Photos & Video: Johnny Gargano And Kyle O'Reilly Have Emotional Farewells After WWE NXT?
A final farewell for Johnny Gargano and Kyle O'Reilly seemingly took place after Tuesday's post-WarGames edition of WWE NXT 2.0 went off the air.
As we've noted, Gargano closed the show with an address for the crowd amid rumors of his NXT departure and future. He was attacked and then destroyed by Grayson Waller as the show went off the air. O'Reilly also worked the show, losing the Steel Cage opener to Von Wagner. It's been reported that Gargano's original WWE contract expired on Friday, December 3, but he signed a one-week extension to work WarGames, and that deal will expire on Friday, December 10 unless Gargano accepted the strong multi-year contract offer that was made to him. It's also been reported that O'Reilly's contract is expiring this week, and there's been no word on if he's re-signed.
In an update, it had been speculated that the angle with Waller indicated Gargano will be staying with the company, but that may not be the case as Gargano and O'Reilly both had what appeared to be emotional final farewells after NXT went off the air. For those who missed it, you can click here for photos and videos of the Waller angle. Photos and videos from the farewells can be seen below.
NXT Champion Tommaso came out and shared a moment with Gargano while sitting down in the middle of the ring, paying homage to the moment they had after Gargano defeated Ciampa at the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic. O'Reilly watched this moment from ringside, and then joined them as the crowd cheered them on.
WWE Hall of Famer and Vice President of Talent Development Shawn Michaels joined in on paying tribute to Gargano and O'Reilly, as did Candice LeRae, Vic Joseph and many others.
The "#ThankYouJohnny" and "#ThankYouKyle" hashtags have been trending since NXT went off the air.
It remains to be seen if Gargano and O'Reilly will re-sign with WWE to work NXT, be called up to the main roster, or if this really is it for their NXT runs, but we will keep you updated.
Stay tuned for more on O'Reilly and Gargano. You can see several photos and videos of the apparent final farewells below:
Super touching moment only made better by how @KORcombat gets into the ring π @JohnnyGargano @NXTCiampa pic.twitter.com/0SuYOGsQaw
β Tai5 (@Tai__5) December 8, 2021
the emotions, thank you Johnny Gargano and KOR. We love and will miss you. pic.twitter.com/swadVRd9xb
β Kavan Simone (@KavanSimone) December 8, 2021
D I Y π π π· #WWENXT @JohnnyGargano @NXTCiampa pic.twitter.com/PebqtNq4u9
β Kim (@kimberlasskick) December 8, 2021
πππ @CandiceLeRae @ShawnMichaels #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/1nrWoBhvVa
β Kim (@kimberlasskick) December 8, 2021
#ThankYouKyle #ThankYouJohnny #WWENXT π·π @KORcombat @JohnnyGargano pic.twitter.com/vy3N1pFLry
β Kim (@kimberlasskick) December 8, 2021
#ThankYouJohnny @JohnnyGargano #WWENXT π·ππ pic.twitter.com/FGpDid4KOR
β Kim (@kimberlasskick) December 8, 2021
#ThankYouKyle @KORcombat #WWENXT ππ·π pic.twitter.com/5WBQGHpOd1
β Kim (@kimberlasskick) December 8, 2021
Final farewell after the show.
This was the sendoff the globe needed.
Hugs, DIY sitdown, just the boys being themselves one last time in NXT.
Gazed one last time at what they built together in between tears
7/8 pic.twitter.com/SBXLXoy1OEβ Hairoπ‘Story Artist looking for Work (@HighRiskOculus) December 8, 2021
See you in the indies and AEW, Johnny and Kyle
8/8 pic.twitter.com/Sz5u0llD9pβ Hairoπ‘Story Artist looking for Work (@HighRiskOculus) December 8, 2021
End of an Era pic.twitter.com/FEl13yffoZ
β Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) December 8, 2021
Johnny Gargano and Kyle O'Reilly saying their goodbyes with Shawn Michaels#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/hVoFqBfaXP
β Covalent TV (@covalent_tv) December 8, 2021