Drew Gulak Reflects On 205 Live Coming To An End Following NXT Level Up Rebrand

Drew Gulak was one of the faces of 205 Live when the show first began, whether he was running the powerpoint or grounding opponents in the ring.

Gulak stopped appearing regularly on the brand in 2019 as he became more featured on the main roster.

Speaking on Casual Conversations, Gulak reflected on his time on 205 Live now that the brand has officially been rebranded at NXT Level Up.

“Every experience I had with WWE, in the beginning, was very surreal to me because of the history I had watching and growing up with it. Looking back on 205 Live, and it does not get talked about enough, is how pivotal everything was going on with the Cruiserweight Classic happening and 205 Live becoming its own brand, that was for WWE and the future of pro wrestling. I don’t mean to sound braggadocious about that, for real, technologically, it was the first exclusive streaming show on Network and NXT UK being a thing a year or two later. Guys like CM Punk and Bryan Danielson did, getting hired initially, being these independent wrestlers and pushing through the barriers, breaking through the glass ceiling and making it; ultimately, it led to them wanting to do an entire tournament full of guys who are these journeymen pro wrestlers who, for the most part, the WWE Universe hadn’t heard about or seen. Just by luck, I happened to be affiliated with EVOLVE, which is one of the American locations they scouted from and I did work with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and it just worked out,” said Gulak.

He continued by saying, “It’s amazing, that whole cycle up until they rebranded with NXT Level Up, I got to be part of that initial push to do that kind of thing. We didn’t have any real instructions just, ‘they’re cruiserweights, obviously, let’s see what happens.’ It went the way it went, we did a lot of really cool stuff and got to be experimental, way more than we usually would with constraints on network or cable television. We had fun and the ultimate learning experience, being on tour with Raw and SmackDown right off the bat. We didn’t really sit in the developmental system because most of us were tenured wrestlers. In that sense, we were pretty lucky. I’m super grateful for it and I know all the other guys who were part of the show, for the most part, were super grateful for that experience. I wish there was a way…if I ever see anybody talk about 205 Live in a negative light, I wish there was a way to sit them down and be like, ‘No, check this out. Understand what’s going on. See the bigger picture.’ I wish there was a way to do that, but it’s not for everyone to get to that point and I’m fine with that. It’s just how I feel about the show.”

205 Live came to fruition following the Cruiserweight Classic and after the cruiserweights were initially featured as part of WWE Raw.

When asked about Triple H being the leader of 205 Live, Gulak said, “It was excellent. As a creative director, he was very creative. He has amazing ideas and is very good at orchestrating them in a way that are easy to understand and to make stuff stand out and to sit under his learning tree directly, at least the first few months of my WWE run, and move forward with that relationship is super rewarding. His vision was to take that Cruiserweight Classic concept where it was a sport-oriented feel and turn that into a brand. Most of that vision stuck. A lot of it go modified and changed and grew over time, which is what happens when you’re running a show that didn’t have a start or end date. It’s a living, breathing thing. Stuff gets thrown at it, it changes, it reacts, it grows, it takes weird turns sometimes. That’s really kind of the show it is. his ideas were great and a lot of fun to work with and try to make happen.”

Gulak last wrestled on the December 24 episode of WWE SmackDown, competing in the WWE Intercontinental Title #1 Contendership 12 Days Of Christmas Gauntlet Match.

You can find results from past episodes of 205 Live and NXT Level Up at Fightful’s results section.

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