Top NXT Stars Set For WWE SmackDown Dark Match TONIGHT
Two of WWE NXT 2.0's biggest stars will be in the house for tonight's episode of SmackDown.
Two of WWE NXT's biggest and most tenured stars will work a dark match prior to tonight's episode of SmackDown.
POST Wrestling's John Pollock broke the news this afternoon:-
Per sources - Johnny Gargano and Kyle O’Reilly are scheduled for a dark match tonight in Evansville at the Smackdown tapings
Advertisement— John Pollock (@iamjohnpollock) November 5, 2021
The news has since been corroborated by Fightful.
Gargano and O'Reilly have both been subjected to considerable speculation on their WWE futures lately. As reported in early October, Gargano's contract is due to expire on 3 December. O'Reilly, meanwhile, is contracted to the promotion until an unspecified date in December. There is currently no word on whether or not either of them has entered negotiations over a new deal.
Multiple NXT wrestlers have been brought to Raw and SmackDown tapings to work dark matches over the past few months. These were framed as potential tryouts, but while the likes of Austin Theory have progressed to consistent main roster roles, the likes of Karrion Kross (who was on Raw for a couple of months), countless others have either remained in NXT or left WWE entirely.
Gargano and O'Reilly have only ever wrestled two singles matches in the past, with neither taking place in WWE. KOR has won both, with the last one going down in PWG in March 2014.