WWE Contract Rumors on Goldberg, Johnny Gargano, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

Goldberg Has 1 Match Left on WWE Contract

WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg's contract with WWE is reportedly nearing its conclusion.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Michael Perry of Ringside News), Goldberg has only one match remaining on his WWE deal.

Meltzer noted that Goldberg's contract is worth "big money" and includes only "a couple of matches a year." He noted that it isn't yet clear if WWE will sign Goldberg to a new deal once his current one ends.

The 54-year-old veteran made his return to WWE in 2016 after 12 years out of wrestling. After working four matches for WWE, Goldberg was out of the picture again for two years until returning in 2019.

Goldberg had two matches in 2019, two matches in 2020 and has had three matches so far in 2021. Most recently, he lost a WWE Championship match against Lashley at SummerSlam in August and then beat Lashley in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia in October.

Since making his initial return to WWE in 2016, Goldberg has held the Universal Championship twice and competed at two WrestleManias, losing to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33 and Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 36.

While Goldberg is at the point in his career where he can't have very long matches, he remains a big name with plenty of popularity, which could convince WWE to re-sign him provided he wants to continue wrestling.

It is unclear what plans are in place for the final match on Goldberg's current deal, but competing at WrestleMania 38 in Arlington, Texas, in April could be in the cards.

Gargano Reportedly Won't Sign Until at Least February

Speculation is running wild regarding Johnny Gargano's future after his WWE contract expired, but he reportedly isn't planning to sign any new contracts for at least a couple of months.

According to Meltzer (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Gargano is free to sign and work anywhere immediately, but the "indication" is he will wait until after his wife, WWE NXT Superstar Candice LeRae, gives birth to their first child. She is due in February. 

It was reported Thursday by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select (h/t Nitish Vashishtha of Ringside News) that Gargano's WWE contract was expiring Friday after he signed a one-week extension so he could work last weekend's NXT WarGames event.

It was noted by Sapp that Gargano rejected several new contract offers by WWE and opted to become a free agent, but things remain "amicable" between the two sides and there remains hope on WWE's side that he will re-sign eventually.

Gargano made a couple of moves Friday that essentially confirmed he was a free agent, including reopening his Pro Wrestling Tees store and creating a Twitch account, neither of which he would have been able to do while under a WWE deal.

Those decisions could be a sign that Gargano is preparing to sign elsewhere, or they could simply be his means of making money while away from wrestling and weighing his options until he is ready to return.

If Gargano does not re-sign with WWE, AEW seems to be the likeliest landing spot since it has signed many of the notable stars to leave WWE in recent months, including Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson.

During his six years in NXT, Gargano held every major men's title, including the NXT Championship. He also became known as Johnny TakeOver for competing at the most TakeOver events of anyone and oftentimes putting on the best matches.

He was given the opportunity to cut a heartfelt promo in the main event of Tuesday's NXT before getting attacked by Grayson Waller as an apparent way of writing Gargano off television.

If Gargano does return to WWE, he could go back to NXT and confront Waller or perhaps finally make the move to the main roster.

WWE Trying to Appease Owens, Zayn Ahead of Contract Expiration

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are two more WWE Superstars whose contracts will reportedly be expiring in the near future, and WWE is apparently making moves in an attempt to keep them.

According to Meltzer (h/t Perry), KO and Zayn will both see their WWE contracts expire "soon," and WWE has been giving them more television time lately in hopes to make them happy and willing to re-sign.

Owens' WWE contract is reportedly up in January, while Zayn's contract end date is less clear, but could be around March or April, per Meltzer (h/t Andy Datson of WrestleTalk.com).

Both Owens and Zayn have seen no shortage of television time on their respective brands lately, and they have found themselves in title contention.

Owens recently turned heel on Raw and won a non-title match against WWE champion Big E by disqualification to make the WWE title match at the Day 1 pay-per-view on Jan. 1 a Triple Threat between himself, Big E and Seth Rollins.

Meanwhile, Zayn won a battle royal on SmackDown to become No. 1 contender for Roman Reigns' Universal Championship. Zayn lost in quick fashion after getting attacked by Brock Lesnar.

WWE is in a position where it can continue the pushes if they re-sign or have them put over other talent if they decide to leave.

AEW would be a logical landing spot for both Owens and Zayn if they leave WWE, and they are longtime friends.

Both have worked with many of the talent currently in AEW, and Owens is especially close with The Young Bucks and Adam Cole.

AEW has had a signing bonanza and may soon need some roster turnover to accommodate all the new wrestlers who have been arriving, but if Owens and Zayn become free agents, it would likely be difficult to pass up on signing them.

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