WWE Rumors on Charlotte Flair, Latest Cuts; Keith Lee Denies 'Bearcat' Was His Idea

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Rumors on How WWE Views Charlotte Flair Situation

WWE is reportedly reluctant to discipline Charlotte Flair for the contentious belt exchange she had with Becky Lynch on SmackDown a couple of weeks ago.

Charlotte and Becky swapped the SmackDown and Raw Women's Championships, but it devolved into an awkward segment with Flair dropping a belt on the canvas and Lynch throwing a belt at Flair.

That led to reports of heat between the former close friends, and even a non-physical backstage confrontation between them after the segment.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), a WWE source said the company is in a tough position as it relates to punishing Charlotte in any way.

The source said: "Charlotte is a tricky situation. Not just because she's a star in a division with very few stars. But because she's not the only guilty party. Discipline her and you have to discipline quite a few people."

Charlotte is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars WWE has to offer, and she is also one of the most accomplished female wrestlers of all time.

As a six-time SmackDown Women's champion, six-time Raw Women's champion, two-time NXT Women's champion, one-time Divas champion and one-time WWE Women's Tag Team champion, The Queen owns more title reigns than any woman in WWE history by a significant margin.

Given her resume and importance to the company, WWE can ill afford to get on Charlotte's bad side or do anything to compel her to want to leave for another promotion such as AEW when her contract expires.

Because of that, WWE's best course of action may be to smooth things over with Flair and get on the same page with her in any way possible.

Details Regarding WWE Releases

WWE released 18 Superstars on Thursday night, including notable names such as Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, Scarlett, Eva Marie, Nia Jax, Ember Moon, Mia Yim and Franky Monet.

According to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis told the released Superstars that they were cut for budgetary reasons.

Middleton noted that while the non-compete clauses vary based on the contracts of each of the released wrestlers, most of the NXT Superstars who were released have 30-day clauses.

Oney Lorcan is among the exceptions, as he reportedly has a 90-day non-compete clause.

PWInsider (h/t Middleton) reported that some scheduled training classes at the WWE Performance Center on Friday were canceled in the wake of the releases.

WWE recently overhauled NXT, rebranding it as NXT 2.0 and making it more of a true developmental system than a true third brand.

There is now a focus on younger, less-experienced wrestlers, while veterans from the independent scene are being phased out in many cases.

Several of those who were released Thursday seemed to be victims of that shift in philosophy.

WWE has made sweeping talented releases on multiple occasions this year, trimming down a bloated roster and infusing a massive amount of talent into free agency.

Lee Says "Bearcat" Character Wasn't His Idea

Following his surprising release from WWE on Thursday, Keith Lee made it clear that the recent character change he underwent was not his idea.

According to Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News, Lee responded to a comment made on one of his Instagram posts. The comment stated that the "Bearcat" gimmick he recently began using was created by Lee.

In response, Lee wrote, "No. It was not. Lol."

WWE originally signed Lee in 2018 and he quickly worked his way through the ranks in NXT, holding the NXT and North American Championships.

Lee enjoyed some big moments on the roster before his call-up as well, making it to the end in a Traditional Survivor Series Elimination match at Survivor Series 2019 before getting eliminated by Roman Reigns, and having a memorable encounter with Brock Lesnar in the 2020 Royal Rumble.

He was officially called up to the main roster in 2020 and beat Randy Orton in his first pay-per-view singles match.

Lee was seemingly on the fast track to the top, but heart issues brought on by a COVID-19 diagnosis kept him out for five months until his return in July.

He was recently rebranded as Keith "Bearcat" Lee and wrestled one televised match under that person before getting released.

Given his size, strength and athletic ability, Lee figures to be hugely successful regardless of where he lands following his release.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).