'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
With the final month of 2019 now upon us, we can expect many roster moves to take place throughout professional wrestling. Those stars who signed deals that expire at the end of the year will start to look towards their next deals. Performers who have already seen their deals expire are currently weighing their options.
A week hasn't gone by without some sort of prominent news coming out regarding a star or stars either being released or signed. Matt Taven and Marty Scurll have already had their deals lapse with Ring of Honor as Taven has re-upped with ROH while Scurll is now technically a free agent.
John Morrison's return to the WWE was announced last week on WWE Backstage and the company kept the hits coming by releasing the Ascension, Luke Harper and Sin Cara on Sunday. Impact Wrestling also offered a deal to independent wrestler Larry D this weekend. That's likely just the opening round of what is always an ongoing cycle of free agency and roster moves in pro wrestling.
The following slide show will round up the roster moves of a few prominent promotions including the WWE, All Elite Wrestling, Major League Wrestling and ROH. Not much turnover has occurred in Impact Wrestling, so I did not include them. Fightful.com has a detailed list as to who's signed where and for how long.
Ring of Honor Roster Moves
After experiencing probably the biggest talent loss last year when members of The Elite left to form All Elite Wrestling, Ring of Honor restocked its roster with a varied amount of talent. The likes of Brody King, PCO, Rush, Dragon Lee, Tracy Williams, and Mark Haskins were among the big names that joined the company.
PCO, Rush, and Dragon Lee all signed one-year deals for 2019 but have yet to re-sign or move on. Other talents, however, have fallen into place. Matt Taven re-signed with ROH after dropping his World Championship to Rush. The company also added veterans Tyler Bateman, who had previously worked for Hollywood Wrestling, and Dan Maff, a former Ring of Honor stalwart who was one of the original wrestlers when the company debuted in 2002.
One of the messier situations involved Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein. She was let go from the company after some issues arose between the two sides. Klein is technically still listed as the title holder on ROH's official website, but she has moved on. Marty Scurll's contract expired at the end of November, but nothing has been revealed regarding his future. His friends in The Elite are likely in constant contact with the Villain.
MLW Roster Moves
Major League Wrestling has kept its momentum going with a unique blend of veterans (Savio Vega, Austin Aries) and newer stars (Air Wolf, Brian Pillman Jr). Two of the biggest moves involved men who have held gold in the promotion. Former MLW Champion Tom Lawlor's deal expired, but he re-signed with the promotion before turning heel on the Von Erichs.
Teddy Hart, arguably one of the most popular stars in the promotion, dropped the MLW Middleweight Championship recently to Myron Reed. Just last week, Hart was released from the company. A report from PWInsider.com claimed that Hart no-showed a few events and that MLW management wasn't happy that he appeared at both an AEW Dynamite show and an episode of NXT. His future is up in the air.
While this was going on, MLW relaunched it's women's division as Zeda Zhang, formerly Zeda in WWE, fought against the Spider Lady in the promotion's first ladies' match. The Spider Lady ended up being Priscilla Kelly, but no news has come out regarding a deal or an agreement between Kelly and MLW.
Former MMA star King Mo signed and had his first match recently on Fusion. Logan Creed joined the company as Grogan, or the new monster from the Dynasty. Alexander Hammerstone presented him to Richard Holliday and MJF as a gift to them. He won the battle royale on the latest episode of Fusion. Prior to all of the more recent news, MLW locked up key parts of Contra Unit in Josef Samael and current MLW Champion, Jacob Fatu, with new deals.
WWE Roster Moves
WWE is always in the news for many different reasons. With TLC next week, the news mostly involved stars not competing at the next PPV. 2019 is coming to a close and WWE opened up some spots on the roster and saved some money by releasing The Ascension, Sin Cara and Luke Harper.
Harper and Sin Cara had asked for their releases on social media but The Ascension did not make any public pleas to be released. More talent releases might be coming in the following weeks or next month, but for now, those four men are looking for work elsewhere. They will not, however, be able to compete anywhere right away due to the standard 90 day non-compete clause in WWE contracts.
Prior to the round of releases, the big news coming out of last week was the return of John Morrison. The former Intercontinental Champion's status was confirmed on WWE Backstage but his exact return to WWE programming (either RAW or SmackDown) is still up in the air. Even before the Morrison news, WWE Backstage revealed that both The Miz and Paige had agreed to extensions with the promotion. Nikki Cross also signed a new contract in November.
In terms of NXT, two of the bigger names to join the yellow and black brand are Shotzi Blackheart and Scarlett Bourdeaux. Blackheart took part in the last Tough Enough competition and Bourdeaux is well-known throughout wrestling. She has most notably appeared for ROH, Impact Wrestling, and Lucha Libre AAA.
AEW Roster Moves
In terms of departures, the only person to have joined and left the new promotion is Kylie Rae. She returned to the independent scene after receiving her release from AEW in September.
AEW made more of a splash with some of its newest additions. The women's roster has some big names with the likes of Allie and Awesome Kong, but for a while, neither woman had been featured much outside of AEW Dark or vignettes. That has changed, as Kong and Brandi are now a part of something called the Nightmare Collective.
Allie has also turned to the dark side, as she brought the Butcher and the Blade to the young promotion as they attacked Cody two weeks ago. I guess if a star is going to debut or turn on someone, it's probably going to be the American Nightmare. The two men will debut for AEW this week against Cody and QT Marshall.
AEW also bolstered its women's division by adding the talents of Shanna and othres. Big Swole and Kris Statlander were also both signed after impressive showings on Dynamite and AEW Dark. Statlander picked up an impressive win over the No. 1 Contender to Women's World Champion Riho when she defeated Hikaru Shida. The Galaxy's Greatest Alien was then confronted by Brandi and Kong to join the Collective, but she declined. Prior to her signing, Big Swole was seen in AEW as a competitor in the Casino Battle Royale at All Out.
Follow Sportskeeda Wrestling and Sportskeeda MMA on Twitter for all the latest news. Don't miss out!
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
