We now know the exact date that Kevin Owens is going to become a free agent, should he opt to not extend his stay with WWE and sign a new contract.

It was reported last week that Kevin Owens is out of contract with WWE in January 2022, which was a lot sooner than many people expected.

The report noted that Owens' deal was one of several restructured before the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning the end of his deal was brought forwards.

Now both Fightful Select and the Wrestling Observer have confirmed that Owens' deal is set to expire on January 31:

Wrestling Observer provided more details in their weekly newsletter. According to the Observer, the actual date of expiration is January 31, 2022, which Fightful Select has since confirmed.

What makes this particularly interesting is that, as noted by Fightful, WWE has been considering holding the Royal Rumble event in February next year, which would be a first for the company.

This means that unless he re-signs with WWE, Kevin Owens will likely be missing that event, unless WWE has it takes place in January, as is traditionally the case.

This would mean Owens' deal would expire ahead of one of the pitched dates for the Royal Rumble, which is actually being targeted for early February as of now.

The initial Fightful report regarding Owens' contract did not state whether or not he's going to be leaving the company, but it has since emerged that people within WWE don't think Owens will stay.

This means that, in just a matter of months, WWE will have lost Adam Cole, Daniel Bryan and likely Kevin Owens, all of whom will have opted to reject contract offers from WWE.

While unclear, should Kevin Owens leave WWE, the former Universal Champion will be incredibly likely to land in AEW.