Drew Gulak took part in the Intercontinental Title tournament on Smackdown this week. Daniel Bryan ended up beating him to advance to the semi-finals. In a weird turn of events, WWE quietly moved Drew to the alumni section on their website.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider has now confirmed that Drew Gulak has left WWE after his contract expired. Here is what Johnson wrote:
Last night on Friday Night Smackdown, Drew Gulak vs. Daniel Bryan was one of the most entertaining in-ring performances in recent memory on WWE Television. Today, however, PWInsider.com has confirmed that Gulak has exited World Wrestling Entertainment.
WWE quietly moved Gulak to the Alumni section of their website this afternoon but PWInsider.com has been told that Gulak was not released. We have confirmed with multiple sources today that Gulak’s WWE contract expired after last night’s Smackdown was taped. We are told the two sides had been discussing a new deal, but had not yet come to terms on the deal before Gulak’s existing deal expired. This shockingly places Gulak on the open market just hours after one of his best WWE performances to date as he would have no 90-day non-compete as WWE would not be paying him going forward, which means he can appear and wrestle anywhere immediately.
UPDATE: According to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline, Drew asked for more money and WWE decided to not re-sign him:
Dave Meltzer confirmed Gulak is no longer with the company and that his contract expired. Meltzer said he heard they were working on a renewal, Gulak asked for more money, and WWE chose to not move forward.
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In other news, check out our Wrestlemania 38 predictions.
On a related note, check out my speculation for how the rest of the Intercontinental Title will go down.