It seems we're in another mass culling period of World Wrestling Entertainment as the releases just keep rolling in, unfortunately, with more and more people leaving the company confirmed over the past few days.
Releases have been more sporadic the past year or so, largely on a per-Superstar basis depending on their contracts. Often, it is a case more of someone not being re-signed (either by choice by themselves because of a low offer or other reasons, or WWE opts not to renew their contracts and lets them pass).
Jazmyn Nyx had chosen not to re-sign her contract on September 24th and Edris Enofe had left WWE on September 29th. On October 6th, Santos Escobar's contract expired, only for him to be re-signed the very next day, which felt like a one-off (similar to Andrade's release or Karrion Kross and Scarlett several weeks ago).
However, since Escobar's release, more names continue to be revealed as no longer being in WWE for one reason or another.
This list now consists of the following (at the very least): Brayden "BJ" Ray, Drako Knox, Haze Jameson, Jamar Hampton, Jin Tala, Kylie Rae, Lance Anoa'i, Stevie Turner, Summer Sorrell, Wes Lee, Zara Zakher, and Zayda Steel.
Many of those names won't be too familiar to the casual audience, as they are all from within the lower levels of WWE (NXT, LFG, and EVOLVE) rather than the main roster Raw and SmackDown talent, possibly indicating that there is a concerted effort from WWE to go through their developmental roster and clean up shop, or that this just happens to be around the same time that many people from within that block of the employee list all have their contracts signed around the same time.
That also begs the question of the names that aren't listed here. For example, BJ Ray, Haze Jameson, and Summer Sorrell were all part of the most recent season of WWE LFG, which only aired its season 2 finale several days ago with Shiloh Hill and Dani Sekelsky winning, yet it was women's runner-up Penina Tuilaepa who first got her new ring name trademarked, PJ Vasa. Zena Sterling, Tatyanna Dumas, and others from that season weren't released along with Sorrell and Jameson—or, at least, that information has not yet come out. Having Jin Tala and Jamar Hampton, who were also former LFG competitors, also get released after very short stints in EVOLVE, signals that WWE is being cutthroat this year in wanting talent to prove themselves immediately and does not seem to be willing to work with people for more than a few months.
Stevie Turner has been the "Prime Minister" of EVOLVE (effectively the general manager) since the show's inception earlier this year, which is set to have its first special event this upcoming Wednesday. Considering one of her last segments that aired was Jax Presley and Harley Riggins teasing her leadership skills and saying Robert Stone would be a better general manager. The timing is one of those things that makes you wonder.
Most notable from this set of releases is Wes Lee, who was also not only mentioned on this most recent episode of EVOLVE, but has been in NXT for years, holding the North American Championship for the longest time until the record was broken by Oba Femi last year. He had been a prominent member of the roster, but suffered some setbacks due to injuries, but continued to bounce back. Lee's last televised match was on July 29th, though he wrestled two more times since then on NXT Live events.
It remains to be seen if this set of releases is over, or if there are more names to come that just haven't been revealed. Stay tuned to The Ring Report for future updates if and when they are available.