WWE has undergone change unlike anything it has ever experienced before in 2023. Vince McMahon returned from a short retirement at the turn of the year, reports claiming he was back to help negotiate new TV deals and oversee the sale of WWE. Turns out both of those things were true and, as of last month, for the first time ever, WWE is not owned by a McMahon. That appears to have held up a few things behind the scenes as the company has changed hands, including the negotiations of contracts that are expiring soon.
Top Stars' Deals Expiring Soon
That's according to Fightful Select (via SEScoops) which has reported a number of deals, some of them for top stars, that are expiring soon and are yet to be renewed. In fact, it seems that unless a star has approached WWE about a pay rise, negotiations haven't even begun. The belief is that's down to Endeavor now being in charge and that it will start to speak with Superstars whose deals are up soon about signing them to new contracts. Provided they actually want to keep them, of course.
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That won't necessarily be a case of everyone signing up and sticking around. Fightful adds that some of those waiting to be approached about a new deal are keeping a close eye on those whose contracts expire around the same time, potentially basing their own decision about their wrestling future on what Endeavor offers their peers. It's also the first time some of these stars will have the chance to leave WWE for AEW having signed five-year deals back in 2019 when the rival promotion was formed.
Signed Up In 2019
A large number of big WWE contracts coming to an end around the same time is certainly no coincidence. WWE made sure a number of its top stars committed to long-term deals in 2019 through fear it might lose a few of them to AEW. With Chris Jericho signing on from day one and Jon Moxley jumping ship very early on, while WWE certainly didn't want AEW to see it sweat, its new rival picking up two former WWE Champions within its first six months definitely rattled some cages.
After a year of change in wrestling, it looks like we will be getting even more as we move through the end of the year and into 2024. Drew McIntyre is one of the big names everyone should be keeping a close eye on. There were reports his contract was coming to an end earlier this year, and even though he's returned to WWE TV, apparently he still hasn't committed his future to the company.
