WWE Believe Johnny Gargano & Kyle O'Reilly Will Return
WWE have hopes that the NXT stalwarts' departures won't be permanent...
Johnny Gargano and Kyle O'Reilly may have said "farewell" to the NXT crowd following this week's show, but people within WWE are hopeful that their goodbyes will only be temporary.
Dave Meltzer writes in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the market-leading promotion is operating under the assumption that the duo are essentially taking "time off." This is despite Gargano technically becoming a free agent at midnight, with O'Reilly's WWE contract set to expire later this month as well.
NXT officials think both will end up back in the company. WWE has pushed to re-sign each man, extending various contracts offers to them, but none have been signed. While the possibility of them showing back up in NXT cannot be entirely ruled out, re-signing would not have precluded Gargano and O'Reilly from taking time off.
Both wrestlers were involved in apparent write-off angles this week. For KOR, this meant dropping a cage match to Von Wagner, after which he was beaten down, while Gargano was destroyed by Grayson Waller when attempting to address his future at the end of the broadcast.
Gargano's televised segment saw him claim that he didn't know what the immediate future held for him.