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Like every major sport in the world, pro wrestling has its share of athletes with deals that expire on a yearly basis. Some wrestlers sign multi-year deals while others do things on a year to year basis. WWE tends to try and lock stars into multi-year deals whereas New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor both allow wrestlers to ink one-year contracts.
As the year is technically half over, it means that once late 2019 rolls around, speculation will heat up once again as to where some prominent wrestlers will land in 2020. To begin 2019, the biggest free agents were Kenny Omega and the Elite. When the dust settled, instead of joining another promotion, they parlayed their success in ROH and NJPW into forming their own promotion, All Elite Wrestling.
Now that they have their own promotion, it not only provides another outlet for wrestlers, but it also means that we will see more bidding wars between battling companies. Jon Moxley was another huge name that became a free agent at the end of April 2019 and he's already made huge splashes all over the world.
So which Superstars will cash in on the likely bidding wars over their services? There are many stars with deals that expire at the end of 2019 but here are some of the more notable names.
Will expire later this year - Luke Harper
Harper was off of TV dealing with an injury, but once he was cleared, the former Wyatt Family member wasn't used by WWE. He felt he was being misused and asked for his release from the WWE around WrestleMania 35.
WWE refused to grant his release and has instead tried to lock up talent with expiring deals to newer, multi-year deals with more money. Harper hasn't accepted any new offers and WWE doesn't appear to have any plans to use him.
According to Fightful.com's extensive list of free agents, Harper's current deal with WWE ends in 'late 2019'. It's unclear if he will have time tacked onto his deal due to his injury. The time might have already been tacked on to extend his current contract. Whatever the case is, Harper will probably be wrestling elsewhere in 2020.
Will expire later this year - Rusev and Lana
'The Bulgarian Brute' last appeared at Super Showdown but he hasn't appeared in WWE since 'Mania. At the Show of Shows, he challenged for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles alongside Shinsuke Nakamura. After failing in their bid to capture the belts, he allegedly asked for time off. His current deal is set to expire soon according to the Wrestling Observer.
Rusev was one of the most over stars last Summer, even earning a WWE Championship shot against AJ Styles at Money in the Bank. He failed in his attempt to become WWE Champion. He would also be unsuccessful in a bid to win the SmackDown Tag Team titles alongside Aiden English.
He was still over as a face and the crowd still chanted 'Rusev Day' as he captured the US Championship to close 2018. After a strange feud with Nakamura that almost led to the Japanese Superstar nearly injuring 'the Ravishing Russian', the two men joined forces as a tag team. Lana's deal coincides with the Bulgarian Brute's, so it could be a two-person loss for WWE if they decide not to use either Lana or Rusev.
Will expire later this year - Bandido
Bandido is only 24 but he made such an impact on the Young Bucks that they made him a part of the main event of All In last September. Alongside Rey Fenix and Rey Mysterio, Bandido opposed the trio of the Bucks and Kota Ibushi.
Instead of signing with WWE or All Elite Wrestling, he opted for a one-year deal with Ring of Honor. After a few matches with the company, he was made a member of Lifeblood alongside Mark Haskins, David Finlay, Tenille, Tracy Williams, and Juice Robinson.
While the group hasn't had many appearances lately as a whole on ROH TV, Bandido has still battled many stars like Shane Taylor, PJ Black, Flip Gordon, and Rush. Since his deal with ROH was only for a year, the bidding war for his services will once again heat up at the end of the year. Will he join the Bucks after seeing a few months of AEW TV or will he resign with ROH? Could he make the jump to WWE?
Will expire later this year - Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE 'raided' four talents from NJPW in early 2016 when Nakamura, the Good Brothers, and AJ Styles all joined the biggest professional wrestling company in the world. Of the four wrestlers, however, Nakamura was the only one to spend time with NXT. The Good Brothers appeared after WrestleMania that year whereas Styles debuted in the 2016 Royal Rumble.
As things currently sit, both Styles and the Good Brothers have signed new deals with the WWE. Nakamura, who has been off of TV since 'Mania, actually reappeared in June at SSD. He also popped up again a few weeks ago on SmackDown in order to tease a match with Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship. On this week's show, he defeated Balor.
The two former stalwarts of NXT will now face off at Extreme Rules. If he captures the title, it could be a sign of WWE trying to placate him in order to stay. WWE might also feel so confident of being able to resign him that the outcome won't really matter.
All that is certain regarding his future is that he would be a main-event star wherever he signed. Although he hasn't captured a main title in WWE, he did win a Royal Rumble. He's also accustomed to surfing in his current home in Florida, so perhaps he is content with his current situation.
Expires in August - LAX
Two of the teams that carried the Impact tag division over the last two years were the Lucha Brothers and LAX, otherwise known individually as Ortiz and Santana. The second iteration of the Latin American Exchange feuded with many teams including OVE, the original LAX (Homicide and Hernandez) and most prominently, with the Lucha Brothers.
LAX dropped their titles to the North (Josh Alexander and Ethan Page) at the Bash at the Brewery last Friday. They were then a part of a three-team match for the titles at Slammiversary but failed to recapture them.
Their contract situation was public knowledge prior to Slammiversary as their deals were set to expire this Summer. According to Fightful.com and the Wrestling Observer, they have interest from a lot of companies including Impact, AEW, and WWE. PWInsider.com reports that their current deal expires in August. They are available for the next round of tapings.
The duo is one of the best in the world, so they could be making a different promotion their home as soon as August. Whichever promotion lands their talent will be adding a truly exciting team.
Expires later this year - Taya Valkyrie
Once Lucha Underground appeared to be done as a promotion, several of its stars began showing up in Impact. Aerostar, Pentagon Jr., Fenix, and Drago both made appearances as did Fantasma and Texano Jr. Among the other, most notable names to have joined Impact were the real-life couple of Johnny Impact and Taya Valkyrie.
Johnny Impact worked his way up to winning the Impact Championship at Bound For Glory last year. More recently, Valkyrie joined the man who is now her husband as champion. While Johnny Impact has since lost his belt to Brian Cage, Taya still holds her belt after walking away with the title after a Monster's Ball match at Slammiversary.
Unlike her husband, Johnny Impact, Valkyrie is still under contract to Impact. Her deal does, however, expire at the end of 2019. Once the year turns over a new leaf, Valkyrie might do so as well. The couple will likely sign together as they have done with AAA, Impact, and LU.
Already expired - Johnny Impact
PWInsider.com reports that the former Johnny Mundo, John Morrison, and Johnny Impact finished up with Impact a few weeks ago but agreed to a few more dates in order to finish up his X-Division Title program with Rich Swann at Slammiversary.
He had a good run as one of the top faces in the company, even parlaying that success into a run on the reality show, Survivor. While he didn't win that show, he did win the Impact Championship from Austin Aries.
With LU likely over and his deal with Impact done, will the former John Morrison re-up with Impact? Was his dropping of the title done with the foresight that he'd be moving on once his deal ended?
If he has shown anything, it's that he still is one of the most athletic guys on the planet and that he's a helpful and willing co-worker. He didn't need to work extra dates in order to wrap up his program with Swann, but he did. That good faith he displayed makes him an attractive option to add to any promotion.
Others with expiring deals at the end of 2019
Ring of Honor has several stars with deals that expire at the end of 2019. After resigning both Jay Lethal and Silas Young to start this year, they also signed the likes of Rush, Bandido, Haskins, PJ Black, and Williams.
Black, the former Justin Gabriel in WWE, has been wrestling for almost his whole adult life with stops in WWE, LU, and ROH. He only signed a one-year deal with the promotion and could be moving on if he opts not to resign.
Like Young and Lethal, Shane Taylor also resigned with ROH at the beginning of 2019, albeit only for a year. During his run in 2019, he dethroned Jeff Cobb as TV Champion and also formed an alliance with Bully Ray. Was his title win done to get him to resign with the company? His former tag team partner in ROH, Keith Lee, already moved on to the WWE and NXT.
A strange situation is that of Mexican Superstar, Rush. He's only signed to ROH until the end of the year but is still under obligation to home promotion CMLL until the end of 2020. That obligation could hinder him from signing an exclusive deal with any huge promotions like WWE. He'll likely be in high demand due to his pure athleticism and charisma. His old friend Andrade is in WWE so will he try to form a Los Ingobernables faction in the global juggernaut?
