We reported earlier today here on eWn that Cesaro has quietly departed WWE after his contract expired and the two sides were unable to reach a new agreement.
In an update on this, Fightful is reporting that Cesaro was working on a one-year contract extension that expired. Due to this, he doesn’t have the standard 90 day non-compete clause and is free to work wherever he’d like.
WWE reportedly had plans to use Cesaro on several upcoming shows, including this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown in Hershey, PA. With that being said, there weren’t any long-term creative plans in place for him. Additionally, there was “no incentive” for the company to push him as they were under the impression that he wasn’t going to sign a long-term deal. This is similar to a situation that took place back in 2021 when he was pulled from a top contender gauntlet match due to not being re-signed.
According to several sources, there is a lot of “disappointment and dismay” over Cesaro’s departure as he was one of the most liked stars on WWE’s roster and is a great worker.
As far as this week’s AEW Rampage is concerned, that show has already been taped. The only way Cesaro would appear is via a taped vignette.
