WWE has released a lot of people this year. 79 Superstars so far, to be exact, following Thursday's releases. WWE continues to cite budget cuts as the reason for ditching so many wrestlers. That may well be true in part, even though the company boasted generating $256 million in revenue last quarter. However, it's also possible WWE is now paying the price for hoarding talent three years ago when AEW launched.

Johnny Gargano's WWE Clock Is Ticking

Not everyone to leave WWE this year has been released. Some wrestlers have allowed their contract to expire rather than signing a new one. Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole, for example, who have since signed for AEW. In Cole's case, WWE was apparently taken by surprise at how soon his contract was coming to an end. Vince McMahon and co. then failed to convince Cole to stay between realizing and expiration.

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It now sounds like a similar situation is happening to other NXT stars. Most notably Johnny Gargano whose current deal reportedly runs out on December 3, 2021. That's just two weeks away, and according to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Johnny Wrestling is yet to sign a new deal with the company.

Kyle O'Reilly's Clock Is Ticking Too

The same report claims Gargano has been offered a very lucrative deal by WWE, but at the time of typing this Gargano has not accepted and signed that contract. He isn't the only top NXT star whose contract is coming to an end next month either. Apparently Kyle O'Reilly's time in the developmental brand could also be up. O'Reilly's contract doesn't expire until later in December and it's currently unclear where he is at in terms of negotiations with WWE.

While it's highly likely Gargano and O'Reilly will both sign new deals and remain with WWE, there is a mounting pile of reasons for them to leave. A number of Superstars to have been called up recently have already been let go. Karrion Kross, Keith Lee, and now Hit Row are all gone. Even worse, they all have to wait 90 days before they can compete elsewhere. If Gargano and O'Reilly's deals expire, they could theoretically show up in AEW or anywhere else they want to wrestle the very next day.