Triple H: Drew Gulak wasn't released, his WWE contract 'was just not renewed'

During Saturday's post-Backlash press conference, Paul "Triple H" Levesque confirmed Drew Gulak's departure from WWE.

Levesque said that, while Gulak is gone from WWE, he was not released from his contract. Gulak's contract was up and the company chose not to renew it.

A round of NXT roster cuts was made on Friday. At the Backlash press conference, Levesque responded when asked if Gulak being released was true and if it had anything to do with the allegation made against Gulak by Ronda Rousey:

We release talent all the time. NFL releases 400 or 500 players a year. We release talent all the time, it's a part of what we do. You cannot just hire people, bring them in, keep hiring more people, and just keep bringing them in. So an unfortunate part of the job is talent get released. Can I say that he was released? He was not released. His contract was just not renewed.

Levesque did not say if Rousey's allegation contributed to Gulak's contract not being renewed.

While appearing on NewsNation last month, Rousey spoke about a backstage incident that happened in WWE in 2022 where Gulak pulled on the string of her sweatpants. Gulak responded by issuing a statement claiming the incident was a "complete accident" where he went to shake Rousey's hand and accidentally touched her drawstring. 

Gulak was removed from NXT television following Rousey's NewsNation appearance. Rousey's claim about the drawstring incident was investigated by WWE.