Drew Gulak's WWE Contract Expires, First Independent Booking Already Announced
Despite initial reports stating that Drew Gulak had been released from WWE in early May, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque later clarified that Gulak would remain with the company until his contract expired. According to Fightful Select, Gulak's deal, as of June 1, has officially expired. Furthermore, Gulak has now begun accepting bookings for his post-WWE career, with the first being revealed as Beyond Wrestling.
As announced on X (formerly Twitter), Gulak will return to Beyond at the upcoming "Americanrana '24: Where Eagles Dare" event on Thursday, July 4. This will mark Gulak's first Beyond appearance since November 2016, when he, Orange Cassidy, and Chuck Taylor lost to Angel Ortiz, Mike Draztik & Pinkie Sanchez at the co-branded Tournament For Today event between Beyond and WWR. "Americanrana '24: Where Eagles Dare" will emanate from the White Eagle in Worcester, Massachusetts.
BREAKING: @DrewGulak returns at "#Americanrana '24: Where Eagles Dare" presented by #BeyondWrestling & @WrestlingOpen at White Eagle in Worcester on Thursday, July 4th with a special 7pm ET start time.
Tickets will be available soon at @ShopIWTV.
Stream LIVE on @indiewrestling! pic.twitter.com/kM9r5QO7ro
— Beyond Wrestling (@beyondwrestling) June 1, 2024
In the months leading up to his WWE exit, Gulak notably led the No Quarter Catch Crew stable on "WWE NXT" alongside the likes of Charlie Dempsey, Myles Borne, and Damon Kemp. However, in April 2024, Gulak was written off of "NXT" television after the D'Angelo Family claimed to have "killed" him.
Off-screen, reports indicated that Gulak was a "bully" within the "NXT" locker room, with the former Cruiserweight Champion described as intentionally targeting injuries of talent while wrestling them in the ring. Gulak was also said to have attempted to dissuade talent from reporting similar incidents by intimidating them.
Aside from the aforementioned "NXT" incidents, former "WWE SmackDown" Women's Champion Ronda Rousey has also raised an accusation against Gulak, specifically one in which he inappropriately grabbed the drawstring of her sweatpants. While this allegation was reportedly not the determining factor in WWE's decision to not renew his contract, his public response to Rousey is said to have "made things worse" for him.