Johnny Gargano Officially Leaves WWE, Now A Free Agent

The latest on Johnny Gargano, whose WWE contract expired at midnight.

Johnny Gargano
Twitter, @dtfmania

Johnny Gargano is now officially a free agent, having not signed a new WWE contract prior to his previous deal expiring at midnight on Thursday evening/Friday morning.

This is according to a new report from Fightful Select. Gargano's WWE contract was originally set to expire seven days ago, though he signed a week-long extension so that he could work through WarGames on 5 December. Now, he is no longer bound to the world's biggest wrestling promotion - and that his contract has been allowed to elapse means he doesn't have a non-compete clause either.

Meaning Gargano could theoretically appear on another promotion's show as soon as he wants.

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Fightful note that although WWE had made several attempts to re-sign Gargano lately, he decided to become a free agent. The 34-year-old had kept his decision on his future a private matter.

WWE and Gargano's parting of ways has been described as "amicable." The door remains open for the two parties to work together again in the future, with some WWE higher-ups hopeful that the NXT stalwart will be back in the promotion someday.

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Johnny had been signed to WWE since 2016.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.