Report: Kyle O’Reilly Turned Down ROH Offer, Could Be WWE Bound

Kyle O’Reilly may be headed to WWE after turning down an offer from ROH.

Kyle O’Reilly closed out 2016 in style with winning his first-ever ROH World Championship at Final Battle, perceived as Ring of Honor’s biggest show of the year. He did so be defeating long-time rival Adam Cole in No Disqualification match.

After just over one month as champion, O’Reilly lost the belt back to Cole at Wednesday’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 event in Tokyo, Japan. If you felt this result had been surprising, there could be some reasoning behind it.

According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, O’Reilly turned down a new deal with ROH days before Wrestle Kingdom 11. He told the company he wouldn’t be resigning “at the moment” and planned to consider other options for now.

To add fuel to the fire, the Wrestling Observer reported that O’Reilly is likely headed to WWE, with ROH officials expecting this to happen.

However, the second part of Pro Wrestling Sheet’s reported noted that the plan had always been for O’Reilly to lose the ROH World Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11. So, it seems the loss and contract talks conveniently came up at the same time.

If O’Reilly is WWE bound, he may fit into NXT like former ROH star Roderick Strong, who joined last fall. Former ROH wrestler and matchmaker Nigel McGuinness also recently signed with WWE and is set to do commentary for their United Kingdom Championship event.

ROH isn’t an old target of WWE’s, though, as they have gone to this promotion for years to find talent. This includes Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, and Seth Rollins. AJ Styles also spent time with ROH on multiple occasions, and had an extensive run with them and NJPW before coming to WWE in 2016.

Related Story: Wrestle Kingdom 11 Review

If things come to fruition with Kyle O’Reilly, then he could be WWE’s latest ROH signing. Would he make a good fit?