O'Reilly's WWE contract expired expired after a Dec. 7 episode of NXT.
Two weeks after his WWE farewell, Kyle O’Reilly has found his new home in professional wrestling.
O’Reilly made his AEW debut at Wednesday night’s Holiday Bash edition of Dynamite, interfering in Adam Cole’s match against Orange Cassidy and helping Cole get the win. O’Reilly now reunites with Cole and Bobby Fish on the AEW roster. The trio were formerly part of the Undisputed Era in WWE.
O’Reilly’s final appearance for WWE was on the Dec. 7 episode of NXT. His contract with WWE expired following that show, and he decided to become a free agent instead of re-signing. O’Reilly’s last match for NXT was a steel cage match where he lost to Von Wagner.
AEW president and CEO Tony Khan posted a tweet after O’Reilly’s debut welcoming him to AEW and officially announcing that he’s signed with the company.
The storyline going into O’Reilly’s Saturday debut was that Cole had promised the group "the Young Bucks" that he had a Christmas present for them. Cole and O’Reilly initially exchanged words after O’Reilly got involved in his match, but they worked together with Fish to lay out Trent Beretta and Chuck Taylor. The Young Bucks then made their way out to the ring and were confused over O’Reilly’s arrival. Cole was left in the middle between the Young Bucks and O’Reilly and Fish.
O’Reilly and Cole’s careers have long been intertwined as both partners and rivals. O’Reilly and Fish have held tag team titles together in NXT, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
O’Reilly has been wrestling since 2005. He’s a former world champion for ROH and PWG.
The 34-year-old will have his first match for AEW on next Wednesday’s Dynamite, where he'll team with Cole and Fish in a six-man tag match against Cassidy, Beretta, and Taylor.
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