The release of Wes Lee remains shocking.
The former NXT North American Champion was released on October 10, 2025 and it was certainly a move that nobody saw coming. Lee was signed to WWE in 2020 and he made his debut alongside Zachary Wentz as part of MSK.
The duo had two NXT Tag Team title runs; however, Wentz was abruptly released due to the release of a photo of him during the Nazi salute. That forced Lee into the singles position, but WWE managed to push him up the card. The 30-year-old won the NXT North American Championship at Halloween Havoc in 2022 and he successfully defended that belt for 269 days.
At that point, the sky was the limit for him and it genuinely seemed that Lee was on his way to the main roster. However, WWE seemed to sour on him following his shocking heel turn in 2024. Lee won his feud against Wentz, but he didn’t do much after that. He was appointed a couple of goons, but he essentially floated between NXT and Evolve without much direction.
It’s not clear why WWE lost interest in doing something more with Lee, but according to a recent Fightful report, the company never had plans to put him on the main roster in the first place. That means Lee reached his ceiling as the NXT North American Champion. It’s genuinely baffling that one of the best wrestlers in the world who had an incredible title run was seen as worthy enough to join RAW or Smackdown.
WWE made a mistake and Scott D’Amore said that loudly in his D’Amore drop on Yahoo Sports.
"WWE cutting Desmond Xavier (Wes Lee) was a mistake. Watch for him to prove that very soon," D'Amore wrote.
As far as Lee goes, he’s yet to address his WWE release. He has changed his name back to Dezmond Xavier, but he’s remained silent on social media for the most part. Lee’s likely destination is TNA again, as that’s where he and his Rascalz members gained their notoriety.
However, that’s just speculation on my end. It won’t be crazy to see Lee end up in AEW as he’s perfect for the type of style the company typically wrestles, but there is the issue of AEW having an extremely bloated roster. It's unknown what Xavier plans to do next. We’ll find out once his 90-day non-compete clause ends.