"He beat me up pretty bad" - Rising AEW star looks back on his brutal squash match against WWE Superstar Drew Gulak

The Philadelphia Stretcher once tore this AEW star apart.
The Philadelphia Stretcher once tore this AEW star apart.

Drew Gulak is arguably one of the best technical wrestlers in WWE, and once upon a time, he came face-to-face with AEW's Daniel Garcia. In a recent interview, Red Death spoke about his WWE tryout and the time he had to job to Gulak.

While Garcia might not have had the easiest time with WWE, the star is currently paired with Chris Jericho. As AEW's resident Sports Entertainers, the Jericho Appreciation Society are tearing their way through the roster. Teaming up with a legend like Jericho is something that a younger Garcia could have only dreamed about.

During his appearance on Talk is Jericho, the star detailed his WWE experience as well as his brief match against Gulak.

"I wrestled Drew Gulak on 205, in like a 15 second match. Yeah, he beat me up pretty bad. It was pretty nasty, pretty ruthless. And I had a WWE try-out in January of last year, and I had a match on NXT after the try-out," Garcia said. (From 28:50)

Daniel Garcia isn't the only AEW standout who had a brief stint in WWE. Other big names such as MJF once appeared as extras, while stars like Lance Archer were midcarders in WWE.

Need to catch up with AEW Rampage? Check out the results via this link.

Drew Gulak believes that AEW's CM Punk and Bryan Danielson broke the glass ceiling for stars like him

During an appearance on Casual Conversations, Gulak praised the way CM Punk and Bryan Danielson blazed a trail for independent wrestlers.

"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," said Drew Gulak. (H/t EWrestling News)

Danielson and CM Punk have been in the industry for close to two decades at this point. The stars' joint impact on wrestling has undoubtedly influenced many of the top names in wrestling today. Their contributions have allowed competitors like Daniel Garcia to become legitimate stars in the wrestling world.

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