Drew Gulak WWE Bullying Allegations, Triple H Attacks Wrestling Media

Multiple sources have accused Drew Gulak of bullying within hours of Paul 'Triple H' Levesque dodging a question on whether or not the 37-year-old's impending WWE departure was related to Ronda Rousey's harassment allegations.

In April, Rousey accused Gulak of grabbing her sweatpants' drawstrings without consent, doing so while she was on her way to see Levesque. Drew responded publically:

Backstage at a WWE event in 2022, I saw Ronda talking with a group in the hallway. I stopped to say hi and shake all their hands, and in an attempt to shake her hand, I accidentally touched her drawstring. Complete accident, and one that I had apologized to her for the mishap.— Drew Gulak (@DrewGulak) April 3, 2024

Levesque was asked if Gulak's apparent WWE release was related to the Rousey allegations during Saturday's Backlash France post-show press conference. Dodging the part of the question on Rousey, WWE's Chief Content Officer claimed Gulak wasn't being released, but that his contract wasn't being renewed, criticising Fightful and PWInsider (both of which were mentioned in the question) in the process:-

"If you're going to cite news sources, pick good ones. That's where I would start. Credible really, maybe. We release talent all the time. The NFL releases 4-500 people a year. We release talent all the time. It's part of what we do: you can't just hire people, bring them in, keep hiring people, just keep bringing them in. So an unfortunate part of the job is talent getting released. Can I say that he was released? He was not released; his contract was not renewed."

Fightful and PWInsider have both responded to Levesque's comments. Via the outlet's Select service, Fightful stated that WWE and Triple H had both reiterated that the comments weren't intended to be specifically aimed at it or PWinsider. Fightful had received several apologies, with Levesque claiming to take issue because Rousey's accusations were not a contributing factor in Gulak's departure.

PWInsider also heard from WWE, reiterating the promotion's stance that Levesque was not trying to "knock either site", but took issue with the question being based on reports that "a talent was released when in fact the talent's deal was simply expiring."

Neither Fightful nor PWInsider had connected Gulak's departure to the Rousey allegations in their reporting of the matter.

On Gulak, Fightful Select's post states that Gulak is technically still with WWE, but won't be re-signed when his deal expires next month. Drew has been informed of this.

WWE performed an investigation into Gulak's conduct following Rousey's allegations. NXT sources believe, however, that although Gulak's response to Ronda may have made things worse for him, it wasn't a deciding factor in his non-renewal.

Fightful Select's post contains multiple allegations of bullying by the former Cruiserweight Champion, coming from multiple sources - several of whom accused him of regularly targetting and attempting to reinjure talents who'd been recovering from minor issues when facing him. One talent referenced a time when Gulak allegedly re-dislocated a previously dislocated finger. Another talent, meanwhile, accused Gulak of using intimidation tactics to prevent wrestlers from reporting such incidents.

At one point, Gulak reportedly received a verbal reprimand from Shawn Michaels and NXT coaches for "intentionally spiking an opponent in a match." Another source commented that Gulak was an "odd" person who'd "test" talent and gauge responses to his bullying tactics.

The situation is depressingly similar to that of Bill DeMott, who left WWE amidst multiple allegations of physical assault, bullying, condoning sexual harassment, using homophobic and racist slurs, and other abhorrent behaviours in 2015. Before this, Levesque had hand-picked DeMott to return to WWE as a trainer in 2011, despite the warning signs. Kenny Omega has gone on the record about asking for his release from WWE's developmental programme for poor treatment by DeMott while with Deep South Wrestling.

Levesque is not helping the situation. By dodging the Rousey component of the question and attacking Fightful and PWInsider, he appears eager to avoid accountability - even if Gulak's non-renewal wasn't related to Ronda's accusations.

Publically discrediting two of the most reputable, accurate news outlets in wrestling media, then quietly apologising privately, creates a dangerous environment. Perhaps not a surprising one, though, given how effectively a certain WWE Hall of Famer has employed such anti-media tactics to separate people into tribes, create animosity, and pit opposing sides against each other.