One of WWE’s biggest NXT stars could soon be leaving the company, as Adam Cole’s contract is set to expire this month. Wrestling Inc. was the first to report that Adam Cole would soon be a free agent, as his contract is set to run out after Summerslam weekend. Cole’s contract apparently expired over the summer, but Cole agreed to a short-term extension to keep him on board through August and wrap up his ongoing feud with Kyle O’Reilly. Shortly after the news broke, Fightful revealed that WWE mistakenly thought that Cole was signed through the end of the year, but quickly set up a short-term contract to keep him over the summer.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful noted on Twitter that Cole’s pending free agency doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll leave the WWE. Sapp stated that WWE loved working with him and that Cole’s been one of the better booked wrestlers over the past five years. However, just about every major wrestling promotion will likely pursue talks with Cole, as he’s a proven draw and generally considered to be one of the most talented wrestlers of the current generation.
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One obvious possible destination for Cole is AEW, as he’s friends with most of that promotion’s core group of wrestlers and is currently dating current AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker. He also has long histories in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling, and could easily slot into a top spot at Impact, NWA, or just about any other promotion.
Cole joined WWE in 2017 and has been a consistent top talent for the company’s NXT brand. Cole is a NXT Triple Crown Champion, having won every major championship in NXT during his tenure of the brand. Cole was the longest running NXT Champion (a record e still holds today), was the inaugural NXT North American Championship, won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, and has led a team in multiple WarGames matches. Notably, Cole has never appeared on WWE’s main roster except as NXT talent during the build to the 2019 Survivor Series. One of his only matches on Smackdown was a successful NXT Championship title defense against Daniel Bryan.
