Some huge and rather shocking news today, with reports from various reliable sources suggesting that Adam Cole's contract with NXT actually expired last month.

The news was first broken by WrestlingInc, who reported that Adam Cole's contract with WWE actually expired after Great American Bash on July 6, but the former NXT Champion opted to extend through SummerSlam.

Wrestling Inc. has learned that it is expiring this month after SummerSlam. Cole’s contract was actually up after the Great American Bash, but he extended it.

The news has since been corroborated by Fightful Select, with the site explaining that people within WWE only became aware that Cole's contract was expiring in July at very short notice.

The report also goes on to say that Adam Cole told WWE that he'd be willing to work through SummerSlam before re-evaluating things, presumably allowing him to finish his storyline with Kyle O'Reilly:

Despite that, we're told that Adam Cole expressed to WWE that he was willing to work through Summerslam weekend and re-evaluate things. WWE sources put over Cole for being open to doing that as opposed to just appearing on another program without any notice by WWE. We were not told it if was a verbal agreement or if he signed a short-term extension.

Adam Cole's WWE contract expired in July

The report goes on to say that rumours that Adam Cole signed a new contract with WWE when NXT moved to the USA Network in 2019 are untrue.

There was once word within WWE that Cole had actually signed a new deal when the USA Network agreement came to be, but that was not the case, despite the internal rumors. We're told there was significant frustration and heat within the company that this came so close to the wire, but WWE sources again put over Cole for being easy to deal with.

For updates on what the future holds for Adam Cole in NXT and WWE altogether following the emergence of these reports, make sure you stay tuned to GiveMeSport.