2017 Ongoing MOTY List: Gulak v. Ali 2/3 Falls

55. Drew Gulak v. Mustafa Ali WWE 205 Live 7/18

PAS: I have fallen deeply behind on 205 Live never to catch up, but when I saw Drew Gulak had a long showcase match I wanted to check it out. Gulak has been working sort of a RTC era Stevie Richards gimmick except anti highflying instead of anti Russo boob jokes. This was the culmination of a long series between these two guys and they got a ton of TV time to work a long match. Really enjoyed the quick first fall with Ali using his speed to get an advantage on the mat. Second fall has Gulak grind him out more, including finishing with a nasty dragon sleeper after Ali tries to go to the top. Third fall was more a big move fall, including Gulak getting spiked on a reverse rana and Gulak wasting Ali with a nasty clothesline. Finish was a little dumb with Gulak going to the top rope and developing a fear of heights. Both guys are really fun wrestlers to watch, and it was pretty neat to see them get this long to do their thing on TV.

ER: I love that Gulak finally gets a chance to stretch out in WWE, and love it even more that the two of them really got the crowd into this thing. There have been a lot of painfully silent 205 Live matches, and Gulak has been in plenty of them. His style wasn't always something that entertained indie wrestling diehards, it's definitely not going to be a style that will look good in 3 minute matches. The "No Fly Zone" is a good gimmick within the brand and gives his wrestling style a base and context, and allows for a more accessible personality in shorter matches. And these two built something really fun. It didn't really need the 2/3 falls stip, but if that allowed it to get more time to do its thing then cool by me. What did work about the 2/3 falls is Ali winning quickly in the first without using flying, which makes Gulak ramp up the viciousness to get the 2nd fall. Third fall was a real showstopper with Ali's "flying" coming naturally out of reversing Gulak, like hitting a rana off the barrier or concussing Gulak with a reverse rana when Gulak was trying to whip him into the ropes. I still genuinely have no clue how guys don't die after reverse ranas. The replay certainly looked like he just got completely brained, right on his dome. But I like Gulak's strikes, murderous lariat, a powerbomb that was one of my favorite powerbombs of recent memory, and the constant threat of reversing Ali's flash into that dragon sleeper. The finish was incredibly bad, I hate how guys like Regal and Dave Taylor and Gulak and I'm sure others I'm forgetting are apparently flight-averse because the mere act of not being on solid ground makes them quake. Gulak climbs a turnbuckle and his knees are suddenly wobbly. It's awfully dumb and they've gone to the well before. I DO appreciate Gulak appealing to the crowd, felt like a lucha kind of reaction, appealing to the fans. But it all took way too long and I hate how it lead directly to the finish. It was really obvious, but in a pretty stupid way. Still, match delivered and I'm happy we got something like this.


2017 MOTY MASTER LIST