CORRECTION: When Adam Cole's WWE Contract Really Expires
With NXT out of the picture, AEW, Raw, or SmackDown await Adam Cole.
UPDATE (25 August - 12:45 PM BST): Per Fightful Select , Adam Cole's short-term WWE contract expires on Friday 27 August. This would make a shocking AEW jump on this week's Dynamite or Rampage legally impossible. A separate report from PWInsider states that the former NXT Champion's deal is up at the end of the week.
The short-term agreement Adam Cole signed to work for WWE through SummerSlam 2021 weekend has expired.
Dave Meltzer writes in the latest Figure Four Online/Wrestling Observer Daily Update that Cole is officially a free agent now, with his journey expected to take him to WWE's main roster or AEW.
Cole's previous WWE contract expired in July. An administrative error led to the promotion operating under the assumption that he was bound to them until December, but the former NXT Champion agreed to stick around to conclude his feud with Kyle O'Reilly. That ended at TakeOver 36 this past weekend. KOR defeated Cole in what was effectively a Three Stages of Hell match, with PWInsider's Mike Johnson confirming this was Adam's last match in NXT.
As Cole wasn't released by WWE, and left due to his contract expiring, he shouldn't be bound to a non-compete clause. Such restrictions would typically last for 30 days for NXT wrestlers. This means that he could conceivably show up on tomorrow's episode of AEW Dynamite if he signs to Tony Khan's promotion.
AEW's Young Bucks and Britt Baker have gone all-in on teasing Cole coming to the promotion since TakeOver.