Textbook

At this point I knew of Tyson Dux via his reputation for about my entire wrestling career. He is a well respected veteran from Canada and even fought against Zack Sabre, Jr. in the opening round of WWE's Cruiserweight Classic. I believe this was the first time we got to have a match against one another and I felt like we just clicked. Hopefully one day we will get to face off again.

I had been lucky enough to travel to Canada almost as soon as I started wrestling thanks to Joker and Sabian (now BLK Jeez) taking me under their wings at CZW and inviting me on the road with them to places like UWA in the mid 2000's. It wasn't until 2015 that I was able to compete for SMASH wrestling in Toronto as a part of their Fourth Gunn stable with Chuck Taylor, Biff Busick, Johnny Gargano, and Tarik. They are always great to me there, fans and promotion alike, and would even allow me to bring trainees from the CZW Academy up to gain experience at their events.

If you're in an industry like pro wrestling I cannot stress how important it is for you to travel and learn from as many different people as possible. It's rewarding! And don't wait for someone to ask you, go and ask, and get it done yourself. You can read every book and study every piece of footage, there is just no substitution for experience.

Drew Gulak vs. Tyson Dux from Smash Wrestling's "Battle Lines"

You can buy this event and more online at ondemand.smash-wrestling.com!

Throwback Match

Believe it or not I like posting blogs. I have a pretty cool Dell XPS 13 2 in 1 Laptop that I travel with and any excuse to use it is nice. I've been lucky to perform for an entirely new audience lately and many fans are surprised to find out that I have been wrestling all around the world for over a decade. I'm going to use #ThrowbackThursday as an opportunity to present some older matches that I've been a part of, whether it features myself, someone who I had a hand in training, or just something I like watching. I want to share what I enjoy in professional wrestling. Maybe it will help other people to expand what they like to watch? Maybe not? Either way here's this week's:

Drew Gulak vs. Biff Busick from Swamp Sessions July, 2012

This was my first time meeting and wrestling against Biff Busick, the man who currently goes by Oney Lorcan in WWE NXT. I had been working for Beyond Wrestling in New England for about two years here at this point and for entire beginning of 2012 promoter Drew Cordeiro would talk non stop about Biff Busick as if he was the second coming of Jesus. He had sent me a studio taping match featuring Biff against Kai Katana. and all I remember thinking was "Man, he hits very hard." When Drew told me the two of us would be wrestling against each other earlier in the week I was excited. I met Biff just before the event began and we barely talked at all before the bell.

Biff would go on to become Beyond Wrestling's biggest star for the next two years in Providence Rhode island. He's real good. This match takes place at Swamp Sessions in Massachusetts just before Beyond Wrestling upgraded their venue size and production to the current places they run in today.

Fun fact: This match also features the rare "mermaid" edition of trunks I'm wearing which were secured by Trent Seven a couple years prior.

You can purchase the full event of Swamp Sessions on DVD from Beyond Wrestling at SmartMarkVideo.com!