Real Reason For Recent WWE Releases (WWE News)

More details on WWE's latest round of cuts.

by Andrew Pollard
Wes Lee WWE NXT
WWE.com

With WWE having released several developmental talents over the weekend, there's now a little more of an update on the reasoning for these latest cuts.

Per Fightful Select, these releases were due to the "natural progression of cycling out developmental talent", rather than necessarily being driven solely by finances.

Previously, WWE has often made rounds of cuts as a way to save money, particularly if it comes to wrestlers on big contracts who the company feels they aren't getting full value for. Here, though, it appears to be more a case of assessing talents and, ultimately, deciding they aren't progressing at the level WWE wants from them.

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For those who may have missed it, this latest round of cuts saw Wes Lee, Stevie Turner, Lance Anoa'i, BJ Ray, Haze Jameson, Summer Sorrell, Drako Knox, Jin Tala, and Jamar Hampton let go by WWE. On top of that, WWE ID prospect Zayda Steel opted not to re-sign with the company, fellow ID prospect Zara Zakhar has decided to step away from wrestling after the expiration of her prior deal, and former EVOLVE Women's Champion Kylie Rae has left to have a baby,

Of those names, Wes Lee is clearly the most notable name, with the Cardiac Kid a former NXT North American Champion and former NXT Tag Team Champion who at one point seemed main roster-bound. Severe back injuries forced Wes out of action for several months through the end of 2023 and into 2024, but he returned just as good as ever in terms of his in-ring work. In terms of creative, Lee has since turned heel and has been paired with Tyriek Igwe and Tyson Dupont as the High Ryze, though that group has more recently been featured on EVOLVE programming rather than main NXT TV.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.