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Back in 2018, Drew Gulak completely broke the Premier Athlete. Though Buddy Murphy's partner pulled off some incredible feats of athleticism, as he always does, he was simply no match for the newly motivated Submission Specialist, who tore Nese apart before taking him down with the Gu-Lock. Tonight was redemption time for Tony Nese.
Gulak himself had quite a bit to prove tonight. He had several opportunities to capture the Cruiserweight Championship last year, but could never manage to put away then champion Cedric Alexander. A win over Nese would not only send him into the finals of the tournament but get into the head of Buddy Murphy, who believed that Nese was indeed the man to beat.
Tony Nese vs Drew Gulak
Nese attempted to shoot Gulak off the ropes early, trying to fight out of the grasp of Gulak. He eventually countered an arm drag into one of his own, focusing on Gulak's arm.
Nese stunned Gulak and went for a high-risk maneuver from the top, but Gulak avoided it and nearly locked in his patented submission move. Nese quickly dropped and rolled out.
Back inside, they continued to try to out-wrestle each other. Nese brought Gulak down with a side headlock. Though Gulak made it to his feet, a dropkick sent him to the outside. Nese caught Gulak with a superkick to the gut and chased him around the ringside area before bringing him back inside. Gulak kicked out of several pinfall attempts.
Gulak made it back to his feet and dropped Nese neck first across the top rope with an alley-oop bomb. The technician worked the neck of Nese and countered a suplex into a reverse suplex. With the Premier Athlete gasping for air, Gulak focused on the legs, hoping to limit the high flying potential of his opponent.
Gulak locked in a reverse Figure-4-Leglock and pulled him back by his hair before releasing the hold, dropping his leg knee first.
Nese fought out of another headlock and brought Gulak down with a back suplex. However, he had a hard time getting to his feet, allowing Gulak to maintain his control in the match, attacking him in the corner.
Gulak propped Nese up in the opposite corner, beating him down with punches and chops. Nese countered an Irish whip, sending Gulak across the ring instead.
Nese rocked Gulak with a pair of right hands and a spinning back kick to the gut. Gulak cut off his momentum with two knees to the gut and a suplex, nearly getting the pinfall.
Gulak locked in a straight jacket on the sitting Nese. The Premier Athlete fought out and dropped Gulak with a facebuster. A spinning heel kick shook Gulak, and a running spinning back elbow and clothesline kept the pressure on him. A Northern Lights Suplex almost awarded the win to Nese.
Nese and Gulak traded shots, with Nese overpowering his opponent. Hanging up Gulak on the ropes, he went for the springboard double jump moonsault, but Gulak rolled away. Nese did eventually connect with the split legged moonsault, but Gulak kicked out.
In a moment of desperation, the Preacher of the Ground Game left his feet for a dropkick, catching Nese off guard. He went for the Gu-Lock yet again. Nese escaped only to be caught by back-to-back powerbombs from Gulak. Nese kicked out.
Nese took Gulak up top. A rolling uppercut allowed him to launch him across the ring with a top rope hurricanrana. Gulak avoided a 450 Splash, though, giving Gulak a chance to lock in the Gu-Lock once more. Nese escaped yet again, attempting a Pumphandle Driver.
Gulak rolled Nese up, and as he escaped, immediately looked for the Gu-Lock again. Nese rolled away to the ropes.
Nese dropped Gulak on the bottom turnbuckle with a German suplex. Gulak escaped the Running Nese and turned him inside out with a clothesline. With him stunned, Gulak looked for the Gu-Lock once again. Nese continued to roll towards the ropes and managed to counter it into a pinfall.
Results: Tony Nese defeated Drew Gulak via pinfall.
Gulak always said that all it took was one mistake for him to pick up a win. Tonight, Nese may have given him opportunities, but never allowed him to capitalize. The Premier Athlete is now one step closer to a fight with his training partner at WrestleMania.
Teddy Long snaps when Swerve Strickland's race is brought up HERE
