NXT talent Candice LeRae went on maternity leave in August 2021 and gave birth to her and Johnny Gargano’s son Quill in February 2022. Since then, her WWE future has been uncertain, but with her husband departing the company and NXT 2.0 focusing on youth, it seemed doubtful she’d return. Now, according to Fightful Select, her contract has expired, and she’s been moved to the alumni section of WWE’s website, demonstrating she is no longer with the company.
Considering how WWE has been cutting costs frequently in the form of roster cuts, many believed she’d have been released sooner. Still, WWE likely didn’t want to risk any legal issues by firing someone on maternity leave, instead opting to simply let her contract expire. What the future holds for her now remains to be seen. However, she has never publicly expressed any desire to retire following becoming a mother, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see her and Gargano show up somewhere as a duo before the end of the year.
Despite being just 36 years old, LeRae is a 20-year veteran and, throughout her career, has made appearances for Ring of Honor, TNA, CZW, and Lucha Underground before wrestling for WWE in 2017 and signing a contract in 2018. During this time, she became a regular on WWE’s NXT brand, and her career highlight saw her win the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship with Indi Hartwell. Her final match for the company would occur on NXT’s The Great American Bash-themed episode in July 2021, where she and Hartwell would drop the titles to Io Shirai and Zoey Stark.
