WWE made the right call to release Drew Gulak and Gable Steveson

WWE completed another round of releases on Friday, targeting WWE NXT. These cuts featured several performers that have yet to break through, focusing mostly on names that were still very early in the development phase. But there were two bigger names that fans recognized in Gable Steveson and Drew Gulak that were removed from the roster. WWE made the right call in releasing both men. 

Gulak was recently in headlines for the wrong reasons. Ronda Rousey accused him of inappropriately touching her sweat pants during her time in the promotion. She called him out for the situation by name during an interview in which she spoke openly about the toxic culture within WWE. 

“I remember exactly what he looks like, but I’m completely blanking on his name,” Ronda Rousey said during the interview. “Drew Gulak! That’s who it was. I confronted him later and I was like if I ever hear about you putting your hands on any other woman like this or doing anything like this to me again, but we are going to have a problem. It put a really sour taste in my mouth about the culture there, what’s considered acceptable about how to touch and treat the women there.”

Gulak was swiftly removed from television after the matter, with his character basically killed off. Weeks later came the termination. WWE had to make this move as the company continues to face a developing lawsuit from Janel Grant that includes Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis. 

Steveson was another name that fans long wanted to see removed from WWE. When he was signed to the company, fans questioned the move because of the sexual assault allegations he faced during his time at Minnesota. WWE never openly addressed those matters. To make things worse, Steveson was not progressing as a performer, only having one match that was televised during his run. 

Gulak was involved in the first round of cuts that occured on Friday, while Steveson's release was reported by several media outlets early Saturday morning.

WWE made the right call to release Steveson and Gulak from the roster. The company needs to take better steps to avoid bringing in performers that were ever accused of wrongdoing, especially sexual assault. The promotion is working overtime to push a narrative that it has turned a corner from the toxic culture that McMahon cultivated, and a no-tolerance policy needs to be put front and center.