Backstage WWE Contract Updates On Tommaso Ciampa And Kyle O'Reilly
WWE officials are reportedly wanting Kyle O'Reilly to re-sign with the company, and there's now talk of time being added to the contract of WWE NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa.
It was reported in early November that O'Reilly's NXT contract was set to expire some time in December, and now Fightful Select reports that WWE has interest in re-signing O'Reilly. WWE approached him about signing a new contract, but there's no word on if an offer has been made.
O'Reilly is among a group of top NXT talents that seemingly passed on new contracts offered in late 2019. It was noted that O'Reilly was surprised by his contract expiring this soon because a lot of WWE contracts end up having time automatically added to them for various reasons. WWE officials were not surprised with O'Reilly's contract expiring this month because they looked over the deals this past summer when Adam Cole and Pete Dunne had their contracts come due in surprise fashion.
On a related note, Ciampa is reportedly in the boat of having his contract extended due to injury time. The NXT Champion missed around 7 months back in 2019.
We've noted how Johnny Gargano's WWE contract was scheduled to expire on Friday, December 3 but he recently signed a one-week contract extension so that he can work the NXT WarGames event this Sunday, December 5. The contract will now expire on Friday, December 10, unless he chooses to re-sign. It was recently revealed that WWE offered a strong contract to Gargano, which would keep him with the company for several years.
In an update, word now is that talks for Gargano's contract extension began in October. It still remains to be seen if Gargano will stay with the company, but WWE sources want to keep him on the roster, and have praised him for his work with The Way before the group split up back in the summer. He was also praised for helping several new Superstars progress.
It was reported in late November that Candice LeRae's NXT contract will expire in May 2022, but it's believed that the company will add at least a period of time to the contract to cover the hiatus she's been on since announcing her pregnancy back in August. If WWE does add to LeRae's contract to cover her time off, she will likely remain under contract into 2023. There is still no word on if LeRae is planning to re-sign with the company beyond the automatic extension to cover her time off for contract freezing.
There has been no word on if Gargano and LeRae are planning to continue working for the same company, but it's likely. They are due to welcome their first child, a baby boy, in February.
Stay tuned for more.