Jewish Wrestler Drew Gulak Wins WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A Jewish wrestler won the World Wrestling Entertainment cruiserweight championship.
Drew Gulak, known as “the Philadelphia Stretcher,” beat Akira Tozawa and the reigning champion, Tony Nesse, in a triple threat match on Sunday, part of the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view in Tacoma, Washington. In a triple threat match, three wrestlers compete rather than the typical two.
Gulak came to Israel on Birthright in 2010, and trained briefly with the Israeli Pro Wrestling Association in Netanya, The Jerusalem Post reported. He joined WWE in 2016 after 11 years on the pro wrestling independent circuit.
Gulak is expected to have his first title defense on July 14 in Philadelphia during WWE’s annual Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
His younger brother, Rory, also is a wrestler on the independent circuit.
The maximum weight for cruiserweights is 205 pounds.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
