Why WWE Released Wes Lee (WWE News)

The real reason why WWE released Wes Lee.

Wes Lee
WWE.com

With WWE's most recent round of releases coming earlier this month, the name that caught many wrestling fans off guard was the release of Wes Lee.

A former NXT North American Champion and NXT Tag Team Champion, Wes is clearly incredibly talented in-ring, has made for a great underdog babyface, has more recently shown plenty of promise as a heel in High Ryze, and, to many fans, seemed destined for the WWE main roster at some point. Instead, Lee found himself amongst those released a couple of weeks ago.

When asked about Wes Lee's release during the latest Fightful Select Answers Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp said it was simply down to WWE not having plans for Wes on the main roster after he'd been with the promotion for five years.

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Lee was released at the same time as Stevie Turner, Lance Anoa'i, BJ Ray, Haze Jameson, Summer Sorrell, Jin Tala, Drako Knox, and Jamar Hampton, while WWE ID prospect Zayda Steel opted against re-signing with the company, fellow ID prospect Zara Zakhar has decided to step away from wrestling, and former WWE ID Women's Champion Kylie Rae has left to have a baby.

Shortly after those releases were announced, it was reported that this was due to the "natural progression of cycling out developmental talent". Essentially, WWE regularly assesses developmental talent, and if they feel a talent isn't progressing as they'd hoped, is possibly regressing, or the company doesn't see that talent being utilised in any notable way, that's when cuts are made.

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Either way, in the case of Wes Lee - or Dezmond Xavier - he's sure to have plenty of interest on the independent scene and beyond, and one has to imagine there's a solid chance of him joining back up with his old Rascalz pals at some point down the line.

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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.