— Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Drew Gulak was among several WWE NXT talents released from the company. However, at yesterday’s post-Backlash media briefing with Paul “HHH” Levesque, it was clarified that Gulak wasn’t technically released; rather, a decision was made not to renew his expiring contract.

— Fightfulselect.com, one of the outlets that initially reported Gulak’s release, has now confirmed with multiple sources that Gulak remains with the company. However, he was informed recently that his contract would not be extended nor would he be offered a new deal once his existing one expires next month. The report also notes that after Ronda Rousey publicly accused Gulak of sexual misconduct, WWE launched an investigation. Gulak’s public response to Rousey’s claims exacerbated the situation, though it wasn’t the sole factor in the decision not to retain him.

— Instead, several NXT talents labeled Gulak as a “bully” who would often target fellow wrestlers in ways that exacerbated existing injuries they were recovering from. One wrestler recounted an incident where, during a match against Gulak, he purposely re-dislocated a healing finger. Additionally, Gulak had a reputation for intimidating wrestlers into not reporting incidents against him. However, there was one incident where he was verbally reprimanded by Shawn Michaels and NXT coaches for intentionally spiking an opponent during a match. Another talent described Gulak as “odd” and noted that he would often “test” wrestlers to provoke a reaction through his bullying behavior.