Major Update on Neville’s WWE Contract Status

After nearly a year since last performing, it appears Neville is one step closer to returning to wrestling.

According to a report filed by Pro Wrestling Sheet, the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion is no longer under WWE contract. If true, this means Neville has finally received a release that he has been trying to get since last fall.

Neville last wrestled for WWE in early October 2017. He showed up to RAW on October 9th, 2017 with a match scheduled against Enzo Amore, who held the cruiserweight title at the time. After some creative differences and disagreements backstage, Neville walked out on the company and has not been seen since. He has reportedly been living in the U.K. since that time and has stayed out of the public eye.

The situation was dicey due to the fact that Neville wasn’t accruing any time toward his WWE’s contract expiration date since his contract was reportedly frozen while he was not agreeing to perform. It seemed the former star would be in wrestling purgatory for the forseeable future as WWE could legally prevent him from wrestling for any other promotion during that time.

As of now, we don’t have any details on what changed and how the release from the contract came about. WWE often has a no-compete clause for wrestlers upon release from their deals (90 days) which prevents them from wrestling for other companies during that time. It’s unknown if Neville is currently serving out a no compete period or if he is free to wrestle for another promotion right now.

Obviously a release from WWE presents all kinds of enticing options for a man who just one year ago was in the midst of a career renaissance after a much needed heel turn. One of the most acrobatic and eye-popping performers in wrestling, it’s not hard to imagine Neville trying his hand with New Japan Pro Wrestling or Ring of Honor in the forseeable future.

Another option would of course be the big ‘All In’ PPV show being presented by Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks on September 1st. If legally able to appear, an appearance by Neville at the event would certainly create some headlines.

Interestingly, Rhodes just randomly tweeted about Neville yesterday.