-- Kayla Braxton dropped a shocker earlier today, announcing that she would be stepping away from WWE next week with her last show being Smackdown in New York at MSQ on June 28. While the announcement surprised fans, signs that Braxton was on her way out were visible a few weeks ago when the long-time employee removed "WWE" from her Twitter X username and reverting to her real name (Kayla Becker) and at that time, sources simply stated that she was still with the company without elaborating further on her status.
-- Fightfulselect.com's Sean Ross Sapp reports that Braxton has been working for WWE over the last few weeks under a verbal agreement, with the presumption being that her deal probably expired at the beginning of June around the time Braxton removed the "WWE" and "Braxton" from her display name. The two sides have been in discussions on a new contract but it's unclear the details on how those talks went; meanwhile, whether it was a direct contact with Braxton or through an intermediary or agent, AEW was made aware of her free agent status a couple of weeks ago as well.
-- Braxton has been with WWE since 2016 and has worked across all of the company's brands and serving in a number of different roles including ring announcer in WWE NXT as well as a backstage interviewer and kickoff show panelist. Sapp also reported that it is believed that she would be highly sought out by other wrestling promotions and media companies while f4wonline.com reported that Braxton already has her next role lined up but hasn't shared it publicly yet.
