean Ambrose for a live event — it’s important to remember that it shouldn’t just be women wrestlers who “aren’t like most girls” getting the chance to face the best possible opponents regardless of gender.
Yim and Gulak having a real wrestling match would be not only important from an equal rights view, but it would be a damn good match, too. Let’s make it happen, WWE and NXT.
Marcel Barthel
Though Marcel Barthel seems to be making the NXT rounds as part of a tag team with Fabian Aichner, seeing him in singles competition isn’t out of the realm of possibility. And while he’s now known for being Aichner’s partner in “The European Union,” it’s Barthel’s association with Ringkampf on the independent scene that makes an encounter with Gulak intriguing to me.
For those who may not be as familiar with Ringkampf as others, it’s a stable of wXw wrestlers who also made frequent appearances in PROGRESS. Besides Barthel (then known as Axel Dieter Jr.), Ringkampf included Timothy Thatcher and WALTER. The Ringkampf philosophy? Die matte ist heilig, which translates to “the mat is sacred.”
If you can’t see why I’d want to see Barthel, who literally founded a stable based on the idea of the wrestling ring being the most special place on the planet, face Drew Gulak, a master mat technician, I can’t explain it any more. Barthel is a fomer wXw Undisputed Champion, and he’s generally seen as one of the next big things in NXT. His early television appearances, though resulting in losses, were against high-profile talents like Keith Lee, so that’s still possible.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Barthel and Gulak have a 12-15 minute TakeOver match that establishes Barthel as a major player. Fans in Europe have known for a while that Barthel is a big deal, and Gulak is more than capable of helping him to look like a superstar.
Ricochet
Obvious answer is obvious, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad answer. Didn’t some guy named Occam say “the simplest solution is usually the best”? I think that applies here.
You don’t need me to tell you about why this would be so perfect. Drew Gulak despises high flying superstars. His biggest early feud was against Mustafa Ali over this very concept. Is there anyone on the NXT roster who is a more notorious high flyer than The One and Only Ricochet?
No, the feud writes itself, and Gulak’s tremendous mat game means he’s a great base for a flyer like Ricochet. But what’s really intriguing to me is that, to the best of my knowledge, this would be basically a first time encounter between the two veteran grapplers. A quick Google search yielded no results, and a deeper dive on ProFight.db came up empty in EVOLVE, and listed only two multi-man matches from CHIKARA that included both Ricochet and Gulak.
If you’re looking to get the most mileage out of a talent like Drew Gulak, putting him in a match he’s basically had a billion times before is a great way to do it. CHIKARA is, even with all of its wackiness and quirkiness, a lucha libre promotion featuring high flyers. And Gulak’s biggest WWE feud was against a supreme high flyer in Ali. Revisiting that, but with Ricochet playing the part of the hero to Gulak’s no-fun villain, can’t miss.
As impressive as a TakeOver match between Gulak and Marcel Barthel might be, I think a large part of the WWE Universe would love to see Ricochet take on Gulak, especially if it was similar to any of Gulak’s matches with Ali. Some might think it a little too similar to a 205 Live type of feud, but for my money, you don’t mess with success.
Who would you like to see Drew Gulak face in WWE NXT?