WWE Releases Bunch of Superstars in Its Latest Round of Cuts

WWE has undergone yet another round of releases with its NXT roster bearing the brunt of it this time around.

WWE Releases Bunch of Superstars in Its Latest Round of Cuts

WWE has released several NXT stars [via- Wrestling INC]

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On Friday, WWE released a bunch of NXT talent. The list runs long, with former NXT North American Champion Wes Lee being the most notable of them. The 30-year-old had been with the company since 2020 and even holds the distinction of being the second-longest NXT North American Champion after Oba Femi. Lee’s release has anguished those who believed he was main roster-ready.

Apart from the former MSK member, another significant name that’s been axed is Lance Anoa’i, who’s cousin to Roman Reigns and The Usos. The Anoa’i clan wrestler was signed by WWE about a year ago, and he’s been shown the door before his official debut.

He noted on X that he didn’t have the best of luck since he got on board. Evolve General Manager Stevie Turner, Drako Knox, Jamar Hampton, Jin Tala, Haze Jameson, Summer Sorrell, and Brayden ‘BJ’ Ray are other names who ended up on the chopping board.

Several WWE ID talents, like Zara Zakher, are no longer with the company, as her ID expired, and she announced on X that she’ll be taking a step back from wrestling. Kylie Rae‘s WWE ID deal also ran out of time earlier this week, while Zayda Steel decided not to renew it. All these aforementioned cuts and releases were independently confirmed by Cory Hays of BodySlam and Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.

One could deduce the similarities between the latest round of WWE cuts and the one they had during the Covid-19 pandemic, where world champions like the late Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman were ousted from their contracts, citing budget cuts. The magnitude of outrage in these two situations is understandably different.

The fans were berserk over WWE firing Wyatt and Strowman largely because they were immensely popular, and even more so as the former Wyatt Family members were axed during a time when the entire world was going through such a contingency.

Is Triple H’s WWE starting to cool off with hampered product quality and periodic releases?

Since Vince McMahon‘s WWE exit, his son-in-law, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, has officially been the head booker of the company’s main roster shows. ‘The Game’ stood on the goodwill he had earned from his time calling the shots in NXT.

Levesque kept delivering the goods for almost a couple of years until the alleged creative fatigue started creeping in, with 2025 being the year when the WWE HOFer started drawing polarizing reactions from the audience.

Triple H
Triple H is the incumbent WWE CCO [via- ITR Wrestling]

At the moment, the general perception among fans is that the WWE product is largely inconsistent and a far cry from the boom period that presumably peaked at WrestleMania 40. That begs the question of whether Levesque is in the weeds any longer, like he used to be. As per WON, the ‘Cerebral Assassin’ does stay on top of the product despite not being backstage 24/7.

The report also emphasized that Levesque isn’t all that concerned with delivering a mind-boggling product right now due to the fact that WWE is still doing overwhelming business. When it comes to who makes the final call on releases, a report from WON claimed that ‘Hunter’ does it.

Back in May, the previous round of WWE cuts saw Braun Strowman and Dakota Kai leading the pack of stars who were axed. It wasn’t clarified if Levesque was asked to release a certain number of wrestlers. That was so because Kai was someone he’d brought back immediately after replacing his father-in-law as creative head in 2022.

However, it’s quite possible that the former women’s tag team champ’s vulnerability to picking up injuries altered Levesque’s mindset in the meantime. All in all, the latest NXT talent releases might not entirely be Hunter’s call, as Shawn Michaels is the head honcho of that brand. However, the final ratification must’ve been given by the 14-time world champion, given his current job title in WWE.

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