Ilja Dragunov may not be the only barely-used WWE name approaching the end of a contract. A few other main roster deals are coming due in October—and there’s an interesting pattern with the wrestlers involved.
Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer revealed the detail while discussing Dragunov’s departure, noting that the contracts belong to people who haven’t exactly been seeing much WWE television lately.
“There are a few other main roster contracts of people who haven’t been on TV much coming due in October.”
Alvarez didn’t reveal any names, so there’s no indication yet who could potentially be approaching free agency. He also didn’t say those wrestlers are definitely leaving WWE. For now, the notable part is simply that several contracts are coming up—and the talent involved apparently hasn’t been used much.
The timing makes that considerably more interesting after what just happened with Dragunov. Dragunov had been missing from WWE television since WrestleMania weekend despite remaining healthy enough to train. His name wasn’t coming up much creatively, and he was recently described as not being much of a priority. Then his contract expired and WWE moved him straight into the Alumni section of its website.
That exit wasn’t always a foregone conclusion either. Alvarez previously revealed that Dragunov and WWE were still “strongly negotiating a return as recently as June.”
It was also reported that WWE wanted Dragunov to stay, but he ultimately chose to let his contract expire. So someone going unused on television doesn’t necessarily mean WWE has already decided to move on from them.
Still, October suddenly becomes a date worth watching. A few unnamed main roster wrestlers who haven’t been getting much television time have contracts coming due, and Dragunov just showed how quickly months of inactivity can turn into an exit.
For now, nobody knows who those names are—or whether WWE intends to keep them. But after Dragunov quietly disappeared and then walked out when his deal expired, there could be a few more contract situations worth keeping an eye on.
Who do you think could be among the WWE stars with contracts coming due in October? Let us know in the comments below.
