WWE icon John Cena has paid tribute to former NXT Champion Johnny Gargano with Gargano looking destined to leave WWE following the expiry of his contract.
Speculation has been swirling about the WWE future of Johnny Gargano after reports indicated that his time in NXT could be coming to a close after signing a short-term contract extension to take him through WarGames since his original deal was set to expire on December 3rd.
Fueling the speculation that his time in NXT may be ending, Johnny Gargano participated in an apparent “curtain call” with Kyle O’Reilly and Tomasso Ciampa after the December 7th episode of NXT. O’Reilly’s is also expected to leave the company soon.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, the leader of The Way has indeed opted not to re-sign with the company and will be a free agent as of midnight on December 10th. Because his contract is expiring, he will not have a non-compete clause and is free to work wherever he chooses, including televised events.
The report also notes that WWE made repeated efforts to get Gargano to agree to a new contract, but he decided to become a free agent instead.
Now the 16-time champion of the world has paid tribute to Johnny Gargano in the best way that the Hollywood star knows how – by posting a photo of Johnny Wrestling on his Instagram.
While John Cena is known for using Twitter to post uplifting quotes and mantras – so much so that he launched two books off the back of it – Cena’s Instagram is another story as he says he explains in his bio:
“Welcome to my Instagram. These images will be posted without explanation, for your interpretation. Enjoy.”
Despite the fact that Johnny Gargano has chosen not to renew his contract with WWE, he is said to be leaving on “incredibly amicable” terms and doors are not closed for him to work with the company again in the future. People of influence in the company are said to be hopeful that Gargano chooses to return to WWE someday.