- 4/23/2025
Drew Gulak wanted to try Preston's edible charcuterie board so we served him a taste... from the top rope.
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00:00Our next guest wrestles with the WWE, and he is from the area, and we were surprised
00:09to find out that he grew up listening to our show.
00:12We're stoked to welcome Mr. Drew Gulak to the program.
00:17Hi, guys.
00:18How you doing, Drew?
00:19I'm wonderful.
00:20This is really surreal.
00:21I did grow up listening to the show.
00:23I listened back when it was Preston, Maryland.
00:25Wow.
00:26All the way back.
00:26Y100, yeah.
00:27I joined, it was Preston and Maryland, then Preston, Maryland, and Steve, then Preston,
00:32which was like a few weeks, and then Preston, Maryland, Steve, and then Maryland went on
00:36her own.
00:37You know, she bailed from the show, which we're still buddies with her to this day, and then
00:43it became the Preston and Steve show.
00:44Well, there's a step in between where it was the McNeil-Lair report, right between that
00:48and when Maryland left, and then we became our show.
00:50We don't know why we did that.
00:52It was very strange.
00:53So it's pretty wild.
00:54Well, the way we found out about you is you had commented on a post I had on Instagram,
01:02and I saw the little blue check by your name, and I'm like, what's this all about?
01:06And then we find out a little bit more that you grew up in the era.
01:10I was just so blown away to see you comment on my edible cheese board that I made.
01:15It was a beautiful edible cheese board.
01:17And I saw there might be another one.
01:20I made one last night, and I brought it in.
01:22I'm so sorry.
01:22We're going to sample it.
01:23I'm so sorry.
01:24No, I need it.
01:24I'm working on it.
01:25You picked a good one to dive in on, though, because we had had the conversation, and we
01:30do the thing called the connoisseur, and Preston brought up this thing, and everybody's
01:33going, man, that sounds awesome.
01:35And then he posted the picture, like almost that night, he took a crack at it, and everyone's
01:39going, man, that's awesome.
01:40So you dove in at the right point.
01:42If you're ever going to make a comment, the charcuterie, baked charcuterie board was the time to do it.
01:46That's the ticket in.
01:47That was it.
01:47And this is only the second one I've made, so I do need to work on it a bit, so I don't
01:51feel bad at all that I had to make another one.
01:53No, I'm already impressed.
01:55I appreciate that.
01:56Beautiful.
01:56So where did you grow up in the area?
01:58So to the age of 10, I lived in Montgomeryville.
02:00Okay.
02:01And then I moved to Fox Chase in northeast Philly.
02:04And then I was there through high school, went to Drexel for two years.
02:07Was it northeast high that you went to?
02:09Yeah, northeast high school.
02:10Right.
02:11You know, most popular high school in the city.
02:13Where were you studying at Drexel?
02:146.4.
02:15At Drexel, I actually went to be an architectural engineer.
02:17Okay.
02:18Yeah, that's the school to go to.
02:19That lasted one quarter.
02:21Maybe quarters then.
02:22Yeah, dude.
02:22Was it just too hard?
02:23It's hard.
02:25It wasn't so much that it was hard.
02:26I just wasn't interested in, like, all the math.
02:29Okay.
02:29Do you know what the great part of architecture is?
02:32Building the little tiny replicas of what you're going to build.
02:34To me, that was it.
02:35That was it.
02:36That was so cool.
02:36I'd still be doing it.
02:37Yeah.
02:37Drew, my very brief college moment, I took astronomy.
02:42I'm like, yeah, I've always loved the stars of this.
02:44This would be really cool.
02:45It would be really interesting.
02:46My God, was it hard.
02:48It's physics.
02:49It was all physics and math, and I'm like, this is not what I signed up for, man.
02:53Yeah, that's what I was like.
02:54So I just bail on that.
02:54No care.
02:54That's exactly what it was like.
02:55Like, I switched into film for a little bit and just decided I wanted to focus on wrestling,
03:00which is I've been doing that since high school.
03:02So were you on football or anything in school?
03:05Wrestling team.
03:05Just a wrestling team.
03:06Just a wrestling team.
03:07So you do have, like, a classical wrestling background.
03:10Yeah, an amateur wrestling background.
03:11How did you do in high school?
03:12How were you?
03:13I did okay.
03:13So city kids have it tougher.
03:15Like, if you grew up in the suburbs, you're probably doing wrestling from a very young age,
03:18and you're doing it a lot.
03:20And for me, it was like I met my biology teacher.
03:24He happened to be the wrestling coach.
03:25And he was like, hey, come try out for the team.
03:27And, like, I made the team, and the practices were grueling and stuff.
03:30And I did pretty well.
03:32I think I made varsity senior year.
03:34No, it was captain senior year.
03:36Varsity maybe sophomore year.
03:40Junior year?
03:40Junior year.
03:41Yeah.
03:41So I did okay, but it wasn't, like, my one focus, too.
03:45Like, I was, while I was doing that second year of amateur wrestling, I started training
03:49professional wrestling, which was, I don't know, thinking, like, thinking back, I love
03:54talking about it, because I would go from high school, and then I would go to high school
03:58wrestling practice, and then I would get in a car, drive 45 minutes to Deptford at the
04:02time, and do professional wrestling practice to, like, 10, 10, 10.30 at night.
04:06Then I get home, and I got to wake up the next morning.
04:09I remember.
04:10That's commitment.
04:10And, yeah, it was just, it was grueling then.
04:13But, like, I loved pro wrestling so much, and nothing was going to stop me.
04:16So going from the amateur to pro, obviously, you know, you have to, you got to work on
04:22the moves.
04:22You got to know what you're doing.
04:23You have to be proficient in the ring.
04:25But you also have to, as a part of that, you know, being physically large.
04:29I mean, you know, making sure that the muscles are big and impressive, because that's part
04:33of it.
04:33Looking at those guys, looking at you guys, you have to go, wow, man.
04:36Yeah.
04:36You know, so that's a whole other thing outside of just the technique of wrestling.
04:41It's also, you have to, you got to look really good, too.
04:43It's true.
04:43It's true.
04:44And, like, when I started, I didn't even think about physique.
04:47I didn't think about strength training.
04:49I had a wonderful strength training teacher in high school, so thankfully I had that.
04:53I had the amateur background.
04:54So I was in shape.
04:55I wasn't huge.
04:56Right.
04:56You know, I was maybe 180 pounds when I started.
04:58We've talked about this.
04:59Even in general, and wrestling goes through, you know, the WWE, and you had been with Combat
05:09Zone as well.
05:10But right now we're in a, I think you have the best athletes who are doing it, but they're
05:17not necessarily Andre the Giant size.
05:21It's not that.
05:22So what you'll get is you're getting, like, uber stuntman level stuff going on from guys
05:28who are really, I think, more athletic than they've been in a while.
05:31Would you agree with that?
05:32So I'll agree hands down.
05:34Like, we have the best athletes ever in the history of professional wrestling right now
05:37in WWE.
05:38However, we have a guy named Amas right now who's 7'4".
05:41Well, you don't want to piss him off.
05:43Right.
05:43I'd say he's an even more impressive athlete than Andre was.
05:46As fantastic of an athlete as Andre was.
05:48Right.
05:48He would move around the ring.
05:49I'd say Amas, even though he's newer, he's got more potential athletically, for sure.
05:54Wow.
05:54Yeah.
05:55I mean, listen, you're always going to have the showstoppers, right?
05:57You've got your Andre the Giants, your King Kong Bundys, your Hulk Hogan's, you know,
06:01Big John Studd, the big dudes that are the showstoppers, the rock, you know?
06:04Undertaker, sure.
06:05But you also, I mean, you have your, like, would you say pound for pound, best wrestler
06:09of all time, somebody like Shawn Michaels or...
06:12You can absolutely argue that.
06:13Yeah.
06:13Yeah, totally.
06:14And listen, Shawn Michaels is not, you know, he's not a twig.
06:16A showstopper.
06:17But he is also, you know, like, he's just got such amazing athleticism that, you know,
06:25and that's what people go to see.
06:27Yeah.
06:27Well, yeah.
06:27I mean, listen, we've talked about this many times and it is not false praise to say that
06:32the people that we have who come in are the wrestlers, are the best entertainers, the best
06:37with the audience.
06:38That's why they can port so easily, a la Dwayne Johnson, into movies.
06:42Sure, yeah, yeah.
06:42You know how to do it.
06:44So, you know, a film career in your future, you know, could be possible.
06:48Yeah.
06:48And so with that, I mean, it's, I don't think there's any kind of training for being in
06:54the public eye and for doing that sort of work that's any better than the WWE and this
07:00world you're in right now.
07:01Yeah.
07:02Thank you for saying that.
07:03Yeah.
07:03I agree completely.
07:04Like, just the experiences I had, even on my journey to get to WWE and traveling around
07:09the world and learning how to make a career as an independent wrestler.
07:12Right.
07:13Very similar to, like, an independent musician has to, like, find their bookings that they
07:17work, you know, that they enjoy working.
07:18Sure, yeah.
07:19Like, can make them a profit or get them noticed and, like, merchandising and stuff like that
07:22and then just meeting connections and growing.
07:25That experience alone, like, I feel like I can do anything.
07:28Yeah.
07:28I can take on whatever.
07:29So when did you learn that portion of it?
07:31Because you go to high school and you're a good wrestler, right?
07:33And that's athletics.
07:34But, like, did you go to drama club?
07:36You know, did you learn how to write a script?
07:38Because there are these storylines that as just a guy who's competing in wrestling, that
07:42you're not worried about that.
07:44But then you get into the entertainment side of things and it really changes the dynamic.
07:47So how did you and when did you learn that part of the business?
07:50So I would say that the high school wrestling, if anything, it didn't really push me into
07:55the pro wrestling career.
07:56If anything, gave me a good foundation athletically to kind of, like, not get hurt in training.
08:00Right.
08:01The performance side of everything and the creative side of everything, that kind of grew organically
08:07for me, just over time, gradually, because I was independent.
08:10You know, I didn't have somebody strictly coaching me on just, you need to do this here, you got
08:14to do this, you know, at certain times.
08:16I had to kind of experiment and find that out on my own.
08:18Now, I did work for certain places that had very scripted out storylines and stuff like
08:23that.
08:23Right.
08:23And that's another thing I had in my wheelhouse, just based on that experience alone.
08:27So just, it wasn't, it wasn't one strict thing.
08:31I'd say it took him about six years to start to get comfortable and learn all of that and
08:34how to put it all together.
08:35Just for me, that was my story.
08:38But just a very gradual experience learning the performance side of it.
08:41What were, what was mom and dad's reaction when, you know, going, yeah, from architect
08:47What do you mean?
08:48Yeah, right?
08:50Oh, we had hoped you would put that architecture stuff aside.
08:55That was not the conversation.
08:58There's no, there's no work in architecture.
09:01No, it was interesting.
09:02Like my, my family, they, they, they knew that I was super passionate about it.
09:06Yeah.
09:06They didn't really get professional wrestling.
09:08They didn't understand it.
09:09Um, so to do it on an independent level, that's real scary as a parent, seeing your kid just
09:14go and just mess around at these shows.
09:16You don't even know what's happening there.
09:18He could get hurt.
09:18He's not making money.
09:19I'm making maybe 50 bucks to 200 bucks at most.
09:22That's a really good payday on an independent level for real.
09:25Um, so like that's, that's pretty scary as a parent.
09:28Do you know what's funny though?
09:29If you were to go and I wonder if you go to your parents and say, I would like to become
09:32a Hollywood stunt man or because essentially in this, what they call sports entertainment, you
09:39know, it's, it's, there's just a nuanced difference between them, but still just somehow we think,
09:45but that has to look, they look at your success.
09:48Did you see the movie, the wrestler?
09:49Yeah.
09:50We talk about it all the time.
09:51It's amazing.
09:52Yeah.
09:53Well, um, I was very lucky to be there when they were filming it at the arena in South
09:56Philly.
09:56My, my poster's in the, in the, uh, little tidbit.
10:00Yeah.
10:00Um, but one of the things I thought was so cool about when Aronofsky created that story
10:04is that he did it kind of in conjunction with black Swan.
10:07Yeah.
10:08Um, and he considered originally they were the same movie and then he turned the ballerina
10:12into a stripper and that's where Marissa Tomei's character came from.
10:15So he made black Swan separately.
10:17But, uh, when they designed that story, it was the merging of like what people consider
10:21a low class art form and what people consider a high class art form between wrestling and
10:26ballet.
10:26That's wild.
10:27And showing the obsession that performers can go through trying to reach heights in the
10:31same thing.
10:32Yeah.
10:32But it's such, it's such, and also I'll say this in the evolution, you guys are, are always
10:38like whip smart.
10:39You know, there was this perception for the longest time, you know, these things, but to conduct
10:44these things and, and to do this at the level you do it, um, uh, you know, is, is very intense
10:49and talking about getting, getting your thing, what is your gimmick?
10:53What is your, you know, cause you, you've got to have that immediate high concept thing
10:58that the audience can go, okay, he's this guy, he's the heel, he's the, uh, you know,
11:02he's the, the bad guy or the good guy, or we don't know.
11:07So let me ask you, given your druthers, what would you, what appeals to you more?
11:12Or the heel or the hero or being a good guy or bad guy?
11:15Yeah.
11:16Uh, I like both.
11:17I'm, I'm rare.
11:17Like most people would say they're like, Oh, I like being a heel.
11:20Cause that's easier.
11:21It's easier for people pissed off at you instead of, uh, you know, people to cheer for you
11:25authentically.
11:26But I always love both.
11:27I always love the transition out of the bad guy who's suddenly like, wait a second, he
11:31might be good.
11:32Cause the audience tends to like, we understand this guy now.
11:36Oh yeah.
11:37Yeah.
11:37They know.
11:38So many of them.
11:39They follow.
11:39Yeah.
11:39We're bad and then become good.
11:41I think historically too, those are the most successful kind of characters that take off
11:45like Stone Cold Steve Austin's a perfect example where he came in, um, when he started doing
11:49the Stone Cold character, like he was just bad-ass, no nonsense, but he was beating up people
11:53that people really cared about.
11:54And, and, you know, that was not, that was not enjoyed for a lot of fans.
11:57Right.
11:58They started realizing he doesn't take crap from anybody.
12:00Yeah.
12:00And then it just, it was a natural organic turn.
12:03And then he became the biggest star in wrestling at the time.
12:05Hey, do you as a wrestler get a say in your storyline?
12:08Can you suggest things at least?
12:10So the, the most surprising thing, uh, that I've learned about working with WWE is how
12:15collaborative everything is.
12:17Really?
12:17Okay.
12:17That's awesome.
12:18Fans are usually surprised to hear that.
12:19Yeah.
12:19And I know like a lot of wrestlers who are trying to make it there are very surprised to
12:23hear that a lot of the time.
12:24Okay.
12:24Drew, you get to, uh, perform in front of fans again soon in person, uh, that it's been
12:29a year and a half.
12:30Yeah, man.
12:31And so fans coming back and when, and where is that going to happen?
12:34Uh, so I believe it's the second week in July.
12:38We're doing a tour in Dallas.
12:40It's going to be SmackDown in Houston.
12:43And I believe money in the bank is that weekend in Fort Worth and then raw, which is the show
12:48that I'm currently a part of, um, will be in Dallas.
12:51And then from there we just kind of go.
12:53That's cool.
12:53You know, what was the proof that what you guys do is, is effective is that bereft of
12:58an audience when you were conducting it, it sort of looked like a wild stage play, like
13:04Arthur Miller meets wrestling.
13:06And yet the fan base stayed for the most part locked in, you know, I mean, so if you didn't
13:13have the ability to riff and to, you know, it was just such a weird thing.
13:18The audio from a lot of those matches and some of the funniest stuff, because, you know,
13:22we hear that you always hear the crowd and the, right, the murmur and the whole thing
13:25and that punctuating and suddenly it became, you know, like, uh, uh, who's afraid of Virginia
13:31Wolf?
13:31You know, and it's this weird thing, but you guys were able to do it.
13:35Yeah.
13:35That was, uh, that was an amazing experience, not in a good way, but just, uh, not in the
13:40best way.
13:40It was just unique and amazing to be a part of that.
13:42Like, uh, Vince is, Vince McMahon is, is, uh, uh, very, um, uh, dedicated, extremely dedicated.
13:50And like, there was no way he was going to stop the show.
13:52He had to keep the show going.
13:53And we did, we did it.
13:54Do you think anything's going to stay?
13:56Is there anything that you guys gleaned from that, that will stay with the, you know, post
14:03COVID world of wrestling?
14:05I think technologically we, we advanced a lot of things, bringing the building, the
14:09Thunderdome, which is what they call the live stage that they built.
14:12Um, testing things with like, uh, augmented reality for people's entrances and just that
14:18kind of stuff all got laser focused on because, you know, we were in a sterile environment at
14:22first.
14:22So you'll see a lot of that carry onto the live events in new ways that you probably
14:26haven't seen yet.
14:27For sure.
14:28Uh, I'm going through your Instagram, which is just a, it's, it's, it's definitely a fun
14:32scroll here, but, um, you know, there's a picture of you in the nature boy.
14:37I mean, that, that is, you know, for, for a fan, like you're, you're a fan before you
14:44were an employee, right?
14:45Like, so, and it's, it says always an honor.
14:48So when I read that, I go, oh, so you've, you've met and hung out with Ric Flair.
14:52More than one time.
14:53Like that's gotta be so cool.
14:55Uh, it's awesome.
14:56He comes by all the time, even if he's not featured on the show, his daughter, uh, extremely
15:00successful wrestler, Charlotte Flair, um, very talented.
15:04So he'll come by and like watch her perform or he'll just come and support the other wrestlers.
15:07And wow.
15:08Well, I got an email from a guy.
15:10I wasn't going to say anything since you, but you, I didn't know you had a connection
15:13with Ric Flair.
15:13I got an email from a guy who was desperately trying to get Ric Flair to be the best man
15:18at his wedding.
15:18Oh, okay.
15:19And he wanted me to ask you about it.
15:21And I'm like, I don't know.
15:23He's got a, he's got a, he's got a wedding, uh, reception website.
15:26No way.
15:27I wouldn't doubt it.
15:29He also, he's also a mohel.
15:31Yeah.
15:32He'll be a brisk.
15:33Yeah.
15:33He'll be a brisk.
15:34But honestly, Ric Flair was my mohel.
15:37How much is that guy willing to pay?
15:39And how much is, uh, is what's the number for Ric Flair to do that?
15:43Probably.
15:44I gotta imagine a couple hundred thousand.
15:46I've mentioned this before, but I grew up just as a kid, detesting, hating, just, I
15:52thought he was the most vile human being.
15:54Ric Flair.
15:55I hated him.
15:56He was so mean to everybody.
15:57He was such a show off.
15:59And it wasn't until I was a full grown adult, well into my forties that I was on YouTube
16:03and I pulled up a video of like Ric Flair's greatest rants.
16:07And I didn't know how much entertainment that guy had given me as a kid.
16:13And I just fell in love with him because I, I, I literally, I was like scared of the guy
16:20when I was a kid.
16:21That's how I felt about Sergeant Slaughter.
16:22I was like legit.
16:23I was like, because I saw him like whipping some guy and I was like, dude, he's like beating,
16:27he's beating that guy with a whip.
16:29Like what if he comes to my house?
16:33That's so, it's so great though, that that becomes, that's the stuff you carry with you
16:38through your life.
16:39He stole Harley races, uh, the cowboy hat and crumpled it up.
16:43And I'm like, you don't do that.
16:46You know, but I didn't realize it until later that, that it was, it was actually a really,
16:52those memories are so fun to think about and it was something special, man.
16:57And you're creating those memories for some people.
16:59Yeah.
16:59It's surreal.
17:00Like that's, you know, it's really cool.
17:02All right.
17:02I'll take it for granted.
17:03So Ric Flair is undoubtedly a legend and everything that we, the credit is credit due, right?
17:07But I was texting with a friend yesterday and I am so exhausted by the Ric Flair woo at
17:12Phillies games and Flyers games.
17:13It, it personally drives me nuts.
17:15Do you, have you heard it?
17:17And do you have an opinion on that?
17:18Like, have you ever heard like fans, they do the, they do the woo.
17:22So of course.
17:22Yeah.
17:22I, I, I will be in a crowd randomly outside and people will say woo.
17:26Right.
17:27And it's like, you know, just knowing where it comes from.
17:29It's really cool.
17:30I take pride in being a part of that community.
17:32Uh, the yes chants.
17:33Have you heard those?
17:35Daniel Bryan.
17:36Daniel Bryan.
17:36Exactly.
17:37Someone who I was, I was very close.
17:38I'm very close with.
17:39Um, so like that kind of stuff is awesome, but it turned to know for a while too, or something,
17:43right?
17:44He, that confused me or he, he was saying no, or well, you know, you're a good guy.
17:48Yeah.
17:50He's a good guy.
17:51He's been by here a bunch of times.
17:52I like, I like him a lot.
17:54He's great.
17:54Um, yeah, I, I never get tired of the woos.
17:57Uh, I'm okay with them all the time.
17:58My neighbor across the street from me, whenever he comes outside, if we're outside, he goes,
18:03woo!
18:04Like, seriously?
18:05And he's older too.
18:06Well, what reaction do you give him when you go outside?
18:08I give him a woo back.
18:09He calls, so he's going to do it every time.
18:10And then I do it to him.
18:12So now when I see him, I go, woo!
18:13That's your thing.
18:14He thinks you're best friends.
18:15It's like screaming Slayer, right?
18:17That's right.
18:18Here is a storyline I'd love to see for you guys.
18:21Okay.
18:22By the way, if you're just tuning in, it's Drew Gulak.
18:23I just want to reset from, uh, WWE.
18:25And I think this opens up a new, uh, perhaps a new audience.
18:28Uh, what about the, the Paul brothers?
18:30You know, maybe we call those guys out because they love the boxing and the MMA and all that
18:35stuff.
18:35And, you know, let's see him get in the ring with you.
18:37We had Logan Paul at WrestleMania this year.
18:40He actually, and the reaction was pretty good.
18:44From what I, and you can, you know, dismiss this as, as, as BS if it's not the case, but
18:49they talked to some of the wrestlers and they said they gave him props.
18:52Yeah.
18:52I'd like to see a tag team tag team match.
18:55I mean, I, I, I think there's potential in your storyline idea.
18:58Mm-hmm.
18:58Yeah.
18:59Uh, but I will say that, you know, celebrities coming in, it's always like a, it's a good
19:03way to cross over and bring new audiences.
19:05Um, we had bad bunny this year.
19:06Oh my God.
19:07He's like one of the, the biggest artist.
19:10Well, what about Dua Lipa?
19:11I think maybe if you bring her in.
19:14Yeah.
19:14Yeah.
19:15Okay.
19:16If you want to make it happen.
19:18Yeah.
19:19Oh, he's got a lot of phone numbers.
19:20Like, like a plot line that mimics steel magnolias would be really good.
19:25Exactly.
19:25That was not my idea.
19:26No.
19:27Terrible.
19:28Uh, now I also read your younger brother was, uh, had wrestled as well.
19:32Yeah.
19:32Yeah.
19:32Yeah.
19:32So we did it together.
19:33We trained together.
19:34Um, and, and, you know, uh, he, he didn't make the cut though, or do you not want to
19:39try for a big show?
19:40He, um, he, he, he was, yeah, I guess, I guess he didn't really get to the WWE level, but
19:46you know, in the independent career, a very successful independent wrestling career.
19:49What do you think?
19:49Like, uh, like the big leagues in, in any major sports, uh, like, so to become, uh, the,
19:56the, the amount of people that play football and the amount of people that make it to the
19:58NFL is minuscule.
20:00It's, it's, it's microscopic.
20:01Um, what about wrestling?
20:03Cause there are so many independent wrestling groups out there.
20:06So I would say, so from training, I, from people who start training, I'd say it's about
20:10one in 10 who continue on just to wrestle in general.
20:13And then on the independence, now there's more jobs than ever in wrestling with, you
20:17know, AEW starting up on TNT, WWE just expanding.
20:21Yeah.
20:21Um, and then some other promotions, you know, being able to actually, you know, offer decent
20:25wages for people now.
20:26Um, so it's, it's better now than it's ever been, but I'd still say it's about,
20:30one in maybe, I don't know, a hundred to try to go on to really like maybe even a thousand
20:37depending on how many people there are.
20:38Yeah.
20:39Some, it's, it's a pretty, pretty small amount.
20:41Do you remember your first match in the, in the big, uh, in the big league?
20:44Oh, in WWE.
20:45Yeah.
20:46Yeah.
20:46I was a part of the cruiserweight classic when I came in.
20:49It's all timing.
20:50Like if anyone's listening out there as an independent wrestler, it's all timing.
20:54Just keep working.
20:55Yeah.
20:55Um, so for me, I had a tryout with them in 2015.
20:59I did not get hired from the tryout.
21:01They could only take one person from my group out of 72 people.
21:04Wow.
21:05There was maybe five or six wrestlers who were experienced there.
21:08The rest were all pro athletes.
21:09They could only hire one of us.
21:11Um, so the rest of us were all told maybe something in the future guys.
21:15You did great.
21:15Thanks.
21:16Um, so I was just like, okay, just be patient.
21:19And then a year later they started this thing called, uh, the cruiserweight classic, which
21:23they wanted to honor like the athleticism and the history of like smaller wrestlers, uh,
21:29you know, being more competitive.
21:30And they created this tournament and they needed, uh, as William Regal told me, they needed
21:36groundsmen and I was a prominent groundsman.
21:39Right.
21:40Uh, so they brought me in for that.
21:42Uh, I did pretty well, made it to the second round, had a good showing.
21:46Then they took that show and they took our division and made it a featured attraction on Monday
21:51Night Raw.
21:52Okay.
21:53So before I was ever offered a WWE contract, I was wrestling on Monday Night Raw and their
21:59local, their, their pay-per-views, their monthly pay-per-views.
22:03And so I would go from my independent wrestling show to the pay-per-view show and then drive
22:08to Raw the overnight and, uh, do the cruiserweight division.
22:12And then later on in the year, I was able to, to earn a full-time contract.
22:15They started up 205 live, which is still going on today.
22:18And that was the first like experimental streaming show that they created based on the cruiserweight
22:23division.
22:23So like I, I got in at a very cool, like where technology meets wrestling and everything grows.
22:29It's very historic.
22:30Yeah.
22:30Very lucky.
22:31Let me ask you.
22:32So who is, so we know Vince McMahon is the muckety muck, but I mean, there's now so many tendrils
22:37to this world.
22:38Is there a second person who's like, you know, the, um, who he can delegate to who's the overseer
22:45of all this because it seems like it's just too damn much for Vince to be, you know, checking
22:50everything all the time.
22:52So that, that's the one thing that I don't think you could ever say to him is that something's
22:55too much for him.
22:56Oh, right, right.
22:58Yeah.
22:58So he's, he's very much like still at all the shows and running the shows and sitting
23:02backstage and doing that.
23:03And then, uh, NXT, which was originally developmental brand and has now become the third brand for
23:08WWE.
23:09They have a show on USA.
23:09Um, that's run by triple H and that's, he's kind of doing what Vince did there with, with
23:15that show.
23:16All right.
23:16So we, how many nights of programming is there a week with WWE?
23:21Uh, so.
23:22And, and all, and all of the, the across.
23:25Yeah.
23:25Yeah.
23:25Yeah.
23:25I would say six or seven right now per week.
23:30It's crazy.
23:30And they're in all, let's list them.
23:32Let's list them.
23:33So we got raw.
23:33That's on USA.
23:34We got NXT, which is on USA network.
23:36We got SmackDown, which is on Fox, then a secondary shows.
23:40We have, um, NXT UK, which is in the UK and that's on, that was, it's now on Peacock
23:46205 live, which is on Peacock.
23:48And then we have W's main event, which is like a pseudo recap show.
23:52And then some exclusive matches I'm featured on there quite a bit.
23:54Right.
23:55Uh, that'll be on Hulu.
23:56And then I think that pay-per-views once a month and then pay-per-views once a month.
23:59Yeah.
24:00That's a, that's a ton of entertainment, man.
24:03It's huge.
24:03Plus NXT has their own pay-per-views too.
24:05So those, those are, you know, happening at six times a year and they're in different
24:08cities.
24:09Every, every, like, you know, we'll be going forward.
24:11Yeah.
24:12Oh man.
24:12Man.
24:13Talking about all this has made me hungry.
24:14Yeah.
24:14Oh, well we got to get to that.
24:16We have to.
24:17This man is here.
24:18Marissa is now going to bring in my edible poetry board that, uh, that drew the attention
24:27of Drew Gulak.
24:29And we are now going to sample this.
24:30Here it is.
24:31I don't have any fanfare music or anything like that, but.
24:34All right.
24:35All right.
24:35Here we go.
24:38Marissa, can I get a, uh, can I get a knife to cut the brie, please?
24:42Yes.
24:42To cut the brie.
24:43That's probably something you hear a lot in wrestling.
24:45Is for cutting this.
24:46Uh, so I'm going to let Drew sample this.
24:49And actually you're supposed to just kind of like grab it and tear it.
24:52Okay.
24:52Now keep in mind, I put this in the fridge overnight.
24:55It probably would be better if it were fresh.
24:58Fresh off the grill.
24:59Yeah.
24:59Fresh off the grill.
25:00Exactly.
25:01So, um, Drew, that can be your catchphrase.
25:04Your new catchphrase.
25:04Fresh off the grill.
25:05Somebody get me a knife so I can cut the brie.
25:08Cut the brie.
25:10No, but I do like fresh off the grill.
25:11I like fresh off the grill.
25:12Fresh off the grill.
25:14Fresh off the grill, brother.
25:15This bread has all sorts of little cheeses in it.
25:22And what did I call it?
25:23The honey?
25:24The honey divot?
25:25Where's the honey divot?
25:30Shakuterie.
25:31Shakuterie.
25:32All right.
25:32So I'm going to, I'm going to let you ask to have the first taste.
25:35The little corner.
25:36You can grab some cheese or meat.
25:38And this is honey that you can dip it in.
25:40Is that the honey divot?
25:41I think Casey said he wanted to feed me.
25:42I did.
25:43All right.
25:45All right.
25:46Well, maybe that happens.
25:47Not the first bite, though.
25:48No, he has to.
25:49A man has to share alone time with his bread charcuterie.
25:52All right.
25:52So what do you recommend?
25:53I would go with the piece of bread, a piece of brie, just to start with and dip it in
25:58the honey.
26:00Wow.
26:00You grilled this.
26:01Yeah, I grilled it.
26:02That was amazing.
26:03So grab a little piece of brie there.
26:04You can tear off some of that if you want to.
26:06Get in there.
26:07And then dip.
26:08You said some honey?
26:08Yeah.
26:09Dip it in a little bit of honey there.
26:10Okay.
26:10Okay.
26:11Okay.
26:11While he's doing this, it's bothering me.
26:14You know when someone reminds you of somebody, but you can't figure out who it is, it's
26:17another athlete.
26:18Dornbox!
26:18Dornbox!
26:19Okay.
26:19Is that it?
26:20Is that like a...
26:21He reminds you of Dornbox?
26:22Yes.
26:22It's the way he speaks.
26:24Mmm.
26:24Okay.
26:25He's got a bite.
26:25Is it a little crunchy?
26:26Mm-hmm.
26:27Yeah, because you got a corner piece.
26:30You picked the crunchiest part.
26:32I'm sorry.
26:32That's okay.
26:34Oh, that's good.
26:35Is it good?
26:35Yeah.
26:36Excellent.
26:36Yay!
26:37Now Casey's going to, uh, I think he's going to feed, uh, Drew a piece of it.
26:50Yeah, because they, they actually, they went on social media about this.
26:53Okay.
26:53Casey said he would like to feed him a piece.
26:55Maybe a little less crunchy.
26:56Something that won't blow his teeth out of his skull.
27:01The corner's very crunchy.
27:02I apologize.
27:03No, no, it's good, man.
27:04It went a little long.
27:05Good.
27:06You know, Casey gave an enema to Ric Flair once, so this is a...
27:09That's where the woo came from!
27:10That's where the woo came from!
27:12Woo!
27:12Woo!
27:12Woo!
27:13Woo!
27:13Woo!
27:13Woo!
27:13Woo!
27:13Woo!
27:14Woo!
27:14Woo!
27:14Woo!
27:14Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:15Woo!
27:16Woo!
27:16Woo!
27:16Woo!
27:16Woo!
27:16Woo!
27:16Woo!
27:17Woo!
27:17Woo!
27:18Woo!
27:18You want some meat?
27:18Yeah, give me some savory.
27:19I never knew that.
27:21Yeah.
27:21That the woo came from that.
27:23Yeah, a little prosciutto.
27:24Yeah.
27:25I would recommend this cheese right there that's called a Prima Donna.
27:29It is a Gouda.
27:30It is fantastic.
27:31Okay, very good.
27:31Prima Donna.
27:32And you can either go with the honey or not.
27:33It's up to you.
27:34All right, Case, make this matter.
27:37It's a big piece.
27:38He's a big man.
27:39He's a big boy.
27:40Yeah.
27:40All right, here we go.
27:41All right, he is now.
27:42Now, Case, do the plane.
27:44Yeah.
27:45Do the plane.
27:45Yeah, can I get an airplane?
27:46Come on!
27:47Come on!
27:47Come on!
27:48Come on, man.
27:48Who's a big boy?
27:50From the top rope!
27:51From the top rope!
27:51From the top turnbuckle!
27:54Yay!
27:57From the top turnbuckle.
27:58Oh, my God.
28:00All the way into Drew's mouth.
28:01That's a first.
28:02Yeah.
28:03So this thing is so, it looks so good.
28:07I've got to try some.
28:08Yeah.
28:08When we get into the break, you guys can have at it.
28:10I made it for here.
28:12The staff can help themselves.
28:14Drew, how's your barbecuing and cooking?
28:16Give it up.
28:20Give it up.
28:21Is this something you think you could tackle?
28:24We need some water.
28:25Yeah.
28:26No, that's good.
28:27So, yeah, grilling.
28:29I know nothing about it.
28:29Okay.
28:30But, so I just, I just bought my first house.
28:33Thank you, guys.
28:34So, yeah.
28:35Where is home for you, by the way, now?
28:37So, right now, I'm in Orlando.
28:38But I come up to Philly as much as I can.
28:40On the auto train.
28:42Yeah, I just take the auto train up there.
28:44On the gyrocopter.
28:45All right.
28:46The Benchman gyrocopter.
28:50The gulag copter.
28:52Yeah.
28:52Yeah.
28:53So, you just got a house?
28:53That's cool.
28:54Yeah, we just got a house down there.
28:55Nice.
28:55And are you married?
28:56Mm-hmm.
28:57Yeah, my wife Liz.
28:58Any kids or?
28:59No kids.
28:59All right.
29:00Do you ever see an alligator in the wild?
29:02Casey is obsessed with actually seeing an alligator, not at Gatorland, but out and about.
29:07So, the only thing we wanted to do since moving down there is, like, where are the alligators?
29:12Yeah.
29:13The only time I've seen one, we visited Kennedy Space Center, and they're just on the side of the road.
29:17Oh.
29:18You spend enough time, you will see your share of gators.
29:22And they also have, what, the snakes and the...
29:24I saw one at the airport.
29:26I mean, they have actually had these ponds out there, and I've seen them out the sun themselves.
29:29My wife didn't believe me.
29:30It doesn't count.
29:31It doesn't count.
29:31It doesn't count.
29:32I want to see a giant one on the side of a...
29:34So, we went to Rocco's Tacos one time, and there's, like, a giant, like, a lake behind there.
29:39And I went out, and it was at night, and my friend was saying, usually you can see their eyes, like, glistening in the night and stuff.
29:45I couldn't even see that.
29:46It was cold, though.
29:47It was a little cold.
29:48Yeah, it was a little chilly.
29:49All right.
29:49So, we have to get the rating.
29:51One to ten on the charcuterie baked board.
29:53What are you giving it?
29:54Oh, it's a 15.
29:55A 15!
29:56All right!
29:57Woo!
29:59Woo!
29:59Woo!
29:59Woo!
29:59Woo!
30:00All right.
30:02Excellent.
30:03Somebody get me a knife so I can cut the brief!
30:06Woo!
30:07Well, listen, Drew, this is awesome to meet you in person.
30:10Yeah, this is great.
30:11Thank you for having me.
30:12And you're back in town from time to time, so we'll find a reason to hook up again, I'm sure.
30:16Please, anytime.
30:17This is great.
30:17And especially if...
30:19Oh, do you all still say, hey, bitches?
30:20Oh, of course.
30:21All right, cool.
30:22If you want to, go ahead and say it.
30:24Hey, bitches.
30:25Hey, what?
30:25Uh, and maybe if, you know, maybe Monday Night Raw, you'll be back in at home and performing.
30:31Philadelphia hasn't been announced yet for a tour, but I'm sure it'll be announced sometime
30:35in the near future.
30:35That's awesome.
30:36Usually once a year.
30:38Yeah.
30:38Once or twice.
30:38We get it, so, yeah.
30:39Excellent.
30:40Awesome.
30:40Well, listen, thanks so much for coming by, man.
30:42It's a pleasure to meet you.
30:43Thank you guys so much.
30:44This was awesome.
30:44It's here for Drew Gulak, guys.
30:47WWE wrestler, fan of the Preston and Steve show, and a Philly hometown guy.
30:51Love it.
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