While recent reports indicated that Drew Gulak had been released from WWE, WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque has since clarified (at the WWE Backlash post-show press conference) that Gulak was not released from his WWE contract, but rather, faces his contract not being renewed. Following Levesque’s statement, Fightful Select has now provided an update on why WWE opted not to renew Gulak’s deal, which is set to expire next month.

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According to the outlet, Gulak’s alleged backstage incident with former “WWE SmackDown” Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey was not the determinant in WWE’s decision to not re-sign him, although his public reply to Rousey’s claim is said to have “made things worse” for him.

Within the “WWE NXT” locker room, Gulak was reportedly labeled as a “bully” after he repeatedly targeted injuries of talent who were recovering from minor physical issues at that time. As an example, one “NXT” talent told Fightful’s Corey Brennan that Gulak intentionally re-dislocated a finger during an “NXT” match after it was already previously dislocated. A similar incident reportedly occurred at a 2023 “NXT” taping where Gulak purposely spiked an opponent in a match, after which he was “verbally reprimanded” by Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels and the coaches of “NXT.”

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Along with his reported bullying, Gulak is also said to have to “test[ed]” talent to see whether or not they would respond to it. One “NXT” source also claimed that the 19-year veteran utilized intimidation tactics to deter talent from reporting incidents similar to the aforementioned ones.

Gulak returned to the “NXT” brand at the end of 2022, later joining the No Quarter Catch Crew alongside Charlie Dempsey, Damon Kemp, and Myles Borne. In April 2024, Gulak was written off of “NXT” television after being “killed” by the D’Angelo Family.